ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW - 2023
Call: NX4N
Operator(s): NX4N
Station: N4TP/W4DUG
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: WCF
Operating Time (hrs): 24
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 30
40: 372
20: 571
15: 90
10: 3
------------
Total: 1066 Sections = 85 Total Score = 181,220
Club: Florida Contest Group
Comments:
Hello Friends,The 2023 SSCW was a terrific experience for me - some challenges
resulted in a somewhat lower score than usual, but a *huge* success along my
journey to improve ye ol' contesting skills. My friends at the Tampa ARC (TARC)
once again allowed me to use their FB clubhouse and incredible, improved antenna
farm - I believe this is my 9th year there since 2012. Thank you all! I have a
lot more to say for those who want to read below, but first here are my
submitted numbers:
NX4N (@ N4TP)Contest: SSCW
Band QSOs Pts Sec Pt/Q
3.5 30 60 0 2.0
7 372 744 5 2.0
14 571 1142 69 2.0
21 90 180 11 2.0
28 3 6 0 2.0
Total 1066 2132 85 2.0
Score: 181,220
1 Mult = 12.5 Q's
------------------------ARRL Sweepstakes CW (November) - 2023-11-04 2100Z to
2023-11-06 0300Z - 1077 QSOs
NX4N Max Rates:
2023-11-04 2102Z - 3.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 180 per hour
2023-11-04 2134Z - 2.2 per minute (10 minute(s)), 132 per hour
2023-11-04 2200Z - 1.7 per minute (60 minute(s)), 99 per hour
FIVE DAYS OF MADNESS
-WEDNESDAY -
I drove four hours from our home near Palm Beach to the TARC clubhouse and it
was love at first sight! The 70ft. Force12 C-19 I use for the S&P 2nd radio
was replaced with a C-31 and the on-air difference was amazing. Last year the
C-19 was not operational and I used a less competitive XR5 at 50ft, so this new
flamethrower had me foaming at the mouth. I busted through nearly every pileup
on the first call. Color me happy! I spent the afternoon Wednesday unloading the
completely full SUV and preparing my operating position in the shack (lots of
existing general purpose gear to move out to make space).
--THURSDAY - "Build it and they (QSO's) shall come" day. By the end
of that fun but exhausting day I had a complete SO2R setup:
- Run station – K3 and SPE1.3KFA
- S&P station –K3 and KPA500
- MicroHam u2R controller (first time)
TARC antennas:
- 1st tower – Force12 40m 2 el at 118ft; C31XR at 108ft; 80m OCF Windom sloper
with top at 90ft; 160 OCF Windom at 100ft.
- 2nd tower – NEW Force12 C31XR at 70ft
- 3rd tower – Force12 XR5 at 50’
Initial checks sounded great - this is my yearly SO2R build and operating event
as I only have an attic dipole at home, so each time there are surprises. such
as...
CLICK IT OR TICKET: A well-respected op answered my CQ on the S&P station
to say I had key clicks 14KHz wide - yikes! He was kind enough to stick around
while I tried some debug/corrective actions to no avail. A couple hours later I
thought there might be a hot switching issue and unplugged the K3/KPA500
interface cable, cleaned it a bit and reconnected the connectors - voila! I had
a local friend who used several online SDR's across the country to confirm that
the clicks were gone entirely and one even had a band scope to confirm it
visually too. Other signal check requests during QSO's Friday and again Saturday
morning further put me at ease that my signal was click-free.
--40M MURPH AND TURF:While doing some further antenna checks on the 40m beam, I
noticed it had an erratic, high SWR - yet another YIKES moment! I called my good
friend and TARC remote station manager Lu, W4LT. He took over the antenna and
using one of the club's two Flex radios confirmed the SWR issue. He then noticed
that the SWR magically improved when the antenna rotated through SW to SE; any
direction North of those resulted in high SWR with repeatability. Oh man! That
40m antenna is a Rock Crusher and part of the TARC stations' mojo. I was sunk-
or so I thought! TARC's fearless, super supportive President Bill N4WEB sprang
into action with emergency Board approval for...
