[WriteLog] WT4I, THOR "Thunder Dog" NAQP 2000

[Bruce Lifter]

Some of the high points of the contest:

   8P6SH moving me to 10 meters and actually being able to hear him off
   the back of the beam.

   Working NH6XM on two bands in my last 5 minutes of the contest.

   No thunder and lightening!

Other than lousy propagation, my only low point:

   As bad as the propagation was, as tough as it was to decode all those
   fluttery signals, the worst point in the contest came around 01:00 UTC
   (9 PM) when I tried my 80 meter antenna and found the SWR was through
   the roof. I had just repaired my 80 meter dipole two weeks earlier.
   What could have gone wrong? I yelled for my wife to find me a flash
   light and a pair of shoes.

   Of course the flashlight did little good. You can't see much of a dipole
   at 80 feet during the day much less in complete darkness with a tiny
   flashlight. I lowered the dipole and checked the connections. There was
   no problem there, coax properly attached, both legs still connected. I
   raised it back up and somehow managed to get one of the legs wrapped
   around a guy wire. (At least that is what I think happened. It was the
   only explanation I could come up with as to why it would not go up the
   final 10 feet.) I checked the SWR at the base of tower. (Why didn't I
   do that first?) It dipped at about 1.7:1. Not what I remembered it to
   be 2 weeks ago but certainly an antenna. The problem must be in the 150
   feet of coax between the radio and the base of the tower. I decided to
   swap to the coax feeding the TH6. This worked and I was finally on the
   air on 80 meters. Luckily the whole process took only about 25 minutes.

Here is my raw score:

         Band  QSOs  Mult
         ----  ----  ----
          80m   18    14
          40m  119    42
          20m  153    44
          15m   97    40
          10m    4     2
              ----- -----
  Totals:      391 x 142  =  55,552

My equipment:

   Lots of antennas, towers, TNCs, coax, radios, computer, and stuff
   all driven by the WriteLog software. The new (new to me) Icom 756
   performed well and I successfully ran my first contest using the
   soundcard TNC. I am spoiled by true o'scope tuning but the sound
   card TNC did a good job even in the terrible conditions. The things
   I liked about the 756 include the spectrum scope (makes it real easy
   to check the activity on the band and, search and pounce) and the
   noise reduction capability.

Thanks:

   I appreciate all that those dogs that got off the porch and tolerated
   the conditions. Thanks for the QSOs! I especially thank those that had
   their patience tested by having to repeat exchanges many times due to
   the flutter.

73, Bruce WT4I "Thunder Dog"


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