WOW! What a busy weekend for
amateur radio. We had the Route 66 Special
Event ending up on Sunday,
and a number of QSO Parties to play in -- as well as many special
event stations (the best was the Pirate Station
where you talked like a pirate ARRRRRH Matey and I named my ship
the 'Rum & Coke", POTA stations,
and all kinds of people on the air. Just WOW - I am completely
tired out from all the fun!
I was trying for a clean RT66 sweep and missed it by not getting
W6D. Never could hear that station.
Having CW skills really helps with this special event.
This is what I did manage (in order by mode over the week for each
1x1 station):
W6A - 30m FT8, 20m CW
W6B - 20m SSB, 40m LSB, 40m FT8, 80m CW, 80m FT8
W6C - 40m FT8
W6D - NIL
W6E - 20m SSB
W6F - 30m CW (this was another tough one that I got this weekend finally)
W6G - 40m LSB, 80m FT8
W6H - 20m SSB, 20m FT8, 20m CW, 40m LSB, 40m CW, 80m FT8, 40m FT8
W6I - 40m FT8, 30m FT8
W6J - 40m FT8
W6K - 30m CW, 40m CW, 20m CW
W6L - 30m FT8, 80m FT8
W6M - 20m SSB, 20m CW, 40m FT8, 40m LSB
W6N - 40m FT8, 40m LSB
W6O - 20m FT4, 40m FT8, 40m LSB, 80m CW, 40m CW
W6P - 40m FT8, 80m LSB, 40m LSB, 30m FT8, 80m CW, 40m CW
W6Q - 40m FT8, 40m LSB
W6R - 40m LSB, 40m FT8
W6S - 20m SSB
W6T - 20m FT8
W6U - 40m LSB
51 total RT66 contacts! Maybe next year will be my sweep.
I made 1 contact in the Collegiate QSO party (he was very loud,
and I couldn't resist calling).
I played in the SAC CW contest for the second year:
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SACCW Summary Sheet
Start Date : 2020-09-19
CallSign Used : K4VBM
Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
Assisted Category : ASSISTED
Band : ALL
Power : LOW
Mode : CW
Default Exchange : #
Gridsquare : EM73VX
Name : Robert G. Hensey Jr.
ARRL Section : GA
Club/Team : GEORGIA CONTEST GROUP
Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.8661.0
Band QSOs Pts DXC Pt/Q
7 1 3 1 3.0
14 2 2 1 1.0
Total 3 5 2 1.7
Score : 10
Rig : IC-7100 100W
Antennas : dipole for 20m and 520' wire loop
Soapbox :
Last year made 1 contact with my new CW skills. This year I managed 3.
With the 4 state QSO Parties going on at the same time, I didn't really
work hard for this one and got the easy ones. Still my best score ever.
Great fun!
Had some fun in the NH QSO Party:
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NH QSOPARTY Summary Sheet
Start Date : 2020-09-19
CallSign Used : K4VBM
Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
Band : ALL
Power : LOW
Mode : MIXED+DIG
Default Exchange : GA
Gridsquare : EM73VX
Name : Robert G. Hensey Jr.
ARRL Section : GA
Club/Team : GEORGIA CONTEST GROUP
Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.8661.0
Band Mode QSOs Pts Mul Pt/Q
3.5 CW 3 6 0 2.0
7 CW 2 4 0 2.0
7 LSB 3 3 2 1.0
14 CW 4 8 3 2.0
14 USB 1 1 0 1.0
Total Both 13 22 5 1.7
Score : 110
Rig : IC-7100 100W
Antennas : dipole for 20m and 520' wire loop
Soapbox :
In 2016 I had 3 contacts. Didn't meet that in 2017, 2018, or 2019
with 2, 2, 1 contacts
for those next 3 years. 13 contacts was a great improvement. CW
was the money mode with 9 QSOs and
4 PHone QSOs. My best score ever for this contest. Great fun!
Spent some time in the NJ QSO Party:
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NJ QSOPARTY Summary Sheet
Start Date : 2020-09-19
CallSign Used : K4VBM
Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
Band : ALL
Power : LOW
Mode : MIXED+DIG
Default Exchange : GA
Gridsquare : EM73VX
Name : Robert G. Hensey Jr.
