SS CW Soapbox built 12-6-2007 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA4FU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 70,994 Missed NWT, NL and WTX for a sweep. I cut my needed states in half on 80m by picking up Idaho. Now, I "just" need North Dakota. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA6SS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 38,894 Limited operating time but I got some nice 60+ per hour runs going on 40 meters. Quite satisfying. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA9DY Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 41,888 Tried to work byt missed NT, MB, NL. Came so close on getting NT, but VY1JA pulled the plug and QSY'd from 15m-->20m, when condition we getting bad for him. But... at least I got to Work All States in a weekend on CW. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AB2E Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 121,660 Rig: IC756ProII/Dentron MLA2500 amp. Great contest as usual. 80m proved to be my best band w/465QSOs, considering my meager wire antennas. G5RV-style dipole for 10-40. Inverted L w/4 tuned radials for 80m. The 80m antenna worked great, with many extremely strong West Coast stations calling me. Easy to hold a frequency and call CQ all night. Stayed on 80m until qrt around 5AM local time. It also seems to work equally well on nearby stations. 73 and CU in SS Phone. Darrell AB2E ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AC5AA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,988 Only had a few hours here and there to play S&P during the contest. Had fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AC8E Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 63,196 Missed: WTX, WY, NE, MAR, NT, AK AC8E is my traditional late Saturday stop. I usually drive home in the wee hours from there, but this year I caught my 3 hours of sleep here. My wife had to be up very early to catch a 9am flight, so I decided that trying to sleep through what she needed to be doing would be futile. That worked out well, as when I woke up about 11:00z, 40 meters was open nicely to the east coast, and 80 was still good to most everywhere. So I got a whole bunch of people who were themselves new in the morning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD5VJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 23,532 First time in this one. Mostly S&P during the entire contest. My plan was to make up rate the last night on 40 and get as man mults as possible in the beginning. The plan would have worked to except I totally froze when I started my run on Sunday night. The first few contacts were ok, but then I was spotted and man I havent heard that many calling me since I lived on Johston Atoll as WY5L/KH3. Anyway I froze and couldnt hardly copy my own name. Shows where I need improvement. So back we go to the Morse Runner Trainer for some more activity training. :) Interesting contest, longest exchange I have ever had to deal with but sure points out where you need improvement in your copy. Only worked 12.5 hours due to family obligations. Thanks to everyone for all the Q's and especially to VE2CWT who hung in there with me to overcome the QSB on our contact. He was a champion. Thanks to N1MM LOGGER and those who support it. It sure makes things a heck of alot easier. 73 fer nw es gud DX, QSL VIA: LotW, BUR, e-QSL Bob AD5VJ http://www.ad5vj.com/ Member: NTCC, CTDXCC, STXDXCC 10X#-37210, SMIRK#-5177 FISTS#-12637, SKCC#-2369 NAQCC#-1966, FP#-1141, RARS#-149 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AE6RR Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 2,430 My first CW SS. Computer assisted copy as I cannot copy at contest speeds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AE6Y Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 104,480 Couldn't do a full weekend, but wanted to make my NCCC 100k commitment -- though I can't resist going without packet for the fun of looking for the sweep. Also wanted to iron out any remaining points of programming to get CQPWIN to work 100% with Winkeyer 2, so it will be fully ready for CQWW CW, where I'll be on as P49Y. Actually stopped Saturday night to fine-tune the speed control software, but basically it works FB. A great relief not to have to worry about Windows issues, like trying to reduce startup programs. Tnx K1EL. 73, Andy, AE6Y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AJ1M Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 105,120 Accomplished both my goals for the contest. Thanks for all the q's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AJ9C Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 168,160 My score was better than I thought it would be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0AD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 173,958 First SS with the new tower and beam. It made a difference for me. 73, Al, K0AD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0AV Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 95,316 SECTIONS MISSED: 2 close-in sections SoDak & WTx. SCORE: down from last year . . . 611('07) vs. 707 ('06) claimed Q's. This was in part because my new "run vs. S&P" strategy did not work out the way I had hoped. And 15 mtrs was not as good as last year. SLEEP: Never got tired or even yawned. Probably because I took a 1-1/2 hour mt bike ride and got back 2 hours before contest started. SO2R: got the gear - now just have to learn to use it effectively. Wouldn't it be cool if some software guru would come up with an SO2R-capable contest simulator? GREAT QRP SIGNALS HEARD: N4OGW, K4RO and KC5R. They were loud, they were everywhere & it seemed like they were always running stations. CODE SPEED FOR QRP STATIONS: These top QRP stations seemed to be sending at about 28 wpm (vs. 32-34 wpm for A and B class stations). ACCURACY: Once again, I tried hard for 100% log accuracy. The last 2 years I never even came close. We'll see what the UBN report says for 2007. 73, Alan KØAV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0EJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 60,800 sporadic effort this year due to other commitments. Missed VY1, NL, ND, and NLI(???) for sweep. Heard VY1JA early Saturday evening on 20M but didn't raise him after a few calls so moved on. NLI (of all places) was heard on Sunday morning on 20M but why bother, there will be a million of 'em (NOT!!). bands were quiet here and weekend wx was very nice. 73, Mark K0EJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0EU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 189,758 Missed NL again! I must be on the Newfoundland blacklist. Five Maritime stations called me, so I know I was copiable. Maybe next year. Conditions seemed OK considering almost no 15 meters. Just couldn't get anything going in the last 5 or 6 hours and it really hurt the final score. Not sure where the fresh meat went. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0HB Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 131,520 Worked VY1EI for his 001, our 001. It all went downhill from there. Lowest score in years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0HC Class: School Club HP Total Score = 191,840 Enjoyed the weekend fun, especially the contacts with other schools. Wish we had a catalog listing for COMM --... ...--, Intro to CW, as a course here at Hesston College! Our SSB Sweepstakes team of students will be training hard during the next two weeks, so hope we work you all again! Thanks for the Qs ... 73, Bob, w0bh Hesston College ARC, k0hc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0HW Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 77,280 I always enjoy Sweepstakes, my fifth CW Sweepstakes and I seem to improve every year, I was only able to spend 21 hours this year. I was going to use QRP or Low Power this year but I decided to stay in unlimited class with both the high power and internet helping this year. I did get a clean sweep this year for the first time on CW. The last two were NE (I live 6 miles North of Nebraska!!) and MB. The NE station called me while I was calling CQ and the VE4 showed up on the band map just up from where I was calling. Thanks for the packet clusters, they made it for me this year. There was not near enough activity on 160 as far as I was concerned. ICOM 756PROII, Ameritron AL-1200, HyGain TH11DX and dipoles on 40, 80 & 160. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0PC Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 72,696 Missed NL & NT but sweated it out over WTX! I only heard one WTX station (N5DO) and that wasn't until three minutes before I shut down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0RC Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 92,246 I operated CW Sweepstakes from Grand Forks, ND. Although it is only 300 miles from my regular QTH in MN, the propagation took some "getting used to". I missed my goal of 100,000 points, but came close... just like in horsehoes. The station consisted of an Icom IC-756 Pro II at 100 Watts and a new SteppIR - BiggIR vertical for 80 through 6 meters. A 40m wire dipole was tossed up into the trees as a last minute addition on this city lot. I missed three sections. I heard NT and NL but never could break through the piles. MB went undetected from here. The station hardware operated flawless. The operator did not. I continue to find ways to lock up my software while working a contest! This time I even found the holy grail of lockups... when I reached for the paddles to complete the QSO, my WinKey was dead as well! I quickly unplugged and replugged the USB cable and it sprang back to life so that QSO didn't become a NIL. I had anticipated the ND multiplier to be a real pile-up generator. But apparently anyone who owned a radio and lives in North Dakota decided this was the weekend to get into a CW contest! The crushing blow was when I saw a spot with my callsign on the cluster with the note "Yet another ND!". So if you guys didn't get ND in your log this weekend, it isn't our fault... somethings wrong with your radio! :-) This was a lot of fun and I have to thank Glenn Johnson, WØGJ who made all the arrangements (house, antenna, equipment, pizza, bed) to make this possible. Although this QTH is only 5 hours away from home, it felt like a mini DXpedition to me! 73 de Bob - KØRC in ND (for 2007 CW Sweepstakes) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0SR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 197,440 I knew going into this that it would be a 3 band contest for us in the North. What I didn't realize is that it would almost be a two band contest. 20 wasn't a lot better. The skip was very long and it was discouraging to hear people in the Southern tier of states working people that I couldn't hear at all. By the time everyone is on 40 or 80 we're 100-200 QSO's behind and we never catch up. Are you paying any attention to this, Russian WARC organizers? W0 can't compete well with W5.... I see N2IC made 87 contacts in the first hour on 15 meters. I had the second radio on 15 and not only couldn't hear anybody he was working, I never heard N2IC either! Congrats to Steve for cracking the 1500 barrier and to all the other great scores. Amazing.... 73 Steve K0SR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0TG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 78,110 Had some decent runs at times. Worked a few stations on 15 then went back there later and nothing there. That is life in the Northland! The 80 meter antenna did not work out so hot, so it was a two band contest for me. Missed: ID (Where was K0TO!), SD, AK, PAC, NL, MB, NT. Surprised to not hear PAC anywhere. They should be easy on 40 or 20. See you in SS Phone slugging it out! 73, John K0TG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0UK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 21,350 Missed CQ WW phone due to elk hunting. Didnt do the antenna work I should have before leaving on the hunt. This saturday WA0RSX Carson and I did some of the work that need to be done. Still have a non working tribander to fix plus 3other antennas including beverages to get done. Anyway enough of what has to be done. SS was phone but not much time for it. Thanks to all the great ops. Didnt work any GMCC stations due to time spent..Next time.. PTL bill K0UK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0VBU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 24,288 TH6DXX@50', stuck north... 40M dipole at 15' 80M G5RV@ 25' TS940SAT Incredibly busy lately, but couldn't miss at least a few hours of SSCW..My favorite contest! As usual, nice to hear old friends..and nice to hear some new calls too! 73 Bill K0VBU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1EP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 50,832 I was still a bit tired from CQWW and had a few obligations, so I didn't put in a full 24 hours. I got a late start as I had to mess with the computer when it didn't function as it was supposed to. That's it for excuses :) I wanted to see how the K3 did in CW contest conditions. It seemed to do rather well, the DSP filters were easy to use to knock out offending signals. The CW tune function was great. But it did show me how many people can't zero beat a signal :) I was running a K3/100 to a 160M inverted L, so not only did I have a non-directional pattern, I had difficulty matching on some of the bands. Of course, I didn't hear NWT or some of the other VE sections, like NL, MB, I even missed VE2. I heard only one VE2 and he had a pileup. I tried coming back a little later and he was gone. I heard a NE station in S&P mode but couldn't snag him. And I also missed NLI for some reason. I heard a KH6 station, but he couldn't hear me. Sections missed: NE, NLI, PAC, AK, MB, NL, NWT, QC. Usually, ND is a rare SS CW station, but I heard several of them on during the weekend. I guess the rare ones change from year to year! Thanks for all the Q's and see you in SS Phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1KD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 170,482 This will be my last contest from Vermont as I am relocating my family to Rochester, MN at the end of the year. It has been a great ten years living and contesting from this beautiful state, but the time has come to move back closer to my family in the Midwest. Thanks to everyone for all the contest QSO's throughout the years! Special thanks to KT1J for the use of his Acom amplifier which was a great addition to the operating equipment. This contest was also the first time to really exercise my full SO2R capability. A pair of Kenwood TS-850's and my homebrew 2x6 antenna switch (thanks KK1L) for selecting any six antennas between two radios worked great. I also got to try out some new YCCC bandpass filters which made two radio contesting even possible given the close proximity the antennas are to one another. After having run SS with two radios I can't imagine going back to using just one especially during the slow hours on Sunday night! I'm hooked! Interestingly, LAX and NLI were two section that didn't get into my log until near the end. When it was all said and done, I ended up missing NWT for the sweep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1LT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 147,840 My intention this year was to prove that I can generate a decent signal on 80 and 40 as well as 160. I'm sticking with the "verticals only" plan, since verticals are easy and cheap to erect. Also, towers are a potential no-no, since I'm 13000 feet from the end of the runway at Fairfield County Municipal Airport, and uphill from there, so that ground level is within the supposed flight zone. From years past, I came to have 65 feet of aluminum tower and mast and appropriate trees to arrange a 160 meter "T" antenna with 80 radials. So, 160 is all set. This past spring I bolted 33 feet of aluminum tubing to a 4x4 stuck in the ground and laid 32 radials. So, 40 was a snap. The summertime plan was to hang an 80 meter inverted L from the top hat wires of the 160 meter T antenna, and lay a new radial field. However, last month I was the lucky recipient of a homeless HyGain HyTower, which would make an excellent 80 meter vertical, not to mention the other bands. However, the schedule has not cooperated with the work necessary to plant the HyTower. Since HyTower succeeds in making a bunch of parallel verticals work from a common feed, I thought I could do the same thing for 80 with my existing 160 antenna. EZNEC modeling showed that hanging a wire off the side of the 160 vertical would work. So, I hung a wire and it resonates and does not interfere with 160. However, the bandwidth on 80 was horribly small, even worse than mobile antennas. I was out of time. My wife had to work, and I had parenting duty. Resonance was 3560 kHz, with a 2:1 bandwidth of about 30 kHz. I started on 15 meters because there were signals and the 40 vertical gives a decent SWR on 15. I've never heard so many PRs, VIs, and KH6s and 7s. Also, the far west coast was booming in, but anything closer was too close to be heard. It only took about an hour to work everyone on 15. It was still too early to change to 40 for the long haul, so I bypassed the amplifier and used the radio's internal antenna tuner on the 40/15 vertical on 20 meters. After about 40 minutes, I had worked everyone I could. Finally I moved to 40 where I could operate the radio equipment the proper way (fundamental resonance, amplifier in the "not-bypassed" mode). I bounced between 40 and 80 and parenting duties until about 05z when my wife returned from work. Since the whole family has been battling a very nasty cold/flu/pandemic/whatever bug, I quit for the evening, having proven that I can generate a half-way decent signal on 80 and 40 (and 15 as a bonus). I woke up coughing my head off about 0930z and couldn't get back to sleep. In fact, I was wide awake. So I turned on the radio and operated. By 17z I had 78 multipliers, including VY1, (thanks for the call, Jay!), and VO1 via a quick foray to 20 on the tuner at low power. This was enough multipliers to make a new goal: clean sweep. Since I needed AK and WY, 20 meter operation was necessary, and at full power. So, I went outside and removed half the aluminum from the 40 vertical and telescoped it down to 20 meter resonance. Headed back in and operated 20 meters. Almost immediately, I stumbled on KL8C. What a signal! (Oh yeah, this isn't 160). Start CQing. After about 15 minutes, K9DR signals "WY". Clean sweep! That was easy, everyone will have one. Now I needed a new goal. Hmmm. 650 Qs and almost 10 hours to go. That's 35 per hour average to reach 1000 Qs. So, working 1000 Qs becomes the new goal. Boring story short, I worked 20 for as long as I could, and then went outside to put all the aluminum back in the 40 vertical. After more 40 and 80 and parenting, I finished somewhat short of 1000 Qs, but pleased that I had wound up working the entire contest (as much as an active parent can). Also worked PY8RO and 9G5ZS on 40, UT2II on 80, and SM7BIC on 160 when they answered my CQ SS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1PQS Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 77,404 The bands are improving. 20M was open for 2 hours after dark on Saturday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1RX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 196,000 With a local start time of 5 PM (instead of the usual 4 PM time), seemed I had all kinds of time to do non-radio stuff with the family on Saturday - a good thing! Competition is killing me! During the CQ WW test, it was the World Series baseball final, then a good football game, and now with the big build up for the Colts vs. Patriots football game on Sunday afternoon, I knew I was in big trouble! Like Randy, K5ZD, just kinda lost my drive for the long haul on Sunday afternoon and night (of course having a few beers during the game did not help!) Worked a few during the half time break, and then returned to just hit a 1200 Q goal and call it done - wonder if Randy and I were in sync here? As for the SS, I had a ball in the first 12 hours or so. The last sections worked were NLI, then NL on Sunday morning on 40, and the last one that CALLED ME was Jay, VY1JA on 20 that morning - looked for others but never found them (Thanks Jay for the call - you made my morning and weekend!). Was really surprised to find them all so quickly. Must say - very good activity this year. Had plans for using a new 40 M antenna (Vee-Yagi by NW3Z/WA3FET) and managed to get it up at 70 ft. during the week with the help of K1PV and K1AC. Feed line issues, other weird stuff - killed that idea so ended up using the upper 40 M KLM 4 el. of a stack (bottom one was pointed south). This band, as usual, is the money band and one can do very well with just wires too! And as an added feature, I put up an 80 M dipole at 70 ft. just to see if my 4 SQ vertical system might of had an issue (it does - we did poorly on 80 M during the CQ WW SSB test) - think I have a feedline loss issue on this one - so ended up using the dipole 90% of the time and found the 4 SQ did much better for hearing the reports of the boys out west but did not TX much on that antenna. Another great CW event - did enjoy it for the time spent, great to see the Pat's win (9-0) and the beers were rather tasty after so many waters, diet drinks, etc.! Thanks everyone for the Q! 73, Mark, K1RX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1TN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 48,000 Sorry I couldn't stay in the chair longer and hand out more Qs; been sick. Not yet adjusted to the air in South Jersey, I guess. Missed LAX, NE, NT, PAC, AK. Jim Cain, K1TN Near Atlantic City ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1TR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 93,912 IC-756PIII A3S and wires. Nice weekend overall: got to play some CW SS, see Michigan beat MSU, see the Patriots beat the Colts, and get a bunch of chores done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1XM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 74,632 Station: Elecraft K2 Antennas: Tribander, 40 beam, 80 half-sloper No stacks, no SO2R. Sorry, Jim. I use the SS CW as a warmup for the CQ WW CW and to check out whatever equipment I'm bringing. My plans are to operate as QRP as 6V7D so I went QRP in sweepstakes. The K2 isn't connected to the automatic bandswitching so I had to switch antennas manually. I figured I was OK setting the switch to 10, 15, or 20, since the antenna is a tribander. Good theory, but ignores the Dunestar bandpass filter. I was off to a slow start this year... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2PS Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 25,048 Fresh meat Sunday afternoon can be fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2SX Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 112,000 Had to go out around noon on Sunday and never got back to the contest so not as much time as I thought. It was nice being in a perceived rare section (SC) and watching myself being spotted but still need some antennas. Nice to get a Sweep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2WK Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 175,040 Thanks for the Q's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3KU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 54,600 Heavy family obligations these days, but family knows how much fun I have in SS CW, so I managed to patch together a half-time operation. Seven operating segments, length ranging from 0:17 to 3:27. My QSO/band breakdown is distorted because I could not be on during my usual 40M prime times, and also because of what seemed to be unusual condx. Unusual condx? I was getting answers to CQs on 80, where I usually get beaten down. And I have not done any analysis, but I feel like I did not work the usual hordes of Ohio thru Missouri people. Worked on calling CQ more and on improving S&P efficiency, and on copying and typing more accurately (LCR last year was horrible!). CQing was rewarded with ND, which I have missed the past few years. Could not bust thru for the KL7, even tho I heard him early. Heard a KH6 and VO1MP S&P, but could not raise them. Never heard NT or NE. Maybe family things will be better next year. HPE CU SS CW 2008 73, Art K3KU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3NCO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 69,058 Must need better seating arrangements in the shack. Not only bothered my bottom, but also my back, took 4 days before my back stopped bothering me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3OO Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 32,800 Shaking out a new(used) amp and getting CW ears back. 73,Rick K3OO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3STX Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 87,848 Well, that was both fun and painful. I think most of the FUN was the anticipation; the pain was realizing that I have a third-rate station with a second-rate operator! Look at my score, you see anything missing? HIGH BAND QSOs!!! The dipoles just don't cut it, I was going crazy trying to hear either of the two VY1 stations and no luck AT ALL! So I'm left at 79, what a bummer. I can understand no QSO's on 15, after all there are no sunspots, but 20 should be a daytime QSO while I really didn't operate during the day (only 3 hours today), my 20M score really brought me down. It was fun, and really GREAT to run into the NCCC Sprint regulars. Instead of a "5NN", EVERY contest should require your NAME in the exchange, it makes it more fun. See ya in 2 weeks when I don my yacrophone (yuk). I'll be the LID who doesn't know phonetics. Doing this shows true love to my team. GO PVRC!!!!!! TS-850S/Al-811 amp (400 watts) 40 M dipole up 30 feet ladder-line fed 80 M vertical up 60 feet paul K3stx ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3WW Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 120,000 Missed the first 5 hours. After sweep, just chased a few or called CQ while watching football. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4AQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 21,960 http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2007/novss.html Band QSO Sec ------------------- 80m 99 25 40m 69 28 20m 12 8 ------------------- 180 61 Best "DX" on 80m: San Diego Section MULTIPLIER LIST Worked: CT EMA ME NH VT WMA ENY NNJ SNJ WNY DE EPA MDC WPA AL GA KY NC NFL SFL TN VA WCF AR LA NM NTX OK STX WTX EB ORG SB SCV SDG SF SJV SV AZ ID MT NV OR UT WWA WY MI OH WV IL IN WI CO IA KS MN MO PR VI ON BC Missed: RI NLI NNY SC MS LAX EWA NE ND SD AK PAC MAR NL QC MB SK AB NT Eqmt: Yaesu FT-897D xcvr, 100 watts, 50-ft sloping bottem-fed No Counterpoise Antenna (80m; and first 25 Q's on 40m [0541z-0654z]) with Ten-Tec 238 L-Network Tuner, Hustler mobile antenna mounted on vehicle in driveway fed with 50 ft of Radio Shack RG-6 coax (40m & 20m), microKEYER, WriteLog 10.63h -- Matt Lee, K4AQ Atlanta, GA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 170,798 FT1000MP, Alpha 78, 1 KW output, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. Thanks to KU8E for coming by after work and making a perfect throw with his rod and reel to get the north end of the zepp back up high in the tree. Obviously, I handled the off-time badly, slept too long, and missed an hour of operating. All bands were very quiet here. No signals at all on 10M. 15M was very good to the west coast, Caribbean, and Pacific. 