[Elecraft] Re: ARRL DX: 100!

[Gay Family]

K7FD Wrote:
	Rig:  K2/586, 10w PEP (not ARRL QRP)
	Ant:  3 el Cubex Quad at 60'
	Mic:  Heil Pro Set, Icom SM-20
	Op:   K7FD, John

============
	I drug home Friday evening about 7PM after a long day, ate a late supper
after family and turned on K2#1932 expecting to do some filter tuning.
Again. They still aren't right. Pitch changes, volume drops off. And maybe
build a wire 20m Moxon rectangle fed with 300ohm twinlead linked together by
those banana plugs I asked about. Hitting the Ukraine last week was fun.
Holy Smokes. Tremendous confusion on 40m. Turn on computer, dial up ISP and
check the ARRL webpage. Sure enough, a contest is on. Find the rules. Try to
figure out rules. What the heck is a multiplier? Listen for a long while.
Tune around. Finally a loud Japanese station calling CQ on 20m. Screw up
nerve. Nerve vaporizes. Screw up nerve again. Repeat "Nerve Cycle" several
times with microphone in hand. Call it. He responds but call incomplete.
Damn. Now what do I do? Screw up response. Blow phonetics. Repeat whole
sequence several times. He gets it. 5:27Z. Hot Damn. First Japanese station
(this is only the 14th entry in my logbook!). Hind end sore. Gotta quit
doing this sitting on arm of sofa. Go to bed.

	Get up. Eat breakfast, read paper. Kid has basketball game. Kid wins; his
first one. Come home, run over and turn on K2. Find an unused folding chair
to replace sofa arm. 19:40Z. 20m. Another Japanese station calling CQ.
Repeat Nerve Cycle several times. Drop in call several times. He responds
with partial call. Better at phonetics this time. He gets it. 13 minutes
later, third Japanese station. Switch to 15m for first time ever. Find a OK
calling CQ. Thank heaven he digs. 20:18Z qso is complete. I'm starting to
like this. But gotta leave for a previously scheduled and promised family
event. Get back in evening. Lottsa listening to lottsa confusion. Lottsa
calls. No luck. One RU in the log on 20m. Try 80m. No luck. 40m no luck.
Loud stations, no response. Heard some fights over "frequency in use". Go to
bed frustrated. Maybe this isn't so hot after all.

	Get up. Can't sleep anyway. 13:50Z OH in the log on 20m. The first! 13:56Z
another JA. 8 min later an RJ. Take deep breaths. Eat breakfast, read Sunday
papers to calm down. Talk to Mother when she calls. Okay. Lets try this
again. 18:49 an OM on 15m. Just go for it. Long dry spots filled with
stretches of success. IQ4. Try 10m for the first time ever. EA8, CT8, 6D2,
KH7. Back to 15m. Kid #3 has crisis with kids #1 and 2, talk to kid #3 for
hour. PJ4, TI5, EA8 again on different band. What the heck is a multiplier
and how does one use it?  KL7, TI5, KH7 again. 22:56Z another OH on 15m. No
more success. Shout at kids to turn off interfering TV. Finally just sit and
listen to the pile up on PJ again, kids turn TV back on. Take head phones
off. Go buy Pappa Murphy's for the family, tell kid #3 family names in
phonetics.

	2:12Z. K2 is on 20m in the background. Kids eating pizza, mine getting
colder. Head still feels like I have headphones on. Phonetics keep dancing
in head. Italy works better than India, United better than Uniform. Logbook
started out with 13 QSO's, ended with 25 more. At least made it onto the
second page. Haven't worked on tuning filters (Only used OP1 and 2, AF1
sometimes - audio too low otherwise) and haven't built a wire beam. Gotta do
both. Definitely gotta build that QRO module. Damn this might be addictive.
When's the next contest?

	Oh. What's DXCC?

========
	Rig:  K2/1932, PEP as much as I could get; 10 on 10, better lower.
	Ant:  70m horizontal loop at 12-15' fed by twinlead off MFJ949E
	Mic:  Elecraft MH2, Sony MDR CD180 - definitely not noise blockers.
	Op:   KD7OIU, John
========
	P.S. Thanks and apologies for the bandwidth.

John, KD7OIU.