2007 ARRL 10 Meter Contest
12/10/2007 |
K1WHS
This was my second ten meter contest and I was all set for a big effort. I was even going to build a new 5 element yagi and hang it up on the tower fixed to the South. This would be a multi-op effort and I had two friends lined up to help with the operating. Then things got really busy with work, and the new yagi idea promptly went out the window. Shortly before the contest start, my two accomplices backed out, leaving me all alone and I was left with the same old situation that I had last year. THEN my XYL reminded me that we were going to decorate the house for Christmas this weekend, visit some friends, and we absolutely had to go out to the "back 40" and look for a nice home grown Christmas tree as well. When she informed me that my idea of looking for a Christmas tree at night, was not an option, I knew I was in trouble. All the time during the day, when the band could be wide open, I was out tromping through the snow, hand saw at the ready, while we scouted for a tree. "This one looks great!" I would say, and she would automatically comment "That darn thing only has two branches!" I'll admit I was in a hurry to get back at all the DX that was likely rolling in, but we had to find that very special tree, and that was the priority!
I did manage to operate about 15 hours, which was more than last year, and I needed it too. Conditions were quite challenging. It was obvious I would not match last years score. My observation was that you had to be sitting in the chair all the time, or you would miss something. Whatever good stuff trickled in, would be gone in a minute or so. Friday night started off in good shape, with some weak Es to FL, SC and GA up until just after 0400UT when I went to sleep. I missed most of Saturday between the decking of the halls, and chopping down poor defenseless Christmas trees. I manage to snag South Africa about 1540 UT, but then had to QRT for the aforementioned activities! Later, I managed an hour of operating before dinner, but found no good condx then. I figured that on Sunday, I had to make up for lost time, so the first thing I did was oversleep in the morning. (Good move Dave!) I did get QRV after 1400 and immediately worked Brazil and a few more ZS stations with a bit of Easten USA "Es" thrown in then as well. I missed another 3 or 4 hours, then back at it at 1900 UT for a big finish, I hoped. I snagged Uruguay immediately, then a Texas station (my only W5 of the weekend) It was all mostly very weak and watery. Between 1900 and 2100 there was a steady but meager diet of weak Es that would pop in and out. It was very frustrating as signals were weak and plagued by QSB. Just about when I would identify a station, they would appropriately disappear just to make me feel the right amount of persecution! Finally at around 2230, I worked a VO1 station with a good signal. What's this? no repeats? no "Your suffix.... again, again, again!". I spent the next hour watching the band fade right before my ears. As soon as I found a new station to work, they would fade into the noise as if by magic. My last QSO was with big gun CX5BW at 2322 UT. Not too shabby, as it was completely dark outside by then. I had to quit a bit early for the "chow call". I missed the last 30 minutes, but it was slow going by that point. So how did I do compared to last year? I was 10,000 points behind, with just over 300 QSOs and 46 mults, but had fun all the way to the end. I even ended up with a Christmas tree with several branches on it. -- K1WHS
I did manage to operate about 15 hours, which was more than last year, and I needed it too. Conditions were quite challenging. It was obvious I would not match last years score. My observation was that you had to be sitting in the chair all the time, or you would miss something. Whatever good stuff trickled in, would be gone in a minute or so. Friday night started off in good shape, with some weak Es to FL, SC and GA up until just after 0400UT when I went to sleep. I missed most of Saturday between the decking of the halls, and chopping down poor defenseless Christmas trees. I manage to snag South Africa about 1540 UT, but then had to QRT for the aforementioned activities! Later, I managed an hour of operating before dinner, but found no good condx then. I figured that on Sunday, I had to make up for lost time, so the first thing I did was oversleep in the morning. (Good move Dave!) I did get QRV after 1400 and immediately worked Brazil and a few more ZS stations with a bit of Easten USA "Es" thrown in then as well. I missed another 3 or 4 hours, then back at it at 1900 UT for a big finish, I hoped. I snagged Uruguay immediately, then a Texas station (my only W5 of the weekend) It was all mostly very weak and watery. Between 1900 and 2100 there was a steady but meager diet of weak Es that would pop in and out. It was very frustrating as signals were weak and plagued by QSB. Just about when I would identify a station, they would appropriately disappear just to make me feel the right amount of persecution! Finally at around 2230, I worked a VO1 station with a good signal. What's this? no repeats? no "Your suffix.... again, again, again!". I spent the next hour watching the band fade right before my ears. As soon as I found a new station to work, they would fade into the noise as if by magic. My last QSO was with big gun CX5BW at 2322 UT. Not too shabby, as it was completely dark outside by then. I had to quit a bit early for the "chow call". I missed the last 30 minutes, but it was slow going by that point. So how did I do compared to last year? I was 10,000 points behind, with just over 300 QSOs and 46 mults, but had fun all the way to the end. I even ended up with a Christmas tree with several branches on it. -- K1WHS
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