20M stayed short and stayed open longer Saturday than usual. 40M was almost useless when I got there, with long skip, and I couldn't get a run going. But 80 made up for it with good rates and good signals from coast to coast. Turned out to be my best band. 40M was very good on Sunday up until the end of the contest period. 20M was pretty good here except during mid-day when the skip seemed long and most backscatter signals seemed to be under my power-line noise floor. Missed NT. Thanks for all the QSOs. Please look for us (K4BAI, KU8E, KZ5D, and K5OT) on Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Nov. 20-27. PJ4/home calls and PJ4A in CQ WW CW. QSL all five calls via K4BAI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4EU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 104,480 Thanks for the Q's. 73....//Steve K4EU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4IX Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 95,200 Got the sweep early, no equipment failures, it was a fun time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4OD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 35,784 Breakdown is as follows: BAND QSOS SECTIONS PTS 160--------0-----------0------------0 80-------66----------14----------132 40-------99----------36----------198 20-------28-----------4-----------56 15-------59----------17----------118 10--------0-----------0------------0 ------------------------------------- Totals 252----------71----------504 CLAIMED SCORE: 35,784 Operating Time: 22.5 Hours Rig: Yaesu FT-897D 100 Watts Ant: All Wire Dipoles at 65 Ft. No animals were injured during this exercise. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. CW?.....Dead????? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! You have GOT to stay in the chair (which I didn't) and you absolutely MUST pay attention to the bands (which, again, I didn't). It would have been easier, I suppose, had I watched one of the "clusters" which would have spotted those needed sections for a clean sweep but, alas, once again, I didn't. What I did do, however, was have one more heck of a good time and wore my poor body and brain to a complete frazzle.(my two remaining brain cells actually stopping fighting for the duration) Actually heard my 5 year old grandaughter say to her sister during one of the times the headphones came off: "NO! Leave Grandpa ALONE! He's contesting today!" Thank God for understanding XYLs and grandchildren! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4RO Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 126,400 My most enjoyable SS yet. Everything went right this time. You see, the secret to winning QRP CW SS is picking a year when N6TR and AG9A are not at W5WMU or N0NI. :-) Now if KE3Q will only give some of the HP guys a chance someday.... N4OGW may still have me beat, but I didn't hear Tor after our QSO in the 200's, when he was about 35 ahead of me. So many highlights, it's hard to select any one to report. I was disappointed with my accuracy last year, and I worked hard to make it better this year. I lost the sweep due to a busted QSO with my only Newfoundland station last year. And speaking of last year, I was really impressed with AG9A's accuracy stats. I was also hugely relieved to received a "B" from N0NI. :-) I know that the hard end of a QRP QSO is with the receiving station, and I appreciate all of the patience that I received. K1PQS and VY1EI really hung in there with me for tough QSOs. Thanks guys! Once again, 80 meters was just amazing. I'm convinced that this ridge top really adds to my 80m success. I have nothing but a half sloper off the tower at 80 feet, a ground mounted vertical, and a Windom at 35'. It's the ability to change angles that seems to make the difference. That plus the Beverages makes me feel like King of the Hill on 80 meters. That is, until a "B" station pushes me away for the umpteenth time... Oh well. That's QRP SS... I still can't touch W4PA's TN record, let alone N5TJ. This remains one of my all-time favorite contests. Long Live CW Sweepstakes! 73 -Kirk K4RO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4TD Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 209,120 This year we added partner mode for the run station, which worked well. In addition, we reconfigured the station antennas to allow us to beam in two directions simultaneously, which was also of significant benefit. Things started off at a great pace; we found ourselves well ahead of our previous year's statistics until right after sunset on Saturday. This "slowdown" persisted all evening, and when we shut down for the night we were 60 QSO's behind last year's numbers. The situation slowly rectified itself during the day on Sunday, and we managed to finish this year with a modest improvement over last year's numbers (if we get to keep them...). In addition, we had loads of fun, and that's the main objective anyway... Now we're off to enjoy a bottle of Scotch after the end of the contest... ;-) 73, Rick, Jim & Doug K4TD, VE7ZO & KY4F ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4XD Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 93,760 Spent some time on station setup Saturday - I wanted to have my AL-80B and THP 1.5K amps switch selectable so I could give the THP a break when running. Had to convert the AL-80B back to 120V so I could keep both plugged in, since I only have one 220V outlet in the shack. Had a few "oh no" moments during setup when it looked like I had inflicted damage on the ICOM 756PII (I'd never seen the display goofed up before - VFO 1 display was blank but VFO 2 was showing OK??!), and when my Ameritron RCS-12 antenna switch decided to show no antennas selected and the yellow XMIT LED on even when I wasn't transmitting. Wiggling wires and rebooting seemed to fix everything. One hour before starting I noticed intermittent high SWR on 80M. Went out in the yard and found half of my K1JEK Cobra Ultralight Sr. antenna hanging like a hammock. Shot a sinker over a branch and back in service with 20 minutes to spare, good because 80M was productive. My primary goal was a sweep (gotta get that mug!) but also wanted to improve on last year's score. OK on both, but in retrospect wish I had taken less time off and hit 100K. But that does give me a nice goal for next year. Only my second CW SS and still getting my CW ears. The MRP-40 code reader is a blessing (and maybe a crutch?). It doesn't always decode 100% but I know I couldn't possibly be operating at 25 - 30wpm without it. Also helps to have the exchange captured much of the time so I can start sending mine before I finish typing yours into WriteLog. I am in awe of the great ops in this contest. My S&P rate was only 30 - 40/hour, and I was getting serials in the 300's when I was still under 100! Kept me from worrying too much about winning anything ;-). Good omen getting VY1EI into the log in the second hour. No pileup either. Eric even took the time to compliment my "good signal." Thanks for giving Jay some help! Caught 4 hours sleep from 3 to 7 Sunday morning and back to the dials with lots of new stations to work. It really does make sense for Assisted to be a separate category -- having worked S&P by tuning up the dial vs. clicking on the "light blue spots" in the WriteLog bandmap, there's no comparison in rate. MB was the toughest section, saw a spot for a VE4 on 20 and got there just in time to hear his last QSO and then QRT!! Finally nabbed one at 1627 Sunday and put the Sweep to bed. Got tired of sitting and concentrating Sunday afternoon so took a few more hours off. People laugh when I say contesting is exhausting ("how can it be tiring to just sit in front of the radio?"). They should try it. Got back to the dials Sunday evening for final 3 hour push, including some good (for me) runs on 40M. Max rate was around 60/hr, I know that's not setting any records but it is addicting, in a pinball sort of way. Back to back Q's are a blast. Much better than listening to your own CQ over and over and wondering if everyone went to watch football or if a squirrel ate the coax. I'm also in awe of people who work "real" pileups. My befuddled moment was when VE3EJ and VE3EY answered my CQ simultaneously, both dead-on zero beat, at the same level, and starting within 2 dots of each other! I sent "VE3?" twice and they both came back synchronized like Blue Angels. I was really wondering what to do next when "J" came back in the clear. Thanks! Still learning WriteLog's nuances -- like "Enter Sends Exchange/QRZ." Great feature, but sometimes in my tired state I would try to get smart and move the cursor to the serial number field before hitting enter, and listen in horror as I sent "TU QRZ" instead of my exchange! Thanks to all who hang in there while I regained composure and went for "take two." Some amazing QRP signals out there. Always a bit surprised when I'm hearing a signal that is every bit as loud as the last HP station and then hear "Q" for precedence. And then, there are the "will I ever get this exchange?!" QRPers. Love you guys and your mettle, but it does make me feel a bit stupid to ask for the CK? five times! I've heard of "selective fading" but why is it always the part of the exchange you need repeated that selectively fades?! Thanks to the ops who wisely send their missing info several times - often would only hear one of the repeats but one is enough. All in all, great fun and thanks to all for the Q's. Thanks also to my family for tolerating my "missing in action" weekends. Although I hear a rumor that "shopping is the best revenge." 73, Rowland K4XD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4XU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 177,760 This was my best showing since moving to Oregon in 1997. Though the high bands were not there, 20m was the money band. I was able to hold a frequency from the start, 14015, and for the next four hours ran at 90 an hour. I switched to 40m at 01Z when the second rig’s rate equaled the run rig’s rate. I found a good place at 7024 and was able to keep it for two hours at about 80 per. Even though it is difficult fighting to keep a frequency, there are benefits beyond being able to call CQ. You can tell when you get spotted because the pile and number of U stations suddenly increases. Low band operation from this city lot has been growing steadily worse over the past ten years as my lot has been “incarcerated” into the city of Bend and as the surrounding land is devoured by developers at eight houses per acre. The LF noise level is usually a constant S-8. At exactly 10PM Saturday night the noise level suddenly went to nearly zero. S-3 stations that normally would have cussed me out for being deaf appeared perfectly Q5. I have not had this much fun on the low bands in many years. The only SO2R practice I get is in SS and the FOC Marathon. A new switchable BPF, a modified sidetone circuit in the old Omni 6 and a rebuilt homebrew six-pack were added this year and made a big difference. 18% of the total QSOs were made on the second radio. Many of the “tough” mults like NL and YT were either worked on the second rig or spotted there and worked with the primary rig with its better antennas. No matter what, the biggest benefit of SO2R comes on Sunday. Being able to do an alternating CQ was the salvation of my sanity. I beg forgiveness for about three unresponded CQ’s. I gave preference to the primary rig’s run frequency so when there are multiple callers on the primary rig, it causes a double wait at least. I’m not sure there is a way to prevent it. On Sunday evening NU6-- answered my CQ at about 20 wpm. I slowed to 21 wpm, gave my exchange and got a very sketchy “?”. I repeated the exchange at 15 wpm and got a 10 wpm “sorry” and silence. It appears this guy was using a logging program to send. All contesters will slow to whatever speed is necessary to make the Q. But the other guy either has to send at the speed he wants or to learn to ask for a QRS. Weather and conditions were good this year. The daylight savings change screwed up my schedule – the alarm clock was on new time and my sleep time calculation was based on old time – so I overslept by an hour. This meant that I did the contest in two12 hour sittings without the normal half hour breaks that make it manageable. Sunday was very very long. My thanks to all who gave me a Q, to my neighbors who allow those silly wires and strings in their trees every fall, to my wife who makes coffee and food, and to Mr. Murphy who, for once, went somewhere else for SS CW – the best contest in the world. 73, Dick PS. I missed Dayton this year. Was there a decision made among all the usual A ops to go to Q this time? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5AF Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 51,376 Tough start! 20M was so packed with signals that it was tough getting traction with low power. My computer keying also seemed erratic, mysteriously speeding up and slowing down during the exchange. Missed Nl and MB and two sections in my own call area, Ms and WTx! Always fun, wish I could have made it a full-time effort. Thanks to all! Paul, K5AF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5GO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 238,720 I really appreciate all of the hard work my dad did to get the station ready the week before the contest. It is a big task to convert a multi-multi station to a single operator station. Everything performed flawlessly during the contest. Since the ARRL DX CW contest we've worked very hard with a lot of help from our friends to completely redo our 20 and 40 meter antenna systems and replace all of our steel guy wire with fiberglass rod. For more information visit: www.k5go.com The weather was perfect and all bands were very quiet. My first four hours were 92, 89, 110, and 112. All on 40 meters. I wasn't feeling good after hours one and two about my rate, but the rate really picked up when everyone moved to 40. I found 11 new stations on 80 with the second radio the last hour while running on 40 which helped the rate tremendously. NA says that I made 206 second radio contacts. The latest version of NA really works well with SO2R in the sweepstakes and other contests. Congratulations to N2IC and all of the other big scores out there. We hope to have a special guest op next year. We probably only have a couple years left for optimal conditions in the sweepstakes from this part of the country (e.g. bad 10 and 15 meter conditions)for winning. We'll see everyone in the CQWW CW. 73 Kevin, N5DX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5KA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 160,160 Very nice to see gud activity and some scores we have not seen in many years. Special thanks to our VE friends for making those rare sections available. Now we need to drum up some ops in ND and WY. 73, Ken K5KA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5KG Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 93,132 With my yagis down for repairs, had to use my SteppIR Big Vertical for 40 thru 15. The vertical performed amazingly well, especially on 40m. With the vertical, I could really feel the advantage it gave to the long-haul low-angle signals, especially W6's, KH6's and KL7's. Closer-in stuff coming at higher angles, however, suffered at times. But, the really surprise band was 80. On 80, the antenna is an inv. vee. FL wx had been in a high pressure zone for the last few days, and the atmosphere was crystal clear. As a result, the 80m noise level was very low, and the band produced some really nice runs. I should have spent more time there, especially Saturday night, but hung it up around 0500z for some shut eye. The last two hours of the contest were spent on 80m, and the runs just kept coming, tnx to being spotted a few times. We missed WTX and NT for a sweep. Never really heard J loud enough to break his pile up, and WTX was totally non-existent! Our last mult was SC, which we worked at 0129z on Sunday on 80m. In the next four minutes, then, I worked three more SC's. I thought for a minute that the SC boys were messing with my mind! 73, Geo...K5KG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5NA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 213,440 I didn't do a very good job of testing my setup the week before the contest because of out-of-town family obligations until Friday. When the contest started I discovered that my keying was intermittant and distorted. So my first hour of SS was very poor while I tried to fix things by re-booting the computer and changing keying configurations. You never get the first hour back in a SS. I never got the problem completely fixed and suffered the entire contest with choppy and intermittant CW sending from the computer. I found that if I never sent over 28 wpm, the sending could be readable most of the time. Above 28 wpm, it got really bad. I still don't know what was wrong with my Writelog/Microham MK2R+/desktop computer combination. It seemed that the computer was stealing cycles from the CW sending. But it worked fine the last time I SO2Red during the WPX CW Contest in May. I had best fix this problem before the 2007 CQWW CW Contest. I thought conditions were down from last year, but it may have been just me in my de-moralized state as I kept on slugging through the contest. 15 meters was almost non-existant for running from here and I can never get much going on 80M, regardless of conditions. So it was a two band contest, 20M and 40M. Multipliers were numerous and I worked at least two in each section. I found and worked VY1JA on the 2nd radio and later a VE4 started a pileup right next to my run frequency. But on Sunday I had VY1EI and another VE4 answer my CQ. This is the first time I remember having a sweep with every section answering a CQ. That was nice. I was disapointed with my results even though this was my second best SS CW score ever. Maybe I was expecting too much. It was my fault for poor preparation. 73, Richard - K5NA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5NZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 184,320 First time to "STAY" in the chair and complete a SS !! Are you happy now K5GA and K5TR ?? But boy did I want to quit several times Sunday, stopped to grill and have lunch with my wife Sunday noon and almost didn't come back! Thanks "J" for finding me on 20 right at the start, then I had to sweat NL but worked 2 Sunday. Great job everyone, and thanks to all the new guys... was glad to turn down the keyer to 18 several times! Please try another CW contest again soon! nz Cabrillo Statistics (Version 06g) by K5KA Callsign: K5NZ Contest: ARRL-SS-CW Category: SINGLE-OP ALL LOW CW Operators: K5NZ -------------- Q S O R a t e S u m m a r y --------------------- Hour 160 80 40 20 15 10 Rate Total Pct -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2100 0 0 0 67 5 0 72 72 6.2 2200 0 0 32 45 2 0 79 151 6.8 2300 0 0 40 14 1 0 55 206 4.7 0000 0 6 41 5 0 0 52 258 4.5 0100 0 47 13 0 0 0 60 318 5.2 0200 0 12 53 0 0 0 65 383 5.6 0300 0 0 69 0 0 0 69 452 5.9 0400 0 2 73 0 0 0 75 527 6.5 0500 0 6 58 0 0 0 64 591 5.5 0600 0 29 23 0 0 0 52 643 4.5 0700 0 7 20 0 0 0 27 670 2.3 0800 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 670 0.0 0900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 670 0.0 1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 670 0.0 1100 0 20 23 0 0 0 43 713 3.7 1200 0 21 9 0 0 0 30 743 2.6 1300 0 0 5 11 0 0 16 759 1.4 1400 0 0 14 30 0 0 44 803 3.8 1500 0 0 9 21 5 0 35 838 3.0 1600 0 0 0 33 1 0 34 872 2.9 1700 0 0 0 16 2 0 18 890 1.6 1800 0 0 0 24 12 0 36 926 3.1 1900 0 0 0 32 1 0 33 959 2.8 2000 0 0 20 7 2 0 29 988 2.5 2100 0 0 7 29 0 0 36 1024 3.1 2200 0 0 0 32 0 0 32 1056 2.8 2300 0 0 11 23 0 0 34 1090 2.9 0000 0 7 19 2 0 0 28 1118 2.4 0100 0 8 26 0 0 0 34 1152 2.9 0200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1152 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------ Total 0 165 565 391 31 0 1152 Gross QSO's=1160 Dupes=8 Net QSO's=1152 The best 60 minute rate was 92/hour from 2121 to 2220 The best 30 minute rate was 98/hour from 2151 to 2220 The best 10 minute rate was 114/hour from 2156 to 2205 The best 1 minute rates were: 3 QSO's/minute 6 times. 2 QSO's/minute 208 times. 1 QSO's/minute 718 times. There were 247 bandchanges and 113 (9.8%) probable 2nd radio QSO's. Number of letters in callsigns Letters # worked ----------------- 3 1 4 711 5 337 6 97 7 3 8 3 ------------ M u l t i p l i e r S u m m a r y ------------ Mult 160 80 40 20 15 10 Total Pct ------------------------------------------------------------- Va 0 7 16 26 0 0 49 4.2 Il 0 9 25 14 0 0 48 4.1 Oh 0 7 22 16 1 0 46 4.0 Scv 0 1 26 15 2 0 44 3.8 Mdc 0 6 16 19 0 0 41 3.5 Mi 0 5 21 14 0 0 40 3.4 WWa 0 0 28 10 1 0 39 3.4 Mn 0 6 21 11 0 0 38 3.3 Ep 0 5 14 17 0 0 36 3.1 Wi 0 5 18 8 0 0 31 2.7 Az 0 3 18 9 0 0 30 2.6 Nc 0 6 12 11 1 0 30 2.6 Sv 0 0 14 9 2 0 25 2.2 Em 0 3 4 15 1 0 23 2.0 On 0 2 7 14 0 0 23 2.0 In 0 5 10 7 1 0 23 2.0 WNy 0 6 6 10 0 0 22 1.9 Tn 0 3 16 3 0 0 22 1.9 Or 0 1 9 10 1 0 21 1.8 Co 0 4 13 4 0 0 21 1.8 Org 0 0 12 9 0 0 21 1.8 NNj 0 3 6 10 1 0 20 1.7 Sjv 0 3 8 4 2 0 17 1.5 Ga 0 7 10 0 0 0 17 1.5 STx 0 8 8 1 0 0 17 1.5 WPa 0 2 2 11 0 0 15 1.3 Nh 0 3 5 6 1 0 15 1.3 Eb 0 1 7 7 0 0 15 1.3 NTx 0 7 5 2 0 0 14 1.2 Wv 0 1 7 5 0 0 13 1.1 Mo 0 3 9 1 0 0 13 1.1 Sdg 0 0 8 5 0 0 13 1.1 SNj 0 1 5 6 0 0 12 1.0 Ct 0 0 4 5 3 0 12 1.0 NLi 0 1 6 3 2 0 12 1.0 Lax 0 1 8 2 1 0 12 1.0 NFl 0 4 4 3 0 0 11 0.9 Bc 0 0 4 6 1 0 11 0.9 SFl 0 0 6 4 0 0 10 0.9 ENy 0 3 2 5 0 0 10 0.9 Ut 0 0 4 6 0 0 10 0.9 Ia 0 1 9 0 0 0 10 0.9 Ok 0 5 4 1 0 0 10 0.9 WMa 0 1 1 4 3 0 9 0.8 Al 0 2 7 0 0 0 9 0.8 Ks 0 3 6 0 0 0 9 0.8 Vt 0 2 3 3 0 0 8 0.7 Ew 0 0 4 4 0 0 8 0.7 Ky 0 2 3 2 1 0 8 0.7 Sc 0 1 5 2 0 0 8 0.7 Nm 0 0 7 1 0 0 8 0.7 WcF 0 2 4 2 0 0 8 0.7 Sf 0 0 4 3 1 0 8 0.7 Nv 0 0 3 3 1 0 7 0.6 Mt 0 0 7 0 0 0 7 0.6 Sk 0 0 2 4 0 0 6 0.5 Sb 0 0 6 0 0 0 6 0.5 Nd 0 0 4 2 0 0 6 0.5 De 0 2 2 1 0 0 5 0.4 Pac 0 0 3 0 2 0 5 0.4 Ar 0 3 2 0 0 0 5 0.4 La 0 3 2 0 0 0 5 0.4 Wy 0 0 4 1 0 0 5 0.4 Ri 0 1 2 1 1 0 5 0.4 Mar 0 0 2 1 1 0 4 0.3 Qc 0 2 2 0 0 0 4 0.3 Me 0 0 1 3 0 0 4 0.3 Id 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 0.3 Sd 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0.3 Ak 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0.3 Ab 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0.3 Ne 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0.3 Vi 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0.3 WTx 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 0.3 NNy 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.2 Ms 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.2 Pr 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0.2 Mb 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0.2 Nl 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0.2 Nt 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.1 ------------------------------------------------------ Total 0 165 565 391 31 0 1152 Callareas Worked Area QSOs Pct ------------------ 0 103 8.9 1 96 8.3 2 111 9.6 3 125 10.9 4 133 11.5 5 67 5.8 6 169 14.7 7 133 11.5 8 101 8.8 9 114 9.9 Sweepstakes Precedents Precedent QSOs Pct ---------------------- A 552 47.9 B 248 21.5 Q 100 8.7 M 39 3.4 U 208 18.1 S 5 0.4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5OT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 166,374 Thanks Tom (N5TW) and Judy for letting me play radio at his fine QTH. The station played great. The operator played out early. This year's lesson learned: Don't delay good opportunities. I was too complacent with VY1JA, thinking I'd catch J a bit later. Later never came ... well, unless you count next year. Congrats to N2IC and others for some super totals! 73, Larry K5OT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5QQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 95,116 Using wire dipoles @ 35 ft for 40 and 80 and two mobile fiberglass whips @ 35 ft in a dipole configuration for 20. Although I have no pretenses about being a contender in the low power category, I'm always amazed with how well I do without beams and using these subterranian antenna's My house is right next to a flood control area so not only are the antenna's low to the ground, my lot is the lowest elevation in the neighborhood!! I am in an antenna restricted neighborhood but the good news is no one ever looks in my back yard and none of the antenna's are visible from the street!! My award goes to W8EGI who was sounding good on the key and licensed over 76 years ago. QRZ shows he is a mere youngster at 93 years old and he's my inspiration. I wish him many more years of enjoyable operating!! 73 Jim Baremore K5QQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5TA Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 196,800 Run rig: TS850 + Titan S&P rig: IC765 barefoot 80: 1/4 wave wire vertical 40: Dipole @ 75' 20: Dipole @ 60' 15: 3L trap 10/15 duo-bander @ 30' TNX to everyone for the Qs. We're trying to win the local club category for the third year in a row -- not the greatest start... 