ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: W2ID
Operator(s): W2ID
Station: W2ID
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: NNJ
Operating Time (hrs): 20
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 360
40: 216
20: 236
15: 30
10: 0
------------
Total: 842 Sections = 78 Total Score = 131,352
Club:
Comments:
That was truly great fun! Here is the obligatory long list of excuses and
apologies:
Sorry to all for the CW sending errors - I was unable to figure out how to
enable my PC send CW, so it was all hand sent the old-fashioned way. I learned
the hard way that my whiz-band new desktop PC doesn't have a parallel port (!),
so my trusty W1WEF LPT keying interface looks like it has now become a
paperweight. :-( Thank goodness for I2RTF, or my CW would have probably been
even sloppier. Graciella #73 finally got used for what it was designed to do,
and it was a true joy to use, albeit with one very rusty operator at the helm.
Sorry I missed the first 7 hours of the contest, which always has the best
rates. I was traveling all day, and then, in true Field Day style, had to put
up some antennas and build my complete station when I got home several hours
after the start of the contest. This took until almost midnight Saturday night
before I had everything hooked up and plugged in. (I remember doing this part in
the snow as a teenager. That was back in the pre-global warming days...)
Walking across the radio room was a safety hazard that would probably require a
hard hat and a signed safety waiver for third party entrance.
Radio 1: FT-1000MP to 80 meter dipole up 30', center fed with open wire tuned
with Palstar auto-tuner, including 100' of open wire snaking all around the
radio room because I just didn't have the heart to cut 70' off of it.
Radio 2: FT-1000MP to ground mounted and very lazy 160 meter "inverted L" fed
with coax, impossible to tune properly with the arsenal of tuners tried, so it
was barely useful since the rig wouldn't put more than about 40W into it.
Thanks to N6IG and eBay, this was my first time doing SO2R with matching
radios. My SO2R days began with a TS-830S for rig 1 and Heathkit SB-401/303 for
rig 2. Then I graduated to FT-1000MP for rig 1 and TS-830S for rig 2 in 1995.
Now that I have a second FT-1000MP, I can easily see how SO2R is capable of
adding a LOT of extra QSOs. Thanks to K1TTT for selling me his old WX0B SO2R
Master switch box. Even though I had to use it in fully manual mode, due to
lacking an LPT port on my PC, it still made listening to both radios and
switching the keyer a simple and error-free task.
The 80 meter dipole at just 30' played really well on all bands from this new
hilltop QTH. It is going to be great fun once I can get some proper antennas
up. Had KH6 answer my CQ on 80M, and reached KL7 on 40M on first call. In fact,
LA5HE sent me an email complaining I was loud and was CQing in the DX window on
80M. Oops - no wonder the frequency was clear and all those Italians were
answering my CQs. My bad.
Wasted an hour trying to figure out how to get contesting software to show me
the second radio's VFO. Knew I should have installed the software before the
contest and tried it out! (Whose idea was it to not include the equivalent of
the secret backslash key as a menu option anyway?)
It was great to hear so much activity, and inspiring to hear so many really
good operators. Also there seemed to be a pretty decent number of newcomers,
which is great. Worked one great op whose check was '36 - that was AWESOME, and
I hope to be like him some day.
Thanks to W2RE for inviting me to operate from his killer new moutaintop
station. From hearing his score, it seems like I missed a great opportunity by
deciding to operate from home instead.
And now, there are less than two weeks left to try and get some kind of gain
antennas in the air for 20M and 15M in time for Phone Sweepstakes.......
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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