12/20/2003 | N5TW First I would like to thank Tom, N5TW, for use of his world class station. Tom has built a fine contest/DX station in central Texas and I thank him for privilege of using it.

Now to the nitty-gritty. This was only my second SS. My first being an effort from home and only a 10 meter vertical and a 40/80 dipole. This was completely different. I had a very nice antenna selection at my fingertips. I made the decision to start on 15 meters remembering the advice given to me by K5TR. "Never, ever start on 10 meters no matter how good it sounds." This was not the only advice given to me before I delved into my first real SS. K5PI, WM5R, KI5DR and N3BB also had tips and the one I took most to heart was RUN. Well I did. 15 and 20 where great but 80 was hard due to having very directional DX antennas. 40 was also good but I did not find out just how good until 2 hours left in the contest. Messed that up bad...so next year I won't forget, you can run on 40.

I had to drive up Georgetown from Corpus Christi the morning of the contest. That is a 4-hour drive so I had to get up early so I could get there in time to eat and get acquainted with the station again. (Last time I used it was for a SOSB 15 meter effort in ARRL DX) I could not get there Friday due to my wedding anniversary. That meant I petered out about 3 to 4 hours early and missed some prime low band stuff. Plus I finished the test with 4 hours too much off time. I tried to make up for Sunday on the higher bands but 4 hours of QSOs is hard to make up. I probably lost about 200+ Qs due to that 4 hours of missed time.

Rates where good for most of the contest. Mults where a different story. I thought I would get the sweep this year with the better antennas or at least come closer. I had 77 last year with QC, NNY, and MAR missed. This year it was 77 with NT, ND, and NL. Can't a guy catch a break? Oh well I had a blast and being loud helps. Thanks for all who answered my CQs and the CQers for coming back to me. Congrats to K5WA for what looks like a STX LP record. Did not think that was going to happen this year. Breakdown of N5TW's station:

10,15 and 20 have 3 independently rotating antennas and one 3 element yagi fixed SE. All yagis used in spray array.
10 meters - 5/5/5 Force 12 EF510 (not used)
15 meters - 6/6/6 M2 15M6
20 meters - 5/5/5 M2 20M5
40 meters - 2/2 CC XM240
80 meters - COMTEK K8UR style 4-Square
160 meter - COMTEK 4-Square w/ omni mode (not used)
4 2-way Beverage receive antennas for 80/160M
FT-1000D @ 150W
WriteLog

Next year I will try to maximize this stations full capabilities.

73,
Reid -- KC5YKX