[KCDXC] WPX Results

[Tom Baugh]

Thanks to all the guys that came out and participated, helped, encouraged.
Our goals from the onset were the following:

5,100 QSO's   1,200 Multipliers   10 Million points.

With these results I figures we would be:
Top 5 in USA Multi- Multi
Chance at top 25 World

The following was the GOAL and RESULT by band

BAND    GOAL    RESULT
10M        1500         882
15M        1600       1490
20M        1400       1806
40M          350         363
80M          200         413
160M          75           86
______________________
TOTAL   5125       4872

MULTIPLIERS GOAL      1200
                          RESULT  1200
AMAZING

AND THE FINAL HOOORAH!!!

POINT GOAL  10,000,000
         RESULT  12,282,680

This should leave enough room to end up over 12 Million points after log
checking.
Our points per QSo are obviously not what the East coast stations get
because our DX is 3000 miles further away. It will be interesting to see the
total QSO comparisons. There were also some tremendous single op efforts.

Overall observations:
*It was great breaking the 10 Million mark
*The Solar "Event" that hit us Saturday killed 10 and 15M.
  It looks like the timing of the event also allowed the East costers to get
their usual Europe
 Openings, so they may not have been as seriously effected.
*Murphy tried:
 Only somewhat significant problem was a broken rotor on 20M
 But we shot a line over the beam and tied a rope to it and turned it that
way.
 Some misc. RF issues of one radio getting into another periodically but
overall not bad.
RADIOS ALL WORKED>> AMPS ALL WORKED>>

So far I have seen one post from  N2RM Class: M/M HP QTH: NJ
of:   Total: 4792  Prefixes = 1144  Total Score = 15,133,976
WE never worked these guys!

I will be dismanteling the antennas over the course of the next week or so.
Most of it is pretty simple.. but I could probably use a hand at some point.
I'll post to let you know. Grass mowing season is right around the corner
and the 100+ radials will cause some damage to the blades and seals if they
get wrapped up in the deck.

WHAT'S NEXT?
I think planning for next year will start soon.
The mono bander played great so I'm considering new one's on 10 and 15
Maybe a good club project.. who has aluminum?
I'm thinking we'll try a CW and SSB contest on either consecutive weekends
or nearby weekends.. I'll look at the schedule and see what next year has to
hold.

WHAT I'LL DO DIFFERENTLY
I guess the weekend went off just about like I thought it would.
There were times when we had more operators than openings...
There were times we had more openings than operators..

Scheduling Operators has always been a pain to me...
I had several calls from guys who wanted to know when they could operate.
I could not tell them because I didn't know when there would be an opening.
We can not expect guys to sit around and wait for some chair time.
Everybody wants to be working the big endless band openings.
But everyone can't do that.
Early COMMITMENT to participating in event usually reaps the best benefits.
If you want chair time you need to get on the schedule early.
It seems that there are always reasons for hams to NOT commit.
This was an unusual weekend with Easter so I understand but it has been my
experience that there are always plenty of "excuses" why hams can not
commit.
I don't know the answer but I do know that by having a "strict" schedule you
know who is supposed to be in the seat and at what time.

Looking forward to next contest season...
I hope some of the guys who got to operate and use Writelog became
comfortable with it.
There isn't really any reason for paper and pencil.. I guess old habits are
hard to break..
I know that contesting is different than Rag Chewing and DXing. Perhaps some
discussion on maximizing QSO's is in order prior to next season. I'm not
trying to take away anybody's fun.. just trying to improve on what we did
this year. Certainly knowing the software is helpful in expediting rates.
Learning how to make corrections etc. Maybe we can get Marty to give a
presentation on the capabilities of Writelog some time before next contest
season.

Well... This is getting a little long so I'll wrap it up by saying thanks.
Jeannie and I enjoy having friends out for food and frolic. I sincerely
believe that it isn't the effort of the job that we enjoy but the
commaraderie of friends that makes the experience enjoyable. Thanks for an
enjoyable weekend.

Tom AE9B