[PVRCNC] AA4NC CQWW SSB SOABHP Classic

[Roberts, Will]

I'm not big on SSB contests, especially single op., but with sunspots apparently making a second peak, this may be our last hurrah. 48 hours on phone is a lot like bashing your head with a sledgehammer, however the 24 hour "Classic" mode looked more reasonable. I agree with N4ZR and others that Classic/assisted mode should be allowed, but it's not at this time. I still found a lot to work tuning the old fashioned way.

All the high bands sounded like 20 meters. The QRM was ridiculous. I spent most of Sunday morning CQing around 28.900. I almost got a nosebleed from operating this high!
If it weren't for some pesky line noise, it would have been great. I didn't check the actual rates, but the rate meter stayed between 275 and 360 every time I looked. I had to look outside to make sure I wasn't in Zone 8 or 9!

Murphy possessed my K3 for most of the contest. Apparently, I had loaded some corrupted firmware into it. It did strange things all weekend. The most annoying was when it would just completely stop transmitting in the middle of a QSO. Other times the mic gain or compresser settings would go to wide open at random times. My apologies to all on the receiving end of this liddish mess. A quick power cycle would clean things up temporarily, but it would come right back. Since I finished my 24 hours around noon on Sunday, I spent some time that afternoon completely changing all of the firmware. After reloading new files from a different PC, it seems that it is now fixed. Fingers crossed and time will tell...

I think CQ changed the rules so that the maximum power permitted is 1500 watts rather than whatever the countries' legal limit happens to be. After listening to some of the European/S.A. big guns, I can confidently say that I will eat my radio if everyone is running legal power. Nothing like turning the compresser up and adding in a huge amplifier fan to give you that competitive edge... CQ Context, CQ Context...

Next phone contest is SS. Maybe my ears will stop ringing by then! Anyone want to do a multi-op??

73,

Will


                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

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

Class: SOAB Classic HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 24

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   17     7       10
   80:   53    12       37
   40:   92    15       41
   20:  250    30       75
   15:  464    30       92
   10:  920    29       85
------------------------------
Total: 1796   123      340  Total Score = 2,410,932

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Equipment:

K3 + AL-1200 / N1MM Logger / No packet

160: sloping ¼ wave vertical
 80: Inverted vee @ 120'
 40: 2 el. @ 130'
 20: 4/4 @ 120'/50'
 15: 4 el. @ 90'
 10: 6 el. @ 80'
TA-33 fixed SE @ 35'
No RX antennas
Heil headset / MFJ 434 voice keyer /  lots of caffeine