73, Scott K5TA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5TR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 237,440 A fun weekend - with activity like this who needs sunspots? Less decisions to make about what band to be on!!! Thanks to George K5TR for the use of his FB station and for busting his tail to fix the extensive wind damage he incurred this past summer. No small undertaking. Congrats to N2IC on the outstanding job. And --- thanks to all of you guys for the QSO's. 73, Gator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5ZD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 184,228 After a full effort in CQ WW Phone, didn't have enough motivation left to do a full effort. My wife talked me into operating (she has been putting up with this for as long as she has known me) and once I started, the fun of SS pulled me in. This is my 31st year in a row with over 1000 QSOs. But, the first in that time that I did not do the full 24 hours (only 18:45 this time). Stopped early Sat night and on Sun afternoon when things got slow and not fun. See everyone next year! QSO/Sec by hour and band Hour 80 40 20 15 Total Cumm Off D1-21Z - 51/25 13/10 10/8 74/43 74/43 D1-22Z - 1/0 91/21 - 92/21 166/64 D1-23Z - 9/0 79/6 - 88/6 254/70 D2-00Z --+-- 19/1 54/1 --+-- 73/2 327/72 D2-01Z 8/0 41/0 22/0 - 71/0 398/72 D2-02Z 22/1 60/1 - - 82/2 480/74 D2-03Z 15/0 37/1 - - 52/1 532/75 D2-04Z 61/0 3/0 - - 64/0 596/75 30 D2-05Z 45/0 13/1 - - 58/1 654/76 D2-06Z 34/0 20/0 - - 54/0 708/76 D2-07Z 10/0 5/0 - - 15/0 723/76 31 D2-08Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 0/0 723/76 60 D2-09Z - - - - 0/0 723/76 60 D2-10Z - - - - 0/0 723/76 60 D2-11Z 2/0 19/1 - - 21/1 744/77 40 D2-12Z 20/0 45/2 - - 65/2 809/79 D2-13Z 15/0 33/0 1/0 - 49/0 858/79 D2-14Z - 39/0 5/0 - 44/0 902/79 11 D2-15Z - - - - 0/0 902/79 60 D2-16Z --+-- 19/0 13/0 --+-- 32/0 934/79 16 D2-17Z - - - 3/0 3/0 937/79 52 D2-18Z - 22/0 8/0 1/0 31/0 968/79 24 D2-19Z - 10/0 35/0 - 45/0 1013/79 D2-20Z - - 1/0 - 1/0 1014/79 59 D2-21Z - 12/0 12/0 5/0 29/0 1043/79 15 D2-22Z - - - - 0/0 1043/79 60 D2-23Z - - - - 0/0 1043/79 60 D3-00Z 2/0 13/0 4/0 --+-- 19/0 1062/79 32 D3-01Z 14/0 39/0 - - 53/0 1115/79 D3-02Z 15/0 36/0 - - 51/0 1166/79 Total: 263/1 546/32 338/38 19/8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6AM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 158,080 As you may have read in Dan's (N6MJ) posting, our usual effort with N6KI at W6YI was cancelled this year due to complications from the recent fires in San Diego. The ststion and Jim's ranch are fine and we will be back at it soon. Congrats to Dan for his great score and I'm looking forward to being on the same team again soon. The station played well this time, but the very modest antennas on my city lot are nothing compared to the W6YI blast factory. Was shooting for 1000 Q's, but just missed it. We got word that J, VY1JA would only be on for a couple of hours in the evening. I heard him working another CA station and began caling him frantically just up the band. Amazingly he heard me and we ended up with the sweep. I heard him later with a much better signal running a pileup so I guess things worked out for him. My last mult came just before the end when KE5OG called in with my only WTX. CU in SS SSB and CQWW from ZF1A John, K6AM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6DBG Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 16,874 First attempt at SS, first time using N1MM to key. Didn't get started until late Saturday evening, and stuck around on 80m until just before the DST time change. Also the first time using two antennas - my trusty 6BTV and a new shortened Windom. Both need retuning on 80, which is always amusing - but I had a great deal of luck switching between them to work the skip as needed. Good fun. I had a semi-goal of 200 Qs, but beating my old number of 102 (for a full weekend) was good enough. Next time I'll pay more attention to going for a sweep, though I'm not sure I can pull it off with my setup. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6GEP Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 31,824 I claim to not be a CW contester, and not a big fan of SS. For the second year, I've told people I'm not going to operate Sweeps with much effort. But- that alluring Scavenger Hunt aspect of Sweeps is what draws me into the fun. It will probably happen to me again in the Phone weekend. 78 Sections is a new personal record for me. We will see what sticks in the scoring. I missed VE4 and VO1. Seems like they both disappeared about 2200z. I really couldn't hear the VO1's on 20. Tnx to all the KP2 and KP4 stations especially on 15. I also appreciated all the ND stations this year, including the K0RC expedition. That fills some holes in my WAS states. Condix was OK on 15, pretty good on 20, and fair to poor on 40 and 80. 80 seemed better right before the close. Note for the SS Phone: When doing packet spots, please include the section on the station you are spotting, like WV or NLI etc. That way the software can alert that a needed section is on. And put spaces around them. Someone spotted SC! and my software missed it. Rig: FT-990 Antennas: 80 meter dipole sloped from 50 feet 40 meter inverted vee at 50 feet 20 meter dipole (1 element) at 25 feet 15 meter dipole at 25 feet Software: N3FJP Sweepstates Log - It really shines with packet spotting! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6III Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 50,086 WINDOM Wire in trees. 400-watts. Mostly did spotting for the users. Tried to get a sweep but missed NL as I am not home during the opening to that area. First QSO was MAR section... got off to a good start! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6JS Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 48,822 Where was LAX! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6LA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 137,760 MURPHY KO's K6LA!!! Exactly 12 hours into the contest (yup, just after DST changed over) I was entering my hourly total into a text file showing last year's rate, and the computer froze. I figured no problem, since I was getting ready to take my 1st break. Reboot the computer - uh oh, it won't reboot. After 2 hours of playing with the Bios, WinXP repair CD, etc. I realized my C drive had died. Well, I realized it long before two hours, but I kept rebooting, changing the boot order, hoping against hope. But it was not to be. The only good news was that I had made a Ghost backup on Friday. Now I've got to send the hard drive in to some recovery company just to get my log back so I can get my sweep cup. I am VERY bummed out. CW SS is my favorite contest - OK, its tied with CQWW CW for my favorite. 73, Ken, K6LA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6LL Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 212,480 Congrats to the big scorers out there. You guys are unreal! This was my first time using N1MM in SSCW. It worked well, but I need more so2r practice with it. I think I pretty much got the hang of it after a few hours, but still made a few fumble-finger mistakes. I guess I can finally remove the DOS second hard drive with TRLog on it. That program sure has served well over the years. Thanks, Tree, and thanks to the N1MM crew for what is obviously the product of a TON of work! When I got back in October from my 4 month long summer vacation, I found that the background noise on 80 meters had jumped to 20 over nine with the receiver in AM mode. It's not power line noise, either, because there are tonals and lots of sound variation across the band. I spent a lot of time the week before the contest erecting receiving antennas (pennant, low wires, etc) but never found anything that provided a better s/n ratio than the shunt fed tower. Consequently, I stuck mostly to S&P on 80, which was workable with the 250 Hz filters. I think I will avoid SSB contests for a while though, until the noise goes away or we get some sunspots for the high bands. I used N2IC's formula for off time (0900Z-1230Z, then many short breaks) and I think it was an improvement over my previous years' 0930-1330. I did take the final 90 minutes off, which was probably not optimal. There were lots of stations to work on 40 from 1230Z on Sunday morning, and the rate did perk up after my short breaks, so more of those short breaks are in order for next year. Once again this year, K6RIM and I ended up in the same "packet pileups," and, once again, he beat me every time! I just looked up his antenna, which is an M2 7/10-30 log periodic, but he's on a 1000' ridgetop. That combo obviously works. The weather was the hottest I can remember in November, in the 90's, and the shack got really hot. If this wx trend continues, I've got to put some kind of superscoop in the shack's air condx vent to get more air in here. Thanks for all the Q's, and for another enjoyable event in the SS tradition. Dave Hachadorian, K6LL Yuma, AZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6LLK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 65,052 Thanks all for the run on 80 meters early Sunday morning! http://www.k6llk.com telnet://dxc.k6llk.com k6llk@arrl.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6MM Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 116,800 You gotta love this contest. After bashing my head for 10 minutes around 16:20 UTC today on 20M trying to get through to Bob, VO1HP for my Sweep,I decided to let the crowd feast for awhile and come back later. Tuned up on 15M at 21053 MHz and gave a big CQ. Guess who comes right back on the first call? Yep, John, VO1SA. I couldn't believe it. You gotta love this contest. :-) Thanks for the Qs and see you on SS Phone soon. 73, John, K6MM. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6NA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 194,400 Late Sunday, just prior to sunset, I stopped CQing and combed twenty carefully with my beam north, looking for a NWT station. Sure enough, six minutes later, I found a very weak and fluttery VY1EI on 14027. He was sending pretty slow CW, had just finished up with a station and he came right back to me with a low serial number. I never heard anyone else call him when we finished. After 45+ years of the Sweepstakes (well, some off-years too) there is still a magical feeling when you tune the band with your HF receiver and find that elusive, fluttery VY1 or VE8 for a Clean Sweep. Recommended therapy for those packet addicts out there...! Thanks to all for a fun weekend. Glenn K6NA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6SU Class: Multi-Op LP Total Score = 78,848 Mark, K6OWL, started the contest on 20 meters while I operated the W6YX station a few feet away on 15 meters. Chris, W6KNS, joined Mark for part of the afternoon. Dave, AA6XV, started in the early evening Saturday and operated until 0916Z. Dave returned for the final 6 hours of the contest. Unfortunately this was a low power M/S effort as several amps were undergoing repairs. The guys did a great job, missing only NL, QC, and MB. VY1EI was the last mult worked at 0055Z on 14028 where he continued to call CQ with no answers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6TA Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 187,840 Thanks to Ken (K6TA) and Kay (K6KO) Anderson for their outstanding hospitality hosting me again for SS CW. Conditions were very low, since this is the bottom of the solar cycle. But 40 meters really played well, even if 15 meters was the pits... When I took my sleep break I was cautious going out to the apartment behind the garage. There were reports of a hungry mountain lion in the vicinity -- it has attacked and eaten several pets in the area. I certainly didn't want a report of an SS op chewed up by anything other than QRM during the contest! 73, Dean, N6BV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6TD Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 47,716 Condx seemed pretty good on Sunday. At least, didn't experience strong QSB. Sunday only operation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6YT Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 161,120 My antennas were off the tower on the ground for repair when I was called out of town on a family emergency. Returning two days before SS CW, I tried to get everything back up. I almost made it but had to temporarily lash the 20 Yagi on the side of the tower for the weekend. I came off the tower 30 minutes into SS and went straight to the shack to see what bands were working. Miraculously, 160 through 10 were good, so I worked a couple SS contacts. That led to a few more and I didn't get up until 08Z. I was physically beat from all the tower work the previous 48 hours. This is not recommended preparation for a contest weekend, although no antennas would have been worse. It was a treat to be able to sit in a chair rather than continuing to scramble up and down the tower countless times. There is a receive intermittant on 40, so I often couldn't hear. I was very impressed that most stations gave just the fill I asked for and nothing more, often only once which is all that is needed 99% of the time. The pair of K3 radios worked great. They did have trouble with S9+40dB signals 200Hz away, but that was rare. Will be interesting to see how they do in the phone weekend ... ugh, do we have to do that?! 73, Ed - W0YK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7ABV Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 49,494 first day did all s and p...sunday called a few cq's and had fun with the pileup...had bad qrn on 40 on and off...plus horrible wind of 50 MPH saturday night, made for horrible conditiions on my 7 MHZ beam as connections must be loose, and signals would drop in and out..oh well, something to do, or pray for no wind ha...good time as usual... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7BG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 173,440 The station worked better than it ever has this year. I was able to run on 20 using two beams into a StackMatch and S&P up the band with the other rig down to within 10KHz of my run freq with absolutely no problems. Very little stray RF running around the shack this year. I had the 765 spread all over the basement floor for a month until only just last week when an internet plea for a failed part got me back in business thanks to K1RC’s kind efforts. Mentally I just never seemed to get in the groove. I had the worst rate in years the first hour. Part of it was a non-ham visitor that showed up taking away some of my concentration, but I took some time to evangelize radiosport to him. Yeah, I think I’ll blame that guy. By the time I worked Randy, K0EU, he was about 80 Qs ahead of me and the gap only widened as I heard him a few more times. By the time I went to bed I was already over 100 Qs behind my own last year’s effort. My off time strategy is to go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. I probably need to re-visit that strategy as I slept over 5 hours leaving little time to take off on Sunday. I have always thought there were some pileup hungry guys that showed up near the end just to hand out Qs and have a DXpedition style pileup, but the last few years have been dreadfully evident that this is not the case. My last two hours up to 0300 were excruciatingly vacant of Qs, more so than it seemed like it used to be. Congrats to Dick, K4XU, he was ahead by a fair amount when I worked him and then I heard him with several hours to go and he was only ahead by three Q#s. I had 16 dupes in my log so even at that point I figured it was probably a lot more than a three Q gap if his log was free of dupes. He was a dozen or more ahead near the end as he seemed to be finding fresh meat better than I was. Nice job Dick. It looks like my run of 11 straight NW division low power plaques has come to a conclusion. Congrats to all the nice “A” power efforts out there. I was running on 40 late Saturday and heard a weak station calling….”what’s that?...1J…V_1J_...” Son of a gun if it was J. up there on top of the world. I swung the antenna around in 50mph winds and worked him. Thanks for the patience and the time it took to turn the antenna J. I heard VY1EI later but didn’t work him. The last mult worked was Rhode Island. I worked 7 Idaho stations and 3 NDs. That was sure a refreshing change. On Sunday, 15 kept pretending to be a nice band, but it had an attitude problem so I made it go sit in the corner and kept going back to 20. My new neighbor just down the road 150 miles loaned me his StackMatch so I gave it a work out on 20. With one antenna fixed on W6 (a brainstorm this same “neighbor” had) it really helped me work some guys I usually don’t or only catch on the low bands. Thanks Dr. Pat, N9RV. You may not get it back. Good to hear and work all the guys on from here in the Big Sky Country of Montana and a nice QRP effort from a hard contesting KB7Q down state. Nice job Gene. P.S. On the subject of dupes, I often work them just because so many stations never send the call of who they are working and and I think assuming stations are in the log has cost me some Qs in the LCR reports. I’ll usually ask B4? as a question instead of B4 as a statement of fact. Sometimes they say “no” which means they could have worked a station under me that I couldn’t hear the first time I thought we worked or else they logged me as K7DG or such. Sometimes if I work a station and have any doubt at all if I was the guy they were working I will ask for the check again. I usually don’t bother with giving the Q number of when I have them in the log unless asked as that takes as much time as just working them again. Matt--K7BG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7HBN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 85,120 First sweep in quite awhile, I'm feeling my age, but this is still my favorite contest by far. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7JA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 196,160 Don't see SOHP SO1R SCARCL Category (Single Operator One Radio Southern California Antenna Restricted City Lot) category, but what the hey. . . Rig: IC-7800 Amp: Alpha 87A Antennas: C19XR at 50' EF30/40 (2 el 40) at 45' Bent/curved/deformed wire for 80, starting height of 45' and bent around roof Had a good time running some rate from the PEQ location. Went to bed around 720 QSOs after getting Sweep at QSO #421 (Arkansas, 0224Z), thinking I would be lucky to get to 1000. But Sunday morning on 20 moved extraordinarily well at over 60/hour for a long time, probably because I was still fresh meat for a lot of people. 40 was just miserably tough. We had a great NVIS antenna but no NVIS prop. But we did have Ouzo, which eased the pain inflicted by the low bands. Twenty played well although it closed very early both days, and 15 just plain needed some sunspots. I got excited when I got called by a KZ5. But then I sighed when I realized it wasn't multiplier #81. I miss the Canal Zone. I still think CAC should reconsider the proposal for a Sunday 8-hour Sprint category within SS. It would not materially change the contest any more than having a half marathon materially changes a full marathon in running. Many people have to work Saturdays now, and if they could get on and fly on Sunday we would all have more fun on the 2nd day. CAC. . .PLEASE think about this. Congrats to N2IC and all those who did battle, whether your score was big or small. It was wonderful to work many old (and new) friends, as always. Almost shed a tear when RECEIVING the SS exchange from W7RM. SS is! Thanks to Dan (N6PEQ) and Kristin (K6PEQ) for the great hospitality, ample Ouzo, and a fun time. And thanks especially to my wife Janet (KL7MF) for the winning shoulder rubs right when they were needed most! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7NV Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 169,920 WHAT A HORROR SHOW! I haven't had a single equipment failure here for 4-5 years...but my number came up this time on Murphy's list. I had been seeing a naging intermittent loss of receive signal on 80m for a while, so I got into finding it last week. I finally traced the problem down to a failed relay in the Six Pak on the 80m circuit. So, I recabled the 80m antennas to go directly to a station #2 antenna switch (rig #2 is normally the 80m rig)which could then select the Six Pak (to get either tribander, high tribaner is the run antenna, the low one is for S&P) or the 80m antennas. All was fine. Also in last weeks NCCC practices, I started hearing some incredible distortion of signals on R2. I opened up the TS930 and fooled around with the RF connections and thought I had it working. So, the contest starts and I elected to start running on 15m. It was ok, but not real great. I'm tuning around on R2 on 20m trying to pick up extra Q's, but I can't copy much of anything. The S meter is whailing away telling me they are there but I can't copy anyone but the very loudest signals. I make 6 R2 qso's on R2 in the first 1 1/2 hours (that sucks!). Being the genius I am, I figure out that the rig is still hosed! So, I sit there for the first 1 1/2 hours thinking about "what am I gonna do?" while running R1 on 15m. Pack it in, go for SO1R on rig 1, or get out of the game for a while to see if I can fix it and be able to have more fun running SO2R for the rest of the contest. During this time I was constantly fiddling with the R2 rig and found that when I moved the wide/narrow cw filter switch the rig would go from dead to sometimes hearing, but always distorted signals, so there was something wrong with the switch. When it was time to be forced off of 15m due to a sick rate, and go to 20m, I elected to go offline and try to fix the radio. I had it all apart on the bench and checked everything I could think of. I found a dangling wire broken off the xverter jack where you can tap into the recv signal line. I cleaned the cw filter switch by dripping some solvent into it and blowing it out with compressed air, twisted all of the 20 or so RF connections in the thing. My shack is in the garage, a very dusty and dirty place with the high winds we get here, so everything gets a big dose of crap. Well, this seemed to work! The rig sounded lots better, but still not really right. I got back on the air around the time 20m was going away, running on the fixed R2. Why am I not getting many callers? The band is not dead yet? I look up at the R2 amp and see that it is not at all happy, I know it is set right for the antenna (TH7). I stop running and check the swr straight thu, bypassing the amp and bandpass filters. Crap, the SWR is pegged! Must be time for another unplanned break....... I grab the dummy load and go down the line from the rig to see where it is. Guess what? It's another relay in the Six Pack, this one is the R2 input relay. So, I mix and match some cables to get the TH7 off the Six Pak and onto a manual switch in the shack, so R2 gets the 80m antennas and the TH7. R1 gets the low tribander (@25')and the 40m antennas still on the Six Pak. So, I'm back in the contest......running on 40 with R1. R2 still is not sounding right on 80m! I finally realize that when I R&R'd rig 2, I put it back into the op position with the noise blanker switch activated. Duh! I turn the NB off and the rig sounded perfect, and I get a 70 hour on 80m. I act like I'm still in the contest having fun, but I know I'm totally hosed, and am feeling pretty depressed. When I take the big break at 08:30 (instead of 08:00) I'm 220 q's behind my previous lowest qso count at that point, 280 behind my best. Sigh! Well, just soldier on and see if I can get some of it back. I've never quit, but it crossed my mind Sat night. The unplanned off times shorted me on my available sleep period, so when I got back into it way early Sunday morning, I was a little grumpy. That part helped when I got pressed into the usual freq fights with the "carnivores" ;-) I actually had some fun periods on Sunday with some kinda both stations working, so I'm glad I chose to try to fix things. I had to use R2 with the TH7 to swap running bands between 20 & 15 a few times, but 15m sucked so bad on Sunday I ended up just staying on 20 using R1 to S&P on 40. I had one more problem Sunday evening......the 80m inv vee went intermittent. I just used the vertical and it wasn't a big deal. Found & fixed it tonight(I think). This station and op will never get a big score, but it should get a better one.....'twas not in the cards this time. I've been doing two QTH efforts in SS for the past 4 years, so it's hard to know where I should have been this time with this little toy. There is always a next year....... Next summer if I'm not working 7 days a week, I'll rebuild this thing, it appears to be about time ;-) Thanks for the q's as always, always fun to work so many friends in the contest! 73, Kurt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7RL Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 154,240 Only planned to work the contest a few hours, but conditions were pretty good so I hung-in there a little longer. Thanks to all for the Qs. 73 de Mitch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7WA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 68,888 Foiled again in my pursuit of a Clean Sweep - usually hard ones came easy and usually easy ones were tough! 15 meters tried a few times, but never really openned for us in the northwest. Took three 30 minute breaks to change the antennas from daytime to night configuration. Enjoyed another SS with three other members of the WWA CW SS Class of 1959 (K7SS, K7HBN, and K7CW). IC-735 with microKeyer and N1MM software 80: Top loaded wire 40: Force12 40-XK Vertical 20: Force12 40-XK Vertical and Hamstick Dipole 15: Hamstick Dipole ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7XC Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 95,200 IC-746, Alpha 78 (800W), 2ele Tribander 20', 80/40/10M Inv Vee 30', 20M Inv Vee 20', 160M Inv L 35'. 80M Was Increadible! Finally Found NL Sunday Morning For My First Sweep In Over 10 Years. Had To Stop Sunday AM Due To The Headache From Hell, Operating Only Sporadically For The Rest Of The Day. My Best SS CW Effort In Quite A while. GO NCCC!! KB & K D !! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8AZ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 63,602 Missed: NL, AK, PAC. Usually I end my SS weekend at K8AZ's superstation, but this year Tom was heading out to a 4 pm Browns game, so I made K8AZ my Sunday morning stop. We had a bad start, as we in real time discovered issues with the newly installed WinTest. We couldn't figure out how to make it send serial numbers. Although WinTest is sort of like CT, a # character was not how it is done. When we finally did find the answer ("$SERIAL") it still would not send a number. I think it turned out to be a result of the same stupid way CT handles numbers - if there is nothing in the callsign field, it sends the previous qso's number. Since we were testing it with no previous qso, it would not send a number. I finally made a few qsos sending the call and number by hand, and the rest starting with "B" with the computer. After a dozen or so qsos I for some reason tried the S&P exchange, which sent a number! So I reprogrammed the main exchange and was off to the races. But we had only six qsos in the first 17 minutes. Once in the groove things went well. But the excellent hardware at AZ was a bit of a waste for midday SS conditions, when a 50 foot high dipole can do just about all you need to do. Nevertheless, a good six hours of fresh meat operation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8BL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 128,000 Last Section was NT (as usual). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8FH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 62,560 First time to get a sweep.........time spent was 99% S&P. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8GU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 81,168 First SS operating SO2R. Sorry about the mistakes! I lidded a couple of QSOs. New dipole on 40 worked great. Thanks for the QSOs... 73, --Ethan, K8GU/9. