[TVARC] ARRLDX CW W3US SOSB40 HP

[w3us at casa-aloha.net]

Well done fellow TVARC’ers Ted, Tom, Ray, and John for their competitive efforts in last weekend’s ARRL DX CW contest.  Contesting is so much fun, isn’t it?

Special kudos to Pete and George for their outstanding scores.  Pete is undoubtably our 10 meter King, and George indisputably - BIC and QRP Champion!

Thanks to the aforementioned (and not my dismal score), TVARC may garner an ARRL gavel.  Wouldn’t that be great?

73,
Rusty - W3US

>                    ARRL DX Contest, CW - 2026
> 
> Call: W3US
> Operator(s): W3US
> Station: W3US
> 
> Class: SOSB40 HP
> QTH: NFL
> Operating Time (hrs): 1.0
> Remote Operation
> 
> Summary:
> Band  QSOs  Mults
> -------------------
>  160:           
>   80:           
>   40:  79     40
>   20:           
>   15:           
>   10:           
> -------------------
> Total:  79     40  Total Score = 9,480
> 
> Club: The Villages Amateur Radio Club
> 
> Comments:
> 
> Who schedules a Caribbean cruise over ARRL DX weekend?
> Answer: Someone who
> clearly failed to consult the Contest Calendar.
> ARRL DX is one of the crown jewels of contesting, and I’ve made it work before
> — juggling family obligations, travel, and sneaking onto 40 meters after dark.
> This year we were happily cruising through C6 and VP5, and I thought, “Why not
> combine paradise with pileups?” What could possibly go wrong?
> First surprise: a lovely 250 ms satellite delay. Darn laws of physics! When your
> signal takes a scenic 22,000-mile trip to a geostationary satellite (and back),
> you learn patience quickly. Thanks to buffering, latency didn’t seem bad on my
> end. But I suspect the half-second round trip produced some head-scratching
> among the rapid-fire DX ops awaiting my exchange — probably along the lines
> of, “Did he fall overboard?”
> The real villain, however, was intermittent internet dropouts. A dit missing
> here, a dit missing there — sometimes two or three — leading to creative
> call signs and imaginative exchanges. Friday night was especially poor. After 17
> minutes and 23 QSOs, I waved the white flag.
> But like the Energizer Bunny (with a headset), I returned Saturday night — our
> final evening at sea. Conditions on 40 were great but dropouts persisted. After
> 38 minutes and 56 QSOs, I once again chose to “abandon ship.”
> So, fellow contesters, learn from my nautical miscalculation. Do not be like
> Rusty.
> Block February 20/21 and March 6/7, 2027 on your calendar now. Consult the
> Contest Calendar before consulting Expedia.
> You’ve been warned.
> Flex 8600, Flex PGXL, Hustler 6-BTV flagpole vertical
> Remote aboard the Sky Princess in the Eastern Caribbean
> 
> 
> Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/