N5RZ CW Sprint-1500 Watts February 1996
Score: 55 x 24 =1320 Maybe a bug & low power is better??? -not!
I actually made 100 qsos, but here's the story.
Got everything set up about an hour before the contest. I was really fired
up for this one because I knew it would give me a chance for some badly
needed 2 radio practice.
I had some problems with RF in the shack before the test started, but
thought I had it all worked out.
20M was lukewarm, but I knew it would fade fast. At 2358 I was BSing with
N6TV when ..oooooops spilled my 44 oz glass of ice water on the table &
me. No time to clean it up, so grabbed the little rag I had & pushed it off
on the floor. Luckily the equipment & keyboard was spared.
0000Z - off to the races - was going 2+ a minute for about 10 minutes the
band started to crater. My leg was freezing from the ice water & my feet
were sloshing in it - was an interesting predicament. Ended the 1st hour
with about 80 qso's with more band changes than I'd made in all previous
sprints combined! Condx sucked but I was having fun. I did notice, though,
that I was occasionally getting some RF into the computer keying. Just
after qso #100, switched back to 20M, called a stn & everything locked up -
the keyboard, the keying line, everything. No choice but to reboot.
Everything came up fine except - OH NO only 55 qso's. Checked the
files, but that's all there was.
No problem I thought. I'd just start over & sort out the dupes later. HOWEVER,
as I was pondering this dilema (sp?) something else was happening - that
noise with associated S-Meter readings of 60DB over 9 on both radios. I ran
outside to be greeted with 50 MPH winds & blowing dust so thick I could only
see a few hundred feet. The static discharge was totally wiping out the
receivers.
My decision was made for me. I immediately disconnected everything (I
pulled a one inch spark when disconnecting the 80M ant!!) and went in to
watch TV with the XYL - except the TV antenna was wiped out too!! So a
friendly game of Scrabble ensued.
I don't know what caused the computer glitch. I don't think it was
software, but perhaps a voltage spike or some kind of static discharge. Sue
said that right before I came in the house, all the TV/Stereo electronics
was clicking on & off but never completely died. We've only has 0.1 inch of
precipitation since last October & it is very dry. It is a sight to behold
outside this morning (Sunday). Our driveway is completely covered with sand
& the yard looks like Saudi Arabia sand dunes!!
Anyway, I'll tell Tree not to scratch the QSO's that I lost. Here's my
score for the team - Sorry Eric!!
See ya'll in September with better results I hope!!
73, Gator N5RZ rbowen@computek.net
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