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AA4LR NA Sprint CW (LP)

To: <3830@contesting.com>
Subject: AA4LR NA Sprint CW (LP)
From: aa4lr@radio.org (Bill Coleman)
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 96 10:20:42 -0400
NA Sprint CW  AA4LR  Low Power  Low Antenna

Band    Q    M    D   Antenna
80m     2    2    0   125' doublet, 15' up
40m     5    4    0   125' doublet, 15' up
20m     3    3    0   125' doublet, 15' up
---------------------   
Total  10    9    0   = Score: 90

Rig:

Venerable TS430S, Murch UT2000 tuner. 90 watts CW.

Comments:

OK. Get it off your chest -- go ahead and laugh.

My first contest from my "new" shack. I ran the winter NAQP from my 
unfinished basement, but now I have an actual room. Now all I need is a 
real antenna and real radios. (And perhaps a real operator....)

Only had a couple of hours to operate. Kate (2 yr old) went to bed at 
0130z, and I was on the air at 0140z. Stayed on until 0340z when my 
bedtime came up.

Goal for this contest was practice. I need to accumulate more time in the 
"chair" (as KM9P calls it). I'm trying to elminate my pencil habit, so I 
copied all the CW by typing characters into my computer. Sounds laborious 
to you seasoned CW types, but it is the first step toward copying in my 
head.

NA Sprint is a very hard contest for slow-poke CW operation. In a 
"normal" contest, ops will sit on a frequency and repeatedly send out 
their call, exchange, etc. If you hang around long enough, you'll get all 
the info. No so with the Sprint. Everyone is always on the run, so you 
have to jump in and do what you can.

Of course, the ops were great. Everyone responded to my calls of "AA4LR 
QRS" by sending slowly. (Sometimes not slowly enough, but that's my 
problem) I, of course, repaid the favor by sending them rotten, 
error-filled, hand-sent CW. I confused the heck out of N6TR by chasing 
him back and forth on 20m. I think I was terribly weak, but he finally 
responded with "RS?", and we managed to work. 

Maybe I just need to change my call to AA4LRQRS for CW contests. When 
does Gate 2 open?





Bill Coleman, AA4LR           Mail: aa4lr@radio.org
Quote: "Not in a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901


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