2010 ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW)
Greetings from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Radio Society. It has been a couple of years since I have operated during SS CW. It was a lot of fun! While attending college, I have not had much free time available to operate. However, in the summer of 2009, I did operate during the CW NAQP from W6UE on the Caltech campus using the name TIM. I was living on the Caltech campus that summer working as a summer intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I thought TIM | MIT was a good name to use since I am a student from MIT and our mascot is Tim the beaver. By the way, I graduated from MIT this past June with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Degree. I am presently studying in the Masters program here at MIT. I am very pleased that the ARRL changed the rules in the School Category allowing Alumni to operate along with students and faculty/staff of the institution. I operated the contest alone as I was a little too late in my recruitment attempts. I would like to thank Tom N1MM for considering working with me but needing to decline because of prior commitments. Perhaps next year! This year I decided to use the Elecraft K3 that I assembled nearly two years ago along with an ACOM 2000A amplifier. The antennas at W1MX consist of Mosley PRO 96 at approximately 80 feet, Mosley TA 36 at approximately 40 feet, and a full sized 160 meter inverted-V (switched to be used as an 80 meter vertical) at almost 300 feet hanging from the Green building. Before participation in each contest, I always review the ARRL results database to see how the best of the best performed in the section and or division that I plan to operate. I particularly look at the distribution of the QSOs made per band. This year, thanks to a tip passed along by Randy K5ZD, I was able to view the rate sheets readily available on Randy’s website to gain an even clearer roadmap to success. I logged 881 QSOs and achieved the clean sweep! I needed to prepare for a mid-term exam the following Tuesday so I had to limit my hours of operation. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs 73, Rebecca KB0VVT
-- KB0VVT
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