ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: WP3R
Operator(s): KE3Q
Station: WA3FET/KP4
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Esperanza, PR
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
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160: 0
80: 0
40: 129
20: 392
15: 477
10: 513
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Total: 1511 Sections = 80 Total Score = 241,760
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
I was sweatin' VO for the sweep too. I was close to making a band change when
VO1TA called me, weak, Sunday morning. Whew! VO is off the normal beam
heading. I was very careful to repeat his whole exchange back to him and get
"QSL QSL." I came very close to missing the QSO with him. Then, late in the
contest, 23Z or so, VO1MP called in, also weak. Tnx to you both for getting on
and bailing us out! VY1JA was a SS hero as usual.
Even though some of you may think winning SS is easy from KP2/3/4, I was
contemplating this last weekend that it's not that simple. At our station, for
instance, there is a LOT of work that goes in to get and keep the station on the
air. When I first arrive I do "triage" to see what's working, what's not, to
prioritize pairs and hopefully get everything going to still get some sleep and
be competitive. And sometimes things are working at first but fail later. This
time, the SWR went high on the 20M beam and the AC failed at 3:30 Saturday
morning, setting off the UPS, cutting off the air conditioner, etc. I didn't
know if it was a power company failure or just on site, etc. but figured there
wasn't much I could do 'til daylight. And, it's very dark when the power is out
during the dark of the moon, in a rural Puerto Rico site! Fortunately, Saturday
morning I was able to reach NP4A, who was probably the one person who could
troubleshoot the problem and get me on the air in time. He couldn't get there
'til about an hour before SS was to start! And, at that point I/we had no idea
if he would be able to fix it at all, if it wasn't an on-site problem. Once I
shut down all the optional AC using items, there was enough juice to run an
exciter or two, but not the air conditioner and not the amps, so I faced the
possibility of going A power rather than B and not knowing if power would go out
completely again. Pedro adjusted his schedule and got there 4 hours before SS
and was able to fix things. Again, whew! I still had time for a nap. No
further problems. But, it was close. And, I had to take a few trips up the
hill to troubleshoot and fix the 20M yagi problem too -- a shorted coax jumper
it turned out. I didn't think sticking to 10, 15 and 40 would work out too well
-- I needed 20. The 80 SWR was bad too but I decided to forget 80, though I do
usually make a few second radio QSOs there.
So...it's a team effort to keep this site going. Thanks to WA3FET, WP3R, NP4A,
WP3N and others who make it happen.
73 - Rich, KE3Q
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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