ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: W4AU
Operator(s): W4AU
Station: W4AU
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: VA
Operating Time (hrs): 20
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 474
40: 182
20: 253
15:
10:
------------
Total: 909 Sections = 80 Total Score = 145,440
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
For me, this year's CW SS was a study in extremes; from very good to
pretty miserable... It all started out well. After S&P'ing for about 30
minutes at a good rate on 20 (I like to start off like this because it
gives me an idea of how loud I am in terms of beating out other stations
calling), I found a hole and began running. I got a good rate going
quickly and began to use the second radio on 40 about 45 minutes into
the contest. (The long exchange in SS makes it easier to operate SO2R, I
found).
One sign that things were going well occurred when VY1JA called me at
2207. One of the nagging feelings for me when operating unassisted is
working the really rare sections and getting a clean sweep. The
moderately rare sections always seem to appear when you're running or
just tuning through the band.
I left 20 after about 160 Q's (including 16 on the second radio) and
went to 40 about 2330. I found KH6J with the second radio on 20, but
didn't have too many second radio Q's while running on 40.
I went to 80 pretty early, about 0130, and found a good run frequency.
80 got very hot quickly, and I spent the next 5 hours running steadily
and putting about 320 Q's in the log (including 20 on the second radio).
I quit about 0630 with 577 Q's in the log and needing only VO1 and and
ND to complete the sweep; it was my best start ever in SS.
My brain was pretty muddled about the change from DST, and I somehow
decided that I really was going to get an extra hour of sleep! Anyway, I
was back on the air a little after 1300 the next morning having put too
many hours in the sack!
I started out on 80, which had been so kind to me the night before and
started out running at a good rate there. Then, about 30 minutes into
the run, Murphy struck. Suddenly the main receiver on my trusty Orion
went deaf! Nada! Panic! Nothing seemed to bring it back to life, even a
master reset and a RAM clear. Now I was down to operating SO1R with my
Omni VI+, the S&P radio. I tried using the Orion's sub-receiver, which
was still working, but without roofing filters, that receiver just
couldn't cope with the nearby strong stations. The Omni VI performed
well, however it is not up to the Orion's performance. But the real
problem was a psychological one: the operator was bummed out!
After taking a fair amount of time trying to bring the Orion back to
life, I basically skipped from 80 to 20 about 1400, began running there,
and was rewarded by a call from ND (I think I eventually worked about 5
ND stations...). I got crowded off my run frequency about 1500 and
S&P'ing down the band found a big pileup for VO1HP. Since it looked like
my goal of a best-ever SS score had faded away, I spent about 5 minutes
in the pile and eventually worked him for the sweep.
I was pretty focussed for the rest of the contest, but didn't truly have
my heart in it. My wife convinced me to go for a short hike about 1900,
and when I came back I felt a lot better and just stayed in the chair
for the ordeal which is Sunday afternoon/evening in SS...
After brief forays on 20 and 40, I spent the last 4 1/2 hours on 80,
where I still felt pretty loud and plodded along with rates from 35 to
40 per hour. It was during this time period that not having a second
radio hurt!
Well, the Orion went back to Ten-Tec this morning after a conversation
with their service guru. Maybe I'll have to get the R-4C and T-4XC out
of storage and play with them for a while...
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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