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8IR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 59,040 Too many things going on to put much time in the chair this year. I was pleasantly surprised to make the sweep. ND was the last, but VO1 was the toughest, with marginal propagation Sunday morning on 20. I spent an hour in the pileup before finally getting through to VO1HP, but the time was well spent starting the club newsletter, one of those tasks that had to be done this weekend. Conditions weren't too bad for no sunspots. Thanks for all the contacts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MFO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 12,800 Just an old dog having fun. I recently put some of the good old gear back on the air - Johnson Viking Ranger II, Collins 75A-4, and Drake 2-B. All gear was set up in a barn/workshop about 150 feet from the house. Put up a Buxcomm Windom in a tree at the site. Decided to play 80 QSOs in 80 sections with that setup. Was amazed how well things went with 30 to 40 watts, as I quit at 0330Z with only NL and NWT not in the log. Found VO1HE Sunday morning at 1329Z, and then had to go away to help my mother in law put away her lawn furniture, out to breakfast, and a bunch of shopping. Turned the 75A-4 on when we got home at 1700Z, and could not believe that the first signal I heard was VY1EI. And there was no pileup! One call and the sweep was done! I have done the "express sweep" many times, but probably not in any less time, under 8 hours. This was great fun. I love my TS-930 radios and really look forward to the arrival of my Elecraft K-3 (soon, I hope!), but CW never sounded any better than it did this weekend with the 75A-4 and 2-B. The transmitted signal from the Ranger also sounded good to me. So, no records, no awards, just some plain old fashioned fun with some old radios. Hope everyone else had as good a time. 73 Don K8MFO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 81,440 This was my first time QRP in SS. Condx seemed good on 80 and 40 and there were several times I held down a frequency for more than a hour. Finding VY1JA on 15M and cracking that pile-up was really cool with 5W. I was really surprised how well my K2/100's receiver performed, in a major cw contest. Looks like it beat out my TS-450 to become my main rig. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 63,802 The last stop on the K8MR SS tour - home sweet home. I was set up to do SO2R, but the rates were pretty good on a single band, and the differences between the IC-746 and TS-830S second radio make it a mental challenge to switch between the two. Missed: ME, WTX, SB, ID, MB, AB, NT. Rates peaked out in the upper 130's as I hit the NCC U-class packet masses. Never knew there were so many loud stations in SV! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8ND Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 120,588 Part-time effort, with visit to a customer site during prime-time Saturday evening. Not very focused even when I was on the air. Operated on 15m with the 2L40, never realizing that I had the switch in the wrong position! Missed sweep by WTX and NL - never heard either. Good warmup for my upcoming trip to PJ2T for CQWW CW and ARRL 160 Contests! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9CT Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 168,160 Good conditions! Wish more people were on the last few hours. I was available to work more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9GY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 49,640 a) Missed WY, ND, LAX, SF, PAC, NL, NT b) How in the world did I miss LAX? Duh! c) Heard VY1JA on 15m @ 22z Sunday but unable to get his attention. d) CQing is only fun when people answer your CQ's e) Good to test out equip before WW CW trip to YS f) Too many non-ham things intruding on any attempt at a full time effort g) At one point I said to the XYL "I'm working a contest" and her reply was "I'm working the house"...oh boy...not enough points in the family bank for this contest I guess, hah! FT-990 80m dipole at 25-30 feet Cushcraft R8 WriteLog Best of health to all, Eric ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9MMS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 51,636 Ninety percent of QSOs via S&P. TS-940 quit transmitting after 80 QSOs. Had to set up old TS-430 to continue operating (receiver had high noise floor). Used external audio filter to help copying stations with the '430. Still no K3 -- now shipment may not be until December, or later. Sure could use a new radio. Equipment problems and being tired caused low motivation. Missed NL (heard but never caught VO1MP) and NWT (never heard). Quit 2 hours before the end of the contest -- tired of tuning for, and not finding, NL and NWT. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9MUG Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 96,096 20,40,80 all seemed in good shape.My best runs were on 80. Wish I had more time and stamina. Thanks to all who Q'd. 73, darrell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9NW Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 173,120 80m was certainly in great shape.....west coast stations were like locals in NE Indiana. No storms around so bands were quiet. Had all sections but NL by around 0300z (KY next to last!) and VO1TE went into the log at 1308z. Multiple QSOs in all sections.....thanks to all the guys that get on in the "rare" ones! Still haven't figured this contest out but I couldn't think of anywhere else to be the first weekend in November. 73, Mike K9NW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KB7Q Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 95,480 We're certainly are at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Couldn't run on 15 meters at all. So I did lots and lots and lots of S&P. Stayed in the chair and slowly made a decent score. Thanks to Bob, W7LR for the loan of his antenna farm i.e. 90' vertical on 80m, lazy V array for 40m and a TH-7 at 70'. Rig: K2 of course. ;-) 73, Gene, KB7Q ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KB9OWD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 83,616 An hour to go and calling it quits early... Lost alot of ambition in this one when the "sweep" went out the door. Heard VY1 briefly, very quiet here, with a huge pileup. Missed NT and Manitoba for the sweep. Only heard one VE4 and that was about 1600Z Sunday morning, very weak around 14.060. Called and called with no luck! Never heard or ran into another. Overall, my first time putting a good amount of time into SS CW. Main reason is SS phone in a few weeks is opening weekend of deer hunting here. Normally, this would not interfere and I'd do a little hunting and a full effort, but this year hunting about 3 hours from home, so won't be possible. Congrats to Steve, N9CK on his excellent LP score from WI. He had me by a few hundred QSO's when I worked him on 80 early Sunday morning. I knew his count was high when I heard him about 0500Z Saturday night/Sunday morning and he kept a good rate going to at least take WI LP unless I missed something drastic. Alot of good scores out there! Alan, KO7X had a great score going Saturday evening when I worked him and was my only WY! Thanks for being there. Largest number worked in a section: Ohio with 27. Followed right up with the never ending string of SCV with 26 and MDC with 24. Did manage to work one ID but now looking at the posts, wish I would have run into Chris, KL9A/W7! Good to run into Dan, N6MJ as always along the way running wild along with many others! I don't know what's up yet for CQWW CW. Anyone need an opeator hi hi...???? Until then, 73 to all! Ryan KB9OWD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KC4HW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 18,840 Never intended to be anything but a part time effort. Still working on the station. Got the Rohm 45 plumbed up to 76'. Pulled out the 20m antennas and began going through them, plus the 2L40m. Probably will spend the next couple of weekends working onthose. Got the Tribander set to North. At 42' it played pretty good in SS. The delta loop for 40m played very well also. Don't have anything on 80m yet. Listened on 160m a little but never really heard anything. All in all a pretty good weekend. Thanks for everyone for the contacts. hope to hear you in SS SSB later this month. Jim/KC4HW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KC5R Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 121,920 For some reason I felt less enthusiastic about this years SS than I usually do. I had a soccer game in the morning in which our team I coach won handily, pounding out goals for a change (we ended up with a record of 3-6, winning 3 out of our last 5) and then the team had our end of season breakfast until noon. Frankly, that turned out being much more fun that playing QRP and getting squashed calling in half the time. Then, after N4OGW called me with over 800 Q’s late Sunday afternoon as I was sitting in the high 600’s, I guess I could just kiss winning it for a change (or even to win the division) goodbye. After all, I have a descent station, but I can’t win in a brawl. Three out of the last five years have been that way. If you big guns want to experience QRP, then leave the stacks, 4-squares, etc. and grab some wire and maybe a tribander and go operate QRP – you’ll learn more than just turning off the amps or turning down your radio. The bands were long from here. The weekend prior (CQWW), 15 was smoking to the east and west coasts. This weekend it was long when it was open, with no northeast and only the west coast coming in. That is not a big deal usually, but I could not get a run on 15 mtrs all weekend. Seemed like there was little to no west coast “pouncers” out there and the pool of CQers was limited, so it turned out to be a waste of time CQing on 15 at anytime. This hurt my Q totals. If it weren’t this way I know I could have mustered over 800 Q’s. Even 20 and 40 got long here early. So I ended up spending more time fighting larger QRM on 20 and 40. Also, while I enjoyed my best 80 mtr QSO total in a while, being this far south and QRP does makes it tough versus being the middle parts of the country like TN or northern MS locations that have more stations in their "radius". In all, I worked (2) or more of every mult except WY, AK, QC, MB, and NT. I worked relatively low numbers of IL, OH, NC, NTX (less than 20), and record high numbers of MI, MN, WI, SCV, SV, MDC, and VA (more than 30). Basically this tells the propagation story. Funny, I also worked more ND, PR, PAC, and VI than I ever recall. Also interesting is that I worked 62 other QRP stations (Q to Q Qsos – say that 10 times fast). I enjoyed sending extra GL & TNX messages to those guys for their efforts. So in the end I managed to tie my score from last year with 15 less Q’s, but 2 more mults, thanks to some good 20 mtr runs Sunday after a slow start on Saturday. Also, overshadowing it all is that I got my first SS CW sweep ever. My last 5 sections were (in order) SFL, NL, NT, AK, and QC. I got SFL before I went to bed around 2 AM (and then worked 5 more early Sunday morning). The rest of the multiplier story to me seems too good to not tell: Around 1605 UTC, I almost jump out of my seat when VO1HE called me on 20. 3 more to go. So I turned the beam more NE to finish this QSO. The very next QRZ, netted a call from VY1JA. So I turned the beam back NW and work J. Bang…now 2 left. About 2-3 calls later, VO1TA calls in for NL #2. After this omen and still missing AK and QC, I decide about 10 minutes later to start searching. I slide down the band and find VO1HP for NL#3 (boy, when it rains it pours), and nearly next door I run into KL8C for AK. Now 1 left. So, needing only QC, and with visions of missing it, I move the beam NE and listen for VE2AWR or someone towards QC (he usually waits till late to CQ), and about 10 KHz down find VE2CWT calling CQ…so I hit the chip shot and a sweep. In about 40 minutes I got my last 4 mults, plus 3 NLs. Having a sweep by 1645 was not in the game plan, but did allow me to think about rate a bit. We’ll see you in two weeks in Shout-Stakes. -Al ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KD2HE Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 10,148 While my rig is on the bench I used the QRP rig that usually gets used on field day with a short whip as an antenna. It amazes me that I am able to work as much as I do. 73, Victor KD2HE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KD2MX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 56,684 More Q's and sections than last year so I'm feeling quite satisfied, although somewhat frustrated with my missing sections. AK, NWT, LAX, WTX, KY, and, most amazingly, NLI which is just down the road. AK and NWT were no surprise. I got PAC late Sunday on 15M without any trouble. I kept trolling for LAX and WTX, especially LAX. I worked many, many 6s. Most of them were even in CA. I figured sooner or later a LAX would come along...and it did. Just when 20M was about ready to shut down for the night, I hear N5DO in WTX working a station in LAX! Argh...Tried working N5DO but no luck. I only heard two KYs. The first had the biggest pileup that I heard all weekend. I had no luck breaking it so I decided to wait awhile. Bad decision. The KY must've gotten more than he bargained for and disappeared. Late Sunday evening, I heard another doing S&P on 80M. No luck getting a CQ in his way. NLI is another story. Figured I'd run into one on 80M sometime on Sunday. I had missed most all of Saturday and maybe a chance at NLI. Oh well...I had a few good runs and nearly a 100 more Qs than last year when I ran qrp. Two years ago I was struggling to copy a single exchange. I had been away from cw for a number of decades and, newly returned to HF I thought SS might be a good chance to get back to CW. I tried (actually did) make some contacts with a straight-key. I can imagine the consternation of those ops who had to sit and listen to me try and send at a reasonable rate. This year's SS is the first contest in which I really felt comfortable running stations. Someday I might be a real cw op. A fine contest, even without sunspots. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KD4D Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 192,160 Thanks again to John Evans, N3HBX, for letting me use his great new station in Poolesville, MD. I'm very lucky to be able to play with the toys. The new antenna configuration allows splitting power in two directions and rapidly changing between two antennas on the same band. The new "Lazy-H" seemed to always outperform the 80 meter dipole. VY1JA called me on 40 for my only NT. Thanks, J! I got excited when I worked a KL7 only to find out he wasn't in AK, but I eventually got one for the sweep. Fifteen opened on Sunday afternoon and, like the idiot I am, I spent an hour trying to generate a run - I should have taken an hour off and operated at the end of the contest, picking off new stations S&P. Great activity on 40 and 80 late. I never remember this from year to year. When doing S&P, I MUST remember to tune faster. Sometimes I try to find every available QSO and it takes too long to sweep a band. 2007 SS CW - KD4D HOUR 80CW 40CW 20CW 15CW TOTAL ACCUM ---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- 21 0 7 67 0 74 74 22 0 48 21 0 69 143 23 0 52 12 0 64 207 0 8 53 3 0 64 271 1 26 31 0 0 57 328 2 56 15 0 0 71 399 3 69 8 0 0 77 476 4 61 11 0 0 72 548 5 44 14 0 0 58 606 6 25 19 0 0 44 650 7 12 28 0 0 40 690 8 15 18 0 0 33 723 9 0 0 0 0 0 723 10 0 0 0 0 0 723 11 5 0 0 0 5 728 12 41 12 0 0 53 781 13 28 17 0 0 45 826 14 2 39 6 0 47 873 15 0 23 15 0 38 911 16 0 4 17 0 21 932 17 0 4 28 7 39 971 18 0 0 2 30 32 1003 19 0 0 20 1 21 1024 20 0 0 34 3 37 1061 21 0 0 18 1 19 1080 22 0 14 11 0 25 1105 23 0 10 32 0 42 1147 0 0 9 18 0 27 1174 1 9 18 0 0 27 1201 TOTAL 401 454 304 42 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KE1FO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 76,950 Had a great time. New tower, so I had a tribander up at 30 feet. This was a wonderful improvement over a dipole for 20M. As usual, 40M was "the band" for this contest. I spent almost all day Sunday CQing on 40 and S&P on 20 (SO2R) or vice versa. I was surprised how well it went as this is the first contest I've really had my hardware and antennas all set up. Missed AK, PAC, NL, QC and NT. Never heard AK or PAC. Heard VY1JA working S&P on 20 so found a spot and called, but with no success (at least on working the mult). All through the contest I felt like I was going to miss a few. My ability to pick out the weak ones from amongst all the adjacent loud stations is not great. I did notice several times the "desensing" of my reciever around loud signals. Since nobody seems to be coming out with roofing filters for the 940's, maybe it's time to think about upgrading. Too bad, because I really like these two rigs. About 0100z all the CW started to sound alike, 40M started to sound like a bowl of soup, and nobody was new for me on 20 or 80, so at around 0200z I packed it in. I did some quick net surfing around 0130z looking for how to turn on "dueling CQ's" in Writelog (which probably would have kept me in the chair longer). It appears this feature is no longer part of Writelog! I made my goal of 500q's claimed (513). I hope after my bad copy is removed from the log I'm still over 500 q's! Special thanks to those who sent lots of repeats on Sunday afternoon as I was fighting local AF QRM from my two children and their friend who decided after being curious about CW for 2 minutes, that they would play loudly directly outside the shack. See everyone in two weeks. 73 de Al, KE1FO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KE6ZSN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 40,328 Thanks for the Qs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KG4CUY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 48,450 My biggest contest effort so far. First contest for my new old radio, TS-850, which performed very well. Two dipoles, a vertical, and an inverted L were just right for the job. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KH7Y Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 87,626 Ended up sick so QRT early. See you all in ssb Aloha, Fred ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KI9A Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 72,000 Split the weekend between a multi at K9SD Saturday, and here Sunday. Just getting used to a new Pro 3, that I picked up Friday. 1st QSO at 2100z saturday, so had a bit of time messing around with the settings. If I would have known condx were this good, I would have spent a full effort. Last section was KY. I called CQ SS KY, and WB4OSS returned with 001. had to walk him thru the report, which is tough on cw. Then, of course, 3 other KY called within 30 min. I still can't believe how many VE7, VE6, VE5, VE4's I worked!! Never worked that many before...nice job fellas. Will have everything ready for SS SSB. CU then! 73-Chuck KI9A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KK0HF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,610 Had too many "irons in the fire" over the weekend, including a regional SET, but wanted to support CW SS. It was actually a lot of fun to jump in during the last hour and 45 minutes of the contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KL8C Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 128,160 Greetings from Alaska and the Last Frontier Contest Club, where I de-virginized KL8C in SS. Here's a pix of the KL8C SuperStation antenna farm: http://www.k6vva.com/kl8c The tiny fixed-mobile antenna worked okay on 20m, but I got beat up a lot on 40 & 80 even with a 9ft Buddipole shockcord whip added top at night. When VY1JA said he might not be QRV for SS, I emailed J and said if his station were available I might boogie on up to make sure everyone had a chance at a clean sweep. I was not really interested in doing SS from my own RF hole QTH this year. Well, here's the rest of the story... J ended up being able to stay at home, so I got a wild idea to grab some stuff and run back up to KL7 for SS. Fortunately, there was one freebie mileage plan seat left on one of the flights, so I took it on Thursday - in spite of the WX forecast calling for rain, snow and wind gusts up to 60MPH. OUCH!!! My pal W6SC drove me and all my *stuff* to the airport on Friday. The plan was to operate as "U" category, since my hosts said the Wireless Internet was now working here. Unfortunately, after setting up the antenna in the rain, I came in and realized I had forgotten the Packet module in WriteLog had taken a dump, so ended up using DX Summit manually maybe 10 times total during the contest. That was easier than changing all the message settings. Each time I saw a VE1/VOP spot I couldn't hear anything, so what a monster thrill when VE1OP later called me for #80 and a clean sweep. I was fumble fingers on the keyboard I was so excited. Tnx again, OM !!! When VE2AWR called me for a previous remaining mult, I sent TU QC, to which he responded with TU AK. Those kinda things were fun moments. It was really nice to get a lot of TU TU TU AK from many of you, so I hope I made your day and contributed to a Clean Sweep. My last minute dream before making this spur of the moment trip was to hopefully bag at least 800 Q's and a Clean Sweep. Mission accomplished in spite of many hours of torture trying to copy QRP signals. In college, I had a GTO with the infamous 3 duces and a 4 speed - a real chick magnet. My antenna here turned out to be a Q-category magnet, and often mini pileups of Q1 signals almost zero beat on each other swarming like bees down in the rain noise. Had some really bad static problems on 40m Sunday evening. Several stations did not include their callsign in the exchange, and I really wish one of these days that some folks would read the rules to understand what PREC means. Personally, I find the new trend of cut numbers in the SS CK quite irritating, especially in QRM. Tnx to all for pulling me out of the soup. If you want a cool place to take your XYL on a 2nd Honeymoon, check out this QTH - The Waypoint Inn - about 10 miles outside Ketchikan. Dick and Barb are awesome hosts, and I had the Mother of all Salmon Dinners" here last night after SS. http://www.waypointinn.com 73, Tnx for all the SS Q's, and GLITCOMs... Rick, K6VVA * The (Alaskan) Locust ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KL9A/W7 Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 10,914 K2/100 + indoor 20m dipole Playing around here and there on the indoor 20m dipole. Really surprised I could work as many sections as I did. Even managed to get VY1. For those of you who heard me on 40, nicely done! One station was a solid s9 on 20m and didn't even try, just got a "SRI TOO WEAK... CQ SS..." Lame. You could really tell who the good ops were. KL9A/W7 is not an easy call to get through when you are weak. Make them work for the QSO, I always say! Interesting hearing all the KL7's on. KL7WV was about 10 over 9, KL8C was s9, AL9A was about s8. AL1G was barely, almost, sorta kinda copiable. Best overall signal goes to K9NW, closely followed by N0NI. 73! -Chris KL9A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KN3A Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 35,100 I spent more time operating than anticipated. This was my best CW Sweepstakes score by far. Only missed NL and NWT. I saw NWT spotted a couple of times but I just had no path to work them. Didn't hear anything from NL whatsoever. Also, a sincere apology when I tried running on 40 meters for a few minutes. I saw WPA needed spotted so thought I'd give it a try. My program was just not set up for running since all I do is S&P. I think at least 3 people had to suffer through my unreadiness for running but it was fun and I will try to set up so I can run more in the future. 40 and 80 meters yielded most of my sections: 80 - 32 Sections 40 - 32 Sections 20 - 12 Sections 15 - 2 Sections I was a little disappointed in 15 meters not opening up better and 10 meters was non-existent. See you in the ARRL SSB November SS. I think I'm going to do QRP again. Kenwood TS 450SAT G5RV @ 35 Ft. 75 Watts N1MM Logger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KO7AA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 195,520 Same score as last year, N1MM logger said 142 2nd radio Q's. I thought I was off to a good start, but it was like cold water in the face when I worked the leaders and they were 100+ Q's ahead of me just 8 hours into the test! Lot's of great ops at big stations.... I think I have maxxed out on what I can do with 1 tower, 1 yagi and 1 vertical. Murphy took out the 2nd radio linear, first the fan started making noise, and then the T-R relay gave out 2 hours into the test. So my 2nd radio was just a barefoot XCVR. Thanks for all the Q's! 73, Bill KO7AA in Tucson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KO7X Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 186,240 Another interesting CW SS in the book. I went to bed with two sections missing - NT and NL. I figured I would catch up with Jay sometime on Sunday and was not sure about NL. Got into the slugfest Sunday morning on VO1HP and finally got him. Later on 20 a very weak VY1JA called me - I had to turn the beam north with a very strong wind blowing to pull him out. Thanks again Jay. That took care of the sweep. Wouldn't you know it - several other VO stations called me. In fact, for the first time that I can recall, stations in all 80 sections called me and except for VY1/VE8 there were several calls from each in the log. So I kept at it off and on all day and into the evening and ended up with a personal best score. The activity was definitely up this year. So much for CW being dead... Will be multiop in the phone SS with a new operator. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KR2Q Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 83,622 First, congrats to Tor and Kirk. WOW! And VFB to the other guys in the top ten! Awesome job! I was pretty psyched for this one. Last year was my first serious venture into SS and I had a pretty good learning experience. This year was definitely going to be better! I got some nice input on time strategy from many you and I really thank you for that! N2NC and K5ZD even sent me their previous logs for scrutiny! I spend nearly 30 minutes on the LL with W2GD while he was driving around, telling how to win...or at least what had worked for him. N2NC pointed me to an article he wrote about winning strategies for SS. Short but sweet. It was clear from the above that 40m would be key, but "all I had" was 2L at 80 feet and everybody was telling me to put up something "low." N2NC even called me a few hours before the start to tell me that he had modeled my 2L and 80 feet and that it had a "bad" null for high angle. So on Saturday afternoon I set about to put up a "low" 40m antenna. I did and it was WAY louder than the yagi on the locals in mid-afternoon. Yup...I was going to rock on this one! As the SS started, I just didn't feel anything special...quite the opposite of what Kirk experienced. It just seemed like a real slog. And that's pretty much how it felt for the entire time. Of course, it didn't help that I couldn't stay awake as per all of the great tips I had received (my last Q before going to bed was as 0559). And even worse, I didn't get back into the chair until 1254! :-( But I could still put in a LONGER effort than last year, where I only did 18 hours. As you can see from my score posting, 40m just did NOT play here. I made exactly ONE qso on the "low" 40m antenna (because it was louder). Compared to the other QRP scores, my breakdown just doesn't make any sense. So, despite putting in 5 more hours than last year, I almost made the same score as last year (yuck). I only made a few more Q's and worked 2 fewer mults. :-( Here is what I experienced when working other QRPers. Not very uplifting. DATE TIME SENT WKD RX'ED Q's BEHIND 11/3/2007 2140 26 KB7Q 27 1 11/3/2007 2145 30 N4OGW 45 15 11/4/2007 0436 225 K4RO 344 119 11/4/2007 0503 237 K3AN 247 10 11/4/2007 0525 243 KC5R 296 53 11/4/2007 1512 323 N4JF 327 4 11/4/2007 1806 382 K0PC 384 2 11/4/2007 1927 410 N7IR 444 34 11/4/2007 2025 419 W6JTI 470 51 All very familiar calls. And I'm sure there are still some others who passed me by. I worked 35 other QRPers...I'll be VERY lucky to make the top ten (and I doubt that it will happen). Working Kirk 7 hours in was downright depressing! I missed NL, NT, and AK (never even heard NT). Again, congrats to all the winners! de Doug KR2Q ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KR4F Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 32,400 Sure glad the 40m antenna is working again! Mostly S&P. Lot's of fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT1D Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 180,320 Many thanks to Jim (K1IR) for the use of his wonderful station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT3Y Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 56,700 73 Phil KT3Y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT4PD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 6,480 Force12 Flagpole Vertical S9+20 line noise throughout event ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT4Q Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 15,552 Rig: Yaesu FT-1000MP MV Ant: Cushcraft R7 Vertical up 30' Logging:Writelog V10.58 This was a quick setup of my station since the recent move to NFL land. HAd a few hours to operate throughout the weekend. 