ARRL Section : GA
Club/Team : GEORGIA CONTEST GROUP
Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.8661.0
Band Mode QSOs Pts Mul Pt/Q
3.5 CW 7 14 1 2.0
3.5 LSB 3 3 0 1.0
7 CW 5 10 1 2.0
7 LSB 5 5 4 1.0
14 CW 1 2 1 2.0
Total Both 21 34 7 1.6
Score : 476
Rig : IC-7100 100W
Antennas : dipole for 20m and 520' wire loop
Soapbox :
My best score ever in this contest. CW was the money mode with 13
QSOs followed
by 8 Phone QSOs. Not very many NJ stations when I was looking. Great fun!
Played in the IA QSO Party:
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IA QSOPARTY Summary Sheet
Start Date : 2020-09-19
CallSign Used : K4VBM
Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
Band : ALL
Power : LOW
Mode : MIXED+DIG
Default Exchange : GA
Gridsquare : EM73VX
Name : Robert G. Hensey Jr.
ARRL Section : GA
Club/Team : GEORGIA CONTEST GROUP
Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.8661.0
Band Mode QSOs Pts Mul Pt/Q
3.5 CW 7 14 7 2.0
3.5 LSB 1 1 1 1.0
7 CW 6 12 6 2.0
7 LSB 15 15 14 1.0
14 CW 3 6 3 2.0
14 USB 6 6 6 1.0
Total Both 38 54 37 1.4
Score : 1,998
Rig : IC-7100 100W
Antennas : 20m dipole and 520' wire loop
Soapbox :
Had fun chasing rover N0HJZ, Rich, in this one. Had him on 20m
until the band died,
and then finally found him again on 40m for the rest of the
party. If you have never
chased a rover, try it some time - it's a lot of fun. Phone was
the money mode with 22
QSOs closely followed by 16 CW QSOs. The best I have ever done in
this contest.
I think the new solar cycle has begun! Great fun!
And let's not forget the Washington State Salmon Run:
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WA QSOPARTY Summary Sheet
Start Date : 2020-09-19
CallSign Used : K4VBM
Operator Category : SINGLE-OP-ASSISTED
Band : ALL
Power : LOW
Mode : MIXED+DIG
Default Exchange : GA
Gridsquare : EM73VX
Name : Robert G. Hensey Jr.
ARRL Section : GA
Club/Team : GEORGIA CONTEST GROUP
Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.8661.0
Band Mode QSOs Pts Mul Pt/Q
3.5 CW 3 9 0 3.0
7 CW 12 36 0 3.0
7 LSB 3 6 1 2.0
14 CW 39 117 15 3.0
14 RTTY 1 3 0 3.0
14 USB 21 42 4 2.0
Total Both 79 213 20 2.7
Score : 5,760
Bonus Station Summary
Callsign(s) : W7DX, W7DX/M
QSOs : 3
Bonus Points : 1500
Rig : IC-7100 100W
Antennas : dipole for 20m and 502' wire loop
Soapbox :
WOW! Crushed my score from last year. CW was the money mode, but
got a number of phone contacts, and one RTTY contact.
Managed to contact the bonus station on all 3 modes for the
maximum possible bonus! One more multiplier than last year.
Always room for improvement hi hi. 20m really opened up nicely on
the 2nd day allowing me to get some stations I missed
the day before. 20m was the money band from GA with 61 QSOs, 40m
was 15 QSOs, and 80m was 3 QSOs for a total of 79.
Heard Alaska and Hawaii working WA stations as well as DX. The
new solar cycle is here for sure. Great fun!
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Hope you all had time to have fun on your radio(s) and made lots
of contacts.
Looking forward to the new solar cycle.
73 and stay safe everyone,
Bob Hensey
K4VBM (Very Bad Memory)