CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1996
Call: K1IU(W2SC Op) Country: United States
Mode: SSB Category: Single Operator
BAND QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 24 5 15 1/4 wave GP with raised radials
80 138 17 58 4 Square
40 284 24 81 402CD
20 722 29 104 4/4/4
15 862 24 95 4/4/4
10 70 10 24 7L LTA
----------------------------
Totals 2100 109 377 => 2,910,654
Club Affiliation: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
I haven't been doing this contest stuff for long but I
don't remember a weekend that had the mix of ups and downs
like this year's CQWW SSB.
I have taken a new job that moved me out of the northeast
and had very little time to think about radio. However, as the
contest season approached I started to get the itch. The
last straw was getting QST with the ARRL SSB scores where I
finished second to K1AR from K5ZD's fine station. I sent Randy
and E-Mail thanking him again for the use of his station and kind
of hinting that if ever is not going to use it, I would be glad to
not let it go idle. He told me that he spent part of the summer
helping K1IU rebuild his station and maybe Jeff might let me use
it for SSB. I went ahead and contacted Jeff, having only talked to
him a few times in the past. He enthusiastically offered me the
station since, although being an excellent contester, he is not
much of a fan of SSB. We discussed station setup beforehand and
I managed to stop by on a business trip the week before the
contest to install my FT-1000 and two radio switching gear.
Everything was all set by the time the contest started. Jeff has
an 87A with the automatic antenna selector which worked like dream.
When you change bands, you just grunt into the mike and the amp
is tuned. The only negative was that the SWR was too high on the
402CD and the 87A would trip out. To operate 40, I had to use the
second radio and amp which, due to my two radio switching scheme,
prevented me from listening on the first radio. Usually, this is not
a problem. I didn't see this as a fatal problem and felt good about
the overall state of the station. My biggest concern was my own
stamina as my work schedule has been grueling and I have felt exhausted
for weeks.
I started out on 20 and, on the second QSO, CT would not accept the enter
key and I could not log the contact. I rebooted and did not give it another
thought. Jeff has a 4 square on 80 that has worked very well so I was
planning to push that band very hard. The first hour was spent S&Ping
on 20 and 40 with a few 40 meter CQ's thrown in. Did OK for the first
two hours and started to settle in for the night on the low bands. The
next 9 hours were pure frustration without a single hour over 30 Q's.
I simply could not getting anything going on any band despite numerous
unanswed CQ's and repeated band changes. The only consolation was that
many of the multi's were also whining about the conditions.
Eventually 20 showed some signs of life and became runnable. My frequency
sounded OK until the Europeans turned their beams to the US and it
became very messy. I found a quiet spot near the band edge and ran well
for a few minutes until a very faint W3LPL came up just below me and the
rate dropped through the floor. There was finally a chance to work some
guys and I could not hold a frequency.
I heard some of the local multi's getting answers on 15 so it was pretty
easy to QSY. The next two hours were over 100 so things were finally
starting to happen. At that point Randy stopped by to compare scores.
He knows that I don't like to give my score but I relented after he
told me that he was going to quit. When I gave him my score he asked if
I was operating in the low power class. He was killing me on 80 and 20.
With his motivation renewed, Randy decided to continue
while I was totally depressed. The next seven hours were a struggle to
maintain my desire and I probably would have quit if I had been at home.
All the while I was struggling with a technical problem. Every so often
CT would stop accepting the enter key or any of the numbers. I
tried all kinds of kind things with the computer including eliminating
the TSR's one by one. Overall, the computer crashed about 20 times and
I did a lot of hand logging until I finally got the problem to abate
by lowering the power to about 800 Watts. Never did find or fix the
problem but it sounds RF related.
At 2130Z I decided to go to 40 to try and catch the Europeans before they
went to bed. I called a CQ listening at 7020 and proceeded to run 120
stations in the next two hours. I had to move my listening frequency
down to 7018 when VB9DH came up but it was unquestionably the best 40
meter SSB run I have ever had. The only negative was not being able to
listen on 20 which, looking at my score, probably cost many mults.
Nonetheless, it was the spark I needed to regain my motivation.
I was driven to push as hard as I could and CQ tirelessly on the low
bands. Perhaps I had not tried hard enough the first night. The next
11 hours were all under 20 Q's. Remarkably, I never got tired and only took
two short 15 minute naps. Jeff has an alarm clock that sounds like an
air horn so waking up was a unpleasant experience. I also decided that
I could not take another morning of computer crashes on 15 and 20 so I
decided to use my laptop to log and Jeff's computer to drive the DVP.
At 3AM I reconnected the cables to make this all work and things performed
flawlessly the rest of the weekend at the legal limit.
The morning twenty meter opening was very unproductive and I quickly went
to 15 at 1130 and worked an incredible 470 stations in the next 3 hours
with a qrate best hour of 203. I have never had a better hour or three
hour string. It made the whole weekend worthwhile and I was sure glad I
took the time to hook up my computer.
When I went back to twenty, I mistakenly hit ctrl-F1 instead of alt-f1 which
locked the laptop and I had no idea how to undo it. I had to reboot for
it to come back. I pushed hard until the end hoping for another big 40
meter
opening which did not occur. I was running on 40 in the last hour and the
rate dried up so I decided to make a quick pass through 160 but I could not
hear any stations. The same situation occured on 80. I was beginning to
wonder if the FT1000 was dead when the phone rang. Jeff was at K1HMO and
was calling to see how I did. I told him that I was still operating but he
insisted that the contest was over. As I went back to the operating
position,
I got dizzy and tripped over a garbage can and pulled the phone off the
table. It turns out that when I rebooted my laptop, Windows 95
automatically
modified the time to reflect the time change so it still said 2310. The
contest
was indeed over which clearly explained the lack of signals. It also
screwed
up the login the hour I rebooted the computer.
Overall, it was a contest of extremes. Several excellent hours on 40 and 15
interspersed in a very frustrating weekend. The technical problems
notwithstanding, Jeff has an excellent station and I should have turned in
a better score. I pushed myself as hard as I could but just couldn't get
anything
going. Congratulations to K5ZD, KM9P, N6BV, and K3ZO who all kicked my
butt. This time I had plenty of hardware and no excuses.
I would also like to thank Jeff, K1IU (now K1AM) and his wife Terri for
thier hospitality and the use of his fine station. Good luck on CW Jeff!!
I would like to be active on CW if I can find a station, hint, hint
73,
Tom W2SC
tom.georgens@symbios.com
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