73's de Steve, KT4Q Tavares, FL - Lake County ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU1CW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 216,960 Not too big of a SS person - worked it once in 2003 and did not care too much. Have decided to give it a try another time. Had kind of slow start and never recovered from it. Not too bad after all. Thanks everyone. Alex KU1CW. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU4A Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 4,880 I entered this contest using my FT-817 not thinking about the fact that I don't have a CW filter. Big mistake - hi. Still lots of fun for the few hours I got on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU5B Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 13,320 Got on mainly to give CTDXCC some points. Had a bit of time in-between football games (poor Bama), Taylor Swift concert (!), and other activities to get on. 40 Saturday night was fun...had some good minutes. Got on Sunday morning for an hour or so but just didn't feel motivated to S&P. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU8E Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 155,788 IC756PRO - AL811H - 600 watts 130 ft center fed zepp @ 35 ft, 20 meter dipole @ 30 ft, 40 meter wire vertical Missed VY1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KV8Q Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 123,552 80 meters was very quiet and open everywhere at once Saturday night. It sure increased my QSO rate on that band. Had a nice run there for a change. Not much on 15 and nothing at all on 10. 20 and 40 were typical for my station and location. Overall, very quiet conditions this weekend. Why do people use cut numbers in the exchange? The check of 99 sent as NN through me for a loop. Call me old-fashioned, but I would rather not copy cut numbers in this exchange. And, isn't the callsign part of the exchange. That also sounded strange. Heard one WTX early in the contest working someone else and never heard him again. Missed WTX and NT, which I never heard at all. N1MM again performed flawlessly. That sure reduces the fatigue for this old man. Remember when we used those big, taped-together dupe sheets? Kudos to W8CAR and K8BL. Sounds like they will be ahead of me one more year in Ohio, low power CW. But, I still had fun. Then there is always next year. Thanks for all of the QSO's and I look forward to seeing you all again next year. Rig: TenTec Jupiter @ 100 watts Antenna: 102' G5RV @ 45' Software: N1MM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KX7L Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 24,570 Was expecting 80 and 40 to be the money bands given the sunspot level, and my lack of a "real" 20m antenna, but 20 was still where the high rates were, at least for my QRP signal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0BUI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 77,000 It was fun. A little practice with a cw program sending just numbers and d, b,u, v, etc sure helped. After sitting in a chair for 17 and a half hours I think my back side is flat. I put three new Inrad filters in the TS-850 and that sure helped. Thanks for all the qso's, see you in the next one. 73, Mike N0BUI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0KE Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 72,800 Lost interest after getting a sweep and plus it was really nice WX for November. Maybe next year it will be cold and nasty and I'll do the whole contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0NI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 231,360 Thanks again to Toni and Colleen for opening their home and station to me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0UR Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 94,720 Fifteen plus years and my first sweep! First SS at our new QTH in the country, plenty of room for long antennas. Power supply failed half way through, ended up using just my K2, single radio last half. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1DC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 60,000 This continues to be one of my favorite contests. After 39+ years trying I still can't get the elusive sweep. I did manage to work every section I heard. Sections that were hard last year were in the log in the first 4-5 hours this time. I never heard ME until late Sunday on 80M. I also found CT stations very scare this time compared to past years. At 2115 Sunday I spent about 30 minutes on 15M looking for some multipliers. The band appeard to be empty but I was surprised to hear some west coast stations coming through S9+. Couldn't hear anything else until I found KH7Y calling CQ. Worked him just before the band went silent. I ended up missing WTX, ND, AK, NWT and MB. My new OMNI 7 performed falwlessly and the receiver was put to the test with heavy QRN and QRM at times. Station Ten Tec OMNI 7 100W HP Pavillion running CT Antennas 4 element Yagi 10/15/20 @ 30 ft, 80/40 dipoles at 35 ft Thanks for all the QSO's. 73 Rick N1DC Braintree MA (EMA) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1LN Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 160,000 Let me start out with the required "why I did not score what I should / could / wanted to." Due to the building of the new antenna farm my SixPak is not wired in so NO SECOND RADIO. I couldn't use the big amp due to shack renovations SO ONLY RAN 600 WATTS. My current antennas leave a bit to be desired, especially the 40 mtr vertical delta. NOTE THE 40 MTR Q COUNT. I was working out in the antenna field Saturday from 07:30 to 14:00 EDT and no pre-contest nap so I was TIRED. Time to stop with excuses but need one more. You can probably tell from the N1 call.... but hey - the PATRIOTS game was on Sunday....and they WON! OK, now the serious stuff. Conditions seemed pretty good and there was lots of activity. I finally broke down and, as I was running in the "U" class anyway, jumped from my run frequency to work VY1 (early in the contest at 22:36 UTC) and VO1 for the sweep (Sunday morning about 11:30 UTC). As 40 mtrs was VERY difficult for my QTH I went to 80 early on Saturday evening and was glad I did. As you can see from the band totals, 80 was my money band. Not bad for 600 watts into an inverted-V withe the apex about 50' up. It continued to amaze me all weekend right up to the last Q. My goal was to beat last year and work 1000 Qs. When I worked the 1000th Q - I quit. Well, OK - I quit at 02:54. This weekend work will continue in the antenna field and with lots of good weather and no items on the 'honey do list' I just might have the 20 mtr and 40 mtr towers on-line for ARRL-SS. That would also give me back Radio 2. I hope so. One more comment. I noticed many CK dates greater than 2000. Some of those OPS were working at slower CW rates. EXCELLENT. I always slowed down! I hope others did the same. If everyone looks at their logs and specifically the CK dates, the majority will be before 1970. We are aging! Mine is 1964. New CW OPS are needed. They need some time to get their speed up. Let's give them the support and respect they deserve. SLOW DOWN FOR THEM!! 73, Bruce / N1LN (aka: NC4KW) -------------- Q S O R a t e S u m m a r y --------------------- Hour 160 80 40 20 15 10 Rate Total Pct -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2100 0 0 0 58 0 0 58 58 5.8 2200 0 0 0 67 0 0 67 125 6.7 2300 0 0 14 40 0 0 54 179 5.4 0000 0 0 28 1 0 0 29 208 2.9 0100 0 58 7 0 0 0 65 273 6.5 0200 0 85 0 0 0 0 85 358 8.5 0300 0 16 28 0 0 0 44 402 4.4 0400 0 78 0 0 0 0 78 480 7.8 0500 0 68 0 0 0 0 68 548 6.8 0600 0 54 0 0 0 0 54 602 5.4 0700 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 603 0.1 0800 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 603 0.0 0900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 603 0.0 1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 603 0.0 1100 0 19 0 0 0 0 19 622 1.9 1200 0 49 0 0 0 0 49 671 4.9 1300 0 0 33 8 0 0 41 712 4.1 1400 0 0 0 36 0 0 36 748 3.6 1500 0 0 0 38 0 0 38 786 3.8 1600 0 0 0 6 0 0 6 792 0.6 1700 0 0 0 5 9 0 14 806 1.4 1800 0 0 0 32 0 0 32 838 3.2 1900 0 0 0 21 2 0 23 861 2.3 2000 0 0 0 14 0 0 14 875 1.4 2100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 875 0.0 2200 0 7 20 6 0 0 33 908 3.3 2300 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 911 0.3 0000 0 14 0 0 0 0 14 925 1.4 0100 0 38 1 0 0 0 39 964 3.9 0200 0 36 0 0 0 0 36 1000 3.6 ------------------------------------------------------ Total 0 526 131 332 11 0 1000 Gross QSO's=1001 Dupes=1 Net QSO's=1000 Unique callsigns worked = 1000 The best 60 minute rate was 88/hour from 0137 to 0236 The best 30 minute rate was 94/hour from 0209 to 0238 The best 10 minute rate was 102/hour from 0218 to 0227 The best 1 minute rates were: 3 QSO's/minute 3 times. 2 QSO's/minute 182 times. 1 QSO's/minute 627 times. There were 16 bandchanges and 2 (0.2%) probable 2nd radio QSO's. Number of letters in callsigns Letters # worked ----------------- 4 650 5 275 6 73 7 2 ------------ M u l t i p l i e r S u m m a r y ------------ Mult 160 80 40 20 15 10 Total Pct ------------------------------------------------------------- VA 0 34 4 4 0 0 42 4.2 IL 0 29 8 4 0 0 41 4.1 SCV 0 6 2 29 1 0 38 3.8 OH 0 31 4 3 0 0 38 3.8 MDC 0 22 7 7 0 0 36 3.6 MN 0 12 7 15 0 0 34 3.4 EPA 0 26 2 5 0 0 33 3.3 CO 0 7 8 15 0 0 30 3.0 MI 0 18 6 4 0 0 28 2.8 WWA 0 1 4 22 0 0 27 2.7 EMA 0 21 1 5 0 0 27 2.7 WI 0 15 5 6 0 0 26 2.6 NC 0 22 2 1 1 0 26 2.6 STX 0 4 7 14 0 0 25 2.5 SV 0 2 6 16 0 0 24 2.4 AZ 0 4 3 12 2 0 21 2.1 NNJ 0 14 3 2 0 0 19 1.9 WNY 0 15 1 3 0 0 19 1.9 NTX 0 7 5 5 0 0 17 1.7 IN 0 11 4 2 0 0 17 1.7 TN 0 15 2 0 0 0 17 1.7 CT 0 14 1 0 1 0 16 1.6 ORG 0 1 1 12 1 0 15 1.5 ON 0 9 4 1 0 0 14 1.4 OR 0 6 0 6 1 0 13 1.3 ENY 0 9 0 3 0 0 12 1.2 KS 0 6 0 5 0 0 11 1.1 NH 0 8 2 1 0 0 11 1.1 AL 0 6 3 2 0 0 11 1.1 GA 0 10 0 1 0 0 11 1.1 SJV 0 1 1 8 0 0 10 1.0 IA 0 3 0 7 0 0 10 1.0 EB 0 5 0 4 1 0 10 1.0 NLI 0 5 2 3 0 0 10 1.0 UT 0 6 0 3 0 0 9 0.9 SNJ 0 7 0 2 0 0 9 0.9 MO 0 7 1 1 0 0 9 0.9 NFL 0 4 5 0 0 0 9 0.9 WMA 0 7 1 1 0 0 9 0.9 ME 0 5 0 4 0 0 9 0.9 SFL 0 7 1 1 0 0 9 0.9 WV 0 8 0 1 0 0 9 0.9 AR 0 2 1 5 0 0 8 0.8 NV 0 1 0 6 1 0 8 0.8 OK 0 5 2 1 0 0 8 0.8 WCF 0 5 3 0 0 0 8 0.8 ND 0 1 0 6 0 0 7 0.7 SF 0 1 0 5 1 0 7 0.7 BC 0 1 0 6 0 0 7 0.7 NM 0 2 0 5 0 0 7 0.7 WPA 0 5 0 2 0 0 7 0.7 SC 0 5 0 2 0 0 7 0.7 LA 0 1 2 3 0 0 6 0.6 EWA 0 2 1 3 0 0 6 0.6 ID 0 2 0 3 1 0 6 0.6 QC 0 5 1 0 0 0 6 0.6 KY 0 6 0 0 0 0 6 0.6 LAX 0 0 0 5 0 0 5 0.5 MT 0 1 0 4 0 0 5 0.5 SDG 0 2 0 3 0 0 5 0.5 RI 0 4 0 1 0 0 5 0.5 SK 0 0 1 4 0 0 5 0.5 MS 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 0.5 VT 0 2 2 1 0 0 5 0.5 MAR 0 0 0 4 0 0 4 0.4 NE 0 2 0 2 0 0 4 0.4 AB 0 1 0 3 0 0 4 0.4 AK 0 0 0 4 0 0 4 0.4 NNY 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.4 DE 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.4 SD 0 3 0 1 0 0 4 0.4 WTX 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 0.3 MB 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.3 SB 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 0.3 VI 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0.3 PAC 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.3 PR 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.2 WY 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0.2 NL 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.2 NT 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.1 ------------------------------------------------------ Total 0 526 131 332 11 0 1000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1MGO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 53,428 My first ever SS. Lots of fun, missed ME, NNY, AK, PAC, MAR, NT. Of the missed where was ME and NNY? Why dont' we have a RTTY version of this contest?? Thanks to all that helped me over the contest, took a bit to get the setup right for the exchange! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1SZ Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 17,136 Not a big effort this weekend, lots going on and I lost the last few hours of the contest to a prior dinner obligation. This was my first SS running QRP and I found it quite enjoyable. I ran QRP to a 150' long wire at 25'. It isn't the best antenna I've ever had, but it still did pretty well. Thanks to all of the stations that took time to listen for the weak ones, and didn't give up on trying to work me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1VT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 145,120 Thanks to Andy, K2LE, for the use of his awesome station. Thanks to Brian, WA1ZMS, trustee of the N1VT club call for permission to use the callsign. I had a committment early Monday morning and had to be out of the house at 5:30am -- K2LE/1 is 2.5 hours from home, so I knew I would not be able to do 24 hours. I attempted to reconfigure K2LE's CQWW SSB M/M for SO2R operation, but even with Andy on the phone, we were unable to get it done in time. SO2R would have helped with the Saturday doldrums! Activity was great, especially from Canada. Last two sections were NT and NL. Jay, VY1JA called me Sunday, and I found VO1HE in a pileup Sunday. If you need the Vermont QSL, please QSL N1VT SS QSOs to W1VE at my callbook address. 73, Gerry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2CU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 58,400 Played around for a little under 5 hours on Sunday. Pileups were fantastic at times ;^). All QSOs were by running; no S&P. FT1000MP, Drake L7, TH6DXX 50', 40m slopers, 80m 1/4w sloping wire, N1MM. 73, Tom N2CU <>< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2GA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 85,004 Missed NT. This would have been torture without the second radio! Hope propagation gets better soon! I will be in Grenada as part of the J3A team for CQ WW CW and hopefully propagation will be better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2GC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 9,840 Got on late Sunday night to serve up some fresh meat to 120 stations in 70 minutes. That was fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2IC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 240,640 Wow ! What a great contest, despite the lack of sunspots. First time above 1500 QSO's in many years. Even Sunday afternoon didn't seem as slow as usual. Thanks to everyone for the QSO's - Can't wait to do it again next year ! 73, Steve, N2IC -------------- Q S O R a t e S u m m a r y --------------------- Hour 160 80 40 20 15 10 Rate Total Pct -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2100 0 0 0 15 87 0 102 102 6.7 2200 0 0 0 99 1 0 100 202 6.6 2300 0 0 3 107 0 0 110 312 7.2 0000 0 1 77 6 0 0 84 396 5.5 0100 0 3 101 0 0 0 104 500 6.8 0200 0 17 75 0 0 0 92 592 6.0 0300 0 20 56 0 0 0 76 668 5.0 0400 0 28 36 0 0 0 64 732 4.2 0500 0 18 50 0 0 0 68 800 4.5 0600 0 39 29 0 0 0 68 868 4.5 0700 0 30 17 0 0 0 47 915 3.1 0800 0 9 1 0 0 0 10 925 0.7 0900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 925 0.0 1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 925 0.0 1100 0 11 19 0 0 0 30 955 2.0 1200 0 15 32 0 0 0 47 1002 3.1 1300 0 0 15 16 0 0 31 1033 2.0 1400 0 0 11 46 0 0 57 1090 3.7 1500 0 0 12 34 0 0 46 1136 3.0 1600 0 0 0 11 18 0 29 1165 1.9 1700 0 0 1 14 5 0 20 1185 1.3 1800 0 0 1 31 4 0 36 1221 2.4 1900 0 0 7 14 18 0 39 1260 2.6 2000 0 0 0 17 1 0 18 1278 1.2 2100 0 0 10 27 0 0 37 1315 2.4 2200 0 0 6 34 0 0 40 1355 2.6 2300 0 0 9 39 0 0 48 1403 3.1 0000 0 3 21 0 0 0 24 1427 1.6 0100 0 17 22 0 0 0 39 1466 2.6 0200 0 14 24 0 0 0 38 1504 2.5 ------------------------------------------------------ Total 0 225 635 510 134 0 1504 Gross QSO's=1525 Dupes=21 Net QSO's=1504 Unique callsigns worked = 1504 There were 395 bandchanges and 195 (13.0%) probable 2nd radio QSO's. ------------ M u l t i p l i e r S u m m a r y ------------ Mult 160 80 40 20 15 10 Total Pct ------------------------------------------------------------- IL 0 9 36 30 0 0 75 4.9 VA 0 6 17 21 16 0 60 3.9 OH 0 5 35 20 0 0 60 3.9 MI 0 7 21 24 4 0 56 3.7 MDC 0 4 22 13 12 0 51 3.3 WWA 0 5 18 28 0 0 51 3.3 EPA 0 5 12 22 11 0 50 3.3 MN 0 4 25 20 0 0 49 3.2 SCV 0 8 22 17 1 0 48 3.1 EMA 0 2 16 9 10 0 37 2.4 WI 0 2 19 15 0 0 36 2.4 SV 0 10 18 6 0 0 34 2.2 IN 0 7 13 13 0 0 33 2.2 STX 0 9 20 4 0 0 33 2.2 NC 0 5 12 8 6 0 31 2.0 ON 0 4 14 9 4 0 31 2.0 WNY 0 10 12 7 2 0 31 2.0 TN 0 1 15 12 1 0 29 1.9 CO 0 10 8 7 3 0 28 1.8 OR 0 3 8 17 0 0 28 1.8 NNJ 0 1 10 6 8 0 25 1.6 CT 0 0 11 6 6 0 23 1.5 SFL 0 1 4 10 8 0 23 1.5 GA 0 5 8 8 1 0 22 1.4 MO 0 4 7 10 0 0 21 1.4 NLI 0 0 8 8 3 0 19 1.2 AL 0 2 10 7 0 0 19 1.2 NH 0 2 6 5 5 0 18 1.2 NTX 0 3 11 4 0 0 18 1.2 IA 0 2 9 6 0 0 17 1.1 NFL 0 3 4 6 3 0 16 1.0 WPA 0 1 8 6 1 0 16 1.0 EB 0 3 9 4 0 0 16 1.0 SJV 0 4 10 2 0 0 16 1.0 ENY 0 0 11 3 1 0 15 1.0 AZ 0 5 5 2 2 0 14 0.9 WCF 0 0 4 7 3 0 14 0.9 WV 0 2 5 6 1 0 14 0.9 SF 0 3 4 7 0 0 14 0.9 KY 0 1 7 6 0 0 14 0.9 LA 0 2 6 6 0 0 14 0.9 ORG 0 9 4 1 0 0 14 0.9 KS 0 6 6 2 0 0 14 0.9 WMA 0 2 5 2 3 0 12 0.8 AR 0 1 6 5 0 0 12 0.8 OK 0 5 7 0 0 0 12 0.8 NM 0 4 2 3 2 0 11 0.7 BC 0 2 5 4 0 0 11 0.7 SDG 0 8 2 1 0 0 11 0.7 SNJ 0 1 5 3 1 0 10 0.7 EWA 0 0 2 8 0 0 10 0.7 LAX 0 4 6 0 0 0 10 0.7 SC 0 0 3 5 1 0 9 0.6 ID 0 2 3 4 0 0 9 0.6 SB 0 3 6 0 0 0 9 0.6 VT 0 1 5 2 1 0 9 0.6 ME 0 0 4 4 0 0 8 0.5 UT 0 4 4 0 0 0 8 0.5 NV 0 2 4 1 1 0 8 0.5 AK 0 0 2 5 0 0 7 0.5 SK 0 2 2 2 1 0 7 0.5 MT 0 0 4 3 0 0 7 0.5 ND 0 2 3 2 0 0 7 0.5 RI 0 1 3 0 2 0 6 0.4 NNY 0 0 0 2 4 0 6 0.4 MAR 0 0 1 4 1 0 6 0.4 AB 0 1 1 4 0 0 6 0.4 DE 0 1 2 1 1 0 5 0.3 QC 0 0 1 2 2 0 5 0.3 NE 0 1 2 2 0 0 5 0.3 MS 0 0 3 2 0 0 5 0.3 NL 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 0.3 PAC 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 0.3 SD 0 2 1 1 0 0 4 0.3 VI 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 0.2 WY 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 0.2 MB 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0.2 WTX 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0.1 PR 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.1 NWT 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.1 ------------------------------------------------------ Total 0 225 635 510 134 0 1504 Callareas Worked Area QSOs Pct ------------------ 0 145 9.6 1 138 9.2 2 147 9.8 3 164 10.9 4 183 12.2 5 112 7.4 6 182 12.1 7 151 10.0 8 130 8.6 9 152 10.1 Sweepstakes Precedents Precedent QSOs Pct ---------------------- A 767 51.0 B 315 20.9 Q 124 8.2 M 47 3.1 U 244 16.2 S 7 0.5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2NT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 220,320 Fastest swep ever. Found VY1EI at 2121Z and the rest was easy after that. Sweep at 0313Z. Connecticut of all places. I was not intentionally trying to end up with the same claimed score as last year :') http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/3830/2006-November/126865.html Thanks for all the Qs. 73, John N2NC N2NT ARRL SWEEPSTAKES Single Operator HOUR 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT 21 ..... 40/14 49/30 3/3 ..... 92/47 92/47 22 . 5/2 86/13 . . 91/15 183/62 23 2/1 37/2 34/2 . . 73/5 256/67 0 4/0 68/3 4/0 . . 76/3 332/70 1 4/0 76/3 . . . 80/3 412/73 2 43/5 38/1 . . . 81/6 493/79 3 65/1 14/0 . . . 79/1 572/80 4 66/0 12/0 . . . 78/0 650/80 5 48/0 11/0 ..... ..... ..... 59/0 709/80 6 15/0 32/0 . . . 47/0 756/80 7 21/0 16/0 . . . 37/0 793/80 8 6/0 15/0 . . . 21/0 814/80 9 . . . . . . 814/80 10 . . . . . . 814/80 11 5/0 19/0 . . . 24/0 838/80 12 20/0 28/0 . . . 48/0 886/80 13 5/0 61/0 1/0 ..... ..... 67/0 953/80 14 . 35/0 7/0 . . 42/0 995/80 15 . 27/0 17/0 1/0 . 45/0 1040/80 16 . 6/0 13/0 1/0 . 20/0 1060/80 17 . 5/0 34/0 . . 39/0 1099/80 18 . 15/0 8/0 1/0 . 24/0 1123/80 19 . 17/0 4/0 . . 21/0 1144/80 20 . 7/0 34/0 2/0 . 43/0 1187/80 21 ..... 4/0 18/0 ..... ..... 22/0 1209/80 22 5/0 5/0 28/0 . . 38/0 1247/80 23 3/0 5/0 11/0 . . 19/0 1266/80 0 9/0 35/0 1/0 . . 45/0 1311/80 1 7/0 44/0 . . . 51/0 1362/80 2 6/0 9/0 . . . 15/0 1377/80 DAY1 304/7 584/25 291/45 8/3 . . 1187/80 DAY2 30/0 102/0 58/0 . . . 190/0 TOT 334/7 686/25 349/45 8/3 ..... ..... 1377/80 Off time: 0838-1138 1617-1647 1815-1845 1936-2006 2130-2200 2316-2346 0230-0300 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2WN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 101,120 Some tough QSB on 20. VO1TA fought it hard. Had one op send "QRS", dropped down to 16WPM and had a fine exchange. It's not always about rate ;o) Lotsa "Q" stations, great going folks, most with very respectable signals. 80 was the band. 40 was OK but too much non CW QRM and the band was long most of the time. Running an Elecraft K2/100, 80M wire vertical, 40M wire vertical, 4 element SteppIr CU in a few weeks on the Top Band! 73, Julius n2wn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2YO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 100,245 Thanks for Q's! 73s de Chip N2YO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3BB Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 230,400 I ended up with seven dupes, since several people told me my "worked before" message was not correct for them. Those, plus one or two bone-headed errors on my part, left 1440 "score-able" contacts out of the number above. My wife and I were in Fort Worth, TX on Friday to celebrate my cousin's retirement. So we were away and had a four hour drive up and back. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that quick trip, but for some reason was not too tired in the SS. I don't know-maybe keeping busy took some of the pressure off me before hand. I debated between 15 meters and 20 meters at the start. 15 is a "sucker band' here because there are huge signals from W6 and W7, but the band is really long. The footprint is narrow. So I made a split decision and started on 20. I think that was the right decision, but at the very start I had trouble getting a run frequency and called a lot of CQs with no answer. Finally I got my first answer in minute three! Man, what a bummer way to start. I had a 96 first hour-pretty good but a sure way to fall behind the race horses like N2IC and N5RZ@K5TR. I had posted a print-out of the rate sheet from the 2006 SS on my desk, and felt that I was lagging. I seemed to have a good hour #2 and #3 compared with last year, and when I QSYed to 40 for the last part of hour #3, the rate took off and I had consecutive 93-73(bad)-96-90 hours on 40 meters, which put me ahead of last year. I did almost zero 2R operation, just getting used again to the long SS exchanges and trying to keep a clear run frequency. The loud signals on 40 meters overloaded my FT1000MP (even with the roofing filters) and there were all sort of "ghost signals" to deal with. I suppose the old receiver was not able to keep the 3rd order IMD signals out. It seemed there were more 00-06 checks this year, and that was good. Basically when I am on 40 meters I feel loud and have a great mind set. On the other hand, 80 meters here is not good as my beverages are sick. I never felt like I was hearing well. Signals seem like they are in a big hole there. The weather here was clear and dry, and there was little to no noise on the bands except for the great signals. My power line noise was diagnosed and corrected last year, and for the first time I can "hear" well. There were so many ESP QSOs that I could never had made before. That made a huge difference. Basically I operated SO1R for the entire first night. I was tired so slept four and a half hours. I felt really pretty good when I got up Sunday AM, but had little remaining off-times so had to go most of the day Sunday straight through. When the rates dropped off some, I started to do serious SO2Ring again, but had a problem being "smooth" with the long SS exchanged. It was tricky to maintain the run frequency when "away." Hopefully I was not too obvious. 