2003 ARRL 10 Meter Contest
12/15/2003 |
K4VU
Wow, what a wild ride. All I can say about propagation this year is that it had more moods than my last girlfriend -- and just as unpredictable. A Saturday afternoon call from KY5R (Hi/SSB/AL) revealed that going to bed after midnight Friday was a bad call, and that ZL/VK opened up nicely to the southeast soon after I had already pronounced the 10m DOA. Heh, who would've thought..?!
Saturday was a bit better, but I was still down in the noise for most folks who struggled to copy the faint signal from Alabama. The 100 watts and my Piece-O-Wire(tm) at 25 feet -- the same setup I used the previous weekend for surprising 370 Qs on 160 the weekend before -- was just barely making it out alive. And it seemed like I must've worked every single ham in Florida that day (is there an award for that? :) ). I can still hear faint echoes of '599 FL' when it gets quiet around the house. Later in the day, it opened up to the northeast and I loaded up on needed mults. Finally, shutdown around 1:00 a.m.
Sunday morning, conditions were very nice. Very few EU, with the exception of the occasional strong, fluttering UAs and OHs going over the Pole. Could work everyone I could hear, mostly on the first call -- even managed to run a few times (one time getting practically assaulted by multiplier needy stations in the midwest). I was having a ball, until... sporadic S-7 line noise hit. Bummer.
All in all, it was a load of fun. 500+ Qs, around 30 countries and only needed DE, AK and MS for 10m WAS for the weekend. Until recently, I've been on the west coast and had no station. Now -- after moving back to the southeast -- and after working three contests for three weekends in a row, I'm ready to start growing antennas again. Its been a long time, but I'm looking forward to the challenge of building a competitive setup. I showed my fiance pictures of the K1TTT superstation and said, 'now *thats* what I'm going after -- isn't that beautiful?!' Her response was, 'well I guess we have to get a place well away from normal people so you don't hurt anyone." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, fer sure.
73
Robin/K4VU
CW/Low Power/Alabanana Republic -- K4VU
Saturday was a bit better, but I was still down in the noise for most folks who struggled to copy the faint signal from Alabama. The 100 watts and my Piece-O-Wire(tm) at 25 feet -- the same setup I used the previous weekend for surprising 370 Qs on 160 the weekend before -- was just barely making it out alive. And it seemed like I must've worked every single ham in Florida that day (is there an award for that? :) ). I can still hear faint echoes of '599 FL' when it gets quiet around the house. Later in the day, it opened up to the northeast and I loaded up on needed mults. Finally, shutdown around 1:00 a.m.
Sunday morning, conditions were very nice. Very few EU, with the exception of the occasional strong, fluttering UAs and OHs going over the Pole. Could work everyone I could hear, mostly on the first call -- even managed to run a few times (one time getting practically assaulted by multiplier needy stations in the midwest). I was having a ball, until... sporadic S-7 line noise hit. Bummer.
All in all, it was a load of fun. 500+ Qs, around 30 countries and only needed DE, AK and MS for 10m WAS for the weekend. Until recently, I've been on the west coast and had no station. Now -- after moving back to the southeast -- and after working three contests for three weekends in a row, I'm ready to start growing antennas again. Its been a long time, but I'm looking forward to the challenge of building a competitive setup. I showed my fiance pictures of the K1TTT superstation and said, 'now *thats* what I'm going after -- isn't that beautiful?!' Her response was, 'well I guess we have to get a place well away from normal people so you don't hurt anyone." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, fer sure.
73
Robin/K4VU
CW/Low Power/Alabanana Republic -- K4VU
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