[PVRCNC] W4MR (AA4NC-op.) SS Phone

[Roberts, Will]

Hopefully we achieved the 4-peat over NCCC. I kept my BIC for 24 hours in this one, even though I wanted to be somewhere(anywhere!)else at times.

As a rate junkie, Phone SS always eludes me. I guess it's the long exchange and extreme QRM that puts a damper on the fun. I do however seem to have a great talent for always calling CQ on a net frequency! (" You &%#$ contesters again! Please QSY because the Aches & Pains Net that has been meeting here since two days after the Marconi trans-Atlantic tests will be starting in 30 minutes").

My goal was to try to beat my best score this year with the better band conditions and repaired antennas, but it was not to be. I didn't even come close...
I have always said that the first hours in SS are critical, and this was no exception. You just can't reclaim QSOs that are not made in the first 4-5 hours. I got off to a bad start on 20/15m. It was S-L-O-W running. I also made a losing bet that 80m would be good during the last 4 hours, so I took all my off time to allow for that. The rate at the end was only 35-40, even working the 2nd radio pretty hard.
I probably needed a low dipole on 40, but didn't put one up because the beam had worked so well for CW SS. My 20m 4L @ 120' is also probably too high for SS. The NE fixed antenna at 50' did do pretty well into W1/2 with the short conditions. I have a 3 element SteppIR that needs to go up before the next domestic contest. I need to figure a good mounting height for it to balance contesting and 6/12/17m DXing.

It's weird - I can get through first call on S&P and get great signal reports, but just couldn't get any run rates. I had to constantly press the 2nd radio. Was it just me, or did it seem that there were an unusually large amount of very weak signals this year? I'm always amazed that I can have a QRP station call that is S9, then minutes later will have an A or B station from the same section that is too weak to copy the exchange. I'd love to know what type of antennas were being used and do some path analyses on these. At times it doesn't seem physically possible for the signal strengths to be that much different.

The highlight of the contest for me was on 80m working people through a guy who was recording my CQs and playing them back. After about 20 minutes when I never acknowledged even hearing him, he got frustrated and started putting a carrier on me. The K3 auto notch killed it immediately and I just kept working through him. After a few minutes of this, I guess his radio got overheated and he stopped. Before leaving, he insulted my mother and said "you should call yourself Monkey Rump". Cool - Now I have a new set of phonetics! :>)



ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB

Call: W4MR
Operator(s): AA4NC
Station: AA4NC

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  433
   40:  705
   20:  372
   15:   43
   10:   48
------------
Total: 1601  Sections = 80  Total Score = 256,160

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

This was a lot like work. Now I remember why I like CW contests so much better.
Ouch do my ears hurt! It was very noisy here with local line noise and
generally noisy bands. Add in the guy playing a recording of my CQs back to me
and the SSTV/net/pig farmer QRM and it seemed I had to work hard for every Q.

73,

Will