Stew Perry Topband Challenge
Call: N9ADG
Operator(s): N9ADG
Station: N9ADG
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: WWA
Operating Time (hrs): 13.5
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 219 Total Score = 995
Club: Western Washington DX Club
Comments:
That the Stew comes in that hazy period between Christmas and New Year's, with
its many opportunities for family events, seeing friends, and staying up late
just adds to the flavor of this contest as a 'party.' It's always great to hear
folks that you've met over the air, and also be a bystander to the 'HNY', 'GLs',
and 'Hi Bob's as one tunes the band. Oh, yeah, and there's our uncle (Ken, Don,
Ernie, Frank, Bart, most families have one) over there, still hasn't fixed his
radio -- he's standing there calling CQ with a lampshade on his head and
emitting tons of keyclicks.
A large wind storm here in the PNW brought chaos to many Hams in our area just
before Christmas; while others in the area suffered much greater damage, I was
fortunate to only have to repair two beverages, and put the 160m inv L up twice
(another windstorm 2 days before the contest) in the days before the contest.
The chainsaw played a big supporting role this year. One of my 100+' trees
blew over, not only was it one end of my inv-L support, but it also fell across
a beverage.
Ah, the contest. A nice start, but less than last year, with 32 q's in the log.
Could hear better on my N-Sish antenna after fixing it, so was pleased with
that. EU: SM5EDX was loud here, at about 0130z, and tried working him, but my
100w and 6 radials weren't up to it. Found LY2IJ later in the evening, same
situation. Heard SN2B, OZ7ZZ... and couldn't figure out who was sending JO..
grid. A couple of OH's were just a whisper. Later, got very lucky and found
GM3POI before the hordes, and was able to get an EU qso into the log (first one
ever in the SP!) Ran across N0FW/KP2 a number of times -- very loud. Realized
that I hadn't worked him well past the peak of being able to (worked him 2 days
before, and was just confused -- always see if they're in the log!)... and
learned another lesson for next time. KV4FZ started CQing about 400hz off my
frequency, but obviously couldn't hear me (no foul) and I even tried calling
him for about 20 minutes with no luck. Only heard him a few more times. Was
able to complete PJ2/WB9Z and P40W; heard YV5MBX, and CE1/K7CA but no luck.
It was gratifying to find that fixing a beverage helped get more JAs in the
log; calling CQ with my 100w landed more than one handful. Heard a VK, and
chased ZL3IX up the band (he was working others calling CQ), and tried a few
times when he stopped in the Window right before the end of the contest. Heard
a fellow WWDXCer K7LAZ work him with 100w about 4 minutes before the contest
end -- hearing him get him was *almost* as good as getting him in my log. After
listening for maybe an hour, I'm not going to forget RE66 for a very long time.
Was disappointed to not hear Pat W7TMT anywhere, perhaps he had other
commitments.
If you called me and I didn't hear you, can you please let me know? I always
like to improve. Sorry about the runaway keyer. There's still something with
the N1MM / Microham combination that's been destabilized.
Many thanks to the esteemed Boring ARC for a fine event, with the pre-event,
event, and post-event activities being all part of the great Stew package.
Brian N9ADG, CN97
See you next year, Murphy unwilling!
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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