The problem with 80 cw is the lack of active stations in the SE. I think
most folks are cutting their antennas for 75 ssb and forgetting about the cw
band.
Also the noise is quite intense until you get deep into the season.
I have a inverted L up for 160/80. Seems to do well.
Dan/W4NTI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Clarke" <ku8e1@yahoo.com>
To: <secc@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [SECC] Re: Random thoughts about ARRL SS
> Hi...
>
> Just to add to John's comments... Here are my observations (so far)
> about operating stateside contests from North GA :
>
> So far I have done a couple Sprints, NAQP's and some state QSO parties.
> My station is pretty simple - 100 watts , a G5RV on 80-10 and an E/W 20
> meter dipole. I have found 20 meters to be my best band to run guys
> during the day and when it gets dark 40 is pretty good as well.
> I have had absolutely no luck running on 80 meters but I would imagine
> you could do OK from N. Georgia if you had a decent antenna and ran a
> KW.
>
> Don't forget to check 10 and 15 meters for run opportunities too. I
> have found those bands pretty good to W1-W2-W3 many times. I even ran a
> bunch of east coast guys on 10 meters in the NAQP SSB contest. This
> past weekend during CQWW there was ALOT of short skip on 10 and 15
> meters to the east coast and even some W8/W9/VE3 stations were booming
> in at my QTH too...
>
> GL to all in SS , Jeff
>
>
> --- John Laney <k4bai@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> > Hi Archie:
> >
> > There was talk about closing the Thomasville Federal Courthouse, but
> > Judge Sands, who sits in Albany and is now our Chief Judge for the
> > Middle District was opposed to it, and I think it is being used more
> > than ever now. In fact, both District Judge Land and I will be there
> > at
> > the same time this week. He will have pretrial conferences in
> > chambers
> > and I will use the courtroom for hearings and use a jury room as a
> > place
> > to stay instead of chambers when the hearings are not in session.
> >
> > You should excel at SS CW. The format was intended to be the same as
> > a
> > standard ARRL message.
> >
> > When I first started SS (my first one was in 1955), the exchange was
> > like this:
> >
> > #1 R K4BAI 54 GA 2100Z Nov 2. Later, the R was replaced by the
> > current
> > (and more informative) A, B, Q, M, etc letters and the time and date
> > were dropped.
> > The date was originally the current date and was later changed to the
> > date of your birthday, and I sent MAR 27 a lot.
> >
> > So, what is left is a shortened version of the standard heading for
> > an
> > ARRL message. Number, precedence by letter, call of originating
> > station, check (year), and place of origin.
> >
> > The main thing is to find a frequency and CQ if you get answers. If
> > you
> > don't get many answers, then you S&P. The number of QSOs affects the
> > score more than the sections. It is always fun to work all sections
> > and
> > I'd not pass up a rare one early on (like VY1/VE8 or NF
> > (Newfoundland/Labrador), Virgin Islands, etc, as long as it seems
> > likely
> > that you can get through in some reasonable time. But most everyone
> > will get within two or three of all the sections if they make a lot
> > of
> > QSOs and the big difference is the number of QSOs. WP3R in Puerto
> > Rico
> > operated by KE3Q will be one of the really big scores, so I'd not
> > wait
> > too long for him early on in the contest. But, if you hear a loud
> > VY1JA
> > or some other VY1 or VY0 or VE8 or even a KL7 early in the contest,
> > it
> > might be worth a short wait to get through to them while propagation
> > permits. KH6 is usually easy, but you never know for sure. Some
> > years
> > some sections like VE2, VE4, SD, or ND, or Nebraska, or Mississippi
> > may
> > be hard to find. Eastern NY can be rare. But, most of them will come
> > to
> > you if you can find a CQ run frequency.
> >
> > It has been our experience that running from GA is very difficult on
> > the
> > high bands, 10 and 20, particularly on CW. Most of the running on
> > those
> > bands is done by the West Coast and off shore guys plus maybe a few
> > guys
> > with really big stations who are really confident on those bands
> > (K4WI
> > for example). So, those bands are mostly S&P for us here (and that
> > is
> > also my experience so far from W4AN). The CQ/run bands are generally
> > 20
> > and 40 and sometimes 80 if the band is quiet and the high bands go
> > long
> > early. The exception to running on 10 and 15 is if we get some
> > e-skip
> > (short skip) to the north/northeast. If that happens, as it does
> > sometimes, it is possible to run from GA on those bands even on CW.
> >
> > You might want to consider running your amp and doing high power.
