11/03/2008 | N8XMS I spent most of Saturday outside raking leaves and came in tired, sore, and not very inclined to participate in the contest. But my wife encouraged me to give it a try and after about a dozen contacts I was hooked. Running QRP into a compromise antenna means that I can only really compete with myself, and I am pleased to say that this was my best showing ever, with 150 QSOs and 61 sections. I thought that conditions were fairly good and I had QSOs on 15, 20, and 40 meters. I used my kit-built Black Widow paddle and it worked great. Im very comfortable with 20 wpm contacts in regular rag chews but the speeds that some people sent their exchange at were just amazing. I really appreciated the ones who were kind enough to slow themselves down when they heard my slower response to their CQ. I also got the impression that their were many more people running in the unlimited category than in previous years and I wonder if this is a reflection of the popularity of that new CW-reading Skimmer software. If the speeds and software trends continue Im afraid that the Sweepstakes will just turn into another data-mode contest like RTTY or PSK where computers are absolutely required. I hope not. Thanks to all the folks who worked so hard to hear my little QRP signal - the real credit belongs to them. -- N8XMS