2002 ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW)
11/05/2002 |
W1WEF
Sweepstakes CW 2002 W1WEF SOHP Memories
When I looked at last year's notes, it said: DON'T DO THIS AGAIN!
When I looked at my notes from two years ago, it said: "NEVER AGAIN!"
I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I love the first night of Sweepstakes. I love CW. I really wasn't going to do it this year
until I had lunch with my good friend K1RM on Wednesday, and learned that Vinnie was planning to do a serious effort.
Hmmmhe always beat me when he used to do SS; I wonder if I can beat him this year? I changed my mind and started to
get excited thinking about the challenge.
Turned my fixed lower TH6 to the Southwest from Europe. Decided once again to set up a second radio, even though I don't
have filters or stubs or a second amplifier. I do have a couple wire antennas I can switch on that radio, and after all, I just got a
new 930S and haven't even used it yet! Got my little two radio switchbox out and in short order had a second radio I could
use with the right combination of bands.
Set up the Hotshot coffee maker, and I was all set. Tried to sleep before the contest started but it was futile. I had been getting
pretty good sleep lately anyhow, and I could take off time and sleep a bit during the contest. Set the computer clock with
SETTIME. Set up the F keys: F1 CQ; F2 # B W1WEF 52 CT; F3 TU W1WEF QRZ? ; F4 W1WEF; F6 and F7
short Cq's. Also set up the memory keyer with CQ, B W1WEF 52 CT, 52, and W1WEF. Tried to print last year's .BRK
sheet, but the printer decided not to work. I'm as ready as I'm going to be, so I start checking the bands and saying hello to
the gang before the start.
10 sounds real good so I start there. 28006 for the whole hour and I have 86 Qs at the end of the hour. At 2300 I have 168
Qs and Im still on ten but had started sweeping up the band. At 00Z I have 247 Qsaveraging over 80 an hour so I'm
already having fun! The last hour included some 15 and 20. At 0013Z I go to 40, but it's not that hot yet and I go back to ten.
At 0100 I have 347 Qs, so my average rate has dropped below 80/hour.
I remember Dan, K1TO, telling me that his strategy at the start of SS was to start at the bottom of one band, S&P the band
moving up and knowing that every station is a new one, then go to the next band, do the same thing, and the next. I thought
about doing that but I like running and was feeling loud.
At 0300, I have 451 Q's. When I worked Vinnie, he was 5 ahead of me, but comparing notes after the contest, we're about
even now. At 0400 I have 497 in the log and made a 20M Q on the 930S during the run on 40! I hate using the second radio.
I'd rather just listen to my own CW. By 0700 I have two more Qs on the second radio. Whoopee! At 0719 it's gotten really
slow and I decide to take OFF time. During 4 hours and 15 mins OFF, I couldn't fall asleep. I'd been drinking coffee and
Mountain Dew like it was going out of style, and I had so much caffeine in me there was no way I could fall asleep!
After a shower and some cereal, I'm on 80 at 1134Z and the first hour of the "second half" produces 42 Qs. This is the time I
hope to get the close in contacts that the guys out West clean oup on. I have a low dipole on 40 at about 45 feet, with a
counterpoise ten feet beneath it. This was a Tim Duffy (K3LR) idea years ago, to make a cloud warmer (now called
NVISnear vertical incidence skywaveor something like that). As the West coast wakes up, they call me with this antenna
anyway! On 80 I used my 80 dipole mostly, but if a weak station called in I would switch to the 4 square and usually copy
better.
The bands have been good , no bad noise, good signals. In fact, QRP stations are generally so loud, I cant guess who the
QRPers are like I usually do. I've been using all three TH6's in different directions most of the time on the high bands.
Onward and upward. The rest of Sunday is a real drag. I guess this is when the second radio is supposed to help, but all day
Sunday I made 9 more Qs on the 930S! Like I said, I just don't like doing that two radio thing. Spacing out the rest of my off
times, I set a goal for myself with about 6 hours to go of 185K. This seemed like a stretch goal, but it would be nice to reach it.
In early afternoon, I still needed VO and VY1. I decided I wasn't going to spend time looking for them as I usually do. I would
systematically comb the bands, checking every station heard to see if I needed it, and CQ'ing along the way when I'd find a
hole. High in the band I seemed to get more answers than down lower. One thing I did differently this time was to try to call
more slow CQ's. I nebver set my speed over 32WPM, and even had it as low as 28! With my manual keyer I went slower
than that, and if a real slow guy called I went back at his speed.
At 1008Z, VO1TA called with a big signal on 21081 for my #1008. Within an hour, I tuned across VY1JA on 28020, and
worked Jay for the sweep with a slightly watery signal. Thanks Jay for being there with your flu, your rig problem and your
bulldozer work! It's still a thrill to complete the sweep in Sweepstakes.
0253Z, 7 minutes to go and I'm combing 80, with my score just under 185,000. Four Qs in those last few minutes, and I made
my goal! I doubt it will remain over 185k when the log checking is done, but after seeing how much I lost last year, and why, I
was more careful than ever this time around. Last year I lost 19 Qs because I operated too long! This time I returned to
tracking OFF time on paper, instead of using the computer time "OFF". I mentioned what happened to me last year to Tree,
N6TR, before the contest, and he said he uses paper to keep track also!
Will I do SS again? We'll see. Maybe it would be more fun from a rare multiplieror from Louisiana!
