[PVRCNC] Re: [PVRC] FW: IARU K4CZ SO CW LP

[Jim Jordan, K4QPL]

Hi Barry,

Great job. Low power does have its rewards. Ken's comments were definitely 
on target.

I'd also emphasize there is no "right" way. Look on 3830 and compare my 
report with WB4TDH. Our scores were almost identical and there was only a 
one hour difference in our time. But look closely and you'll see he did a 
lot more mult hunting and less running.  I had 746 qso's and 144 mults. He 
had 637 qso's and 165 mults.

He also had no 160 and only 38 80M qso's. He also had only 147 q's on 40 
with a big skew to 20 and 15. My guess is that in addition to mults, he had 
higher "quality" qso's with less 1 point in-zone q's, many of which I 
probably got on 80M run.

So, you have to adjust your strategy to the contest and I will definitely 
learn from this. Next time (in IARU and its format) I'll probably not be so 
fat and happy with that nice run on 80 if it comes at the cost of either 
mults or a run on a higher band when I could be getting higher point (DX) 
qso's. And on 160, where I have no real dx capability, I should have just 
picked up the easy mults and gone back to a more productive band instead of 
trying to force more out of it and ending up with just a handful more 1 
point qso's.

I probably should also have spent more time using the second radio to search 
out mults but unfortunately for the high bands I have only a tribander and 
couldn't run 15 and S&P 20 or vice versa.

A final thought. He'll probably also do better on log checking since one 
always has a lower error rate on S&P since you usually have a chance to 
listen to the exchange before you call, or at least if you have a question, 
hang around until he makes another to double check. In a run you key what 
you hear and move on.

73,

Jim, K4QPL


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barry Baker, K4CZ" <K4CZusa at attglobal.net>
To: <pvrc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 7:47 PM
Subject: [PVRC] FW: IARU K4CZ SO CW LP


                    IARU HF World Championship

Call: K4CZ
Operator(s): K4CZ
Station: K4CZ

Class: SO CW LP
QTH: Durham, NC
Operating Time (hrs): 8.5

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Zones  HQ Mults
-------------------------------------
  160:
   80:
   40:  137
   20:  110
   15:   55
   10:   15
-------------------------------------
Total:  317     0      34      39  Total Score = 54,823

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club


That was lots of fun!  Highlights included the following:

1)  Rediscovering the joy of low power.  Frustrating at times but simpler
operation and the shack was quieter and cooler.  Surprisingly, I actually
felt loud at times.
2)  Rediscovering the joy of contesting without packet.  Definitely more
challenging and provided incentive for me to run rather than S&P.  However,
I'm not ready to give up Super Check Partial yet, especially with some of
those "alphanumeric soup" European callsigns.
3)  Working a few Europeans on 10m.  I may actually have added a few DXCC
entities to my 10m total...keep in mind that I got my license in December
2004 near the never-ending bottom of the sunspot cycle,
4)  A nice 40m NA/EU run on Saturday evening...about 100 Qs in slightly less
than 100 minutes...good by my standards for low power CW.

About 55% of my Qs were in runs with 10+ Qs...average rate was about
60/hour.  However, average rate during S&P was 30/hour.  Clearly, I need to
improve my CW S&P rate but that's been an ongoing, gradual process of
improving my skills and station.  However, the bigger payoff might be if I
could improve the mix of S&P & running.  It isn't for lack of trying.  My
run rate of 60/hour this weekend often seemed like it was 80-100/hr half the
time (which I managed reasonably well since the exchange was short) and
20-40/hour the other half (which was slow and frustrating).  Sure wish I
could figure out how to minimize the quiet periods...SO2R could be the
answer but I don't think I'm ready for SO2R CW yet.  Any suggestions (other
than higher antennas and turning on the amp) or is this simply the $64,000
question that every little pistol struggles to solve?

Thanks for the Qs.

73, Barry K4CZ


Rig:  Kenwood TS-930 w/ Piexx board
Antenna:  Force 12 C-4 @ 50' for 40-10m; Marconi-T for 160-80m
Software:  N1MM

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