Dear friends,
I have never looked forward with greater anticipation to any contest, =
than this year CQ Worldwide. The vagaries of surgery left me with only a =
few remaining workable parts to participate in my favorite contest. Even =
though, I knew that given a few workable digits on my right hand I can =
still get into the fray and be noticed.
My sensible wife pointed out to me that I was never going to be able to =
do single op again and be competitive, given what we had to work with. =
So near to the last-minute, I decided to do a multi-single from the =
station which is definitely set up for two radio single op operating. In =
the spring, as my rehabilitation continues, I will get the station set =
up the way it should the because I found out this weekend that setting a =
station up for multi-single is very, very, different then a set up for =
single op two radio. The biggest problem was learning the station. I use =
a lot of switches to move the available antennas to the two radio's. =
What I took for granted was difficult for other people to master. Also =
close proximity of the two radios set the stage for shoving matches =
between the operators particularly at night time.=20
Confounding the new operators even more was massive failures of hardware =
during the contest. We were most ineffective at night time as we lost a =
silly little switch that directed the 80 meter signal to the proper =
place that left us with a very low score on 80. Our 160 and 40 meter =
numbers were affected also by this damn switch. In a short amount of =
time during the evening hours, we lost our main amplifier, Mr.. Alphy. =
Of course the main amp was connected to radio No. 1 which made switching =
the amp from radio 2 over to the No. 1 position very difficult. Glad we =
didn't do it right away, because radio 2 decided to stop functioning. =
Early Sunday morning when it was my time to operate, I was treated with =
one less amplifier, one less radio, and a failed switch that took two =
hours to replace. We lost the European opening on 80 meters almost =
totally Saturday night because of that blasted switch. After the contest =
it was noticed that the stack was well below the height it should have =
been as I had lowered it last February and have not have the opportunity =
to raise the tubular tower back to its proper height.
Propagation this weekend was most enjoyable. It sure is nice seeing =
those 100 plus countries on the high bands, something we should have for =
many years to come. 40 meters was very good, with JA's and the Far East =
stations plentiful, along with very loud European signals. Hats off to =
HZ1AB for his position concerning listening below 7040. We certainly did =
not have the rates of last year on this year's high bands. It seemed =
next to impossible to get a good run going on 20 15 or 10. Looked at the =
rate sheet and it was way down when compared to my effort last year. It =
seemed at times, that the signals from competition were much more =
effective than they have been in past years. Once again I noticed that =
on 20 meters stations braying "CQ contest" were placed from 150 to 350 =
throughout a significant part of the weekend. This will cause us =
problems in the future.
It was most enjoyable having other operators to help out. Art, N2AU and =
Steve, KA2CDJ certainly made this weekend possible or more properly... =
Enjoyable. Both of these talented operators will help us become a force =
in multi-single over the coming years hopefully. Now the task at hand is =
to get the radio and the amplifier back in time, and to make some =
rudimentary changes here in the shack for CQ Worldwide C. W.. God =
willing, I'll see all of you there, maybe with a new callsign.its than
Natan, W6XR/2
CQ WW SUMMARY SHEET
Contest Dates : 24-Oct-98, 25-Oct-98
Callsign Used : W6XR
Operators : W6XR N2AU KA2CDJ KB2YVC
Category : MS
Default Exchange : 59 05
Name : Natan Huffman
Address : 27 Hungerford Rd,
City/State/Zip : Ithaca/NY/14850
Country : United States
Team/Club : SOUTHERN TIER CONTEST CLUB
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Countries Zones
___________________________________________________________
160SSB 22 22 30 9 7
80SSB 66 63 158 42 16
40SSB 125 125 341 60 20
20SSB 443 442 1257 115 37
15SSB 465 465 1293 114 33
10SSB 352 352 928 115 29
___________________________________________________________
Totals 1474 1470 4009 456 142
Final Score =3D 2,397,382 points.
This is to certify that in the contest I have operated my transmitter =
within
the limitations of my license and have observed fully the rules and=20
regulations of the contest.
Date ______________ Signed _____________________________ Call =
___________
W6XR is the following:
Radios... FT 1000MP, FT 920.
Amps... Alpha 86 and Alpha 374
Antennas... 160... quarter wave vertical
80... rotatable dipole at 80 feet
40... Two elements at 85 feet
20/15/10... STACK of two multiband yagi's.. (C3)
10 ..... Ten meter monobanders at 93'
W6XR is located in the Southern tier of New York State overlooking the =
Cornell campus
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