[OKDXA] NAQP - CW

[Mark Beckwith]

/> Anyone work the NAQP-CW test yesterday? ... How did you do? /

That contest can definitely keep you off the street and out of trouble.

Thanks to pressure from the DFW club, I got on full-bore for the first 
time in ... I can't remember.  I had an absolute BLAST.  They wanted to 
make a "team" (which is popular in NAQP) and asked if I could help.  I 
was one of the "DFW Pentodes."

[nostalgia /ON]

I cut my teeth in the ARRL CD Parties back when they were 30 hours long 
and you operated your choice of 20 hours, with minimum breaks of 15 
minutes.  Then ARRL cut them back to the current 12 hour format where 
you operate 10 hours, with breaks a minimum of 30 minutes.  Then they 
passed them off to the NCJ, who developed them into the fine thing they 
are today.  3 out of the 4 annual CD Parties used to be "closed" to ARRL 
Appointees only, with the one in July "open" to everyone.  NCJ made all 
of them open to everyone. Then ARRL bought out the NCJ (if such a thing 
is possible with something that is all volunteer and has no assets).

[nostalgia /OFF]

I know that comment was out of place since some of you guys have been a 
ham since before I was born.

Anyway, I never got the hang of real good two-radio operating back in 
those days [oops, nostalgia /ON again] where you CQ'd on one band, and 
used another radio on another band to go up and down and pick off other 
guys calling CQ and hopefully some were great multipliers you needed 
since you can work them ALL on EVERY band (nostalgia /OFF] then some 
wise guys decided they should try CQing on two bands at the same time as 
long as they could interleave the resulting QSOs to where ... well you 
know.

When my station was vandalized (2009) and guys were starting to CQ on 
two radios interleaved, I got off the bus and went back to curmudgeon 
"boy and his radio" mode.

That said, ever since two radios has been a thing, guys have been 
holding a rate of over 100/hour for the 10 hours.  So I dusted off a 
second radio, and pushed my meger antennas to the limit (verticals and a 
tribander at 45'), and made my goal to break 1000 QSOs for the first time.

Mission accomplished.

It was a total RUSH.

1037 QSOs in 237 multipliers.

I bet I can do better once I have more stuff again.  Don't tell my wife.

73 Mark N5OT