12/11/2007 | NX5M This was the 11th straight year for the NX5M team (Chaos Crew, as we have come to describe ourselves) to participate in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest. Although the faces have changed a bit over the years for one reason or another, the core of the group has remained the same.

I had worked hard to add in a 2nd stack of antennas to be used. N5XJ was over the weekend before to help me work on the lower northeast yagi on the main array but the wind was way too high to handle that beast so he helped me to get the wiring and relay system set up on the additional antennas and then hoped it would work correctly. Other than one minor problem with a loose wire in the phasing box, after a quick repair it worked perfectly.

I was confident that we were going to have some decent spotty openings. We did, especially the first night. The first hour netted 276 qsos in the log. By 0500z things were starting to slow down a bit and at 0600z we shut down for the night with 818 raw qsos in the log. Largest first 6 hour total we have ever had.

Saturday was miserable. But as evening approached the band once again started to open. Although it was not as good as the night before it was better than having nothing at all.

Sunday, things started slow but later in the morning signals were getting stronger and we had 3 consecutive hours of over 150 per hour. The last 3 hours of the contest were again nothing but misery. The same misery that many of the people around the country and the world had to deal with the entire weekend.

This was our lowest score in 11 years but I was amazed at the total number of qsos that we were able to get into the log. Last year 1400+ but this year, 2200+. Still a far cry from those 3300+ weekend of the past....but those are going to come back soon enough.

Our goal this year was to attempt to win for a 3rd consecutive year. That was our driving force for the entire weekend. Keep at it and things will eventually happen.

This was also the first time in an ARRL 10 Meter Contest that we had to run air conditioning in the shack. Up until late Sunday afternoon the temperature was a warm 83 degrees but by the time the contest ended it was down into the 40's.

I know it was not fun for everyone...but everyone who took the time to get on a work it helped to make it fun for everyone else.

Until 2008....we will be making even more antenna improvements.
See you all next year! -- NX5M