11/06/2014 | NX4N

 Hi Friends,

Well, that was a Blast! SSCW 2014 was everything I thought it would be - lots of fun, lots of challenges and many old and new friends to work.  More details below, but first, here's my numbers:   Hours Operated = 23 (see "Ugly" comments below). Band    QSOs    Pts  Sec    3.5      15      30    0      7     477     954    8     14     429     858   64     21     202     404   11     28      12      24    0  Total    1135    2270   83 Score: 188,410   ARRL SS CW - 2014-11-01 2100Z to 2014-11-03 0300Z - 1172 QSOs NX4N Max Rates:   2014-11-02 0158Z - 4.0 per minute  (1 minute(s)), 240 per hour by NX4N 2014-11-02 0159Z - 2.2 per minute  (10 minute(s)), 132 per hour by NX4N 2014-11-02 0453Z - 1.5 per minute  (60 minute(s)), 90 per hour by NX4N   This was my 2nd serious SS attempt (the other in 2012) in 22 years, including 15 years of QRT; sure have missed it!    Thanks to the ongoing kindness of the Tampa ARC, I was again allowed to use their clubhouse for sweepstakes - no attic dipoles for this contest op!  I brought my K3, KPA500 and old-as-dirt-original-two-tube Alpha 76A (that sucker can still put out 1300 watts!).  I also brought a DXD (my first time operating SO2R), PC's and an auto antenna tuner for the C31 (see below).   TARC provided an IC-7600 and 3 towers with the following antennas: Tower 1:   * Force 12 240N @ 130', * Force 12 C31-XR @120' (but high SWR on 15m and 10m) -this was my 20m run antenna, * 80m Dipole @ 90'   Tower 2:  Force 12 C19-XR @ 70'  - this was my run antenna for 15m and 10m.   Tower 3:  Force 12 XR-5; not a bad little antenna for S&P. . TARC has a super clubhouse - really the best I've ever seen. And just super FB folks too!   Anyway, I spent 8+ hours Friday setting up a completely functional SO2R station from scratch - quite a chore.  I ran 'mixed HP/LP due to the SWR issues.  For running with quick QSY capability I put both amps on the K3, one for each antenna output- Alpha for big runs and KPA500 for quick QSY's.  For S&P I ran the IC-7600 barefoot.  I was actually quite happy of this little setup; that said one more amp and a fully functional C31XR would have made a difference   Now onto the good part - operating! I got to the TARC clubhouse about 2.5 hours before the contest, inflating an air mattress, making final station preparations, checking out the bands and pumping up the operator into a froth.  At 2100z I hit the ground running - I felt really strong those first 11 hours or so and was *very* happy with my rates (nearly 800 QSO's and all but ND and NE in the log).  I was no more than 100-120 QSO's behind the 'Big Boys' - and actually ahead of a few; I was one happy camper when I hit the hay.  The C31XR and 240N with my trusty ol' Alpha made dominating signals on 20m and 40m, and I leveraged both bands accordingly.  My 15m signal was 'ok', but certainly nothing special - man, I wish the C31 worked on 15m and 10m.  But good ops work with what they have and that is what I tried to emulate.  S&P was good for barefoot, but I could tell that having an amp would have made a difference.    Sunday was another matter entirely - good heavens, I was bone tired and I just saw my mojo slip away as the day progressed.  Much less aggressive with my rates and S&P work on the 2nd radio; Did not sleep well, perhaps too much caffeine?  At 55 I am hardly and OT but I am certainly not the strong young Op I used to be.   The Good: - Saturday Optimism - A great Tampa ARC offer to use their clubhouse and antenna farm - thanks! - Deep, fast runs on 20m and 40m.  The Fun and Run was in high gear. - Learning SO2R on the fly and actually seeing myself improve during the contest; I'm hooked! - Gators beat Georgia (nearly always held on SSCW weekend)   The Bad: - 1.5 hours of light, caffeine-laced 'sleep. - C'mon, really, no Sunday casual operators?  Hello?  CQ? Anyone? Only crickets... - High number of Dupes calling me.  N1MM said I logged just three QSO's shy of 1200 in 23 hours but the actual total was much less.  I wonder if NX4N is such a rare prefix and folks want an insurance QSO? :-) - Losing my contest mojo Sunday  - Did I mention Sunday?   The Ugly: - I was soooo tired Sunday that I misread N1MM operating time and quit an hour early - OUCH!  By the time I realized it, I had disassembled some of the station and was simply too tired to put it back together.  Almost too embarrassed to report this but it actually happened :-( - I was clearly out-hustled Sunday and saw my best competitive effort from Saturday fade away.  Oh well, opportunity for improvement next year.   The Fun: - Sunday afternoon finding world-class ops, N5TJ, K1TO, N6RO and NF4A come on the scene as 'fresh meat'.  I was astounded to hear them each work a horrendous pileup of desperate full-timers with adeptness that I could only dream of doing.  Truly enjoyable to listen to these guys who make it seem so easy. - Working so many of you that I have worked in Sweepstakes since I was a teenager 40+ years ago.  In fact, Paul K5RT and I were teens in Orlando together and it is just way-cool to still QSO with him in SS. - Borrowing an idea from friend N4BP, I improved upon the infamous ''operator bucket' idea by adding kitty litter...I'll leave the remaining details to your imaginations but I did not budge from that operator chair all weekend.   Well, that about sums it up.  Congrats to all the participants and thanks to each of you who worked me and put up with my newbie-SO2R shenanigans.     Hope to CU in SSCW 2015!   vy 73, Chris, NX4N            -- NX4N