At the last minute I decided I would operate, my wife Teresa has been real
sick and when her temp dropped below 100 yesterday AM at about 10 o'clock I
decided I WOULD get on. I would have brought the second computer over to the
station and ran two radio two computer, but I was thinking one radio wise
when I left the apartment.
First thoughts were to just to make some QSOs for the club score but as
always - I started salivating when the thought of contesting grew as I drove
over to the W1CW/W1YL station...Contesting Good, OJ like contesting.
I got there exactly one hour before the start of the contest.... convinced I
could set up everything for a two radio attack, by now I was mad I did not
bring the second computer in the car with me (jeez)....but, of course, this
attitude was all conceived in my head during the 20 minute drive over there!
I COULD GET IT ALL HOOKED UP AND QRV IN TIME......talk about a positive mind
set!
W1CW/W1YL were out - so after figthing back the attack cats, I proceeded to
the shack and plugged in the rotors, turned all the beams statside - and went
outside to verify where they were ointed (this IS a must - ask WC4E about his
visit to KP4 sometime). Then it was time to start with the coax jumpers,
coax switches, keying lines, two radio box audio and keying lines, and then
it hit me - I didn't have the rules with me - when should I check the high
bands or 160 - urrrrrgh, had I blown it?
Thanks to the miracles of high tech and the WWW, I had the rules in my e-mail
in-box on AOL - courtesy W9NQ errr K6ZZ (via WC4E) which I accessed as an AOL
guest from the computer in the living room at W1CW/W1YL. After signing on as
a guest op (hmmmmm) I found the e-mail from wc4e with Bob's rules, hit print
and ran back into the shack to get back to cables and cords and switches.
About ten mnutes to contest time I grabbed a Pepsi outta the fridge and
picked the rules up from the printer tray. I now knew which half hour and
what frequency to check should things turned out to be a bust propagation
wise!
Back to the station. Booted NA10.1, told it all the neccessary stuff...it
seemed ok. As I plugged the last audio leads in both rigs simultaneously
jumped off the table (or I guess I did) - it was 18:00 and CQs eminated from
the rigs...
I went to tune up the main rig and THUMP, the Titan lights went out,
arrrrrrrgh. I grabbed the vom and crawled under the table to the power
supply on the floor...very quickly I unscrewed and checked the fuses - they
were fine...now what....THINK FAST, THINK FAST, it is the first hour of the
contest, it is hot-rate time, oh sh**, I hear N5TJ CQing on the TS430/second
radio as it scans 28MHz for me...hit the hold button and quickly work him.
In hind sight I will regret this, not for working Tomato Juice Jeff...but
for my not sitting back for a second and collecting my thoughts about what
the hell was wrong with the station.....
Trying to do way too much in way too little time I have made the command
decision to run 70 Watts (mebbe 75) barefoot with the Omni and make what I
make....mind you for the next four and a half hours my mind is wondering what
the hell happened with the linear. In the past I have found there is a VERY
big difference between 75 watts and 150...it is always nice to have the
linear there - perhaps the component is psychological as much as physical -
knowing the competition is running twice as much power as you are!
CQing on 20 and 15 are productive but not super fast....it is as fast as
S&Ping so I resign myself to a solid mix of both - if I were running the 150
watts I would have CQ'd more on the main radio, without question (see, I was
psychologically defeated, already!) I try to remain focused on making Qs but
with Teresa sick and the rig snaffu I am not anywhere close to 100% focused,
the car trip over was one thing, reality is another. The rate is accpetable,
yes - but I ain't kickin no buttocks - I ain't got the juice.
Being spoiled last year by using two computers also played a role - that
second box to type in a call without having to change the bands on the
software each time is real nice.
Being less than thrilled I decide to break for dinner for a whole hour at
5:30...what the hell, I ain't gonna do nothin' in this one to speak of,
right? After eating I get an idea...the 220V in the shack had power, the
probe in the socket showed voltage.....OR DID IT?
NO NO NO! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID mistakes...yes there was voltage - on one
side of the line....one of the breakers had tripped so 110 yes, 220 NO! OK,
but what about the fuses????? They were ok OR were they.......NOT, I had the
vom up on really high resistance setting so while that needle swept across
the face when I read it at 18:02, what I was seeing was the resistance of
K4OJ, NOT THE FUSES! Yes, the fuses WERE BAD...and once replaced and the
circuit breaker tripped...voila, a fully functioning station. These are
precisely the kind of things Murphy rejoices in - contesters like me getting
overwhelmed with basically simple problems, which are like an Everest at
00:00 zulu!
With the station back to full bore, I ran 150W for the last "55%" of the
contest....
With my defeatest attitude in the first half of the contest the thought of
passing mults to 21 and 28 MHz was not high on my list....I KNOW I could have
passed more and done much better there - but it was NOT in my mind set -
remember, I was already defeated so F1, F1, F1 ho hum.... As it turns out my
24 mults on 28 was very good compared to the competition - if I had tried I
could have easily moved a half a dozen mults to ten I am sure....this is in
hindsight, after a very successful second half of the contest.
I decided NOT to go to 80 til late. By not going to 80 til late [it usually
bums me out big time - something I did not need any more of, I hate 80 with
the line noise and Florida static] - I was rewarded with a fun 02:00 hour.
At 02:06 I went to 80, it was a 114 hour, I think this may be one of my best
NAQP hours ever....talk about an emotional roller coaster! Just before SS
W1CW and I had walked through the neighboring muck filled (and I mean MUCK
filled) field to run a 600 ft beverage. As it turned out the beverage was
hardly used in SS since it was SS, and SS means 40 meters if you live in
these parts. I hadn't thought about it much til I got to 80 last
night...this beverage played perfectly - what a godsend.
With this incredable hour I decided NOT to go down in flames but to try and
turn it around. Some successful moving of mults between bands and a new PUSH
helped me to salvage what started out being the NAQP from hell...hopefully
with a lil luck I will be able slide into the bottom of the top ten box!
160 78 33
got there too late-poor off time planning forced QRT too soon
80 161 43
what a difference a beverage makes, night and day
40 211 51
there's no meters
20 163 48
woe's me-75 watts, boo hoo-"run em or give up the frequency"
15 119 37
gotta work on my passing game
10 63 24
signs of life - but its potential not fully realised
TOTAL 795 X 236 = 187,620
The multiplier total was way up for me - partially due to an improved 80
meters - the beverage is SO nice...beats snap, crackle and pop big time! More
mult passing to ten and fifteen could have been done if my head were there.
Had I been more serious and less defeated in the first half of the contest
this one I could have been (coulda woulda shoulda) much better off in the
results.
My only question is why the rest of us seem to operate in one category and
then there are Vegetable Juice (N4VJ/K4AAA) and Tomato Juice (N5TJ) who can
find 200 more QSOs than the rest of us.....congratulations to everyone,
especially you two - YOU NEED TO PUT ON A CLINIC AT DAYTON! Please, sign me
up!
Thanks guys n gals!
.....especially those who QSYd (where was "K1IU"?)
"OJ"
Jim, K4 Orange Juice
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