North American QSO Party - CW 1997
To: <3830@contesting.com>
Date: 08/03/1997 Call: AA4LR Exchange: BILL GA
Band QSOs Mults
160CW 0 0
80CW 22 12
40CW 22 17
20CW 12 8
15CW 0 0
10CW 0 0
total: 56 37 claimed score: 2,072
Team: South East Contest Club
Operating Time: 2:40
Equipment:
Kenwood TS430S running 90 watts (sometimes)
Cushcraft R7000 (40-10m)
125 foot doublet at 15 feet (80m)
Comments:
This is the first CW contest I've worked that I would call fun! Since I
was reunited with CW contests in January 1996 (after a six year hiatus),
most of them have been work. This time, I copied every dit in my head.
Still have a long way to go, but the pencil appears to be history.
Operating time was severly limited due to family obligations. (Never
schedule a family reunion on a contest weekend) I finally got on the air
at 0320Z. Found 20m open, but just barely. The only signals on were
NAQPers! 40m had a normal level of activity. 80m had an incredible noise
level, but signals rang clearly above that. I suppose 160m was even
worse, but I don't have an antenna for that band. Worked everything I
could hear, except for XE2MX, which says a lot for this pipsqueak station.
R7000 is tuned for the phone end of 40m, so SWR was rather high at the
low end. Rig only put out about 40 watts on that band. Even called some
CQs and got two answers. Rest were S & P.
Many thanks for the fine operators who could decode my hand-sent CW. I
won't call it "grotty" anymore, because I've actually gotten better at
it. Several fine operators slowed their sending speed to reply to my 18
WPM CW. (I can copy faster, but I don't SEND faster, at least not well)
Some slowed after I requested QRS. NM5M hung in there sending his name
over and over until I got it. I dunno what happened, but my brain wasn't
working that late at night.
Great contest - I can't wait for the phone portion!
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@radio.org
Quote: "Not in a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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