[PaQSO] The Morning After ...

[Mark Schreiner]

Okay, so is it just me or ...

... this morning when entering info into a compuker screen at work and when
I wanted to go from one field to the next I hit the space bar.  Hmm,
nothing, just an extra space!  (NOTE:  N1MM Logger users I'm sure will get
what I'm saying, others may not).

All in all a great contest again.  This seems like the first year in a long
time (hmm, maybe last year was also, come to think of it) that 40m wasn't
really long (outside of PA) at the beginning of the contest.  I also made
more QSOs on 10/15/20 than I ever had before as far as I can recall,
especially 10 & 15.  I think somebody else mentioned the same thing, but it
was cool to have a station in Germany ask me to QSY from 10m to 15m for a
follow-up QSO, which we did and it worked.  I also had a good time working
N3LL in FL a few times on the higher frequencies, after a chance to have a
bit of a ragchew with Bob for a bit as a break from the routine of contest
QSOs otherwise.

Tear down of the portable antennas wasn't fun.  By 6:05 I walked out the
back door after putting on my rain jacket and started cutting the twine
supporting all three antennas.  One of them was pretty easily taken down as
it was only supported at the ends.  Antennas supported at the feedpoint
make for some difficulties when supported by trees as branches can be both
friend and foe.  The all-band Carolina Windom, which has a lot of weight at
the feedpoint, was suppported at the feed and the two ends, and took a
while to put up because I had to snake the wire up and over some branches
to get the extra height that I wanted, was considerably more difficult to
take down as well.  The end insulators were getting snagged in branches of
the oak trees I was using for support.  Even the feed point was hanging
about ten feet above my head and trying to pull on the section of coaxial
cable I could not get a good grip due to the rainy conditions.  Eventually,
I wrapped the cable around my arm a couple of times and pulled very hard
until something finally gave way.  I kept repeating this tug-o-war effort
until finally the whole thing was laying on the wet ground.  I pulled it
all into the building to let it dry off a bit before coiling up the wires
nice and neat like I always do afterward so it would be ready to go for the
next portable operating event (usually PAQP the following year), but this
time I had everything else packed into the vehicle and didn't feel like
dealing with it last night anymore, so I just bunched it all together and
tossed it into the back, figuring I would deal with it at home later (on a
nice, dry, fall day).  I'm sure I'll regret that  decision later while
spending hours untangling the mess of wires and trying to prevent any
kinks!

Two hours of post-contest packing and about a 2 hour drive home, the first
half of each in the persistent rain and I was finally back home by 10 PM.
I think SOMerset didn't have it as bad as other parts of the state, but
this is the first time I recall putting antennas up in the rain and taking
them down in the rain as well.  It wasn't so bad putting them up, even
though that lasted the better part of six hours by myself, mostly dealing
with a bit of drizzle most of the afternoon after the hard stuff tapered
off, but then it started raining harder again when I was finishing up the
last of the three antennas.  Take-down was in pretty much a downpour but
went fairly quickly all in all.

Oh, my first ever clean sweep of PA Counties!  WOO HOO!  Thanks to all the
mobiles, rovers and other portable operations, as well as all the fixed
stations also.  I heard lots of people asking during the last few hours of
the PAQP for various counties that I had previously worked, some a couple
of times, but I still needed MCK.  I had heard them on but never caught up
with them.  Finally, with 20 minutes in the contest left, I was calling CQ
on 80m CW and they came back to me!  I almost stopped working the contest
right then and there, but then figured another 20 minutes isn't much
anymore to finish things off (and I still netted a few QSOs for the log).
I finished with a new personal best of just over 206k (I think).

Thanks to all who listened and pulled out my QRP signal.  While I got many
comments that my signal didn't "sound like QRP" I know that it was a
struggle for some as well.  I appreciate the efforts to pull me though.

73,

Mark, NK8Q