ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB
Call: K2DRH
Operator(s): K2DRH
Station: K2DRH
Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: IL
Operating Time (hrs): 23
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 127
40: 634
20: 290
15: 280
10: 167
------------
Total: 1498 Sections = 83 Total Score = 248,668
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
My first Sweepstakes in 20 years when we did it as KX4M from Alabama. After
contesting almost exclusively on VHF/UHF/SHF from home in IL for the past 15
years (a few ILQPs with low wires). In June I broke down and put up a few
decent HF ants I had laying around in the garage due to the W1AW/9 gig. I
didn't know what to expect at this QTH. Things were definitely different.
I entered Unlimited to get spots to feed the logger hoping it would help with
mults for the sweep. Few were identified with the section so it wasn’t as
useful as I’d thought. It did prove somewhat useful for search and pounce
since N1MM identifies some of the stations not yet worked while searching for a
run frequency after a band change. It was hard getting back into the swing of
the long exchange. I found most recorded exchanges tough to copy since they
were at a different cadence and level (and often in a different voice) so I
abandoned my voice keyer and did it old school. There is definitely an optimum
cadence and once I hit it I had few request for repeats unlike some of the
shotgun ops who go so fast that it all runs together. Despite a half hour nap
just before the start it seemed like I was really dragging all day Saturday and
never really felt totally in the contest groove until Sunday.
The downside of having a check of 64 is hitting a wall after four hours (I was
amazed at all the SO 50’s and even a few 40s) , so I had to take a half hour
break during prime time that probably cost me a lot of Qs. I’ve lost a lot of
my feel for optimum band changes and probably spent too long on 10M since 15
went out quickly and 20 and 40 were both really crowded by the time I got here.
I needed another costly half hour around midnight before taking a sleep break,
reserving two half hours for Sunday. My 80M inV at 75 feet suddenly went dead
during a QSO with K9MU so it was a good thing I’d put up another wire for DX
the day before the contest so I could complete the Q. When I went out to check
on it I suddenly discovered a couple inches of snow on the ground that had gone
completely unnoticed! Luckily the problem was in the shack and easy to fix.
Sunday the rates were slower, but not nearly as slow as a January VHF contest!
Consensus before the contest was that the inV at 40 feet would play better on
40M but the 2el shorty 40 at 160 feet was the clear winner even off the back.
The KT34XA at 140 feet played well on 20 and 15 but the 4 el at 35’ was much
better on 10M.
I’d almost forgotten about the net and SSTV frequency defenders as well as
the intentional QRMers. Apparently it makes no difference if the net is
actually running or not. Malicious bastards are getting more sophisticated
lying in wait to hit you with the carrier only when you are struggling and even
had one play the theme from the Lone Ranger on 20M while I was working a pileup!
Some of the Spanish speakers have no mercy either and will fire up right up on
top of you, but they tend to retreat quickly when you confront them in Spanish
in no uncertain terms.
I can’t comment whether conditions were good or bad, I wouldn’t know
anymore. But they seemed pretty good to me. My goal was to make a clean sweep
(got it at 1539 on Sunday) and at least 1500 Qs. I fell short by 2 if you
don’t count the dupes, and could have done much better if I’d been sharper
on Saturday and more practiced. Ran across a lot of VHF friends that were
shocked to hear me on HF so that was fun. Unlike when I was in my 40s for the
last SS this one really wiped me out, but I had a great time.
73 de Bob K2DRH
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