11/24/2003 | KO6BB Well, I used to work all the big contests but have been inactive on the bands for about 3 years or so, concentrating on SWLing and beacons.

BUT, I bought a new Icom IC-718 and MFJ 949E and they arrived the Wednesday before the Phone SS. Of course I would never forgive myself if I had missed the SS this year. Thursday and Friday was spent repairing/checking my antennas (Roof mounted Hustler 6BTV and Alpha Delta DX-B sloper for lowbands), setting the station up, checking the station Battery bank (3 120AH Deep cycle batteries) etc. Wired the the old Radio Shack boom headset up for the IC-718 and I was on the air!

I usually work contests in a very casual way, taking lunch breaks, walk around the yard breaks etc. Anyway, I worked 226 QSO's and all but a couple of the USA sections (Utah one state away eluded me). WHERE WAS CANADA? I only worked a couple of their sections. I have yet to make a "sweep" but all my previous SS contests were run from the apartment with attic dipoles. The new setup at this QTH was a vast improvement!

ALL IN ALL I HAD A GREAT TIME AND LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE! -- KO6BB