ARRL International DX Contest 1999
Call: AA4LR Country: United States
Mode: SSB Class: SO - Low Power
Band QSO QSO Pts Countries
20 7 18 6
15 27 78 22
10 37 111 22
Total 71 207 50 = 10,350
Club Affiliation: South East Contest Club
Total Operating Time: less than 6 hours
Equipment Description:
TS430S running 40-80 watts (see comments)
Attic-mounted Delta Loop at 25 feet - 15m / 10m
R7000 at 8 feet 20m / 15m / 10m
Comments:
Due to persistant Telephone RFI problems with my neighbor, this was the
first phone contest I've operated in quite some time from my home
station. I decided to just dabble a bit, grabbing a bit of operating time
when I could.
Transceiver power comes from a deep-cycle battery under the operating
table. Unfortunately, this battery was just about to give up the ghost.
If I ran too much power out, the transceiver would sometimes go blank. So
I ran under 50 watts most of the time. After the contest, the battery
refused to hold a charge at all.
I had just completed some attic-mounted delta loop antennas for 15m and
10m earlier in the week. They performed quite well. My operating hours
didn't necessarily permit me to be on for the best openings. In
comparison to the R7000, the loops did very well. Signals were often 2
S-units louder on the loops. There were just a few cases where the R7000
worked better. Between 15m and 10m, I worked all continents on the loops.
Best moment was calling V31JP early Sunday morning on 15m, just as the
band was beginning to open. Joe replied with "Hi Bill, did you just turn
the beam?" "What beam?" "<laughs> Well, you just got a bit louder, so
that tells me the band is changing" I told him I was using a delta loop
in the attic.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@radio.org
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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