Heh. 20m wasn’t the only station suffering from the “wind blowing the top beam around” syndrome. We suffered with that on 10m, especially on Sunday.

You know 10m is wide open when you answer calls from Japan, Europe, South and North American all within a couple of minutes. Happened to me both afternoons!

Thanks for letting me keep the 10m run chair warm, Rick. It was a blast.

On Mar 31, 2014, at 1:43 PM, Rick Dougherty NQ4I <nq4i@contesting.com> wrote:

>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: <webform@b4h.net>
> Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 1:39 PM
> Subject: WPX SSB NQ4I M/M HP
> To: 3830@contesting.com, rick@nq4i.com
>
>
>                    CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
>
> Call: NQ4I
> Operator(s): NQ4I AA4LR VE7ZO N4XL KD3P K4PK AG4W WB5EIN K4NV KM4HI W4DD K5KG
> Station: NQ4I
>
> Class: M/M HP
> QTH: Griffin, Ga
> Operating Time (hrs): 48.0
>
> Summary:
> Band  QSOs
> ------------
>  160:  135
>   80:  656
>   40: 1361
>   20: 2045
>   15: 1903
>   10: 1864
> ------------
> Total: 7984  Prefixes = 1715  Total Score = 33,608,558
>
> Club: South East Contest Club
>
> Comments:
>
> First and foremost, what great conditions to hold a contest! My team has never
> heard the bands so hot from top to bottom. Endless activity has made the CQWPX
> SSB contest one of the best contests ever! I want to thank my competitors for
> making it the most exciting and challenging events on the ham bands in a long
> time. K9CT and WX3B are with out a doubt some of the finest competitors on the
> bands for the WPX test. And I want to thank them for posting their scores for
> all to see on cqcontest.ru. Having the online score board available made this a
> real horse race for all to see and enjoy.
>
> We paused just before the contest to memorialize former team member W4SVO, who
> has made significant contributions to our low band success at NQ4I. Mark
> recently became a silent key and is missed by all NQ4I team members. We
> dedicated this contest operation and score to his memory. And I am sure that in
> our daily contesting operation, he was there urging us onward and upward.
>
> I also want to thank the team members at Team NQ4I who gave up their time to
> come and be a part of the operation. Driving and flying from all over the South
> East US to be here. We had contest newbie Larry WB5EIN who drove from Tupelo,
> Mississippi to join us. He fit right in. His contributions were greatly
> appreciated.
>
> In my 53 years of Ham radio, I don't think I have ever seen the high bands and
> low bands so filled with contestor's. To quote a true sage of Ham Radio, Gene
> Walsh N2AA "There ain't no meters like Ten Meters". And it held true
> to form. Band opening lasted well into the nights and activity was apparent all
> the way up to 29.900 Mhz!
>
> One of our prime RUN op's had to cancel Friday afternoon before the test
> started, and it made some big changes in our lineup. Op's were told to be
> flexible and they would be assigned and moved when needed. The NQ4I team
> responded in great form. Seats were filled, qso's were made, meals were
> consumed, stories were told, and memories were made in the 48 hours of the
> test.
>
> Records: 1. New US M-M high claimed score 33,608,558 points! We are hoping that
> after log checking it will remain as a new US record for SSB.
> 2. New US WPX Prefix record! We had 1717 prefixes. We surpassed the current
> record at 7 am on Sunday morning and kept the bells ringing in the shack as new
> ones were worked all the rest of the day.
> 3. New Station record for most number of SSB qsos.
>
> Band by Band comments:
>
> 160-Don K4PK labored and toiled to make 135 qso's. The band was quiet, but the
> action was on the high bands and the low bands suffered some.
>
> 80-Bill AA4LR really turned in a great performance, even with the action being
> on the higher bands.
>
> 40-This is the band that had suffered the greatest damage during the last ice
> storm. The reflector of the top 3 over 3 stack for the RUN station is still
> broken and needs repair so Jim VE7ZO only had a 2 and 1/2 element yagi for the
> top antenna. Didn't seem to make that much difference. The 40m MULT antenna was
> severely damaged and under a complete rebuild. Because of the windy and rainy
> weather leading up to the contest, I was only able to get the antenna above the
> bottom set of guy wires and it was fixed on EU at 55 feet and non-rotatable.
> N4XL still managed to make a significant number of Mult qsos with it. Dennis
> KD3P kept 40m humming all during the daytime. Thanks Dennis.
>
> 20-Steve AG4W had previously been the MULT op for 15m...with the cancellation
> of K4BAI, Steve was pressed into RUN Op duties and responsibilities. He did a
> super job and has subsequently been promoted to RUN op. MULT Op on 20m is
> newbie Larry WB5EIN. Made the drive from Miss to be a part of the team and did
> a fantastic job. The wind blew all weekend with gusts to 45 mph and more almost
> all weekend...The 8 el Yagi at 185 feet kept turning and was hard to keep it
> pointed where we wanted it. More repairs will be needed.
>
> 15- Dennis K4NV and Jim KM4HI teamed up and found that 15m was the band to be
> on. The band was open nearly every hour around the clock. It kept them on their
> toes staying in the seats.
>
> 10-George K5KG flew up from the Sarasota, Fla area to be part of the team. And
> I am sure he has no regrets. The 10m band was wall to wall with stations and
> activity. We have never worked so many JA's and BY's as we did this past
> weekend. Tremendous activity from SE Asia, The Far East, and Europe.
> Unbelievable! George's team mate was Jeff W4DD, who is responsible for the
> technical needs of the station. Jeff kept the MULT station manned and
> productive all weekend long.
>
> Mark, W4SVO...."this one was for you"!! RIP.
>
> de Rick NQ4I
>
>
> Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
>
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Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr@mac.com
Quote: "Boot, you transistorized tormentor! Boot!"
         -- Archibald Asparagus, VeggieTales

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
           -- Wilbur Wright, 1901

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