2005 ARRL International DX Contest (CW)
02/23/2005 |
K0TV
Thanks to everybody who called in. We appreciate the points very much.
A boss I had a long time ago told me that in every project, there are three serendipities and two big problems. This year's CW contest seems to have followed that maxim.
The first serendipity was that K1BG called to find out if a seat was available. I hadn't seen Bruce in a very long time. We've known each other for over 30 years through Amateur Radio and I was looking forward to hosting him for this contest. One of the other operators is also long time friends with Bruce and he was looking forward to seeing him as well. Bruce came and made major contributions during this contest and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without him.
The first problem was that the 40 meter beam started having problems. The rotator had failed earlier in the season, but we had managed to get it pointed at Europe and decided to leave it there. Since I have a four square for 40, we used that instead. Our score was a little down on 40 over what it would have been if the beam was there, but not too much.
The second problem was that as I was checking out the 20 meter station, the rig started acting up. I decided to consolidate into three operating positions instead of the four we had been using for the rest of the contest season.
The second serendipity was the conditions on the low bands at the start of the contest. 160 and 80 were wonderful the first night. I hit my best rate on 80 ever.
The third serendipity was N1MM Logger. We just switched to this software because we liked some of it's new features. Despite a few glitches it performed very well. The user interface really is an improvement over any other package I've seen. It is easy to see why the rates have really gone up since the introduction of computer logging.
When Eliot, W1MJ showed up to operate on Saturday Morning, he walked in and said, "It looks like I downloaded the wrong manual for your new radio. I thought you said you had and Irish radio, the O'Brien."
In the last half hour of the contest I saw a few new multipliers spotted on 160. I wanted to clean them out before the end of the contest, but I had been bouncing around the bands and I had to wait to get them in the last 10 minutes or violate band changes. I sat there waiting to pounce as the countdown timer ticked off the seconds before I could start calling. I knew these stations would be easy to work. They were very strong and I knew that the phased array was working very well. They would have no problem hearing us. When the timer expired I pounced. All of a sudden the computer and radio started acting very strangely. It was very frustrating. When I directed the computer to send my callsign, it would send it on the first VFO, switch to the second VFO and send my callsign again, switch back to the first VFO and send my callsign, etc. etc. It only stopped when I hit the escape key. I even tried manually calling. I never did work them. After the contest was over, I noticed that the South pointing tribander was on instead of the phased array. That explained the high SWR, why the computer was acting so strangely, and that nobody could hear us.
It's going to be really hard to decide the MVP at K0TV for this one. I think I'll have to give it to the whole crew as a tie. Everybody made great contributions and made it a fun weekend for all. On to the phone weekend!
73, Jerry -- K0TV
A boss I had a long time ago told me that in every project, there are three serendipities and two big problems. This year's CW contest seems to have followed that maxim.
The first serendipity was that K1BG called to find out if a seat was available. I hadn't seen Bruce in a very long time. We've known each other for over 30 years through Amateur Radio and I was looking forward to hosting him for this contest. One of the other operators is also long time friends with Bruce and he was looking forward to seeing him as well. Bruce came and made major contributions during this contest and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without him.
The first problem was that the 40 meter beam started having problems. The rotator had failed earlier in the season, but we had managed to get it pointed at Europe and decided to leave it there. Since I have a four square for 40, we used that instead. Our score was a little down on 40 over what it would have been if the beam was there, but not too much.
The second problem was that as I was checking out the 20 meter station, the rig started acting up. I decided to consolidate into three operating positions instead of the four we had been using for the rest of the contest season.
The second serendipity was the conditions on the low bands at the start of the contest. 160 and 80 were wonderful the first night. I hit my best rate on 80 ever.
The third serendipity was N1MM Logger. We just switched to this software because we liked some of it's new features. Despite a few glitches it performed very well. The user interface really is an improvement over any other package I've seen. It is easy to see why the rates have really gone up since the introduction of computer logging.
When Eliot, W1MJ showed up to operate on Saturday Morning, he walked in and said, "It looks like I downloaded the wrong manual for your new radio. I thought you said you had and Irish radio, the O'Brien."
In the last half hour of the contest I saw a few new multipliers spotted on 160. I wanted to clean them out before the end of the contest, but I had been bouncing around the bands and I had to wait to get them in the last 10 minutes or violate band changes. I sat there waiting to pounce as the countdown timer ticked off the seconds before I could start calling. I knew these stations would be easy to work. They were very strong and I knew that the phased array was working very well. They would have no problem hearing us. When the timer expired I pounced. All of a sudden the computer and radio started acting very strangely. It was very frustrating. When I directed the computer to send my callsign, it would send it on the first VFO, switch to the second VFO and send my callsign again, switch back to the first VFO and send my callsign, etc. etc. It only stopped when I hit the escape key. I even tried manually calling. I never did work them. After the contest was over, I noticed that the South pointing tribander was on instead of the phased array. That explained the high SWR, why the computer was acting so strangely, and that nobody could hear us.
It's going to be really hard to decide the MVP at K0TV for this one. I think I'll have to give it to the whole crew as a tie. Everybody made great contributions and made it a fun weekend for all. On to the phone weekend!
73, Jerry -- K0TV
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