View of 1998 NAQP from Colorado
NA QSO SUMMARY SHEET
Contest Dates : 15-Aug-98, 16-Aug-98
Callsign Used : N4VI
Operators : CHRIS ADAMS, N4VI
Category : Single Op
Default Exchange : Chris, Colorado
Name : Chris Adams
Address : 8494 Stoneridge Terrace
City/State/Zip : Boulder, CO 80302-9355
Country : United States
Team/Club : Tennessee Contest Group Team #1
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Mults
__________________________________________________
160SSB 1 1 1 1
80SSB 30 30 30 19
40SSB 76 76 76 26
20SSB 168 167 167 41
15SSB 117 117 117 29
10SSB 61 61 61 12
__________________________________________________
Totals 453 452 452 128
Final Score = 57856 points.
Rig: Kenwood TS-870
Antennas:
80m: inverted vee apex @ apx 50? @ apx
40m: W8JK - I load this thing up on 160m to work w0ua/k0rf line of
sight! Do occasionally use it on 15m and 10m especially before the D-3
dipole. 20-40? depending on which end of the antenna (our lot slopes a
lot!)
20/15/10: Cushcraft D-3 rotatable dipole w/o rotator. ;-) Apx 40?
high
40-15m antennas favor East/West propagation. If 80m Vee was a dipole it
would favor N/S direction.
Quick Summary:
1. When the last hour is the 2nd best of the contest (especially
considering QRN levels) there?s a problem here!
2. Poor band management (perhaps), not enough mults on 40/80.
3. Not enough Qso?s!
Comments:
My comments will appear haphazard because they are . . . .
I listened to the bands before the contest and 20/15/10 were all open so
I was really jazzed. However, when the contest started there seemed to
be almost no activity and 10m had shut down. Many op?s must take there
off-time at the beginning. In retrospect, the band openings were "long"
and really not that favorable for stateside operation from Colorado.
That being said, I was really having trouble tuning in stations, it was
always like there was some strong station close to my frequency even
when there wasn?t, disturbing the AGC making it very hard to hear/tune
any but the strongest stations. So at 2 ½ hours into the contest I took
a break to regroup. I had also noticed HUGE amounts of noise on 10m.
Had heard this in the past but it would come and go and never really
bothered me. A little light went on that maybe this noise was affecting
my receiver on the other bands since it was broadband in nature. So
during my off time, I went to the circuit breaker and turned off the
electricity to the house. The only time the 10m noise went away was
when I turn off the power to the radio (I sure am glad TR is so good at
re-starting from impolite power down situations!). I knew the neighbor
above me had a burglar alarm so I called him and asked him to "humor me"
and turn it off. He informed me that it was off. I then mentioned
that the only other thing that could make that noise was an electric
fence, but I didn?t know anyone who had one. Bingo! He turned that off
and all my receiving problems went away.
Unfortunately, as the attached rate sheet shows, it didn?t exactly help
my rate (it did help my sanity however)! Up until about 2300z,
although 15m was "alive" it was a struggle. Then it opened up and a
decent run was the result. Next stop was 10m and a 57 qso 0000z hour. I
kept wanting to take time off as there were 5 hours left and 1 ½ hours
of off time to take. Took an hour off at 01:15z and came back to mostly
20m and my first venture to 40m. During the 0300z hour I parked on
7174Khz and called CQ. The reward was a 51 Qso hour. Took a ½ hour off
during the 0400 hour and still had 36 qso?s, not too bad.
The last hour was quite interesting. It turned out to be my 2nd best of
the contest. I had a run on 80m, but the QRN was so bad I abandoned it
(eventually). I could tell people were calling, in fact I was getting
compliments on my strong sig, but it was tortuous copy on this end.
Spent the last 6 minutes of the contest on 40m and was rewarded with 12
qso?s and 6 new mults. A very rewarding last 6 minutes I?d say! This
was definitely my best "last hour" of any NAQP. Considering the s-9 QRN
level, I?m quite proud of that.
In summary (yea he?s finished) it was a disappointing effort, my goal
was for > 500 qso?s and I didn?t make it. Also, I would like to thank
all the TCGr?s I worked for the words of encouragement and welcoming me
to the team. It was a great experience. THANKS!
OFF TIMES: 20:28 - 21:03 (fixed electric fence)
01:14 - 02:17 (ate P&J sandwich and took a walk)
04:33 - 05:03 (watched Rockies baseball... they won!)
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