[NLRS] WØJT Scores for September VHF Sweepst akes (L O N G)

[John P. Toscano]

Most of my observations mimic those who have already sent out their 
emails, so I won't belabor the obvious on those points.  Ditto to many 
of the prior sentiments expressed.

Results were somewhat disappointing, though I reached a new personal 
best in a September contest (but only 2/3 of my best June score a few 
months ago).

Band  QSO's Q Pts Grids
----- ----- ----- -----
   50    41    41    13
  144    57    57    16
  222    29    58    13
  432    38    76    14
  902     8    24     3
1296    19    57     8
----- ----- ----- -----
Total  192   313 x  67 = 20,971


Unpleasant Surprises:
=====================
Having lost a number of weak ones in the past due to the inability to 
send CW on my 902/1296 IF rig (IC-251a) because it has no built-in 
keyer, takes only a straight key, and I can't get the hang of using one, 
I swore that for this contest I would get the Bencher paddles connected 
to a memory keyer and from there to all three radios.  Everything seemed 
to be set, got the keyer programmed with a few standard messages, and it 
seemed to be keying the IC-251a properly (the radio put out a sidetone 
through it's internal speaker as expected).  The radio has a manual 
Tx/Rx switch, the CW key does NOT automatically activate the transmitter 
like my other radios.  With a little practice, I actually remembered the 
sequence of "reach over to the left to set the mode to transmit, reach 
over to the right to work the paddles or the memory keyer, and reach 
back over to the left to switch back to receive mode".  The only problem 
was that I discovered, several hours into the contest, that the radio 
has some defect that prevents it from actually sending CW.  All that 
comes out is a solid carrier, no dits or dahs.  The problem was 
reproducable by unplugging all the fancy electronics and shorting the 
key contacts on the back of the radio with my Leatherman Pocket Survival 
Tool -- radio pretends to send CW (plays proper sidetone through the 
local speaker), but does not interrupt the RF into CW.  Ouch.  Then to 
add insult to injury, I found that neither the IC-706MkII nor the FT-847 
likes to be connected to the memory keyer I own -- they both act as if 
the keyer output is always shorted, even though my ohmmeter says that 
the keyer output follows the CW like it should.  So, no CW on the other 
two rigs either, because I didn't have the enthusiasm to cut the 
connectors off of everything and twist wires together during the contest 
to allow me to connect the paddles directly to the two radios that had 
functional CW transmit capability.

902 was a struggle for me with many folks.  Never made the time to climb 
upstairs with the power/SWR meter to check the output level, so maybe I 
was not putting out the proper amount of RF, but hearing was also an 
issue.  Time will tell.  Although 1296 played a whole lot better, it's 
also clear that those antennas are way too close to the ground for good 
results (below the nearby treetops, and below the 50-foot high ridge 
that is less than a quarter-mile North of me).  Gotta get them up 
higher, and maybe even stack them in pairs!

(Mostly) Pleasant Surprises:
============================
432 seemed to play exceptionally well this time, (unless the truth was 
that the other bands were simply in the toilet).  Of the 6 bands I ran, 
I got more QSO points from 432 than any other band, and only 2 fewer 
grids than on 2 meters, which yielded the most grids for me.  And a few 
times, I'd work someone who was marginal on 2M, and ask for 432 anyway, 
and it was much stronger.  In fact, there were a few times when even 
1296 was easier to work than 2M!

I was very happy to work KØAWU on the four lower bands.  I usually don't 
have much problem on 50 or 144, but often fail to get my 432 signal over 
that darn ridge North of me and into EN37ed.  This time, 432 and 222 
played so well between us that I actually believed I had a chance on 
1296 also.  That proved to be wrong, but a guy's gotta hope sometimes... 
  :) Likewise, working KØMHC on 50, 144, and 432 (but failing on 222).

Working K9NS (in EN52) on 50, 144, *and* 432 MHz, but then failing to 
connect on 222.  Working K2DRH (in EN41) on 50, 144, and 222, but *not* 
on 432 MHz.  Oh well, I'll stay focused on the positives!  Those 6 
contacts yielded lots of points.  I also have to indirectly implicate 
KØMHC for one of the contacts with K2DRH.  I only worked K2DRH on two 
bands earlier in the contest before the propagation dropped out.  Much 
later on, I hear him calling KØMHC on one of my "missing" bands.  Gee, 
the beam heading from EN41 to EN26 just happens to pass right through my 
neighborhood, and so I was able to bag him on the third band.  I don't 
know if he ever found KØMHC on 6 meters, but I sure hope so!  He tried 
really hard.

The "feeding frenzy" of locals working WØAMT/R in several of their 
grids, but *WITHOUT* a pileup.  It went incredibly smoothly in many 
cases, and I especially noticed it in the last two grids I cared about, 
EN25 and EN35 (already had them on all the bands the prior day in EN34, 
so I didn't need to work them there at the end).  Maybe it helped that 
the bands were so quiet that people were willing to wait their turn in 
the queue to run the bands with them, because they knew they weren't 
missing a lot of other QSO's by waiting.  Or maybe we're just a polite 
bunch of folks who know that everyone gets more points in less time if 
we cooperate (what a concept!).  Jon & John, congrats -- near the end of 
the contest you guys epitomized my concept of "smooth operators", 
running an incredible number of contacts in rapid-fire mode, very quick 
but also not taking any shortcuts on the exchanges like I've heard some 
distant big-gun stations do.  You were very close to your published 
schedule, and you often monitored 144.240 like you promised, and you 
almost always "stuck to your guns" on the low-band offsets (50.140, 
222.140, 432.140) so you were easy to find.  I've been out there, and I 
know that roving well is a real challenge.

A couple of times, when there seemed to be no one else to work, a quick 
call on 146.55 FM or 223.5 FM netted me a local who was listening there, 
and even in some cases was able to run 2 or 3 more bands with them.  So 
it clearly paid off for me.  I was also happy to run into NØHJZ that way 
and make two QSO's with him.

In Addition, Special Thanks Go Out To:
======================================
WØGHZ, KT8O, NØKP, WØZQ, for having lots of bands and being 
exceptionally easy to work on every band that I had going.

KMØT and KFØQ/P for having lots of bands in rare (for me) grids, 
operating them smoothly and efficiently in spite of the challenges of 
distance (Mike) and QRP (Matt).  And for lots of patience TRYING to work 
me on 902.  We'll get it one of these days, I promise both of you!

WBØLJC for going out portable in spite of the low activity levels and 
covering all my bands (and many more).  And for your patience in working 
through the problem on 902 by resorting to transmitting on FM and 
receiving on SSB.

The "gang" from EN44 (KB9PJL, NØAKC, W9RAY, KB9TLV/R, K0NY/R) for the 
numerous quick contacts on many bands

It was fun.  But like the late President Kennedy once said in a speech, 
"we choose to do these things NOT because they are easy; we choose to do 
them becauser they are hard".  I think that summarizes the September 
2003 VHF Sweepstakes for me.

Reminder
========
Get those logs submitted, and **BE SURE** to fill in the "club 
affiliation" field with  "Northern Lights Radio Society" if that's 
appropriate.

73 de WØJT