ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: WC1M
Operator(s): WC1M
Station: WC1M
Class: SOAB(A) HP
QTH: NH
Operating Time (hrs): 16
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80: 46 44
40: 72 55
20: 370 95
15: 416 93
10: 153 68
-------------------
Total: 1057 355 Total Score = 1,125,705
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
Antennas:
160M - (broken!) trapped vee @65'
80M - delta loop @75', (broken!) trapped vee @65'
40M - 40-2CD @75', 4-square
20M - 4-el @72'
15M - 5-el @50'
10M - 6-el @50'
580' NE beverage (never used in this contest!)
All yagis on separate tubular towers
Equipment:
FT-1000D + Alpha 87A, FT-1000MP + Acom 2000A, Writelog, TopTen band decoders
and switches.
The only thing worse than doing a CW contest with a raging headache is doing a
phone contest with a sore throat. Came down with a 103.4 fever Wednesday night,
stayed in bed all day Thursday, felt well enough to work on Friday. The small
white spot on my tonsils seemed to be smaller, so I didn't think it was strep.
Still hurt, though.
Late Friday discovered that my 160/80 vee was down -- one wire had pulled the
screw eye and a chunk of plastic out of the balun. No replacement balun and the
ropes were buried under three feet of ice. That's a project for the spring.
Anyway, no 160 in this 'test. Made a mistake not wearing snowshoes. I thought
the path I'd made was firm enough, but ended up postholing up to my hips in some
places. That didn't help my sickness.
Didn't feel so hot when the contest started and had trouble focusing on the
radios. Abandoned SO2R and used the dreaded packet to just S&P on 40 and 80
(what else can you do on those bands in a phone contest?) After all, it's more
points for the club and I knew there was no way I could put in enough hours to
be competitive in this one. All the talking made my throat feel worse, so I went
to bed about 0700z (2:00 AM local.) Woke up feeling really bad, the fever was
back, and there were lots of white spots on my tonsils. Uh oh. Wasted all of
Saturday AM at the local clinic, only to find out it wasn't strep and there was
nothing they could do for me (the new instant strep test is cool, though.) I
operated on and off Saturday afternoon and evening, then hit the sack early.
Awoke at 1000z (5:00 AM local) feeling better. Had some decent runs on the high
bands, especially 15 and 20. The 10-minute rate meter hit 200/hr a few times,
although that seemed pretty tame compared to 350/hr at 8P8P in CQWW SSB this
fall! After a while my voice would start croaking and I had to switch to
packet-hopping. When all three bands were open, I was able to push the rate
meter to 150/hr or so that way. Sort of fun, but mindless. Not as bad as RTTY
contesting, but definitely not for me. 10 never opened enough here to run, but
got in some good mult hunting.
Never used the beverage in this contest -- didn't need it. I think that's
because mostly strong stations get spotted on the low bands.
Received a lot of compliments on my signal Sunday, especially on 15 which is one
of my weaker bands. Strange. Maybe the percentage of high power stations was low
this time. Participation seemed kinda light -- lots of all-banders, just like
CW. Guess I was pretty loud because I busted most pileups right away. Actually
beat KC1XX and W3LPL several times on some tough ones. That felt good. Maybe the
DX liked my sound -- I keep the compression well within manufacturer's specs, so
I probably sound better than the usual overdriven garble, and since my throat
was wasted I spoke in normal or even hushed tones. NT1N will be happy to hear I
was forced to learn that shouting isn't necessary to make oneself heard on
phone. Maybe he'll do another multi with me someday :)
Did I mention I don't like phone? KT1V is right -- it's a lot harder on the ears
and is much more demanding physically. Personally, I can't stand the Donald Duck
sound from close stations just above me. Drives me nuts.
Even with sickness, packet and phone, contesting is still so addictive that I
had to be in the chair for some of it. You know, phone contesting would be a lot
more pleasant if the WARC folks would fix the 40m BC problem. If you agree, be
sure to send ARRL some money for that fund.
73, Dick WC1M
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