01/06/2003 | K0FJ This was the baptism of K0FJs newly-moved shack. This would be momentous for most hams, but you have to understand Mike moves his shack as often as some people change motor oil... While the move between adjacent rooms had been ALMOST complete for days, the final act of running 220VAC w/conduit was saved for Friday afternoon prior to the contest. The SB-220 is a push-pull amp and Mike followed suit alternately pushing and pulling the conduit and wires from opposite ends of his new run (see photo). This created an undesired heavy workout just prior to the contest.

Our original plan was a casual 3-operator multiop with K0BJ and K0QP. Jim QP was on the sick list so we envisioned an even more casual run. Well... things have a way of just 'happening', and in spite of spending the first 30 minutes trying to get the FSK modulating (it works wonders when you use the correct COM port!), the operation went well and we had enough propagation to stay interested, so we put in a fair effort. The only other visit from Murphy came with 2 hours left. While Mike was out jogging with the dogs, Bruce hit something on the keyboard and needed to restart WriteLog and MMTTY. This wasnt completed until Mike returned after 17 minutes of down time.

By noon we were entertaining thoughts of 1K Qs and 100 mults. Fickle bands and lack of fresh meat dimmed prospects of that goal, but rapid S&Ping of 10 and 15 the final 20 minutes got us close and QSO #1000 (clean) went in the log at 2359:32! We only missed DE YU NWT in the W/VE roster but with declining sunspots the long-haul stuff was hard to come by with just 42 DX mults, for a total of 101. You cant cut your goals much closer than that.

We thoroughly enjoy multioping. For every perk conceded by going from single to multi, there seems to be two gained at least for our taste. The RTTY environment is especially enjoyable as you can kibbitz quite a bit with the relief op while running.

1000 Qs x 101 mults = 101000 claimed MOHP KS -- K0BJ