07/16/2002 | NP2KW WHAT A NIGHTMARE!! -Propagation was nil 'til sundown , I ran into tuning problems 20 minutes before the contest that moved my starting time up 2 hours due to a faulty jumper (after having pulled my rig forward closer to my seating position) , and when I finally got on my way on 15M for a couple hours then started on 20M (when the band was supposed to have been open but wasn't) my beam wouldn't tune to the northeast (Europe for me). Had to climb my 40ft tower 4 times and finally figured out my problem was the newly erected 80M dipole feedline resting (with great tension) on the beams' boom whenever I turned it to the east. When that was settled , I then saw with agonizing astonishment (EEEEEEKK!!) that my contest logger was logging in local time instead of zulu! So...I had me a drink, 2 tylenols , and moved my cpu's time up four hours and proceeded with the contest. Everything was running smoothly now,..lots of multipliers being worked , a few stations here and there. I was having a blast and knew that nothing could stop me now ,.... when I felt a very familiar creature crawling over my bare toes....our local centipede..a very heavy one I might add , that had made her nest in my footswitch overnight and returning after hunting around all day (this is the second time this has happened). That was another two hour delay while I practically moved and almost tore apart my station to find her before she found her way to my 5 yr. old daughter. But all in all , when the sun rose the next morning and it was all over ,I looked at my score and realized I had almost doubled my goal (last years' winner for KP2...{hint hint}). It was my first contest ,...and for sure not the last. Good luck to all - NP2KW-----
PS. FOR SALE - 1 FOOTSWITCH ,..inquire within. -- NP2KW