Bottom Line: 80/196 40/341 20/371 15/84 10/150 1142x 80 185,280
JACK W1WEF -- W1WEF
When I looked at last year's notes, it said: DON'T DO THIS AGAIN!
When I looked at my notes from two years ago, it said: "NEVER AGAIN!"
I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I love the first night of Sweepstakes. I love CW. I really wasn't going to do it this year
until I had lunch with my good friend K1RM on Wednesday, and learned that Vinnie was planning to do a serious effort.
Hmmmhe always beat me when he used to do SS; I wonder if I can beat him this year? I changed my mind and started to
get excited thinking about the challenge.
Turned my fixed lower TH6 to the Southwest from Europe. Decided once again to set up a second radio, even though I don't
have filters or stubs or a second amplifier. I do have a couple wire antennas I can switch on that radio, and after all, I just got a
new 930S and haven't even used it yet! Got my little two radio switchbox out and in short order had a second radio I could
use with the right combination of bands.
Set up the Hotshot coffee maker, and I was all set. Tried to sleep before the contest started but it was futile. I had been getting
pretty good sleep lately anyhow, and I could take off time and sleep a bit during the contest. Set the computer clock with
SETTIME. Set up the F keys: F1 CQ; F2 # B W1WEF 52 CT; F3 TU W1WEF QRZ? ; F4 W1WEF; F6 and F7
short Cq's. Also set up the memory keyer with CQ, B W1WEF 52 CT, 52, and W1WEF. Tried to print last year's .BRK
sheet, but the printer decided not to work. I'm as ready as I'm going to be, so I start checking the bands and saying hello to
the gang before the start.
10 sounds real good so I start there. 28006 for the whole hour and I have 86 Qs at the end of the hour. At 2300 I have 168
Qs and Im still on ten but had started sweeping up the band. At 00Z I have 247 Qsaveraging over 80 an hour so I'm
already having fun! The last hour included some 15 and 20. At 0013Z I go to 40, but it's not that hot yet and I go back to ten.
At 0100 I have 347 Qs, so my average rate has dropped below 80/hour.
I remember Dan, K1TO, telling me that his strategy at the start of SS was to start at the bottom of one band, S&P the band
moving up and knowing that every station is a new one, then go to the next band, do the same thing, and the next. I thought
about doing that but I like running and was feeling loud.
At 0300, I have 451 Q's. When I worked Vinnie, he was 5 ahead of me, but comparing notes after the contest, we're about
even now. At 0400 I have 497 in the log and made a 20M Q on the 930S during the run on 40! I hate using the second radio.
I'd rather just listen to my own CW. By 0700 I have two more Qs on the second radio. Whoopee! At 0719 it's gotten really
slow and I decide to take OFF time. During 4 hours and 15 mins OFF, I couldn't fall asleep. I'd been drinking coffee and
Mountain Dew like it was going out of style, and I had so much caffeine in me there was no way I could fall asleep!
After a shower and some cereal, I'm on 80 at 1134Z and the first hour of the "second half" produces 42 Qs. This is the time I
hope to get the close in contacts that the guys out West clean oup on. I have a low dipole on 40 at about 45 feet, with a
counterpoise ten feet beneath it. This was a Tim Duffy (K3LR) idea years ago, to make a cloud warmer (now called
NVISnear vertical incidence skywaveor something like that). As the West coast wakes up, they call me with this antenna
anyway! On 80 I used my 80 dipole mostly, but if a weak station called in I would switch to the 4 square and usually copy
better.
The bands have been good , no bad noise, good signals. In fact, QRP stations are generally so loud, I cant guess who the
QRPers are like I usually do. I've been using all three TH6's in different directions most of the time on the high bands.
Onward and upward. The rest of Sunday is a real drag. I guess this is when the second radio is supposed to help, but all day
Sunday I made 9 more Qs on the 930S! Like I said, I just don't like doing that two radio thing. Spacing out the rest of my off
times, I set a goal for myself with about 6 hours to go of 185K. This seemed like a stretch goal, but it would be nice to reach it.
In early afternoon, I still needed VO and VY1. I decided I wasn't going to spend time looking for them as I usually do. I would
systematically comb the bands, checking every station heard to see if I needed it, and CQ'ing along the way when I'd find a
hole. High in the band I seemed to get more answers than down lower. One thing I did differently this time was to try to call
more slow CQ's. I nebver set my speed over 32WPM, and even had it as low as 28! With my manual keyer I went slower
than that, and if a real slow guy called I went back at his speed.
At 1008Z, VO1TA called with a big signal on 21081 for my #1008. Within an hour, I tuned across VY1JA on 28020, and
worked Jay for the sweep with a slightly watery signal. Thanks Jay for being there with your flu, your rig problem and your
bulldozer work! It's still a thrill to complete the sweep in Sweepstakes.
0253Z, 7 minutes to go and I'm combing 80, with my score just under 185,000. Four Qs in those last few minutes, and I made
my goal! I doubt it will remain over 185k when the log checking is done, but after seeing how much I lost last year, and why, I
was more careful than ever this time around. Last year I lost 19 Qs because I operated too long! This time I returned to
tracking OFF time on paper, instead of using the computer time "OFF". I mentioned what happened to me last year to Tree,
N6TR, before the contest, and he said he uses paper to keep track also!
Will I do SS again? We'll see. Maybe it would be more fun from a rare multiplieror from Louisiana!
Bottom Line: 80/196 40/341 20/371 15/84 10/150 1142x 80 185,280
JACK W1WEF -- W1WEF
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