[TVARC] ARRL DX CW Score for K2DM

[k2dm at comcast.net]

Clubmates,

My summary writeup for the contest that I posted on the unofficial scores
website (3830 scores) is included below.

As Pete, K2PS described in his summary, Sunday conditions were not as good
as Saturday, especially on 10M.  I made 755

contacts overall in the first 24 hours, with 137 of them on 10M.  Unlike
Pete, who operated solely on 10M, I didn't even take a peek

at 10M until Saturday morning - 13 hours into the contest.  On Sunday (the
second 24 hours) I made 342 contacts, with only 28

of them on 10M.  There just wasn't enough activity for me to put in much
time there on Sunday.  Instead, 15M was my money band

during daylight and 40M carried the load at night.  The rest of my story is
told below.  In case I sounded a bit braggy at the end of my

3830 writeup, it is because I have won the QRP category for the U.S. in this
contest about 7 or 8 times over the years.

So, who else played in the contest?  I know that Ray, ND8L, got on for a few
hours.

73,

George K2DM

 

 

Call: K2DM

Class: SOAB QRP

QTH: NFL

Operating Time (hrs): 39

 

Summary:

Band  QSOs  Mults

-------------------

  160:   19    14

   80:   67    35

   40:  226    58

   20:  290    59

   15:  337    63

   10:  170    52

-------------------

Total: 1109   281  Total Score = 934,887

 

Club: The Villages Amateur Radio Club

 

Comments:

 

I know, I know -- After the 2025 edition of ARRL DX CW I announced my
retirement

from putting in a full QRP effort.  It was all over the news.  Or perhaps a
full

effort in any category.  Yet there I was two weeks ago confessing to my
friends

that I was planning one more QRP entry.  To show that I was serious, I even

jumpered the CW extensions on the 80M inverted V antenna.  I moved my K4
from

the house to the shack and bought some snacks to sustain me through the long

weekend.  All my favorites:  Twizzlers, Lance crackers, flavored potato
chips,

oatmeal/raisin cookies, soda pop, and even some bananas and soup.  Then I

hunkered down to struggle for almost every contact all weekend.

Funny thing, though.  It wasn't as much of a struggle as I remembered from

past years.  My basic technique is to do S&P up a band, stopping at open

frequencies to toss out a CQ or two.  In the past I would occasionally get

answered by one or two stations.  This year my S&Ping was frequently

interrupted by a handful or more stations calling me.  What the heck??
These

people were throwing me off my game!  I had to keep checking my output power
to

make sure I was really QRP.  DANG!  Brother Peter, K3ZM later told me that
he

was surprised I was QRP because I sounded loud.  I was also told that I had
been

spotted a number of times.  Thank you to those who spotted me!  The slog
became

more fun.  And not only was I getting more answers to CQs, I was successful

sneaking through a number of pileups on multipliers.

A serious thrill was having P44W answer my CQ on 10M Sunday afternoon.  John

ALWAYS pulls my call out of pileups, and it was fun to actually have him
call

me!  It was also fun to work VP2M on 160M.  For 20 years I lobbied the

Montserrat licensing authority to shorten my suffix from three letters
(VP2MDM)

to two letters (like VP2MM).  Franco took only a few months to get VP2M. 

Congrats!  It's FB hearing that call in contests.

A couple of final thoughts.  Many thanks to the handful of QRP DX stations
who

answered my CQs.  5W to 5W -- sweet!  Also thanks to those stations who hung

with me, asking for repeats, until we completed the QSO.  I heard this
happen a

gazillion times to other stations over the weekend, so it wasn't JUST

because I was QRP.  But as a QRP entrant, I was especially grateful.

My final final.  If you beat me this year, you EARNED it!  I'm still

hearing CW in my head.

73,

George K2DM

 

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