[PVRCNC] SS SSB W4KAZ Single Op LP

[Keith Zeringue]

                     ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB

Call: W4KAZ
Operator(s): W4KAZ
Station: W4KAZ

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 19

Summary:
  Band  QSOs
------------
   160:    0
    80:  206
    40:  221
    20:   41
    15:   40
    10:    0
------------
Total:  508  Sections = 72  Total Score = 73,152

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

73152 Claimed Score     508   QSOs     72  Sections

Station: FT-920, Writelog.  Dipole at 45 feet on 20m, Inverted Vee at 45 
ft on 40m, folded dipole at 50 ft on 80m, rectangular loop at 40 ft on 
15 and 10m.

Soapbox:
Woo-boy.  Now I KNOW why CW remains popular.  Can somebody please turn 
the sunspots back on?

It was hardly worth trying to work anybody on 15 or 20 meters.  Nobody 
heard at all on 10 meters.  It seemed that nobody could hear my 
tin-whistle on high bands this week.  I spent time both days trying to 
work stations on both bands, but besides a few in the mid-west and 
Texas, it was really tough.  The only LAX I heard all weekend couldn't 
hear me.  Only one SF heard, but he couldn't hear me either.  I guess I 
was lucky to get the western states I did manage to find.  I really 
tried to bolster the log with the expected bumper crop of NCCC, but I
guess they were on early thanksgiving vacation. On the other hand, NH6P 
was 20 over 9.  I was able to work him after the pile up of 6's and 7's 
he was working settled down.  I could hear NH6P just fine, but his 
pileup was down in the noise.  Propagation is an interesting phenomena, 
aina?  My cruddy antennas sure don't help.

The Good:
Best news: My best ever score in Sweeps, and best ever QSO total(508) in 
any contest, even if only by 5 Q's.  Its not much compared to the Big 
Dawgs, but I'm happy with the result, especially since it was mostly 
done on 40 and 80 meters.

Also good--The bad cough and head cold my oldest son caught and brought 
home on Monday did not survive the 'high bleach environment', so no one 
else has caught it yet, and I didn't need to operate the contest with a 
head cold.  Yippeeee!
Moral: wash your hands--and everything else too!

The other good news was being able to run for short periods on both 40 
and 80 meters.  I probably overstayed my welcome on 80 meters Saturday 
night, and overslept on Sunday.  That made me too late to find a spot on 
40 to set up shop Sunday morning.  I was able to find a clear freq in 
the afternoon, and was able to sustain a really good run for about 90 
minutes, before I got chased off by an inventive Shepherd of Swine. 
Thanks to all the folks who checked in to W4KAZ's log, and I guess the 
spots must have helped folks find my tin whistle in the din.  (Does 
anybody beside me really still use the tuning knob?  How QUAINT! )   I 
also racked up lots of points for my WAMDC(Worked All MarylandDC) and 
WAPVRC(Worked All PVRC).  Thanks guys!

The Bad:
I found a new RFI problem that I need to trouble shoot on 20 meters. 
Feedback is playing havoc with the laptop computer, causing the external 
keyboard in the laptop to shut off, and requiring a re-boot. 
Interesting.  Turns out it was a moot point, because nobody could hear 
me on the high bands anyway.....which was worse news for me.  Also--no 
more oversleeping!
Missed:
LAX SB  SF  AK  NE  AB  BC  NT

The Ugly:
An inventive Shepherd of Swine temporarily left his 80 meter home to 
joust with me on my 40 meter run.  I'm glad dinner was being served, it 
gave me an excuse to depart and collect my wits(all fifty percent of them).

The Plan:
Fix the 20 meter feedback.  Fix the 160 antenna before December.
Learn CW!

and
Buy a farm where I can grow some REAL ANTENNAS! :)

73,
W4KAZ
dit dit