02/24/2009 | K4WY I think I put in a respectable effort this year. I took the plunge and operated QRP and single band 40 meters. I had no countries to snag and nothing to prove so I could afford to take the challenge less seriously this year and have a load of fun. The rig was a FT817 plus logging software and a pair of fixed 2 element delta loops at 75 feet, one oriented NE-SW and the other NW-SE (ref. the Delta loop article in the ARRL Handbook). I never called a DX station that had a signal less than S6 - S7 thinking the other stations were most likely running more power and would not hear me. The ops strategy was to constantly do S & P (search and pounce) between 7030 and 7080 with an occasional call below 7005. I allowed for five to six calls before spinning the dial on every contact. Well, the combination of an extended morning opening to VK/ZL and an early opening to Europe landed me more than 200 contacts and about 70 multipliers. So - I heard far more than I worked but I worked more than I ever thought possible. My thanks to the big guns who stuck with me to get the callsign in their log and look forward to next year. 73 -- K4WY