2002 IARU HF World Championships
11/20/2002 |
K0RH
July just isn't the best time of the year for a DX contest from south central Kansas. However, Jim K0RH (ex KK0SS, K0WUI) had a new call to try out and with a drought in progress, the threat of thunderstorms was greatly reduced.
The operator list for K0RH was Jim K0RH, Ken W0NXS, and myself, Nate N0NB. Since this is a mixed mode contest we each had our own specialties to contribute. Jim is a phone operator, Ken operates CW and I oscillated back and forth although by late in the contest I was prefering the steady run on CW to the hollering on phone!
As for the bands, they were generally in good shape especially lacking aurora effects. We kept busy, but didn't set the world on fire. However, SA and AF were virtually absent! Where was LU and PY? We missed a lot of points with so few of our SA friends in this 'test.
W0NXS was unable to show up until about 2200z so our CW effort got a late start, but Ken was able to quickly make up for lost time.
The early morning hours likely caused Yours Truly to commit at least one band violation jumping from 80 Phone to 80 CW a bit too soon. But, that's how it goes at 0815z!
Murphy stayed away as we had no equipment failures or other malfunctions. Also, is it me or have the bands really become more civilized during the contests the past several years? Sure, the QRM is heavy at times, but I found courtesy to be at an all-time high.
IARU is a fun contest and we look forward to many more. Our final tally of 1282 Q's is a mark we can shoot for in the coming years. -- N0NB
The operator list for K0RH was Jim K0RH, Ken W0NXS, and myself, Nate N0NB. Since this is a mixed mode contest we each had our own specialties to contribute. Jim is a phone operator, Ken operates CW and I oscillated back and forth although by late in the contest I was prefering the steady run on CW to the hollering on phone!
As for the bands, they were generally in good shape especially lacking aurora effects. We kept busy, but didn't set the world on fire. However, SA and AF were virtually absent! Where was LU and PY? We missed a lot of points with so few of our SA friends in this 'test.
W0NXS was unable to show up until about 2200z so our CW effort got a late start, but Ken was able to quickly make up for lost time.
The early morning hours likely caused Yours Truly to commit at least one band violation jumping from 80 Phone to 80 CW a bit too soon. But, that's how it goes at 0815z!
Murphy stayed away as we had no equipment failures or other malfunctions. Also, is it me or have the bands really become more civilized during the contests the past several years? Sure, the QRM is heavy at times, but I found courtesy to be at an all-time high.
IARU is a fun contest and we look forward to many more. Our final tally of 1282 Q's is a mark we can shoot for in the coming years. -- N0NB
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