I entered the North American QSO Party CW Contest somewhat seriously for only the second time last Saturday. I’m pretty happy with the results, especially considering that this score is 50% higher than my claimed score the last time. I ended up with only 9.5 hours due to the 160 antenna situation.
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
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160: 33 20
80: 279 47
40: 261 51
20: 66 29
15: 17 5
10: 1 1
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Total: 657 153 Total Score = 100,521
Ten and fifteen meters stunk…no big surprise here for this part of the solar cycle. Although, I would liked to have done better on fifteen. I took my off times (an hour each time) during the second and sixth hours of the contest. I don’t know if I would do it that way again; I had a really good run on 40 during the day. I tried to work the second radio then; but, I haven’t mastered that, yet. The first hour had the worst (< 60) rate. I did much better after that. My totals on 40 and 80 are within striking distance of the big guys like W9RE. But, I just don’t have the firepower on the high bands nor the ears on 160 to do well there. Of course, there’s still the whole skill problem, too…
Topband was a disappointment…I was hoping for about 40 multipliers and 100 QSOs. I hauled an MFJ tuner up on the roof late in the contest to load-up the 80-meter dipole and feeder against a single elevated radial on 160 since I still don’t have that automated. That could be a tonight project. The noise on 160 on the vertical was 10-15 dB over S9. Those 33 contacts were fought hard by me. I need some RX antennas. I talked to K9AN yesterday. He suggested a K9AY loop. I’m thinking about active verticals with a variable phasing combiner…less footprint. We talked about pre-amps. He wants to measure the NF of whatever I come up with out of J310’s from my junk box.
I requested a new LoTW certificate this morning since mine expired in January 2006. Hehe…oops. They protect your QSO integrity like Fort Knox! In fact, they probably have a better idea of who you are than most credit bureaus. I need to go through my logs tonight and clean everything up to get ready. It sure beats QSLing, though… I’m sure I’ll make a bunch of people happy in a few weeks.
Also came up with a great SDR idea yesterday that could be my new secret weapon. It should be pretty easy to do, too. No more on that until I get one working…
