[PVRCNC] SS SSB N4GU

[mike at bentwire.net]

    CallSign Used : N4GU
      Operator(s) : N4GU

Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
             Band : ALL
            Power : HIGH
             Mode : SSB
 Default Exchange : B 77 NC
       
      ARRL Section : NC
        Club/Team : POTOMAC VALLEY RADIO CLUB
         Software : N1MM Logger V8.10.6

        Band    QSOs    Pts  Sec
         3.5     550    1100   20
           7     149     298   25
          14     103     206   34
          21      15      30    1
       Total     817    1634   80


            Score : 130,720
              Rig : Orion I, Alpha 76

         Antennas : C3S, dipoles

Highlights 
- My first ever sweep as a single-op!
- 75m, the gift that just keeps on giving

Lowlights
- 75m - what the heck *is* that noise? Maybe its just me...
- still trying to figure out how to muscle my way into a run frequency
on 20m....
- Trying to get the DVK and audio switching working on the microKeyer.
I rigged it for the weekend.

A little history
My first, or second, Sweepstakes ever was in 1979 as a snot-nosed 16
year old with a Tempo One, a TA33 on my parent's chimney and low
dipoles. Thanks to being near the peak of a sunspot cycle and an
(apparent) paucity of competition I managed to take first place VA
section for low power phone and got my first and only piece of
wallpaper for Sweepstakes. I missed the sweep by one section. That was
the freebie that got me hooked on contesting and Sweepstakes. Although
I spent several enjoyable years as one-third of the K1GG team winning
the Roanoke Division multi-op phone title for several years, and have
a bunch of Sweep mugs from those efforts, I've never gotten the sweep
as a single op. 

2008 Phone
After getting my regular thrashing on cw SS by W8IVF :-) I knew I had
a chance for redemption during the phone weekend. This is only the
second year of SS with the current station, and it's still a work in
progress, although there just isn't much space or $$ to do a lot more.
I knew from last year that the 75m dipole played well, i.e. I can be
loud. About a month ago, I finished installing a K9AY loop system
which has proven to be just enough improvement on the low bands to
make me feel I'm not an alligator (completely).

After starting the contest on 20m and 40m, I went to 75m fairly early,
staked out a spot lower in the band and just ran for the next 3-4
hours. According to N1MM I almost had a couple of 100Q clock hours.
Since the phone band expansion, the space below 3800 is reasonably
open and (so far) doesn't seem to claimed by rabid pig farmers.

I went to bed needing UT, NL and NWT for the sweep. I spent Sunday
morning checking 15m and 20m for NL and UT. After working my first NL,
I worked about three more. Funny how that works. Got the NWT Sunday
afternoon busting the pileup on the low end of 20m for the sweep.
After that, I went pretty casual, opting to spend a little honey-do
time to keep the home waters calmed. N1MM says about 17 hours on the
clock.

GREAT hearing all the PVRC calls! Do we HAVE to wait whole year to do
this again? Maybe that's not such a bad thing....

73, Mike N4GU