12/15/2008 | N7IV Saturday evening we had North Dakota weather (minus 15 degrees and 45 mph wind) so I figured it would be good to get into the 10 meter contest. I expected to do a mixed (phone and cw) entry but the band conditions were not compatible with phone operations. Things would open up for 30 to 90 seconds and then slam quickly closed again. It would stay dead for five minutes and the cycle would repeat. Sometimes the wait between openings was as long as half an hour. Even when the band opened, signals were very weak. Only a few non-local stations were strong enough to move the s-meter. After a very frustrating hour searching, pouncing, and not being heard, I figured I was going to be weak everywhere and, if folks didnt aim their directional antennas north, it was going to be a really long day. I abandoned search and pounce, plunked myself on 28.012, turned the quad SE (later on the wind picked up, the temp dropped to minus 26 and I couldnt turn the quad) and called CQ, hoping some kind soul would post a message letting people know that there was actually a ND CW station on the air. That strategy seemed to work. I ended up putting ND in 191 logs which wasnt bad considering the conditions and late start. I might have done better if my XYL hadnt forced me take her out to dinner at 6:30 Sunday night (yes, Dakotans actually go out in that kind of weather). I was in the middle of a fairly hot (figuratively speaking), worked-all-Texans cycle when I had to go QRT. Sorry if I missed anyone who tried to call.

73's

Joe, N7IV

P.S. The log has been sent to Lotw.

P.P.S. If you want a paper QSL, just send me yours at my QRZ.com address. There is no need for a SASE. -- N7IV