[HCRA] FD 2002 Results

[Jim Mullen]

Three cheers for HCRA!

The results have been posted on the ARRL web site. The HCRA was 4th in the
country in class 7A. We also were 39th overall, that puts us in the top 2%.
This is a feat that every member of HCRA should be proud of, and wouldn't
have been possible without the support of everyone in the club. My heartfelt
thanks for helping put HCRA in the record books again.

If you didn't actively participate in 2002 don't despair. You'll have a
chance to in just 7 1/2 more month. 2003 will offer us a chance to make new
mistakes, and have just as much fun doing it! We've got a lot to live up to,
but with everyone's help  I know we can have even more fun than last year.
(and maybe even make 15,000 points too!).

A note to those who have been unable to participate. Your contribution is
just as important. Your membership and confidence in HCRA allows us to have
successful events like FD, the Big-E, Basketball Hall of Fame, etc. Thanks!

Attached is a copy of an email from John, Kx1x. John might not admit it, but
his enthusiasm has really made the difference in our FD efforts. As you can
tell from his email, he's already wound up for next years event. Here's what
John had to say:

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KK1W --  I was going to send this to the reflector, but didn't want to
steal your thunder!!!!

SRodowicz@EO.Kollmorgen.com wrote:

> W1NY            Class 7A        3802 QSOs,      10,366 Points   #4 of 28
> entries in 7A
> (#2 was @ 10,634 points - Only 268 points more than we had)

> 73, Steve - N1SR

> "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a
habit."
> - Aristotle

A more critical review shows that we had 150 more Q's than the 1st place
team, but 2600 less points.
    To me, this shows that we have what it takes to be the 1st place team
next year.  The CW & Digital machines  (more points per
queue) and bonus points   (satellite, etc...) is where we need to buckle
down and focus.

    Please do not infer that I am being critical of the effort put out by
everyone this year.  We had about 40 team players this year, everyone
putting in their best effort, with the circumstances and time that they
were allowed.

    We need to start right away planning next June's attack...  Antennas,
operators, matching skills and experience with tasks and responsibilities.

    Don't get me wrong...  We shouldn't change our target...  that is,
to have fun!!!  But everyone will have fun, as they did this year, being
on a winning team.  We need to stress that point!  We were a winning
team last year, and we had fun... we can be a 1st in class team this
year,   and have even more fun!!!
    Lets build again on what we did and learned this year, to have yet
another success at FD2003.  Geeze.... its only 7 1/2 months away!

Congrats HCRA!

'73 de Kx1x,
JPise

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You can't steal my thunder John, it's HCRA's thunder and it's rumbling
already.

As you can see, John is all fired up for next year. There's been lots of
discussion about FD 2003 on the repeaters in the morning. Jim, WB1Z has
booked the FD team from NARC (N1FD) for our May meeting. This is the group
that has had 27A FD's and 1st place scores. Should be just the ticket to get
everyone interested in June 2003. The club's stock of basic equipment
continues to grow. Steve has targeted 15K points as the 2003 goal. Given the
pool of operators, technical expertise and club enthusiasm and participation
we have a good chance of making that goal.

Anyone who would like to participate, help plan, operate, etc should contact
anyone now. Who is this anyone to contact? Well, that's the neat thing. Last
years FD was run by a committee without a leader, so it's hard to put
someone's name down for contact. For the time being, just drop me a note and
I'll add it to the growing list of volunteers for 2003. If you would like to
participate, we have a place for you.

In closing, just one more thing. Although we have focused on the score the
one thing that sets us apart is the "fun" of it all. All 40 people at the FD
site were enjoying the hobby, having fun and promoting ham radio at the same
time. As long as we never lose site of the "fun" part of FD, every year will
be a winner no matter what the score.

My apologies for the length of this letter, but I just had to let you know
how proud you should be of your club. Fifty plus years and we're still going
strong. If you read K1BE's reprint in the last Zero Beat you know of many of
HCRA's past accomplishments. Isn't it nice to know we are upholding that
tradition?

'73 - see you at the auction,

Jim, KK1W