The band conditions were extremely terrible for most of the contest. I made 9 contacts in the first 4 hours, and most of my contacts were within the last 1 hour. Out of my 51 total contacts in the Rookie Roundup, I worked 18 states and 2 countries (US & Canada), for 68 contact points and 21 multipliers resulting in a total score of 1428.

My wife, KE5ZRU, did not operate in this contest. She was prepared to, but considering the conditions, tuning around and making individual contacts was not really an option. So she did housework and let me play radio all by myself this time. I guess we are going to have to get two radios!

I am looking forward to the SSB Rookie Roundup again in August, and I am currently learning Morse Code and I hope to be proficient enough to operate in the CW Rookie Roundup in December which will be my last year to operate as a rookie.

I want to thank the ARRL for putting this contest together. If used effectively, the Rookie Roundup is an excellent opportunity to elmer new hams to teach operating courtesies and contesting techniques, logging software, and to gain experience on the HF bands.