re: W6XR, SOHB in WNY unassisted
QSO/Countries/Zones
160 20/10/7
80 68/37/13
40 134/75/26
20 570/109/33
15 475/98/33
10 245/67/21
Totals....1512 QSO
396 Countries
133 Zones
Points = 2.21M
Commentary,
Big plans -- big disappointment.
Unfortunately, did not get the second element on the tower for 80 in time,
so the part of my plan to increase my signal on 80 just never did happen.
Did a complete remodel of the ham-shack and finished it just hours before
the contest. Added another operating position and cabled the two radios
together so that I could do two radio contesting (using TR) and that really
worked well until Murphy hit. First problem was that at 11:00 PM on Friday
night the first amp had to be shut down as the blower failed. Did not want
to destroy a perfectly good 3CX1200, so decided to just turn it off. At
11:14 my beloved, faithful Mr. Alphy failed. Seems that the voltage
developed on the antennas when transmitting on other antennas was too much
for the amp and it would not do the normal transmit/receive functions. I
could use it, as it had full output, but only with the EWE's, and of
course that was not workable on anything but 80 and 160.
So, I spent most of Friday night, all day Sat., and into Sat.evening
without any amp. I learned that the guys who do this contest thing running
100 watts and QRP are indeed a hardy bunch! Went to sleep disgusted at
around midnight and my mind was racing and suddenly the proverbial light
bulb went off above my head. Did not Mr. Alphy have a fuse that protected
the T/R circuitry? Quickly I went to the manual and did verify that a fuse
was indeed in the line. Of course the type of fuse used by Alpha is barely
recognizable, yet alone obtainable, so I cut a piece of wire into the right
shape and put it into the correct holes and finally had success. Now I at
least had one amp. Decided to push hard from that point on till the end of
the contest, and my hourly breakdown sure shows the loss of the amplifiers.
Murphy had been finally put to rest.
Found conditions to be fine, although the flare did produce some band
challenges! Enjoyed the openings on 10 meters and it was sure nice to have
a JA run on 15 meters from the East Coast. I think it is more exciting
from this side, because the ops in Japan, are so thrilled to work this side
of the country. From California, it is such as commonplace thing that the
excitement is only in the volume to be found.
Did not hear many of the late Sunday pile-ups on 20 for various
multipliers, but that may be because I was working so hard to get the Q's
into the log. Most enjoyable contest as far as frequency management and
had only one frequency skirmish. I think that some East Coast ops think I
am still in California, and that my frequency is one that could possibly be
usurped easily! Did not even hear from the gang on 14230, the assigned and
enlightened slow scan frequency.
Did have an opportunity to give the new Yaesu 920 a complete work out over
the weekend. The 920 is a very good rig. Some of the features are easier
for me to use than those found on the 1000MP that sits next to the 920.
The DSP on the 920 is really great and is easy to use. The 920 receiver
did not overload once on 160/80/or 40 and it did everything I expected it
to do. Did not like the way the voice recorder was enabled as the VFO dial
can be moved easily when pushing the sequence of two buttons to call CQ.
The 920 is a great second radio and I am very happy with its performance.
Two radio contesting for single ops is the way to go. Even though I was
handicapped by the initial loss of the amps, it was easy to see how the
second radio was going to help out. Was surprised at how easy TR made the
whole thing. Only had one problem, and that was caused by me failing to
tell TR that I had switched from radio A to radio B. Started to get
duplicate Q error messages when I started to run Europe on 10 and that
alerted me to the brain fade induced error.
Hopefully, I will have a replacement blower in time for SS CW....will look
forward to working everyone during that one. Looking forward to the CQWW
CW....
Natan W6XR/2
W6XR is:
Yaesu FT1000MP and 920
Amps.....Alpha 86 and Amertron AL1200
Antennas (FORCE 12) include
160 Ground plane
80 Rotatable at 80'
40 2 el at 72'
20/15/10....stacked C3s at 85/45'
4 el monobander on 10 at 90'
All fed with Andrews Heliax
In the beautiful Southern Tier of New York State.
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