40 meters stayed quite good until after 15Z Sunday and it was amazing to be working QRP stations in W1 at that time. 20 meters had a mid-day sag, as usual, but all in all both 40 and 20 were real work horses. The SS is such a unique contest, and one must work "everyone" which means there are a whole lot of super weak stations you must dig out. There were plenty of times when I felt it would be impossible to get the info, but in all but two cases the station would come up out of the background nothingness to be able to hear. I gave up on only two people. I had one panic, when both my atomic clocks failed to switch to the new CST on Sunday. At about 01:10Z I was tired and came to believe that I had to stop operating when there was another hour left in the contest. Of course the CUT clock on the station's TR computer showed the correct time and another hour to go, but I panicked and called K5NA's place and asked Richard's wife, Susan, what the time was and when was the contest over. She thought I was joking with her. I wasn't! Finally my sleep deprived brain figured out what was happening and I went back to operating. Hope this doesn't make me "U" category! It all seems silly now but I was in a dead panic. K5NA told me on the phone today that WWV was not transmitting Sunday. (?) Maybe they were in the SS! I went to sleep still needing three mults. Here is the story and timing on how I worked them-all on Sunday. *NWT at 16:59Z on 15 meters (QSO #1073) VY1JA-called me in a run. Very difficult as his signals were very weak. RST 219. Took two or three minutes to complete. Many repeats. J was super-patient. Thanks! VY1JA was really loud on Sunday later on 20 meters. But when J called me on 15 meters, it took the pressure off and I could focus on the rate after that. *WTX at 12:48Z on 80 meters (QSO #882) N5ZC-found Rich CQing loud on 2nd radio. Worked N5DO (loud and everywhere CQing) and W5ESE later. *NL at 12:09Z on 40 meters (QSO #847) VO1HP-called me on 40 meters with nr. 27A in a run. Then another NL called me at during the same 40 meter run at 12:43Z for QSO #877. I never heard another NL on any other band. That's it. Congrats on the wonderful scores from N2IC, WP3R, and others to come (K5TR and WX0B). Here are my numbers. It's a new PR for me. rate HOUR 80CW 40CW 20CW 15CW TOTAL ACCUM ---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- 21 0 0 96 0 96 96 22 0 0 97 0 97 193 23 0 18 65 0 83 276 0 0 93 0 0 93 369 1 2 71 0 0 73 442 2 0 96 0 0 96 538 3 3 87 0 0 90 628 4 6 70 0 0 76 704 5 20 50 0 0 70 774 6 19 33 0 0 52 826 7 2 13 0 0 15 841 8 0 0 0 0 0 841 9 0 0 0 0 0 841 10 0 0 0 0 0 841 11 0 0 0 0 0 841 12 6 42 0 0 48 889 13 0 10 32 0 42 931 14 0 43 10 0 53 984 15 0 13 35 0 48 1032 16 0 7 32 2 41 1073 17 0 0 18 10 28 1101 18 0 0 19 8 27 1128 19 0 12 20 0 32 1160 20 0 3 55 0 58 1218 21 0 11 29 0 40 1258 22 0 9 34 0 43 1301 23 0 15 23 0 38 1339 0 1 44 1 0 46 1385 1 5 20 0 0 25 1410 2 7 30 0 0 37 1447 TOTAL 71 790 566 20 qso distribution 1. Il 64 2. Va 54 3. Mi 53 4. Mdc 53 5. Oh 49 6. Scv 49 7. WWa 48 8. Mn 46 9. Ep 43 10. Wi 39 11. Nc 37 12. Sv 33 13. In 32 14. Az 32 15. On 31 16. Co 31 17. STx 29 18. Org 28 19. Em 27 20. NNj 25 21. Tn 25 22. Or 24 23. Ct 24 24. WNy 20 25. NLi 20 26. Ga 20 27. Lax 20 28. Ia 19 29. SFl 19 30. Nh 18 31. Sjv 18 32. NTx 18 33. Eb 16 34. Mo 16 35. Al 16 36. ENy 15 37. Sdg 15 38. WPa 14 39. Wv 13 40. Ut 13 41. Bc 13 42. Nm 13 43. WcF 12 44. Ky 12 45. NFl 12 46. Sc 11 47. Sf 11 48. Ks 11 49. SNj 10 50. Sb 10 51. WMa 9 52. Ew 9 53. Ok 9 54. Nv 9 55. Me 8 56. Id 8 57. Mar 8 58. Mt 8 59. Vt 7 60. Pac 7 61. Ab 7 62. Nd 6 63. Wy 6 64. Ri 6 65. Sk 6 66. La 6 67. Ak 5 68. Ar 5 69. NNy 4 70. Qc 4 71. Ne 4 72. De 4 73. Mb 3 74. Vi 3 75. Ms 3 76. Sd 3 77. WTx 3 78. Pr 2 79. Nl 2 80. Nwt 1 73, Jim N3BB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3CW Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 80,422 The great majority of total QSOs were S&P; just could not get good runs going. Probably due to my poor antenna (doublet at 30 feet). Hope to have the antenna situation changed by next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3ZL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 26,908 Ever since IARU in July I had been thinking about doing a full effort in this contest but just a few weeks ago I found out that I would have to go out of town until Sunday afternoon, so I was only able to put in around 5 hours through the last several hours. I could not get anything other than California, Washington, and Oregon on 40 and 20M, and I waited too long to switch to 80M, but once I did I got quite a few sections rather quickly in the closing minutes. 73 de Greg N3ZL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4GG Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 44,480 This was to have been an all-out effort - but plans came undone a week prior and radio time became restricted. I put in about 4 hours in 10 minute increments through Saturday and Sunday afternoon and completed an 80 X 80. I got the itch for some rate at the end, so I ran around 100/hr for the last two hours. Its fun being new on the band. Activity seemed a little thinner than last year, maybe its because 20 closed so much earlier or my operating style was so out of the norm.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4JF Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 88,160 PATIENCE, PERSISTANCE AND GOOD ANTENNAS MAKE FOR A DECENT QRP SCORE. IT CAN BE REAL FRUSTRATING AT TIMES, BUT PAYS OFF IN THE LONG HAUL. NICE MEETING OLD FRIENDS AND MAKING NEW ONES..I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED IT AS MUCH AS I DID. 73s JERRY N4JF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4KG Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 56,000 I'm a Multiplier-Oriented Guy so I started on 15M, thinking I would make a quick scan of the band to pick up those Western Multipliers. Well, the 6's were there, but at 100W, I was taking a back-seat in the pileups. The Strongest Signals on 15M at the start were from WP3R and NP2B whose pileups I could NEVER Break, even with the Beam turned on them! On to 20M which was MUCH more productive. By the time I left that band (2351Z), I had ALL of the Western Multipliers (W6 / KH6, W7 / KL7, CO, KS, NM, Wtx, plus VE7,6,5,4, and VE1) In the Log. Time for Dinner and a 40 minute break. (Did I mention this was a CASUAL entry geared to making a Sweep?) At 0031Z, the Sun was Down and 40 Meters was LONG. 40 sounded more like 20 with lots of LOUD W6/7 stations plus WP3R and NP2B who were worked on the First Call with 100W and my NW / SE Dipole. It just doesn't pay to stay in high band pileups! I made 30 Q's in 35 minutes but could NOT get a RUN going. NOT ONE answer to my CQ's! On to 80M at 0108Z. Scrolling up the band at one a minute, I found a clear spot near 3550 and started CQing. Someone must have spotted me shortly thereafter as the Rate Meter Peaked at 116. Not Bad for 100W to a Too High Dipole (130 ft high and Broadside to EUROPE)! The Close-In Sections came rolling in. I decided to keep running to complete a full 2 hours just to see how I could do. When K0CIE from OK called in at 0314Z, I was tempted to go looking for W5WMU in LA as the last 'easy' multiplier I needed. Something made me stay 'just a little longer' until N5YE called in from LA. NOW it was time to go hunting for ND, NL, and NT, after 150 Q's in 2 Hours (and 2 minutes). NO JOY. Off to bed at 0500Z. Maybe those elusive "N" sections would show up in the morning. Sure enough, K0RC was found high on 40M at almost 1500Z but NO VO or VY was heard in a scan of 20M. DRAT! The prospect of tuning 20M ALL DAY looking for those last 2 multipliers was too much. With only NL and NT separating me from a Low Power Sweep, I gave in to temptation and resorted to Packet to find VO1HP and much later, VY1EA. YEP, I failed to heed the advice I give to those who ask: "Go to the Band most likely to have Propagation at the time, Point your Antenna towards the needed section, and CALL CQ!" I'm told that several who did use this technique were rewarded by a call from VY1JA. I guess I've been away from the SS Game for too long :-) Tom N4KG in North Alabama ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4LF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 60,000 Had another great time in cw SS. Only running a 100 ft dipole, so was very happy with the 80 m results. Looks like I need to do some work on 15 meter antenna, tho. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4OGW Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 144,320 First try doing SS QRP...hard work! Just as one gets a clear freq and a run going you get squashed and have to find another hole. I usually ended up just above the band edge or nearly in digital-land. The sweep seemed easy this year (didn't get one last year operating low power). J called me on 20m quite early on Saturday. Last two sections were VE4 and AK. Finally got through to AK for the sweep on Sunday. thanks for q's! Tor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4OX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 111,074 My back was acting up, so a full time effort was not to be. Will be full time in SSB SS if my back cooperates. Plan to put up a 20 meter monobander and the shorty 40 on a lift and use existing tribander on 15/10 meters and as a second antenna on 20 meters. If conditions don't improve, I won't miss much on 15/10 meters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4VA Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 57,986 -- Missed NT -- Operated 13 hours in "U" category. 98% was S & P. 100 watts to A3S @ 75 ft. or 130 ft. sloper or 7 mHz inverted vee. 73, Larry N4VA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4WW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 205,920 Many thanks to Austin for hosting me at his excellent station! This was my first SS from Florida, it was great to experience it from here. I learned a lot that will hopefully help me turn in bigger scores in years to come. The biggest positive difference in SS from here to me was being able to cover almost the entire country with the antennas pointed one way and not have to constantly turn beams as I had to from Texas. This contest was all about 20 and 40M. I never could get anything going on 15M and had no sustained runs on 80M either. Biggest thrill was having VY1JA call me on 40M and being able to complete the sweep first thing Sunday morning (WP3R called me on 20M). This allowed me to concentrate on rate for the rest of the contest. 73, Alan, WQ5W ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4YDU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 127,920 Fun time! First full effort in SS since 2001. Nate/N4YDU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5AU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 92,664 Got on to give the guys another station to work. Too much noise and no low antennas on any band, plus no dual antennas for both coasts, so I called everyone as usual except for a few sparse runs on 20. Never heard a WTX or NL. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5AW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 61,028 Didn't feel it was fair to the XYL to put in a full time effort after 40+ hours in CQWW the previous weekend. Basically just CQed in 3 two hour sessions. Amazed at some of the packet induced pile ups - and even a few who called without listening. Had fun - maybe next year I'll play in CQWW Phone and do SS seriously. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5DO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 132,640 My goal in this contest (one of my favorites) is to finish in the top 10 -- I've never achieved that. I've been in the top 20 5 times, and came in 11th a few years ago. It is ironic that I believe that if I could have operated the full 24 hours this year I would have had a good chance at the top 10. Unfortunately I had a life changing experience two weeks ago that reduced my operating time. I'll put my description of that at the end so you can skip it if you wish. I felt there would be a shortage of West Texas operators this time around and that seemed to be the case. I was spotted a lot, which turned ordinary runs into great runs. My own sweep was the easiest I have ever had. After Saturday night I was lacking 5 sections and they came pretty easy on Sunday morning. I tried to break a 20M pileup on a VO1 with no success and moved up the band to run myself. Within 5 minutes another VO1 called me, so I was down to needing VY1. I had heard Jay on 40M earlier operating S&P but I had not been able to entice him to find me. Shortly after working the VO1 on 20M, VY1JA called me -- neat, the sweep came to me! As to my life changing experience, I have had high cholesterol for a number of years (at least 20). I was at my doctor's office here in Alpine about 6 weeks ago for a follow up on my cholesterol and high blood pressure. The nurse said that it had been awhile since I had had an ekg, so they did one. The doctor thought something looked wrong, like I had previously had a heart attack. He sent me to see a cardiologist in Midland for a nuclear stress test. The first available time was 5 weeks later. No one seemed too excited about things, so my wife I drove up to Midland (3 hours away) intending to do the test and return home the same day. After I finished the stress test, as I was sitting there recovering, the cardiologist said, "How about now. Do you feel any chest pain now?" Of course this alarmed me, because I felt fine but he obviously saw something. They did the scan part and he talked to my wife and I and said that he had not seen an ekg as bad as mine in four or so years. He put me in the hospital that night and the next day I went in for an angiogram. That was very short -- he said it would require a bypass due to the severity of the blockage and they would do it in one hour. Later they came in and someone else was worse off than me (poor guy!) and they did my surgery the following day. They opened the chest and used the beating heart procedure as opposed to the heart / lung machine. The good news is that my heart is in good shape; the bad news is that my arteries were terrible. One artery (to the back of the heart) was 100% blocked. It had probably happened several years ago because new corollary branches had grown on their own, supplying oxygen. On the front, one artery was 99.5% blocked and the other one was 90.5%, but right at a Y, so a stent was not possible. I have never had any chest pain, so I was very lucky that this was discovered before the first symptom was my sudden death. What helped me a lot is that I had been physically active with handball and an exercise bike so my heart was in good shape and the whole thing went the way it was supposed to. I feel pretty good now but my strength is way down. I had to cancel a trip to ZF1A for the CQWW CW contest later this month. However, I look forward to trying again next year! As always, thanks for all the fun and QSOs. 73, Dave, N5DO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5OT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 219,040 40 and 80 were the ticket here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5QQ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 77,844 Hung in there for a while so I could test and de-bug new PHIDGET antenna controls....What a pleasure to have 40 and 80 so quiet Sat night...Can't believe my last Q was WTX Section on 20m...Thought I'd never find him....Did miss NL and NwT....Be sure to look for Brent/W5WW operating from the KC5FU station on SS Fone. Ron N5QQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5UL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,114 VE4 ? TNX for TWO VY1's; VY FB! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6AN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 12,992 I operated from my back yard using an "instant" vertical hanging in my Magnolia tree. The rig was a TS-440S/AT powered by an AGM storage battery. My first antenna was a loaner Comet 40 meter mobile whip which didn't get out very well. So I threw up the full size 40 meter wire vertical element last night and had fun getting 106 of you to hear me. Thanks for the fun and the QSOs. 73, David N6AN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6CY Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 108,640 Profound thanks again to John Evans N3HBX for the privilege of operating his Clarksburg station. Super flexibility and hospitality. Operated SS this year to contribute points to the PVRC total, with two goals in mind: - at least 100K - Sweep Wires for low bands and yagi's on the high bands. I needed to find a better time to milk 40m for more QSOs. And more practice at two radios. Started the event as a "B" and didn't get packet going until late into the contest (my logging software setup problem). Thanks to VY1JA for completing the sweep on Sunday afternoon, 15 meters. Good guy kudos to N9UM and NI1N who took the time to spot Jay's section "needs." 73 and hope to see all on SS Phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6HC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 146,720 What a super showing for this contest with minimal to no sunspots! I managed to stay in the chair for 22.5 hours, but in reality, the operating time was much less. This was a "contestus interruptus" with multiple phone calls and other distractions during the time of operation. The only way to avoid these distractions is unplug the phone and lock the shack door! I managed to get a sweep on contact number 616 (KY) and I was really concerned that I wouldn't pull it off this year. There were an inordinate number of MDC and VA participants this year; are congratulations in order for the PVRC? I was surprised at the number of ND stations that were active...good show! Conversely, there were a few sections with only one representative in my log, e.g., VY1, KY, NNY come to mind. I usually participate in the high power category, but K7JA, Chip, was running SOAB-HP at N6PEQ, about 4 miles and at 60 degrees (that means the beams he was using were pointing directly at the back of my beam) from my QTH. I thought I'd be "smart" and go low power this time. Silly me...N6MJ was in that class! Congratulations Danny on a winning score from ORG. I look forward to sharing Field Day operating with you again. Maybe next year I'll join the Unlimited Class? There should be many very respectable scores submitted by the SCCC this year...including N6MJ, K7JA, K6AM, K6LA, N6KI, K6LL among others. We still can't compete with the NCCC, but we can still KB from SoCal. See you in the phone SS...I think I'll go back to high power and take my lumps from the professionals that surround me here in the Southland ;>) Equipment: Kenwood TS-950SD, Mosley TA-34XL (15/20), KLM 2 element (40), Inverted Vee(80) and TR-log v6.79 on a 15 year old 486/66 DOS 5.0 computer! Best regards from N6HC Arnie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6IJ Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 80,964 A real contrast from my home station. This sadly neglected club station has a Pro67, a low inverted vee for 40, and a low horizontal loop for 80/160. The beam gave me a couple of good hours at the start on 20M Sunday morning, but what a disappointment on 40 and 80! Power was my Herc II at 500 watts. Was it just me, or did activity collapse between 2200 and 0200 Sunday afternoon? 73, Jim K9YC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6KI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 135,564 Since I couldn't drum up enough CW Ops to put a MS effort together at N6Ki ( W6YI stn was dark this contest ) I decided to try to work a Clean Sweep the hard way - No Packet and SO1R - Unfortunately WTX was not well represented and I didn't bother worrying about WTX til last 2 hours...TOO LATE ! Apparently all WTX CQers ( like N5DO ) were no where to be found and heard a random WTX S&Per in the last 15 minutes of contest but could not seem to place my CQ where he could tune across me ! Skunked by WTX this year - Who woulda Thunk ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6KJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 105,612 Others found NT and MB, but I sure didn't!!!! No sweep this year :-( ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6MJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 174,240 Our usual multi op at W6YI was cancelled this year, so I had a chance to do the contest as a single op. I decided to try and put my dads station back together, and do a LP effort from there. It took some work, but I managed to have a working antenna on 15 thru 80. The sweep came sunday morning when VO1SA answered my CQ on 15m. I never heard any of the other VO1's, so thanks for being there. Murphy paid a visit early sunday when my MKV died. Fortunately I had an extra radio, so I put a IC756PROII in its place. It was tough staying in the chair for this one. The rates were just so slow on sunday I almost quit a few times. Thanks for the q's, and hopefully we can put together a team at W6YI for SSB SS 73, Dan N6MJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6RNO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 8,640 My first ever CW contest. (Prior CW contacts to my call were with NO6X as op). My first ever CW contacts. (That's right I have never made any CW contacts before the start of the contest.) All that being said, I should have done much better. I learned a lot. Next contest and next year will be much better. This contest was entirely S&P. I used HRD's DigitalMaster 780 software to read CW for me. (For you purist who say: Learn the code, I am working on it but I was no where near it for this contest. At best I recognize my own call when I hear it.) Logged with N1MM. Keying with an interface I built Thursday night. My on time is 10 hours out of the 18 hours that I had the station. My goal had been 75 contacts with 10 multipliers. I beat both (blew the multipliers away) Between 1am and 5am (local) the bands are really thin but I stuck it out and pulled 10 of my multipliers during those thin hours (none "RARE"). See you all in SS Phone!!! Check out the full story (still being written) at: http://www.n6rno.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6RO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 212,320 Slightly less gross score from last year in U class, but expect a better LCR. No distraction from packet or pre-fills! Enjoyed my 54th CW SS. HOUR 160CW 80CW 40CW 20CW 15CW TOTAL ACCUM ---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- 21 0 0 0 0 109 109 109 22 0 0 0 64 28 92 201 23 0 0 3 89 1 93 294 0 0 0 45 43 0 88 382 1 0 1 85 3 0 89 471 2 0 11 65 0 0 76 547 3 0 9 76 0 0 85 632 4 0 15 35 0 0 50 682 5 0 20 38 0 0 58 740 6 0 27 19 0 0 46 786 7 0 35 14 0 0 49 835 8 0 10 1 0 0 11 846 9 0 13 11 0 0 24 870 10 2 9 9 0 0 20 890 11 0 17 26 0 0 43 933 12 0 5 12 0 0 17 950 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 950 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 950 15 0 0 0 25 21 46 996 16 0 0 0 6 14 20 1016 17 0 0 0 11 29 40 1056 18 0 0 0 9 26 35 1091 19 0 0 0 26 20 46 1137 20 0 0 0 11 6 17 1154 21 0 0 3 23 9 35 1189 22 0 0 6 23 1 30 1219 23 0 0 5 16 0 21 1240 0 0 0 19 2 0 21 1261 1 0 7 25 0 0 32 1293 2 0 9 25 0 0 34 1327 TOTAL 2 188 522 351 264 293 BAND CHANGES, ~260 SECOND RADIO QSOs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6TV Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 200,800 When 15m was open to a few places, 20m seemed open to everywhere, so I spent most of the daylight hours on 20. Maybe I should have spent more time on 15. Finally worked VY1JA on 15m for the sweep. My new Force 12 80m Sigma 180S rotary dipole seemed to work much better than my old antenna. I even worked AA4AK (QRP) on 80m! Wow. Congrats to locals N6RO and W6NL. Those guys are tough competition! Used Win-Test software for the first time in an ARRL Sweepstakes, and it worked just great. Rigs: 2 x FT-1000MP Amps: Alpha 87A, Alpha 86 Ants: 5 el 15, 5 el 20, 3 el 40, 1 el 80 (all on one tower) SW: Win-Test 3.18.0-dev ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6TW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 63,180 Missed LAX & NWT. Never heard an LA CQ. Heard an LAX S&Ping but couldn't land him. Never heard NWT at all. Had best antennas I've ever had. I dedicate this contest and all my contest efforts in the future to my dear friend N6ZZ (SK) whose antenna is providing my good signal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 52,848 After getting off to a slow start, this was a fun contest. Conditions weren't the greatest, but there was plenty of activity to keep me interested. I set up my rotating coax loop in my driveway to get it away from my 80m vertical and its overhead counterpoise. Worked very well on 80 and 40. Really made a dent in my evening noise level. Just needed a little help from my preamp, with the gain turned way down. I noticed far fewer "alligators" this time. Almost every station I called I worked eventually. A few took several revisits from my bandmap, but eventually I logged them. This probably reflects the rule that we can only work a station once, so every QSO had to count. I really like the TRLOG bandmap. When a station has been worked, TR puts an asterisk in front of it, so I just scan down the list looking for calls without the * in front of them. When I wind up with three columns of calls in the bandmap, that trick really helps me find the calls I want to try again. Comparing my rate report with 2006 SS CW, I had the same general pattern of high and low activity, hour-by-hour, but this year the numbers were all down just a bit. So I wound up with a lower score than 2006. My two best hours were at 22Z Saturday afternoon and 16Z Sunday morning. I actually had the rate meter up to 48 at one point. Yeah, I know this is pretty small potatoes to most of you, but it's a big deal to this S&P QRP operator :-) I'm still having trouble judging my on and off times to just fit in 24 hours. I may be a bit over this time, so will have to see what the log checkers do to my score. Anyway, it was a fun contest. Hope to work many of you again in the SSB Sweepstakes. 73, Bob N6WG The Little Station with Attitude ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6XI Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 181,120 Saturday seemed very slow. Sunday, therefore, was relatively better than usual. Went to bed 100 Q's behind last year, ended up 5 Q's ahead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7IR Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 89,920 Second sweep in a row after getting none in the previous 17 years of CW sweepstakes participation from Arizona! Used N1MM logging software for the first time in this contest and unlearning years of CT moves probably hurt my score as much as my lack of a cloud-warmer antenna on 80 meters did. See you in the CQ WW CW and ARRL 160 contests. 73 Gary, N7IR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7WA Class: Multi-Op LP Total Score = 141,600 Things started out badly, the USB port controlling the run rig Winkeyer was acting strange and kicking the Winkeyer back into stand-alone, thus disabling the CW functions keys. (I'm sure its the USB port because I had a USB jump drive acting strangely as well.) After a couple hours of trouble shooting (while trying to run) we just built a LPT interface and swapped it in parallel with the Winkeyer and got back in the grove. I'm sure it cost us some Q's though as we always seemed to lose the run frequency when trying something or resetting the port. Even though a multi-op, we ran Low Power. That put us at an immediate disadvantage against the competition but I feel we did OK and still had fun. New bandpass filters (homebrewed W3NQN design) worked well and you could virtually shut out the other radio at the power levels we were using. Next step is to get some automatic bandswitching rigged up. This was the first year I had radios side by side and the operators could stay in hand signal contact plus Ward built and brought an audio box that allowed the Mult rig to listen in on the run rig. This was the first time ever for a clean sweep. We saw a post for VY1JA on 15M but it was a definite no-go. Then, while running on 20M, VY1EI popped up. Whew! I just took a break after that (and watched the Seahawks grab defeat from victory in overtime). I think most all the other sections had multiple contacts. I have to thank Ward (N0AX) and Jack (WA0RJY) coming out out to playing. It sure makes Sunday less of a day of doldrums and you can learn a lot from from those two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7ZG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 82,680 Managed to get the station out of mothballs and up and running (antenna assembly and checkout). No sunspots but the A/K indexes were low. Took 3 hours off mid-day on Sun for some family/church time. Got a full nights sleep too. This year had an all time high of 78 sections. Only missed VO1 and WPA. WPA? I can't believe I missed WPA. Geez. CU in CQWW CW. 73 - Guy, N7ZG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8BJQ Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 105,600 Intestinal bug got me on Sunday - quit at noon - had my sweep by then. