[UK-CONTEST] GM0F (GM4AFF) IOTA SOABHP SSB Unassisted 24hr

[Cooper Stewart]

GM0F (GM4AFF) IOTA Single Op All Band High Power 24 hours

Band    QSO    Mult
80m     129     29
40m     285     45
20m     767     97
15m     269     48
10m      57     13
Totals 1520    231
Some dupes
QSO Points Total - 8751
Total Raw Score - 2021481 (all still to be verified)

Great to see the write-ups coming in. I like reading how other people deal
with things! This was my first contest since the great St Cyrus tornedo of
31 January 2002. Nearly all new antennas, two matching radios (and a spare)
which work reliably, some stubs to cut cross-talk and a new amp. What could
possibly go wrong? Yes, that's right, the IT. And how many other groups or
individuals had a computer related problem last weekend? Loads, I would
surmise. As I run an IT department and have access to a fairly large chunk
of IT I am considering doing some tests on different PCs, network cards,
monitors, keyboards, and so on, to establish what works and what doesn't,
when subjected to 400w. And as for the software... don't even mention that.
I may resort to using DOS Edit on a 386 soon. Perhaps the time has come to
embrace client/server technology.
I like IOTA because you can't just sit and run. I was out to beat my last
year's score ('cos the first prize isn't a holiday), and even made up a
little mult target 'meter'. When I started failing to hit my targets I
stopped using it! SO2R is ideal for IOTA, running on one band/radio and
slowing plodding up another band on the second radio. At least in a single
mode scenario. No great technology or expense involved. Conditions, however,
were so bad here that I recognised every signal I came across on 15m and 10m
for most of the time. 10m only opened briefly to EU. It was a real struggle.
There is something in what Clive said about "two stations S&P'ing will never
work each" other that makes me wonder about IOTA though.
Once again, I recorded the entire event. I set the software to 'switch off'
if there was no sound, so my voice has not been recorded. Only 108MB of disk
space using 8kHz mono sampling saved as a .wav file. At one point, I
listened to Andy (M6T) for a few moments as he worked stations I couldn't
even hear. (Reminds me of 144MHz!) I only worked a handful of JA stations,
and I think I worked more US stations on 80m and 40m than I did on 20m, 15m
or 10m together.
Nevertheless, it's still good fun. I slept for 45 minutes and only left the
table for a few 'visites au toilette'. As one who is very interested in
managing sleep and diet, I have not been managing to control sleep
deprivation in contests myself at all well recently. At least I seem to have
cracked the problem a little. I took Friday off work and did very little all
day. (Much the same as being at work really, I hear some say.)

Equipment:
Kenwood TS940 + Alpha 91b
Kenwood TS940 + Collins 30S1
Home made SO2R switch box and antenna switch + stubs. 
10m - 5 ele Create at 35ft 
15m - 5 ele homebrew YO at 45ft 
20m - 4 ele Force-12 EF420 at 60ft 
40m - 2 ele Cushcraft 402CD at 50ft 
80m - (tried a delta loop, SWR went high) dipole at 60ft

73 to all
Stewart
GM4AFF
www.qsl.net/gm4aff