2004 ARRL November Sweepstakes (Phone)
11/23/2004 |
W6YX
Had a great time! This is my first entry in this contest. I'm a rookie contester, only operated Field Day until this year. The excellent facilities at W6YX were offered to me, so I jumped at the chance to operate there.
Great rates compared to the CW weekend! I reached 76 mults in the first 5 hours. The next 3 mults dribbled in during the next 3 hours... nailed MS by S&P, while NM and WMA called me on my run frequency. But where was NL?
A power outage at 9:21pm PST ended the first day 3 hours early, denying W6YX several hours of 80/40 meter prime time. It also fried the ethernet switch in the shack, removing DX Cluster capability for the rest of the contest. The wind storm that caused the outage did not affect any HF antennas, whew! Might have lost a handful of QSOs in the log, but nothing important enough to fret about.
Finally worked VO1HP in NL on my 20 meter run frequency at 0011 UT, my QSO # 1282, his QSO #16 (SIXTEEN!?) - boy was I glad he wasn't running, I'd never have busted that pile. He was quite weak, but not "ESP-level."
I entered as Multi-Single, but no one ever dropped by to operate, so I
was actually single-op the whole time. Only had packet the first day,
and made little use of it for working mults. I made lots of spots when I would S&P, so I hope it helped others who were part-timers, SO2R, or little pistols trying to run.
I noticed a LOT of serial numbers under 200 near the end of the contest. Thanks for keeping it fun for my 24-hour (really 20-hour) effort!
And I think I owe VO1HP a drink if he ever visits the area ;-).
73,
John KJ9U -- KJ9U
Great rates compared to the CW weekend! I reached 76 mults in the first 5 hours. The next 3 mults dribbled in during the next 3 hours... nailed MS by S&P, while NM and WMA called me on my run frequency. But where was NL?
A power outage at 9:21pm PST ended the first day 3 hours early, denying W6YX several hours of 80/40 meter prime time. It also fried the ethernet switch in the shack, removing DX Cluster capability for the rest of the contest. The wind storm that caused the outage did not affect any HF antennas, whew! Might have lost a handful of QSOs in the log, but nothing important enough to fret about.
Finally worked VO1HP in NL on my 20 meter run frequency at 0011 UT, my QSO # 1282, his QSO #16 (SIXTEEN!?) - boy was I glad he wasn't running, I'd never have busted that pile. He was quite weak, but not "ESP-level."
I entered as Multi-Single, but no one ever dropped by to operate, so I
was actually single-op the whole time. Only had packet the first day,
and made little use of it for working mults. I made lots of spots when I would S&P, so I hope it helped others who were part-timers, SO2R, or little pistols trying to run.
I noticed a LOT of serial numbers under 200 near the end of the contest. Thanks for keeping it fun for my 24-hour (really 20-hour) effort!
And I think I owe VO1HP a drink if he ever visits the area ;-).
73,
John KJ9U -- KJ9U
Back
