ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB - 2021
Call: K6YT
Operator(s): W0YK
Station: K6MTU
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Remote Operation
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 160
40: 541
20: 246
15: 353
10: 0
------------
Total: 1300 Sections = 84 Total Score = 218,400
Club: Pizza Lovers 259
Comments:
This event was another chapter in my remote operating journey. Once again I
didn't have schedule time to setup and test much before the contest. On Friday
before and Saturday of the SS Phone event I was able to get basic functionality
for operating phone 3 miles from the actual station. It was not pretty, but
ultimately I was able to operate in a somewhat restricted fashion. The end
result was that I had no voice keying and there was a 1-2 second delay from my
voice to what was actually transmitted. Not ideal, but workable.
Unfortunately, I spent the first 2-3 hours of the contest troubleshooting the
voice keying rather than working stations.
I was very concerned about operating 24 hours without a voice keying crutch. I
finally gave in to the unpleasant prospect of operating the 24 hours with my
actual voice which was very discouraging. The voice keying had too little audio
level to adequately transmit and I was getting reports of weak audio with lots
of cut-outs. This initial distraction probably cost 200-300 QSOs in the first 3
hours of the contest. (My first hour was 14 QSOs and the second hour was 47.)
During SS CW I discovered that my microwave link to K6MTU, 3 miles away, had
deteriorated to the point of providing continual dropouts, rendering operation
nearly impossible. I found the issue and fixed it only to find the audio issues
in SS Phone.
Local buddy AE6Y, Andy, stopped by on 15m Sunday morning to check in on how we
were both doing. I confessed my frustration at being short 4 mults: NL, MAR, AK
and LAX. Ultimately all four called me later on Sunday, but I had resigned
myself to not getting the sweep. When I went to 40m at 3pm local Sunday the
first station I tuned onto was LAX. Then another 6 called in during the
afternoon, MAR called in but never finished the QSO and luckily another MAR
called later to get into the log. One AK called in an I turned the Yagi north
to be sure the QSO completed. I held out little hope for NL after tuning 15, 20
and 40, but as fate would sometimes have it, one called in Sunday afternoons for
the Sweep. I can't explain why it is so much more satisfying to work a sweep
without out Packet, but that's the case for me. The sweep is mostly emotional
because the actual score impact is not that significant. I much prefer to
forego a sweep than get it with Packet.
The funniest moment was when I asked for a repeat and the QSO partner replied
"I already send that to you!". I temporarily lost my composure and
replied, "Yes, but I didn't hear it so I asked for a repeat!" He
repeated and the world returned to sanity.
I had very few frequency battles and people generally seemed to be pretty
understanding and accommodating. I was especially impressed with the majority
of stations replying to fill requests with only the requested info rather than
simply resending the entire exchange.
Although I generally avoid phone events, it seems that I actually enjoy them
once I get into it. Thanks for all who worked me this weekend and put up with
my ineptness in this mode. I may do another one some day.
Ed W0YK
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