-- FRIDAY Overnight, Bill arranged to hire the club's tower climber and they
both showed up at first light. By 9am an oxidized SO-239 barrel near the top of
the tower had been taken apart, cleaned and retightened. The SWR problem was
fixed! Huge relief for us all - our club and amazing leaders just made it
happen. Bill stayed onsite until 2pm in case any other problems/questions arose,
and Lu had been fielding my many phone calls for help for days. Yet another
friend Lee KX4TT offered to let me use his own SPE amp (I'll take him up on that
next year) - just super guys. Thank you all!
Since I came up a day earlier this year, it gave me more time to build and check
out the stations and antennas, check propagation and identify/resolve
interstation interference. The extra day really helped make this a less
frenetic, more peaceful experience.
--SATURDAY MONTE, WHAT'S BEHIND DOOR #2? Murphy had one more try at
"Let's Make a Deal" - Prez Bill arrived Saturday morning to sell
local hamfest tickets to club members who stopped by. It was so lovely weather
outside that Bill decided to open the side door (emergency exit) to air out the
building - whoosh! The door had rotted and fell completely off its hinges. He
pushed the heavy door back into place with the hope that the alarm system
magnets would still align so the alarm would not trigger. There was a good one
inch air gap at the top of the door which we duct taped until a new door mount
could be undertaken next week. At least it kept the cool night weather and the
bugs (largely) out - and no alarm issues!
Saturday afternoon was more peaceful as I inflated the air mattress and set up
the coffee pot for the morning. Time to get ready~
-- "I BEEN IN THE RIGHT PLACE, BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE WRONG
TIME" All I could think of was these funky lyrics by Dr. John after I
started the contest on 20m and unlike ops at the top of the heap, I did *not*
adapt with a quick QSY to 15m. I just figured the higher bands would close soon.
Wrong. Four hours later I realized I had made a critical error and did not make
a timely adjustment - the competition zoomed past me those first critical hours
and it was game over. A big lesson learned.
However, with the pressure off for a top 10 finish I found a silver lining by
focusing on two of my Achilles heels - improving my SO2R skills as well as my
error rates. I have no SO2R setup at home so I'm always learning it on the fly
once a year during SSCW...cramming is not conducive to real learning and
improved results. So I *really, really* worked hard this year at SO2R and had
some success. Those 90 QSO's on 15m were almost all done on the 2nd radio with a
combo of S&P and a few dual CQ's. S&P Q's on the other bands improved
as well. I was very happy with these results, but it was not without some
potty-mouth expletives when I hit the wrong buttons. My sincere apologies to
those who worked this sometimes-lid and his flailing efforts. The LCR will
tell if my efforts at copy accuracy panned out as well.
SUNDAY
Because I missed a faster start the previous day, I had more available stations
to work Sunday so I believe even with the flare I had a more productive, fun
time. With such close scores every minute of operating time counts so I put in
the full 24 hours; it pays to have a hard head and a sore butt. I started
Sunday morning needing MB, NB and PR. The first two called in before I could
find them, but PR remained elusive.
I scoured 20m and heard WP3R work someone but desperate pleas and then CQ's
up-band resulted in nothing but crickets. Later in the afternoon I heard him on
15m again calling someone - time to act. I swung that big beautiful new C31
straight at him and called CQ 5KHz up the band. Got him- tnx Angel!
Sincere thanks to *all* of the great ops who took the time to activate their
rare and even less-rare counties.
MONDAY-
I woke up at 5am and by 6am I was breaking down the station and packing up.
Five hours later I hit the road and four hours after that I was home doing a
quick unpack of the car and hitting a well needed shower (last shower was Friday
night). What a great time I had - hope you did as well.
I'll finish this long story by simply thanking all of you who got on the air
again a little or a lot to make the SS magic happen. This is my favorite contest
and the only one I operate Single Op seriously, and I greatly appreciate joining
you during this very special contest. Working familiar calls and the new
Checks give me great joy. Tnx again to the Tampa ARC for hosting me.
See you in SSCW 2024!
vy 73,
Chris, NX4N
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