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8IE Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 32,850 I had to shut down after a couple of hours and was not able to return. 73 Dan, N8IE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8II Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 148,000 My excuse is that I'm having some arthritic back problems. I had a steroid injection into my spine Friday and came home to put up a 40M sloping dipole. It went pretty smoothly, but the post procedure pain was pretty bothersome Friday evening into Saturday morning. Antenna work probably should have waited. I had intended to operate LP, but set up the exchange as B without realizing the error. I made 8 Q's before it sunk in, so just flipped on the amp and kept going. I probably had one of my best 2nd hours ever thanks to a good run around 14030 with some sporadic E helping to extend coverage into SC/TN south and west from there; rate was 82. 20 was dying at 2330 and rather than resort to a fairly slow S&P on 40, I decided to go down to 80 which was next to empty, but CQ's brought enough answers to hold me there. Rates the rest of the evening until 04Z when I quit were in the mid to upper 70's. Condx from 24Z until 02Z were really dreadful with a long skip zone extending past most 2's and 8's and even south over NC (K4QPL who is always pretty loud was near the noise and even K2AV in NC was weakish). With better condx, I probably could have run in the 80's range, lots of repeats and QSB. Sunday, I resumed at about 12Z and things went pretty well until 15Z when the 40M running dried up. It seemed like no one would answer CQ's except for maybe a 10-15 minute run in the extra band on 20. I tried 15 which was nearly dead, then back to 40 with no joy, but still managed 50 QSO's somehow. Lethargy and lack of interest set in for the rest of the day and only decent hour was 20Z when the west coast started to really get loud on 20. I also decided that some things were needed from the local Wal Mart. This is not highly recommended when contest fatigued. I had a pretty easy time with the sweep except NT. Bob, K3MQ called at 0303Z from DE for number 77, all of which called me except for VI which was plentiful to put it mildly. PVRC'ers take note, they WILL call; don't sweat hunting for sections until slow times around afternoon Sunday. Needing PR, PAC, and NT, I looked for WP3R on 20 Sunday and found NP4Z instead, Rich came later. I scanned 15 around 17Z to work what I could and found KH6 high in the band and alone; later, 2 more HI stations called me on 20. Condx into Canada sounded closed in a word except for MAR and NL on Sunday afternoon. One sweep of the band yielded no western VE signals heard at all. Finally, past 21Z, the usually booming signal of KL7WV was found reduced to S4-5. As dumb luck would have it I found and empty spot around 14029 and tried a few CQ's to have someone nicely ask me to "Pse QSY, VY1 here". I swung the beam another 30 deg north and found someone around mental telepathy level in and out of total oblivion. With QRM to boot, I had his exchange before his call, but hope that I copied VY1EI's info correctly. It was really a struggle. He was so weak, there was no pile-up. Thanks for the Q's and calls. It was nice to see a decent PVRC turnout; it's hard to work your own club with the skip zones so long. Come on sunspots! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8TR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 63,140 Missed: WY, MB, NT The first stop on my annual Sweepstakes tour. Since everybody else has started at the same time as I did, I do not have the fresh meat advantage from this station. Consequently I make a bigger effort to milk the second radio, and do more S&P work if the CQ rate slows a bit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8XX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 40,810 Missed NL, DE, and ND. Never heard NL, though others have told me operators were on from there on Sunday afternoon. I heard both Delaware and North Dakota, but the folks I found were doing S&P, and I couldn't get their attention. Biggest surprise was 15 Metres - it was wide open to the west coast and farther late Sunday afternoon. Worked Hawaii and Alaska in short order. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N9CO Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 179,840 First time in SO Unlimited class, and first time in many years with more than 100w. It was fun using the packet cluster filled bandmap in TRLog (v6.79), especially since I have a function key (F10) mapped to "nextbandmap" command. When the runs slowed, it was neat to pick up the S&P rate by punching F10. OK, so this is 10 year old stuff to most of you... it's new to me! It definately helped get the sweep and to monitor band activity. One of the 3 qso's on 15m was VY1JA for the sweep. Lacking a 15m antenna that I can turn (the KT34A is fixed east at 37'), I used the XM240 2el 40m yagi at 95'. CW SS is always lots of fun. It's always a kick to hear guys giving out checks with the year that I was born (58) and before. I sure hope that I'm able to get on and stir it up when I've got 50+ years in ham radio! Thanks for the QSO's. 73, Charlie N9CO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N9NO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 108,108 FT-1000MP, LK550, BT1500A, MB-V-A, and a 70' long dipole at 50' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N9RV Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 158,080 Finally got a decent ground in the new shack so I could turn the amp on and have a bit more fun. Very enjoyable contest here -- operated when it was good, did other things when it wasn't. Ended up operating quite a bit more than I had planned. Many differences for my first west coast SS -- have never worked so many KL7's in a SS before! 15 was poor but 20 was fantastic. The W9's are very loud there, N9CO and K9NS is particular. Still using just the 200 foot center fed for all bands, and so I don't have to know anything about propagation, fortunately, because I am sure I have a lot to learn. - Pat N9RV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA4BW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 146,308 Thanks again to Dave and Gail for putting up with me this weekend! Missed NL and thought I would also miss NT, but was rewarded by relooking 20m very late in the contest and found VY1EI calling CQ there with NO takers. Someone else mentioned similar calls coming at them at the same time - I had 2 such situations with K7GT and K6GT as well as K9CJ and K9KJ and of course- they were almost equal in signal strength!! Other than the typical Sunday afternoon B.I.C. challenge, this was a grand time. 73's Brian NA4BW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA4K Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 125,892 Missed NWT and NL for the sweep. Line noise at 15 dB over 9 really made it hard to hear people calling, even using the receiving ant's. Lowest score in many years. Steve NA4K ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA5Q Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 20,008 Ran QRP for first time in a contest using Search and Pounce. Family obligations kept me from a full effort, but running QRP late at night on 40m is awfully fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: ND2T Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 116,000 A serious equipment failure knocked me off the air, but busy fixing stuff, from 0330Z-0630Z. I never did catch with my expectations after that unwanted detour. Some stellar moments, like being called ESP by VE1RGB on 80, immediately followed by a short chat with Scarborough shipmate AA4NN. I'm glad to see a great many new-to-SS (new-to-contesting?) calls in the log. On the other hand, it's a wonder how many A, B and Q class stations call on one's mis-spotted frequency. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NI1N Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 204,480 Still just one radio here. One of these days I'll finish a SO2R setup. And perhaps one of these sweepstakes I won't oversleep Sunday morning. I think I missed a good hour by not starting until 1300Z. Thanks to K3MM, N3KS, and WX3B for the fun competition and providing the motivation to keep going, and congrats to K3MM on a great score. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NJ1F Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 21,504 I have enjoyed the ARRL November Sweepstakes contests since becoming licensed in the mid 70’s. This was the first contest that I operated with the FT-2000. I am happy to report that the rig worked flawlessly. Managed to fit 6 hours in despite a full schedule of family and honey do things. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NK6A Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 47,250 My goal was to score a clean sweep and make 500 Q's. Maybe next year. Too many distractions this year to spend more time in the chair. Spent most of my time in search and pounce mode. I just couldn't hold a freq for long with only a 100 watts. Never heard a RI station or SFL. Might have to use packet next year. Fun as always and still a great learning experience for me. The casual contester. Don ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NM2L Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 85,020 Missed NL and NT. I guess I was on the wrong band at the wrong time because it seems everyone else in the club picked these two up with no problem. Just 100 watts to a 350 ft. horizontal loop used on all bands. Great fun, but I just didn't have the time to do the full contest. Hope this will help the club score out a little. Nothing heard on 10 meters at all. Fifteen HOT to the West Coast and PAC. Sunset on 40 meters day 2 was a really super ride with a surprising 60+ QSO hour. 73 de Greg NM2L ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN1N Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 124,320 Section Number 80 was SNJ! I know that's never happened to me before... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN3W Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 51,120 Hard to get motivated for this after bashing my head all weekend long during the WW SSB. Played around - mostly at night after XYL and harmonics were tucked away. Good rates on 80! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN7SS Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 171,840 My best SS-CW QSO numbers ever (by 8 QSOs), but I had great help from Doug KO7P - who with a narrow filter would happily sit and run stations all day! That left me to search for the multipliers. As usual, I worried too much about finding all the "rare" sections. We had 78 of the 80 sections within the first 5 hours, leaving only WTX (not a problem) and NL - who hadn't been spotted at all on Saturday. But Sunday morning they were spotted, and they were there - but weak and it took some hard pileup work by KO7P. After that, we just ran as much as we could, mixed with search and pounce for any unworked stations. We knocked off at local midnight the first day, although continuing on another two hours would have beat the snail's pace later in the last two hours of the contest. On sunday afternoon Doug was happy with 1,000 QSOs and a picture of his smiling face, and went home, leaving me to slog out the last three hours. Last year this station won 1st Place for Multi-single in the West Coast Region, NW Division and WWA Section - and this year we wanted to keep the title, so I put in a lot of station improvements. I got a reliable 80m antenna working (and not blowing out at high power), automated all the antenna and filter switching for the two radios, and got a second computer networked for our Multi-single. This worked well, and should also be useful for SO2R in the future. We had some network glitching, which might have been RF. Otherwise, everything held together - yeah! Thanks for all the contacts, see you in SS-SSB! NN7SS Mark K6UFO and Doug KO7P Equipment: Two Yaesu FT-1000MPs Ameritron AL-1200 amplifier 3-el SteppIR at 55' C3 Tribander at 55' Cushcraft 40-2CD yagi at 50' 80-meter half-sloper Two TopTen Band decoders, two ICE-419 filters Coax stub filters for 80, 40, 20 Microham 2x6 antenna switch Writelog software QSO/Sec by hour and band Hour 80 40 20 15 Total Cumm OffTime 2100Z - - 68/31 5/4 73/35 73/35 2200Z - 3/3 65/13 2/2 70/18 143/53 2300Z - 6/5 83/6 - 89/11 232/64 0000Z --+-- 10/6 54/2 --+-- 64/8 296/72 0100Z - 36/5 20/0 - 56/5 352/77 0200Z - 54/1 - - 54/1 406/78 0300Z 11/0 10/0 - - 21/0 427/78 0400Z 18/0 18/0 - - 36/0 463/78 0500Z 8/0 30/1 - - 38/1 501/79 0600Z 15/0 29/0 - - 44/0 545/79 0700Z 1/0 - - - 1/0 546/79 59 0800Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 0/0 546/79 60 0900Z - - - - 0/0 546/79 60 1000Z - - - - 0/0 546/79 60 1100Z - - - - 0/0 546/79 60 1200Z - - - - 0/0 546/79 60 1300Z - - - - 0/0 546/79 60 1400Z - - - - 0/0 546/79 60 1500Z - 7/0 44/1 - 51/1 597/80 15 1600Z --+-- 5/0 51/0 9/0 65/0 662/80 1700Z - 1/0 47/0 5/0 53/0 715/80 1800Z - - 55/0 8/0 63/0 778/80 1900Z - - 22/0 29/0 51/0 829/80 2000Z - - 26/0 10/0 36/0 865/80 2100Z - 1/0 29/0 10/0 40/0 905/80 2200Z - 8/0 38/0 2/0 48/0 953/80 2300Z - 10/0 34/0 - 44/0 997/80 0000Z --+-- 32/0 4/0 --+-- 36/0 1033/80 0100Z 2/0 21/0 - - 23/0 1056/80 0200Z 5/0 13/0 - - 18/0 1074/80 Total: 60/0 294/21 640/53 80/6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NO5W Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 69,264 Hardware: IC-7000 and 40/20 wires at 25 ft. WinKey serial keyer. Software: CQ/X de NO5W Virtually since day one, 50 years ago, SS has been my favorite contest. Well TxQP and the CW sprints are running a close second:-). SS was the one that planted the contesting bug in KN5MPM later to resurface in NO5W. This year's event was well-attended and provided lots of fun, with decent conditions, and a lot of good CW ops. But no sweep for me, perhaps partly because I had to take numerous off-times late Saturday afternoon to catch parts of the LSU-BAMA (aka Miles-Saban grudge match) game to avoid being completely ostrasized by other non-ham family member Tiger fans. Interesting to note that my only LA contact was with K5LSU and nice to note that they've revived the club station at the Ole War Skule. I missed NE and WTX and also several VE's including VY1 which has always been elusive for me. I anticipated having problems with WTX as I was aware of Dave's life-changing experience described in his post. It was good to read that recovery is going well for him and it looks like we'll be hearing N5DO giving out WTX for many years to come -- take care Dave. Thanks for the Qs and hope to work you in the CW sprints and on the road in a QSO party or two or three next year. 73/Chuck/NO5W Another 50th Anniversery Guy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NS3T Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 65,100 Did the most I could around family, house work, family, etc. Still it's lots of fun to do this contest, even if it gets slow on Sunday. Congrats to all the high scores. WP3R reports that he had 1495/80 for 239,200. I already have stuff from him on my contest news web site. Others are welcome to send in their comments as well. 73 Jamie NS3T http://www.radio-sport.net Your home for ham radio contest news ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NX9T Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 15,048 Just got one to work a few friends (and make a few new ones I hope). Had fun for the short time I was on. I hope to be able to muster more on the air time for SSB. 73, jeff nx9t www.qsl.net/nx9t ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA2SG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 61,500 First SS CW. SS for Snow Shovelling? We did'nt had all that snow fortunately! Missed LAX PAC AK MT NWT. Maybe on air for the SSB version and for sure the CQ CW.. CU! contestgroupduquebec.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3DF Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 66,144 Thanks for all the qsos. As usual, it's a jungle out there when you run qrp! Doug VA3DF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3EC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 66,360 This was the first chance I got to use my new Butternut (custom by VA3GRL), worked well even without radials. It was significantly quieter than the sloper. Just tied to the chain link fence of the school behind me. Could not find NT. I guess that's like being in the stink hole in cribbage. Butternut for 80, Explorer 14 with 40M Kit for other. 756Pro. Cheers, Harry VA3EC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3RKM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 21,672 K2, 5w, verticals and dipole. Good condx for QRP. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 130,572 * FT-2000 and N1MM Logger, unassisted * tribander at 45' (Sunday at 30') * 40M half-squares * 80M delta loop Had a terrific time! 20M and 40M were in great shape for a domestic contest. I just know the bands are carrying well when quite a few QRP guys beat the Bs in pileups. No Murphy visits, and after three years of horrendous power line noise and running like an earless alligator, I have found a (kludgey) way through the noise. (More on that below). 80M -- extreme atmospheric noise Saturday night. Western half of NA was workable but not much beyond that. 40M -- Wow... a hot band. Went to it late afternoon and was actually heard east of the Rockies. Up and down for a while in early evening, but mostly up. Verdict is in: half-squares are definitely working better for both DX and domestic than inv.-V beams and phased delta loops used in the past few years. Can hardly wait to try out my new secret weapon to EU on 40M in CQWW CW (i.e.: I have revisited the trusty parasitic vertical array). 20M -- Very good all the way through. Closed down early Saturday evening, but was open much earlier than I anticipated on Sunday morning. Figured I'd have a couple hours on 40M waiting for 20M to warm up in the a.m., but no waiting needed. 15M -- Last year, made 103 Qs for 32 mults here. This year it was a W4-fest and not much else. 4 mults, 21 Qs. 10M -- Why bother with 20 and 40 wide open? Dead as a doorknob. Highlights: VY1JA calling in on 40M for NWT (Yukon qualifies, hi). Thanks J. Oh, and VE4YU calling in for MB (thanks Ed). And, of course, thanks to VO1HE for NL thanks Paul). And to the KL7s and KH6s who called in -- thanks all. Was shocked at how many PR and VI stations I worked. Sat at 78 from early Sunday to the end. Lowlights: Never hearing WTX or ME. Last year, had 'em both in the bag early on. Should have been easy finds. Wonder what the big missing-in-action section was this year? (Hope Noel didn't put Maine ops off the air.) Sure hate to get to 78 and stall. Guess the years you don't hit 80 are what makes a sweep special when it happens. Shut out every year except 2004. Was still dark when I got up Sunday and started working 40M. As pre-dawn light arrived, I could see throught he shack window a lot of movement out in the back woods. Then it was light enough to see that the wind was gusting and the movement was the pine and fir trees snapping around violently. Couldn't hear the gale with the headphones on. Ran out and cranked down the tower half-way (hey, it's a contest) to reduce stress on me and the tower. Ran all day Sunday with the tribander at 30 feet or so. Didn't notice much difference from 45 feet, and the real high angle probably played in my favor. I was only about 20 per cent S&P. The rare ones found me. The not-so-rare but needed ME and WTX didn't. Had some long runs -- 188 Qs on 20M early Sunday morning, and 164 Qs later in the day. Fun stuff for a little station like this. Haven't really had to worry before about playing out most of the calls on the bands. But I noticed as I got up over 800 worked, it was dead slow. Kind of like climbing a mountain... the air gets way thinner and the work exponentially harder the higher you go. Don't know where guys with 1,200 Qs were finding the callers. SO2R must be the answer -- cast a bigger net, boost your pleasure. Tried SO2V a bit, but just couldn't keep sufficient focus with the complex exchanges. Kudos to those who can do it in SS. I have to train the brain more. I was down to 1 every three or four minutes by the end (those calling in were loud and from all over). Typical late-Sunday doldrums. Even at that pitiful rate, I figured it was better to CQ than try to find the odd needle in the 40M haystack. Took 3 hours off Saturday evening when 80M turned up rotten, and 40M was picked over. Got back on for a few hours late evening/early Sunday to see daylight savings time roll in. Got up again at 6 a.m. Pacific and stayed in the chair for most of the day and into the evening. Yikes. Pounding headache by the end of it. Forgot to eat all day, and had a glass of water in the morning and was in flow so deep I never thought to go back for more. Rehydrated, took 2 aspirins and headache disappeared. About the noise... Last fall, I purchased the MFJ-1026 Noise Canceling box. Works great when running low power, using the rig's T/R line to switch out the box on transmit. Haven't used the 1026 when running high power because the rig's T/R line won't trip both the amp key voltage and the simple close-to-ground MFJ-1026 in parallel. Until now my choices when beaming US/VE on 20M-10M have been: 1) go QRO but accept the S7 noise, or 2) go low-power and use the MFJ box (this worked Sunday morning for a while, but couldn't hold a run freq for long. Sure could hear everyone FB though). Desperate for noise relief but also needing to get some rate without being kicked around, I left the rig T/R line going to the amp, and decided to trust the MFJ-1026's internal RF-sensing T/R circuit. As the 1026 only ever sees 40-50 watts on xmit, it's pretty safe and worked like a charm. Suddenly, I can run the high bands to US/VE again and use some power at the same time. Very happy ham here. Bring on CQWW and please do call, stateside ops. The alligator can hear again. Year-over-year looks like this: Year QSOs Pts Sec Score ------------------------------- 2002 370 740 72 53,280 2003 182 -- 52 18,928 2004 580 1160 80 92,800 2005 527 1054 73 76,942 2006 648 1296 79 102,384 2007 837 1674 78 130,572 <- HP CU you all in CQWW CW and many in SSB SS. -- Bud, VA7ST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE1OP Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 120,554 Should have stuck with my original intention of going "A" this year, but decided on "U"...2 power outages, due to tropical storm Noel, left me on generator power for 9 of my 15 hours operating time, therefore no amp, and my Internet connection was off most of the time due to Noel, therefore no Telnet...Great fun anyway... Missed NL (again..!!)for the sweep...Arghh...Heard both VO1HP and VO1HE on 20, but NL is too close to be able to break the pileups on 20...Thought for sure I'd run into someone on 40/80, but I guess I was off when they were on... Seems like MAR was well represented this year, worked several, saw more spotted... C U in WAE RTTY and WW CW...Gotta love Nov... 73, Scott VE1OP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE2CWT Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 133,120 WOW! Thanks to all who made it possible ! specialy VY1JA Jay's patience ! Goal was CLean Sweep, 800Q 100k Score and beat my old record in class B. ALL DONE ! ( i am not 25 anymore !) Quality of operators has improved a lot! ...OR is it the Hardware ?! Sorry if I could not pull out some stations but did everything I could ! RIG: IC-756PROIII 300W ANT: A3S, G5RV, HF2V QSO's all uploaded on EQSL.cc(soon when rested !) 73' and cu again VE2CWT OPR:Phil VE2FU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3RCN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 46,050 Missed WTX!!! Tried out the new TS2000. Learned how to use the adjustable filters. Quite handy. Also nice to have a tuning dial that does not stick. Cant use memory keyer because I didnt have a paddle to load the memory. Used a straight key. I used the SS as a learning event for the new radio. Hopefully, I will get the RASCAL and compter to interface with this radio. Much more complicated than the old TS680s. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3TA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 142,358 Missed VY1 (No Packet) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3UTT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 60,952 Started out to see just how the 80m dipole was working then got a little more involved:-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE4GV Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 86,336 As many of you already know,Derrick VE4VV recently passed away in Sept. and I felt an obligation to him to try to replace the mults he routinely provided. SS CW was HIS contest and he was the king of VE4 CW land. I'm gonna miss that SOB, not only becasue he used to routinely wax me on CW - but because I no longer have anyone to call up after the test and bitch to - about condx or mults. 48 is much too young to be SK. Miss ya, OM. As you can also see I lost the feedline to the 2 el 40 stacked beam on top of the KT34XA and its gonna take some work to fix...next summer. In the meantime, if you missed me on the low bands...that's why. I'm going to try to put something up for 40 and 80 in the next couple of weeks. We're years away from doing anything on 10 and 15 - at least from here. In the meantime I planted myself on 20 and ran as hard as I could while the bands were open. Missed WI, ND, MN and NE - all of which I would have gotten with 40 m. I was hoping for a one band sweep ( has anyone ever done that?) but that's impossible from here. One tip - PLEASE - you guys who are using packet to qsy - DON'T zero beat the last qso!! Move up a bit. If everyone QSYs and calls on exactly the same freq, it makes it almost impossible to distinguish a signal. Spread em out a bit! Its been a tough few years up here because of band condx and I admit that my SS interest had been waning. But, with Derrick being gone and seeing the need for VE4, I'm going to try to fill in as much as I can. Kelly VE4XT and Ed VE4YU will be available too, to provide the mult. I hope to be on for SS SSB ( my contest favorite) but its possible that the local pro football team ( Go Bombers!) could be playing in the Canadian version of the Super Bowl that weekend and if things go right I could be in Toronto Aargh. Good to be back and I hope to QSO many of you in SS SSB. 73 es GL Rob VE4GV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE6CNU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 108,704 Where was Quebec? I didn't hear a single VE2, let alone work one. It wasn't propagation, as I worked a lot of stations across the border in NH, ME, etc. Anyway, conditions were much better than expected and I had some very nice runs. Unfortunatley, one of my more productive runs was broken up due to family responsibilities, but that's how it goes. It's too bad they don't let you work stations twice as towards the end I got calls from tons of dupes. Still, this contest was a lot of fun and I know my CW sure improved along the way. After a while, 28 wpm seemed slow. I must confess, that I did get burnt out. With about 1 hour to go I pulled the plug as I searched 80m for new ones. Not finding any, and with 40m dying, I decided that enough was enough. I doubt I would make more than 2 or 3 QSOs in that last hour, so I did my laundry. Hope to see you all in the next one. Jerry VE6CNU (In snowy Calgary) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE6EX Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 183,680 Hi All: Another great ARRL event with prop to match the occasion. First of all our intrepid young helpers would like to thank all for calling and the wonderful spots (all 43 of them). We only had the internet and saw them go by; but not on the TRLOG screen-- but with help it was ok. The station master was responsible for a strategy blunder, and duly and sufficiently punished by suffering a lower score. Only lower power on the higher bands to appease the local TV watchers; (abt 300w or so, a KW is a big NO-NO). Look for me in the up and coming FONE weekend. Thanks to callers and for the sweep and best wishes to all. Our scores are bound to improve, our first MULTI event is done!!! Cheers to all.