TAMIAMI AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, Venice, FL
Call: W4ZW Category: 1A
BAND CW QSO CW QSO PTS SSB QSO SSB QSO PTS
80 23 230 0 0
40 90 900 0 0
20 243 2430 8 40
15 260 2600 56 280
10 28 280 2 10
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644 + 66 = 710 Total QSO
(6440 CW QSO PTS + 330 SSB QSO PTS) X 5 POWER MULTIPLIER + 400 BONUS = 7,170
Operator List: W4ZW, W9ATV, N8ZKP, KD4SOJ
Equipment Description: IC-756 @5W; 80M Delta Loop, 80M Bobtail
40M Bi-square, 4 element tribander
Club Affiliation: Tamiami Amateur Radio Club, Venice, Florida
The weather cooperated with us for this year's Field Day! After threatening
thunderstorms, it just turned out to be VERY HOT! The location was the
same as last year on Casey Key Island next to the public beach. This year
we tried the QRP, battery category, and judging from the work to make QSO's,
it may be our last. We used three large capacity, deep cycle, marine
batteries and they worked very well. This power level is about 13db (or 2
S-units) down from the normal 100 watts, but our antenna gain helped our
signal enormously, especially on the higher bands.
Many of us have operated QRP at one time or another, but let me tell you
that doing it during a contest is a real experience! It was frustrating to
call stations repeatedly and have them CQ in your face. Added to this was
the extremely high noise level on 40 and 80 during the night due to the
massive thunderstorms across the central and northeastern states. But when
15 and 20 were open and the path was in, it was even possible to run on a
frequency. But Search and Pounce was the normal mode of operation.
Sometimes it was easier to call CQ on a clear frequency since if we got a
call that meant they could hear us!
Our goal this year was 700 contacts as a QRP entry and we just succeeded!
We made 644 CW contacts and 66 SSB contacts for a total of 710 QSO's. With
our low power multiplier and bonus points, our final score was 7,170 which
is quite good for our 1A class. Last year we made 1097 contacts for a final
score of 4,980 in the same 1A class, and in 1996 we had 920 contacts for a
score of 4,090 also in 1A class. So even though our number of contacts was
much lower this year, our score improved by using low power and high gain
antennas. We had some confusion during the contest about our class since
we started as 1A and about midway through a 1B (Battery) station told us we
should be 1B if we were battery operated and not 1A. So we changed our
exchange to 1B. After reviewing the definitions, we are 1A since this is
the Club entry category. 1B is for a non-club battery entry.
Jon Hamlet, W4ZW
Casey Key Island, Florida
"A little bit of paradise in the Gulf of Mexico"
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