[NLRS] 2016 ARRL EME Contest de KA0RYT

[Ronald Bergantzel]

Hello !! Well , the fall air is getting cooler and the leaves are changing - the only thing that means is that the weekends for the ARRL EME Contest are soon to be here ........ I participated this weekend in the  ARRL EME Contest first weekend on 144 ' mixed mode ' . I ended up working 39 QSOS and got 30 multipliers ( countries , US States / Can. provinces ) ..... Now my total from BOTH weekends last year was 53 QSOS and 35 multipliers {with 27 QSOs on the first weekend then ...} . EME conditions were pretty decent with Sunday's pass being the better of it all .... I watched several times the pileups on XT2AFT DXpedition freq and once counted 17 different callers  ( screenshot available -  if you want to see - email me ) . I ended up using the FT-991 for my xcvr because I could NOT get this laptop to recognize my USB-serial adapter needed for PTT control of the TS2000X !!! I really wanted to run the Kenwood so as to drive the GS35 amp to full legal output ... As it was , I was running only 1300 watts into my single , modified 17B2 yagi and am still using my homebrew cavity input  preamp - the FT-991 is modified as its 144 rx has been separated and I have added an extra cooling fan externally. So , that's the shoestring 144 EME report - 73s , Ron KA0RYT