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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thought I would repeat a few W4AN emails from days gone by –
still good info.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>CU in the ‘test.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>N4GG</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>From an old CQ-Contest Reflector post:</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<ol start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>CQ a lot</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Move multipliers you need or expect to need later to
bands that you feel you will miss them on. Don’t be afraid to
move someone as late as the end of the contest to 10 and 15 meters. I
remember one NAQP where I had missed MA on almost all bands. I
worked K5ZD on 80 meters and moved him through every band. This was
like </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>11:30</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> at night.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>You don’t have to be on the band that you hear everyone
else is on. I almost always start on 20 meters. I work the
second radio on 10 and 15 to get the mults.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Don’t go to the low bands for good too
early. Always keep a mental note of where you are in the
contest. At </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>7PM</span></font><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> you will be
halfway to the end. Are you on 40M? Have you already been
there for a long time? Guess what? You are going to run out of
QSOs near the end. Experience helps here.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Last January I averaged 100+ QSOs per hour. Keep that
in mind. This is not a slow contest (not in January anyway). Keep
the rate up, pay attention to where your rate has been, and don’t be
afraid to move around when it drops. Frequency allocation is not a
problem in this contest.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Call CQ TEST, not CQ NA. You can work anyone in
this contest. The guys that call CQ NA aren’t thinking it
through very well in my opinion. I work at least 30 DX QSOs in the
NAQP every time.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>When asking someone to move, don’t make it a
run-on sentence. Simply send ‘10m?’ or more often I will
just send a frequency like ‘28070’ after my report.
Maybe a PSE in front of it. Move people high in the band. Don’t
make the mistake of moving someone to someone else’s CQ
frequency. I’ll move ‘em to the novice band. </span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Point your 10M yagi South. Especially after the
band sounds dead. Same with 15.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>You guys with ‘no 160 antenna’ should try
loading whatever you can. I worked a bunch of guys in the ARRL 160
contest from loading a 40 meter dipole and getting 5W out of my FT-1000MP.
Amazing.</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>CQ a lot.</span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>And from July, 1997:</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<pre><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> </span></font>Offtimes: Four 1/2 hour breaks spread out to where you think you are </pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>getting the most exposure to the most people when you are operating. NEVER </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>take an off time from </span></font>4 p.m. EST to 11 p.m. EST. This is when the rate </pre><pre><font size=2
face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>occurs. So, this leaves you with either the first 2 hours or the last 3 </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>hours for off times. Still, I take them in 1/2 hour chunks. This should </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>also be the key to doing well in the SS. Off time in the SS should be the </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>shortest duration possible.</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Ontimes: Two radios make a bigger difference in this contest than in any </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>other I can name. If you can use two radios effectively it is worth 200 </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>QSO's. Well, it is to me anyway. OK, you have two radios . . . Move </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>everyone you can if the rate justifys it. I will simply send a frequency </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>to someone, move the other radio to that frequency and wait for them to </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>call me. I do this for the Q's and the mults. Depending on the </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>rate. Also, depending on the mult I will leave a pretty good run if it's </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>worth moving a guy through five bands that I would otherwise miss.</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>So you don't have two radios? CQ as much as possible with occasional </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>complete S&P runs up the entire band. Don't be afraid to lose a </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>frequency. This isn't CQWW. Frequencies are easy to come by in this </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>one. If you need to move to work a mult . . . then move.</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>CQ: This is where two radios buys you 200 QSOs. I never stop CQing for </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>the entire contest.</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>20M: Bread</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>40M: Butter</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>High bands: I move guys to 10 and 15 meters up to the end of the </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>contest. I worked K5ZD last August on 10 and 15 meters with 1/2 hour to go </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>in the contest. Never assume the band is closed.</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Band selection: Biggest mistake made in the NAQP and the Sprint is going </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>to the next band too early. You need to milk the highest band open for all </span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>it's worth as long as you can. Nothing like getting to 80M at </span></font>8:00 p.m. </pre><pre><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>and then not having anyone to work for the last 3 hours of the contest.</span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font></pre>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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