[Elecraft] Sweepstakes

[n2ey at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe-aa4nn <aa4nn at earthlink.net>

IIRC, I was surprised to get such a low SN from AA4NN.

But then I noticed a number of stations on Sunday that had good big sigs
and yet were giving out low SNs.

I think they were playing the "hot and fast" game: Show up late in SS
(Sunday morning at the earliest, late Sunday afternoon usually) and 
start calling CQ.
By then, almost everyone, even the big boys, are looking for new ones, 
and you have a few
intense hours of being *very* popular! You won't win that way, but your 
QSO rate will be
phenomenal.

> If you insist 
>on going for high score, make your goal more realistic and more 
>fun by competing with stations in your own ARRL/RAC section 
>or local radio club or a friend. In this way you are competing 
>with stations in your particular area on this continent. 
 
Or compete in a variety of ways:

- are you ahead of where you were last year, the year before that, etc?
- have you fixed any weak points in your setup (rig, antenna, operator?)
- where do you fit in the overall percentile rank?
- where do you fit in the particular class (QRP ops in your section, 
etc.)

You can also use contests like SS as a way to get those rare states for 
WAS.

>Forget the high score and all the pressure that goes with it, and 
>just concentrate on getting a *sweep* of all 80 ARRL/RAC 
>sections. Now, there's a challenge for you and a quite difficult 
>one at that.  

AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Don't remind me!

I've worked all sections in SS - just never all in the *same* SS!
>From EPA, it is really tough to get AK, NT, and PAC, simply
because there are so many hams closer to those sections, they are so 
rare
and so far away, and EPA isn't rare at all.

Got 76 sections including PAC this year. AK heard but couldn't break 
through, NT nowhere to be found.
The other holdouts were WTX, and (sob) DE!

It's only a few miles from here to the Delaware/PA border, yet I never 
heard any DE stations at all this year.

Perhaps they were all tossing pumpkins.

Maybe next year I'll have a different rig for SS...

73 de Jim, N2EY
 
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