ARRL 10-Meter Contest
Call: N3RR
Operator(s): N3RR
Station: N3RR
Class: M/S HP
QTH: MD
Operating Time (hrs): 30:20
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
CW: 1457 160
SSB: 259 125
-------------------
Total: 1716 285 Total Score = 1,808,040
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Rig : IC-7800 (x2), IC PW-1 (x2)
Antennas : 5L @ 141 ft. and 5L @ 52 ft., each on a separate tower,
spaced 125 feet apart.
Soapbox : What a Blast!!! I spent much time pre-contest thinking
through the strategy I would use and then testing my hardware/software
operating configuration to be sure it would do what I wanted it to do.
Planning:
I went back to my prior ARRL-10M logs & hourly stats from 2012, 2011, and
2000 (the top of the previous sunspot cycle). I also looked at others' results
from 2012 using the ARRL online contest results database and the contest results
articles. I used the 2012 ARRL 10M Results article by Scott Tuthill, K7ZO,
extensively.
In his 19-page 2012 10M contest article, available on the ARRL website under
contest results, Scott devotes many pages to what he calls "Contest
Planning Insights". He has done the research on the ARRL 10M contest,
10M-Band propagation, Skimmer spots on 10M and sunspot cycle analysis! His
article is a virtual crash course in 10M contesting!
AND, he predicts what score would be necessary, in 8 different categories, to
make the top ten box for 2013! From that data, I determined my goal would be
1.9M points. That's between the USA SO Mixed and USA Multi-op Mixed
categories, as predicted by Scott. Because I always want to maximize my fun,
I'll choose "assisted" every time (NAQP will be an exception).
So, my plan was: I would be Multi-op in this contest (single-op + spotting
assistance). I would concentrate on making those 4-point CW QSOs and
maximizing my multipliers. Any SSB 2-point QSOs would be made for multipliers
OR made on a non-interfering basis to my CW operating. Meaning, if there were
contacts to work on CW, I'd make them before I would switch to SSB, unless they
were multipliers.
I also wanted to operate SO2R in this contest instead of SO2V. Last year I
operated SO2V, but I've learned a lot since then and SO2R is more versatile
than using only one radio, even with 2 VFOS/receivers. But, N1MMLogger
doesn’t fully support SO2R on the same band, and my SO2R hardware setup is
designed to keep each radio on a separate band. So, I had to experiment. If I
couldn’t get SO2R to work, single band, I would go SO2V.
My Setup:
I discovered that if I didn’t change bands (ie, stay in 10M), in SO2R
configuration N1MMLogger will allow me to have both radios on the same band.
Clicking on the Avail Q/Mult window doesn’t work the same as SO2R or SO2V,
but it was usable. (I will be sending a feature request to N1MMLogger this
week).
Hardware-wise, I did have to disconnect my 6-Pak and feed each antenna
separately to the PW-1 amps. I added one thing I tried out in IARU this year.
I added one of my Array Solutions relays to my 10m Stack Match allowing me to
have both antennas connected to Radio 1 OR have the 141' antenna on radio1 and
the 52' antenna on radio2, switchable by push-button on the Stack Match
controller. That worked out very nicely.
So, on Friday afternoon I was ready!
This operation was truly a lot of fun. Lots of moving parts and controls in
play. Lots of toys to play with! It's nice when planning comes together and
makes a great operation.
73!
Bill, N3RR
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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