> > There
> > you will lose the full QSK that you can have using low power since
> > the
> > AL80A is not QSK without mod or an external switch. But, you will
> > get
> > more answers to your CQs and it will in part make up for your lack of
> > aluminum. Is it time to check out your neighbors' sense of tolerance
> > for one weekend? If not, still try the CQ thing from time to time.
> > You
> > may find it easier to do so high in the band or low in the bands with
> > Extra class segments. I don't even listen down there except in the
> > multi op situations, but I find in FD that it is often possible to
> > get a
> > CQ frequency down there with 100 watts that works pretty well.
> >
> > Don't hesitate to ask for repeats if you aren't sure about something.
> >
> > There is still a penalty for calls "not in the log" and you will lose
> > credit for the QSO if you get some of the info wrong.
> >
> > I don't know what Writelog does for SS, but, NA (and CT, I think)
> > used
> > to have a "default" for the precedence of "A," since more guys are
> > low
> > power than any other precedence. I found one year that most of my
> > errors were where I left the default "A" in and failed to change it
> > to
> > "B" or "Q" or whatever. The problem is that you don't realize that
> > you
> > didn't copy the "A." If you are having trouble getting a message
> > logged, you may finally think that you got it all OK, but you have
> > never
> > heard the "A" that the computer program put in as a default. So,
> > later
> > versions of NA have no default in them. This change was suggested by
> > me
> > and W4AN got K8CC to make the change. So, if your Writelog program
> > has
> > a default precedence in it, you might see if it is optional and
> > remove
> > it or just be very careful that you know that the other guy actually
> > sent the "A."
> >
> > It helps to become familiar with the ARRL section abbreviations.
> > Probably some of them will be familiar from the old CD Parties. But
> > there are some new sections since then, such a WTX, ENY, WCF (West
> > Central FL), VI (used to be with PR as a part of WI (west indies)),
> > the
> > VE1/9 and VO1/2 and VY2 sections used to be all MAR, etc. A few
> > minutes
> > studying the current section list will be helpful. This is
> > particularly
> > so on SSB where a lot of casual ops will need help in determining
> > what
> > their section is. This is particularly true in California, where
> > many
> > guys (even ARRL members) may not remember what their section is.
> > Sometimes they will give their Division instead or just Southern
> > California. It really helps on phone for a run station to have
> > familiarity with Calif (and Fla etc) sections. I have the impression
> > some guys even have a data base with county names in it to help the
> > casual guys get their section right. That is not much of a worry on
> > CW
> > since, basically, there are no casual CW ops in CW SS. And, if there
> > are a few, the chance that you may be their first attempt at a QSO is
> > not very great.
> >
> > As we discussed before, I'd listen to the bands for a few hours
> > before
> > the contest starts and try to get a feeling as to what they are doing
> > and what might work best for you. Since you can only work a guy once
> > in
> > the whole contest, it matters little what band you work him on. But,
> > you will not work many VE8, VY1, KL7, and KH6 stations on 80 and 40.
> > And you will not work many Southeastern US stations on 10, 15, and
> > 20.
> > So, you will want to work all bands when they are best for your rate
> > and
> > trying to maximize the chances that you will get all sections in the
> > log
> > by the end. If 10 and 15 aren't too hot, I might start out by CQing
> > on
> > 20. Then do so S&P on 10 and 15 and try for those few rare sections
> > and
> > the loud guys that you can work on the first call.
> > You can check 40 before dark for some close in stations, but there is
> > no
> > real urgency on that because you can get all those sections and
> > stations
> > on 80. So, stay on the higher bands as long as your rate is good
> > there. If you go to 40 and the rate drops, you might want to go back
> > to
> > 20. I have never made an SS QSO on 160 even during the three years
> > doing SO2R from W4AN. (I did listen on 160 in the middle of the
> > night,
> > but that was probably too late. I assume some SS QSOs are possible
> > on
> > 160 and some of them might even be guys who work only that band, but
> > I've never really proved out that theory myself.)
> >
> > The real test for every SS operator who is doing close to full time,
> > is
> > the Sunday afternoon doldrums. The rates will drop and the bands
> > will
> > be full of stations you have already worked calling CQ SS. Varying
> > speeds (more slowly) and going higher (or lower?) in the bands may
> > help
> > some. This is the time when many guys could have a ball. If the
> > guys
> > who are not doing it close to full time would get on on Sunday
> > afternoon
> > and evening, they would be "fresh meat" for the serious contesters
> > and
> > could have a ball and have some nice pileups to work down. Some guys
> > who are good contesters do this and this is one reason for the
> > fulltime
> > guys to save some operating time for the latter part of the contest.
> >
> >
> > I don't recall the details now, but the QRP guys have a short sprint
> > SS
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>
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