ARRL 10-Meter Contest
Call: N7AT
Operator(s): K8IA
Station: K8IA
Class: SO CW HP
QTH: AZ
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
CW: 992 95
SSB:
-------------------
Total: 992 95 Total Score = 376,960
Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Comments:
Simple setup here:
TT Orion II
Alpha 8410
3el SteppIR at 78', rotary
Bencher Skyhawk log cell tribander (4 el on 10m) at 45', fixed east
General info not on 3830 compilation:
DXCC Countries = 30 (best surprise was V51YJ, who answered my CQ and big ZS6RJ
sig Sunday)
JA = 6 (All Friday eve, never really a good path this weekend)
VK/ZL = 18 (expected more)
XE states = 15 (Hard from this close, especially XE2)
This year the best activity and propagation since 2006. Even when you consider
the increased K on Sunday and decreased cndx. Way better than the past 2-3
years. 2010 ARRL 10M was a year not to miss! Those of you that were Mixed mode
entries, with above average antennae, could have some enormous QSO totals. 1500+
q's from out here in AZ, Mixed mode, wouldn't surprise me, as we had some truly
solid Es openings.
CW only category brought good, but not great, activity and a reminder that
there are solid activity related reasons why ARRL assigns 4 points to a cw qso
and 2 to a ssb qso. I had some truly putrid hours, as expected, but also a 90
minute period on Saturday morning where 225 stations were worked (161 q's best
60 minute period) and my log during this time looks like the FL and VA
callbook! Not bad for cw, for me anyway, and is approaching my personal best cw
hour in any contest. ;-)
This contest was a great opportunity to practice my SO2V skills (via N1MM
Logger) as well. Other than during the serious Runs, there was plenty of time
for SO2V and it probably accounted for 80 extra qso's, maybe more. I'll have to
check stats later to confirm. Try this challenging way to operate and increase
your score. I have recommended to the cw multiop regulars here that they learn
SO2V. Once this skill is learned for Unassisted operation, it's use with spots
(for our Multiop efforts) becomes very easy. Give it a go!
I always love the propagation challenge of ARRL 10. In a short period of time,
you can encounter F2-skip, Tropo, Backscatter, E-skip, TEP, ground wave, of
course, sometimes even meteor scatter, you name it. Chasing those E-skip
"clouds" of ionization can prove very productive and fun too, especially those
far off the normal azimuth between stations. Two such E-skip periods were noted
here Saturday. One where nearly everything worked for 40-50 minutes was peaking
110 degrees. Another where 70% of the q's for 30 minutes were peaking off some
Es cloud in the Pacific.
Having two separate 10m antennas allowed notable TOA (take off angle) checks.
Even at 45', my low fixed yagi is almost 1.4 wavelengths high. Most of the TX
stations worked (over 100) were from 5-10 dB stronger on the low yagi. Having
this kind of angle diversity is very helpful on 10.
ARRL 10M Contest.......it keeps you sharp. ;-)
73, Bob K8IA
Trustee of N7AT
Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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