ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW - 2021
Call: AB1J
Operator(s): AB1J
Station: AB1J
Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: Waltham, EMA
Operating Time (hrs): 7:08
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80:
40: 97
20: 23
15: 53
10: 2
------------
Total: 175 Sections = 66 Total Score = 23,100
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
This was nostalgic as the SS-CW was the first contest I ever entered, as KN9LIO
in 1958 back home in Indiana. I can't remember much about it. I was a very
novice Novice so I suppose it was uphill all the way, both ways, like everything
else back in the day. My results: 3,605-53 QSOs-28 sections-20 hours. The Novice
winner was KN9PDH: 17,635-156-51-37. Looking at that 37 I faintly remember the
contest used to run longer than now, or two weekends, or there was a time warp,
alien abduction or something.
Another reason for me operating this year was to gauge how much my CW skills had
declined over the past year. Let's just say that Rome declined, too. But that
didn't end well.
One SS thing I like is that the call comes right in the middle of the exchange,
giving me a chance to take a mini-breath, catch up and get ready for the CK and
SEC. For my transmissions, the E of EMA tends to get lost so that needs some
repeats. Otherwise, everything flowed (except see bizarre event below).
One little problem I have is my original licensing year was 1958, but for some
reason a couple years back I used my AB1J date of 1978. My bad, but that's
what's out there now in the Call History file and I've used 78 ever since, so
I'll stuck with it forever or until my shelf life expiry. I think some folks
still are using CHs with 58. I'm sorry about that. I don't take any pleasure
in screwing people up. Guess this just proves that you need to copy what's
sent.
I encountered one really strange thing. I was all S&P/P&C (I tune
between the spots), so when I don't work someone on the first call, I take note
of their data, especially the serial number, so I'll be ready for my next call.
That happened with W4WF, but when I worked him on my 2nd call his number had
jumped to something I didn't expect and I screwed it up in my log. So I stuck
around for his next QSO where it made a wild jump again, much more than SO2R
would do. Turned out he was jumping by 10, like 1566, 1576, 1586, etc. By the
time that registered I was totally messed up and had no idea what number he sent
me. Maybe a hotshot CW op would have handled that better, but see the 2nd
paragraph above.
I don't know why he was doing this. Maybe there's a reason unknown to me. He's
president of the Florida Contest Group and if he was trying to mess with my
brain, he succeeded, but I think it was bad form, poor ham spirit and setting a
bad example. Maybe someone was pirating his call. I'll be charitable and
consider that the case for now.
I've run across people before who try to ef around like this, like with weird or
difficult names names in the NAQP. I know I should be better at copying CW, but
I'm not any longer and this behavior irritates me. Not everyone is a CW
gun-slinger. Some of us are just plain ole cowpokes, but our QSOs still count
the same.
But all in all, it was a successful nostalgic trip in the Wayback MaSShine. I
had fun and found something to complain about, all for just a few hours on a
slow weekend and the cost of a smidgen of electricity.
Life is good.
73,
Ken, AB1J
Flex 6500
N1MM Logger+ VE7CC -> ViewProp -> N1MM+
20m, 15m & 10m attic dipoles
old manual Dentron tuner -> 40m outdoor 66' outdoor stealth wire with indoor
counterpoise
LoTW eQSL ClubLog
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