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

[Roberts, Will]

PVRC was out in force for this one. If we lose to NCCC, it shouldn't be for lack of participation. Good work...
Call: W4MR
Operator(s): AA4NC
Station: AA4NC
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R
Summary:

160:    0
80:     180
40:     923
20:     463
15:     118
10:     28
Total:  1712      Sections      83      Total Score      284,192

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly...

This contest was too much like work! Dry weather had increased my power line
noise dramatically since the CW weekend. I got a call from our power line
interference tech. on Friday prior to the contest with some good news/bad news.
The good news was that they had located a bad pole very close to my house. The
bad news was that it would be 2 weeks until it was repaired. To add to the fun,
there was a lot of atmospheric noise from some strong nearby storms.

The good - I was able to break the Roanoke Division Unlimited record
(claimed).
The bad - I doubt it will hold up to log checking. Between the noisy
conditions and a record amount of ESP level weak signals, I'm expecting my log
will be the ugly!

The really ugly - Was it just my luck or were there a record number of clueless
operators this year? I'm not talking about just rookies. I had a huge number of
guys calling in that had not only no clue of what the exchange was, but they
were just unable to complete it. It went like this:

W4MR - "I assume I'm your first contact since you're not in the contest.
How much power are you running?"
W9Mamana - "Well when I first called it was bout 100 watts, but I switched
on the amp and it's heeeeellllllooooo....it's about a kilowatt on peaks, or do
you need the average power?" I have a new wattmeter that I have been dying
to try out. Can you stand by while I hook it up?"

W4MR - "What year were you first licensed?"
W9Mamana - "Not really sure, I believe Eisenhower was in office, or it
could have been right after Kennedy was sworn in. Does that give you what you
need?"

W4MR - "What is your location, your ARRL section?"
W9Mamana - "Awww Naw, don't get me started on the ARRL! Me and Wayne Green
almost got arrested for blowing up the HQ building in Newington! I can't stand
those SOBs...Um well I'm 6 miles southeast of Flapjack, just inside the (buzz /
static crash) county line. Is the county the same as the section, or do you want
my grid square"?

(Of course this guy is S9+ 70 dB, while the guy who calls in next is so weak
that I have to play a digit by digit guessing game to get his numbers
correct!)

The final spot of good is that I was limited to only a single brief encounter
with pig farmers on 80 meters when I stumbled onto their God-given frequency.

Today will be spent in quiet reflection while popping tinnitus pills - Vivat
CW!