[ADXA] 6M Monday, and Field Day

[patw5vy at gmail.com]

Dennis,

Wow….great work keeping K5PXP active on FD CW.  I consider the FDs spent with the K5PXP crew among the highlights of my time in ham radio.  Despite the occasional flood with a small river running through the tent and waking up with my sleeping bag full of ants…. it was always a ton of fun.

 

73,

Pat, W5VY

 

Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 9:17 AM
To: ADXA <ADXA at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [ADXA] 6M Monday, and Field Day

 

I like to hear or print good DX on 6 meters but am handicapped by my 3 elements at 12 feet for now.  I can run about 40 watts on FT8.  Yesterday, I printed probably a dozen stations in Scotland, plus a few in England, Hungary, etc.  I managed a QSO with MM0AMW, so it was a good day for me.  I suspect many ADXA'ers worked a log full of GM's.  There may have been some CW activity but I didn't hear any.

 

Also, a Field Day report (belated).  My score was committed to the local Russellville club, and I was asked to use the club call, K5PXP, at my home station.  I told the club my goal was 1000 but most people thought that was optimistic.   I knew I would be 90% CW but 10 meters was open and I thought I could knock off 100 the first hour on 10 SSB.   There were not enough stations to sustain a run, so I quit at 45 minutes and went to 15 SSB.  After working 6 stations, I went to 15 CW.

 

I called CQ and about 3 hours later, my bladder forced me to get up from the rig.  The rate stayed near 150/hr.  I went to 20 and it was essentially the same for an hour or so, and then I took a long supper break.  

 

I went back to 20 meters and it stayed open until well after dark with a high rate (at least a good rate for Field Day).  About 10 PM, I went to 40 meters and an hour or so later, realized I had over 900 QSO's.  At 30 minutes after midnight, I hit 1000 and went to bed with no intention of getting up early.  At 7:30 on Sunday, I went back on 40 and conditions were better and I knocked off 100 or so in short order.  Then back to 20 and 15 to get over 1400 total by mid-morning.  I had wanted to give FT4 a try to see how fast it was for contesting, so I ended with 16 Q's on 10 meter FT4.  

 

CW operating on Field Day is frustrating due to the experience and skill level of a lot of operators.  On one hand, I'm tickled that they are on CW.  I wish they realized that when 5 or 6 stations call me and they are exactly zero beat with each other, it is hard to pick one out.  Then they all call once and quit.  No strategic timing, shifting the VFO 200 Hz to stand out, etc.  But don't get me wrong - it is always a pleasure to see people trying CW.

 

The grand total was 1444 QSO's, with over 1300 on CW - definitely the most I have ever made in a weekend.  I ran 150 watts or less.  It was a blast but I sure hope we can fight the heat and bugs outdoors again next year.

 

73,

Dennis, W5RZ

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