11/20/2006 | N2OBY This was my first sweepstakes, and the first contest I've participated in on my own as I'm usually involved in a club effort such as Field Day or the September VHF QSO Party. My station is modest compared to the "big guns" - a Yaesu FT-847 feeding an OCF dipole (15' up on one end and 30' on the other due to the terrain), so my expectations were equally so. I would simply "search and pounce" hoping to work as many sections as possible and not worry about points. A clean sweep was a dream, but as it turned out I got closer than I'd expected...
The event started with the mad rush as expected, but one thing I wasn't ready for was the QRM. Twenty-four hours of bedlam in the headphones! I heard many operators commenting on it also. 20m & 80m were my workhorse bands, though 40m was also productive. For some reason I didn't try 15m until Sunday afternoon, where I found the ND I'd been looking for all weekend along with a couple of Canadian provinces. 15 was also a relief as it was incredibly quiet compared to the other bands.
Highlights included working W1AW which I found on 80m, and the many complimentary reports I received regarding my audio and signal quality. I'd have to say another highlight was hearing the way that all the stations treated each other while dealing with the massive noise levels. Not once did I hear any attitudes or frustration - quite the opposite. Most showed incredible patience and a desire to help each other out. Only once or twice did I hear a station regrettably ask the other to try again later. I personally would like to thank K2KR for sticking with me as long as he did to complete the contact so I could finally get CO in the log. The sections in 7-land took the most work for me.
When all was said and done, I was quite pleased with my results: 208 contacts, 65 sections and 27040 points. Being so close to New England I was frustrated as hell that I never bagged WMA & EMA, which I only ever heard once or twice, as well as NNY which is part of my state. I never heard OK, DE, MT, SC, KY, PAC, QC, ON or BC. I finally got through to an NV, but I wasn't sure we'd confirmed the contact so I didn't log it. I spent my share of time (or more) in the pileups for AK and NT (NL7V did an awesome job handling his), but my station couldn't compete with the power and/or beams and/or better locations of other stations.
All in all great fun and after some rest/recovery I'll be looking forward to the next one. Anyone who doesn't think this is work hasn't done it right! -- N2OBY