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE7CC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 196,800 Had the best start ever. First hour 105 qsos, second 111. Then 20 started to go out and the wheels fell off. I had a terrible noise level on 40. Only antenna I could hear anything on was my east beverage, which is 500 ft away from 40 meter yagi. Noise from neighbors house I suspect. Hope to have K3 by next year and may be SO2R for first time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE7FO Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 82,240 Other than a few guest op stints at VE7UF, this appears to have been my first contest in over a year due to other things in my life taking up all my available time. Boy, am I rusty. I expected to be able to take up where I left off and have all the skills available. Hah! It didn't take long to realize that I'd better confine my activity to S&P for a while as I was unable to copy exchanges at more than about 22 wpm and get them right the first time. So I would pick a station and sit there until I got his exchange right and then call him. Felt like I was beginning all over. It was amazing to see how the slightest wavering of attention turned the remainder of the exchange into a stream of incomprehensible gibberish. The SS exchange is, of course, much harder to copy than endless strings of "59K". Don't get me wrong, though, I think the SS exchange should stay exactly as it is. Kinda' like the ham radio equivalent of an aerobic workout. Well, thoughts of actually being competitive having been banished right from the start, I decided not to take it too seriously and turn the S&P exercise into an attempt at a sweep, having managed to do that only once before since I got back into ham radio. (I guess Serious would be 24 hours as opposed to the 21-3/4 hours I did.) As I enjoy using spots, especially with the great spot handling of N1MM and tha fantastic spot filtering program, VE7CC, when used with CC Cluster, I decided I'd enter the Unlimited category, LP. "Say, what category did you enter in SS?". "Oh, I was in the America's Cup Class." Gotta love it. It was only after the test that I realized that in the U category there are no power levels. Hm... could have run the MkV at 200W instead of the 150 I used. I wonder, how many more Qs does 1 dB gets you? It's gotta be some. So, I started on 20, jumping from spot to spot. If I saw a spot for a mult I normally have difficulty with, I went there first. A bit before the start I heard WD0T so I parked there until 2100 and called him. I don't know if he was excited to have a VE7 as #1 in his log but I sure was to have SD as #1 in mine. Once I'd worked all the spotted mults I could I then worked all the other spots that I could. If someone hadn't been spotted for half an hour, I spotted them. Following that, I tuned through the band to pick up non-spotted stations and spotted them as I worked them (or even if I didn't work them). I also re-spotted stations I'd previously spotted if their last spot was a while ago. By 0200Z I had managed to work 121 Qs and 58 sections, including SD, Wy, Vt, WMa, Ms (missed Ms for a sweep once), ND, WTx, NH, NWT. Usually when I'm chasing spots I jump from one to the next to the next until I find one just finishing a Q and call him, rather than wait for an entire Q to run to completion and then calling. This doesn't work in SS due to the length of the exchange. You could run through the whole list a couple of times before finding one that was ready. This makes S&P even slower than in most other contests. However, I persevered as, while the rust flakes were falling away, I still didn't feel ready to run. One thing I found in past SS efforts was that any western mults not worked by Sat night can be pretty hard to find on Sunday so I put a lot of emphasis on these during Sat evening. I went to bed happy, having bagged them all. Back at it at 1530Z (0730 Local time). By 1641 I'd knocked off the remaining New England mults plus NL leaving me only On, WPa and Ne for the sweep. Imagine needing only VE3 and not getting it? Well, On was next, followed by WPa and, finally, Ne. Felt pretty good to have the sweep relatively early (by my standards). Pretty easy, though, with spots and even a modest station such as mine. Certainly a much more significant accomplishment for those who can't maintain a run frequency for long periods and don't use spots. Once my confidence was pretty much restored I made a few attempts at running. First one lasted 15 min, 2nd one 30 min, 3rd & 4th 60 min, and then starting around 2100Z on Sun a fabulous 3 hour run on 20 yielding 117 Qs. Well, fabulous for me. It wasn't the rate that was so great, in fact it was quite modest, but the fact that I could hold a frequency on 20 (14028) for that length of time. One thing I found during this run that I wasn't used to was that I had to keep chasing people off the frequency. It was a particular problem when trying to work a QRP caller as, with the long SS exchange repeated several times, quite a while goes by when the frequency appears to not be in use. I finally realized that I couldn't afford to spend a lot of time with any one station if I wanted to keep my run frequency. Sorry guys, there were quite a few of you I could have pulled through with more time. Towards the end of the run the rate started falling off to 1 every 3 min and there were lots of unworked spots so went S&P. Rate still one every 3 min but more fun than listening to my CQs. Probably should have kept CQing as run rates do tend to go up and down. Shut down an hour early as I was really tired. At one point I was wondering why I wasn't turning the VFO knob, given that I was trying to S&P. I then realized it was because my hand had fallen off the knob when I fell asleep. All in all, I was reasonably pleased with this. Got the code speed pretty well back up. While I was chugging along at about 25 wpm I had no trouble with the odd caller doing 30. Felt good to be back. Thanks for all the Qs (and the patience during the early part). 73, Jim VE7FO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE7YU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 96,876 OMNI VI,100w 80&40: dipoles 20: 2-L wire beam facing NE. Missed NT&NL.....again! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE9DX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 17,818 No power most of SS due to NOEL... Only damage - top of vertical missing. Likely in the next county by now. Had to shut down early aas I go to work at 4 am. Sure no sweep this year. 73 Andy (VE9DX) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1HE Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 21,140 I started out to see if I could get 80/80 but got bored after I got the first 60 fairly fast so I started working all I could hear (and who would respond). Only bands I could really work were 80 and 20. 15 never really opened that well. My 40M antenna is out of action for a while and that made a bit of difference for the early evening time. Not sure how many other VO1s were on but I heard VO1SA, VO1HP, VO1MP and VO1TA so I think we were well represented. Missed the sweep again this year. Oddly enough, I missed a couple of relatively easy ones, such as KY, EWA and QC. I heard a KH7 work another station but couldn't track him down as he tuned around. SSB should be better and there will be a few more VOs on. CU in the next one. 73 -- Paul VO1HE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1HP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 62,472 Missed AK - ID - MT - NWT Most confusing senior moment : Being called by K5HP & K7HP at same time with same signal strengths!! Stayin' awake again a major problem .... my appologies to those who had to resend when my brain could no longer comprehend anything being heard. Hugh pileup for several hours so hope I was able to satisfy the majority. Lots of fun on a rainy and very windy afternoon....Hurricane Noel swiped by us and made for a wild day. Log to be uploaded. 73 Frank VO1HP www.vo1hp.ca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1MP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 142 Little S & P ...... lots of VO's on for sweeps... 15 meters from here seemed good on Sunday however we were in the midst of the remnants of a tropical storm blowing by ... with winds circa 120kph my 15 meter beam wind milling so I left it where it was .. aimed at North Africa .... lots of familiar calls GLWCDR cy'all next one for another bit of cw 73 gus VO1MP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VY2SS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 89,700 Searched for hours for NF. Heard an NT on S&P but couldn't track him down. Still looking for my first sweep. Maybe next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0ETT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 104,960 Finally worked all 80 sections for a Sweep after all these years of trying - off and on since 1959! Was very pleased to have VO1HE give me a call on Sunday afternoon for the #80. - Was also pleased to work GMCCers: K0EU, N0KE, W0ZA, KO7X, K0FX, W0ZP, and WT9Q. N2IC and W0UA were loud. Heard K0AV weakly call someone once but couldn't find him cqing anywhere. The IC756Pro3 worked very well handling QRM and QRN (minimal) very well. Could never get the Writelog software to hook up the rig to the PC so had to manually change the band freq each time I changed bands. Similarly, had to key all the CW manually but I've done it that way so many years that I don't mind sending it. Only sour note was when some PSKer (no callsign, of course) cussed me out at 25wpm for being on a PSK freq where I had been running for an hour and a half. I was on 14073.25 - which was not being used by anyone when I started and which is at least 2 khz above the PSK freq. It would be more common sensical to move the psk activity up to above 14100 where freqs are rarely used. 73 Ken, W0ETT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1AF Class: School Club HP Total Score = 33,796 Spent most of my 5 hours in the contest hunting for multipliers, interspersed with an occasional run. Nice to work a few university stations including N5XU, the s9+60 W1MX, and N9UC. Looking forward to hearing more college/university stations during the Phone portion. 73, Clayton NF1R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1AR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,956 100 Watts barefoot, 5-btv modified into indoor Inverted-L with counterpoise (CCRs). Isobar-ultra line filter strapped to earth ground (3 VAC diff.), Ferrites, twisted-pair wiring, double-shielding, decoupling caps, etc. (Not coming through the neighbors stereo systems anymore. Special TNX to K9YC and others for many helpful suggestions.) Gradually improving station performance & operating score, considerably better than previous anyway. Late start with many interruptions, but challenging & great fun all the same. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1EBI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 30,240 No time to contest on Sunday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1ECH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 80,000 Our kids and grandkids came over on Sunday to help with a project, and we wanted to watch the Patriots and Colts, too. I never did muster energy to get back on. I know N1VT was hammering away, so I doubt many missed VT if they wanted us! Connecticut seemed oddly scarce! It was my 77th section, and I never even heard one until Sunday morning, with KH6 and VO1 eventually finishing up my sweep. Still just have my beloved all-band 80 meter wire with tuned feeders and a temporary 40 meter wire beam aimed west. Hope to see you all again in 2008! 73, Gary - W1ECH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1MD Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 104,960 Lots of familiar calls...fun contest. Wish I had "discovered" it 20 years ago!! 73 w1md/4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1MX Class: School Club HP Total Score = 120,238 No full time effort this year, maybe next year. The bands sounded pretty good from here in the noise hole. 73, Andy, Ryan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1NN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 139,830 This was my first serious contest effort from the my new QTH and my first serious SS effort in around 15 years. Also, my first SS from Ohio in 45 years (except for a few contacts last year). I spent a good bit of time thinking about and working on antennas and the station setup over the past few weeks and it really paid off. I ended up with four wires - a 204' long G5RV mostly for 80, a 20 meter dipole fed with ladder line, a 40 meter dipole, and a 40 meter elevated ground plane. I was especially concerned with 80 meters and I had to use over 250' of ladder line to get the antenna on the highest tree I have, but it was worth the effort. I felt fairly loud, considering I was LP. I need to think more about off-time strategy if I'm going to be serious about this contest in the future. I struggled through 2-3 really bad hours when I probably should have been taking time off. I also need to work on my SO2R setup. Improvements in these areas should allow me to get over the 1,000 Q mark. It was exactly 50 years ago that I got my Novice license, so this contest was a celebration of sorts. It was nice to work so many other Check 57 ops. Happy Anniversary, guys! 73, Hal W1NN (ex KN8HVT) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1TO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 59,280 Took until my next to last QSO to work my own section. Missed PAC, ID, AK, NWT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1UE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 95,590 Missed VY1. Heard 2 pileups where I could hear others working it, but I never could hear any of the VY1 stations. Maybe next year. Thanks for all the Qs, and to those that dug my LP signal out of the noise. Dennis W1UE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2DZO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,600 Jumped in and out of the shack on Sunday between endeavors- Looking forward to more time in SSB- Henry W2DZO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2LC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 104,000 Last section was WPA ! Can't believe that I got WPA last. Couldn't operate the whole thing, wish I could have. I had 9 college students from NNY using my house as a stop over going to a Buffalo Bills game, and had to entertain. Easiest sweep I ever had though ! 73 Scott W2LC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2UP Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 72 QRPP entry - 1/4 watt, crystal controlled, using a Rockmite! My 2 month old IC7800 died last weekend in the CQWW SSB test (had the all-too-common blown finals syndrome.) All QSOs took place on 14059.9 plus/minus 200 Hz. Amazingly, all stations I called came back within 1 or 2 calls. I had some trouble copying, due to the wide filter letting 10-15 signals through at once. Pic of station: http://mysite.verizon.net/w2up3/rockmite_sscw2007.jpg (the empty space behind the "rig" is where the 7800 should be.) What 14060 sounded like with Rockmite filtering (13 secs, 220K): http://mysite.verizon.net/w2up3/ss-audio.mp3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2VJN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 80,000 Dog sitting while contesting makes for frequent breaks. I knew I had to stop when one of the dogs got under my desk and was pushing me away with all four feet. I hope 15 is better for the WWCW test. George ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3KB Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 76,000 Includes Clean Sweep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3PP Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 180,643 Great fun. Technology seems to be making up for my waning stamina and lack of operating skills. N1MM just keeps getting better and better. How did we ever do this with a box of #2 pencils, a stack of log sheets and a huge spread sheet for dupes? (newbies, ask your mentor). 73, Dallas W3PP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4ARM Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 76,908 What a difference a week makes. CQWWDXSSB was all 15m and this week it was 20 that was hot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4AU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 145,440 For me, this year's CW SS was a study in extremes; from very good to pretty miserable... It all started out well. After S&P'ing for about 30 minutes at a good rate on 20 (I like to start off like this because it gives me an idea of how loud I am in terms of beating out other stations calling), I found a hole and began running. I got a good rate going quickly and began to use the second radio on 40 about 45 minutes into the contest. (The long exchange in SS makes it easier to operate SO2R, I found). One sign that things were going well occurred when VY1JA called me at 2207. One of the nagging feelings for me when operating unassisted is working the really rare sections and getting a clean sweep. The moderately rare sections always seem to appear when you're running or just tuning through the band. I left 20 after about 160 Q's (including 16 on the second radio) and went to 40 about 2330. I found KH6J with the second radio on 20, but didn't have too many second radio Q's while running on 40. I went to 80 pretty early, about 0130, and found a good run frequency. 80 got very hot quickly, and I spent the next 5 hours running steadily and putting about 320 Q's in the log (including 20 on the second radio). I quit about 0630 with 577 Q's in the log and needing only VO1 and and ND to complete the sweep; it was my best start ever in SS. My brain was pretty muddled about the change from DST, and I somehow decided that I really was going to get an extra hour of sleep! Anyway, I was back on the air a little after 1300 the next morning having put too many hours in the sack! I started out on 80, which had been so kind to me the night before and started out running at a good rate there. Then, about 30 minutes into the run, Murphy struck. Suddenly the main receiver on my trusty Orion went deaf! Nada! Panic! Nothing seemed to bring it back to life, even a master reset and a RAM clear. Now I was down to operating SO1R with my Omni VI+, the S&P radio. I tried using the Orion's sub-receiver, which was still working, but without roofing filters, that receiver just couldn't cope with the nearby strong stations. The Omni VI performed well, however it is not up to the Orion's performance. But the real problem was a psychological one: the operator was bummed out! After taking a fair amount of time trying to bring the Orion back to life, I basically skipped from 80 to 20 about 1400, began running there, and was rewarded by a call from ND (I think I eventually worked about 5 ND stations...). I got crowded off my run frequency about 1500 and S&P'ing down the band found a big pileup for VO1HP. Since it looked like my goal of a best-ever SS score had faded away, I spent about 5 minutes in the pile and eventually worked him for the sweep. I was pretty focussed for the rest of the contest, but didn't truly have my heart in it. My wife convinced me to go for a short hike about 1900, and when I came back I felt a lot better and just stayed in the chair for the ordeal which is Sunday afternoon/evening in SS... After brief forays on 20 and 40, I spent the last 4 1/2 hours on 80, where I still felt pretty loud and plodded along with rates from 35 to 40 per hour. It was during this time period that not having a second radio hurt! Well, the Orion went back to Ten-Tec this morning after a conversation with their service guru. Maybe I'll have to get the R-4C and T-4XC out of storage and play with them for a while... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4BQF Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 104,676 Omni 6 Plus/Titan III amp/80m dipole/N1MM Logger. It is fun when you can run on one QRG for several hours! Both 20 and 80m were exceptionally good from here in south Georgia. But, I'm getting too old for this! N1MM Logger works exceptionally well in the SS. The versatility of the exchange box is tremendous. Thanks for all the Q's! Tom - W4BQF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4EE Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 41,464 TS-440S, G5RV es R7000 Tnx for the Qs, 73, Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 55,008 This was both my best ever CW Sweeps and best number of CW Q's in any contest from the home QTH. A !Big Thanks! to all of the ops who take the time to slow down to match my 20 wpm rate for the exchange. This is a tremendous help, and I really appreciate the extra effort and consideration. (and it seldom happens in any DX contest!.) You guys are great. 73 de W4KAZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4MR Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 168,800 Good to see lots of old friends after a hiatus operating SS. It was my first "real" effort from home in several years. I thought that a sweep was not going to happen until I heard a very weak VY1JA late Sunday evening. Just as I worked J, a spot showed up for VY1EI so I have 2 Yukon stations in the log back-to-back! I still have a long way to go to get my station back to where it was a few years ago before the new shack was built. I hoped to get SO2R going with N1MM logger, but it was not to be. I was plagued with computer problems before and during the contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4NF Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 84,000 This was the first contest in about a year from the house as the basement was just finished several months ago. I'm still working on getting the station back in working order. The top C3E and 2 element 40 meter beam were stuck at 145 degrees so that made it tough going on 20 and 40. I ran with the middle C3E at 58' for my time on 20. I was also a part of the W4RM Multiop at my brother Bill's house so on my off times I came home and operated for 9 hours to make some extra points for PVRC's quest to recapture the gavel. K0RC called in on 80 meters right before I was ready to quit with ND for the final section. When everyone went to 40 meters on Sunday evening VY1JA and VY1EI were sitting there calling CQ on 20 with no takers so that made YT easy. WTX was another hold out but I found N5DO for that section. Take care and I'll see you in SS Phone in 2 weeks. 73, Jack W4NF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4NTI Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 61,280 Had a terrible power line noise level. Stayed on ALL DAY Sunday, quit at about 5pm. This allowed me to find the weak ones and finish my Sweep. Thanks Alabama Power, it's only been nearly 7 years of complaining. Sure am glad a jury rigged my FT 1000MP for this contest season. A lightning bolt blew out the Audio output section, I'm still haggling with insurance about it. So I took the fixed output put it into the sound card of the Computer and there was life. Got a outboard keyer and there was sidetone. Without the DSP in the MP and the various filters my poor ole TS-530s would never have done as well with all the QRN. Was amazed on 20. Needed NT and MS. In the middle of a CQ run I was called by VY1JA, in appreciation and since the MS would be had on a lower band I gave him the frequency. Last heard he had a nice run there about 14011. I then went to 40 and no luck on MS. So I tried 80 and there was QRP N4ODW a fellow club member. And no sir there was no payola involved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4NZ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 172,000 Thanks to VY1EI for calling me on Sunday afternoon to complete the sweep. Also, thanks to Rick K6VVA for the QSO from KL8C. 73, Ted W4NZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4PM Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 103,332 Rig: Ten Tec Omni VII, Ameritron ALS-600 @ 400 Watts Antenna: 176' Tuned Doublet @ 60' I started late, around midnight Saturday night, and quit early Sunday evening but managed to get in 16 hours operating time. 80M was excellent Saturday night/Sunday morning and 20M was very good Sunday afternoon. I never could get much going on 40M for some reason. I took a listen on 15M but propagation was not very good and I mainly was hearing stations I'd already worked. I had hoped to get a sweep but missed NT. I think I heard stations calling one on 15M Sunday afternoon but he was too weak to copy well enough here to try a QSO. Perhaps if I had a yagi I could have snagged him. Even so, getting 79 sections is a personal best as was the QSO total. I was going to stop at 600 QSO's but the 100,000 point plateau was just ahead so I kept plugging along until that was realized. I was amazed at the big signals coming from the many QRP stations I worked. It just goes to show we need to do more more with antennas before plunking down the bucks for a big amp. I was very impressed with the performance of my new Omni VII. The close in big signals didn't seem to bother it one bit. This is one sweet radio! CU in the next CW contest, Puck, W4PM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4RK Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 82,634 Great contest! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4RM Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 185,120 We again had a great time in the best CW contest of the year, the big push this year was to reduce our error rate and move up in the standings. We finished with 40 more QSOs in the log, but still well behind some of the big guys out in west. 73 Bill W4RM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W5KFT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 214,880 On Saturday, it seemed to me that 20 was the money band much later than I would have thought. And sure enough, when I finally started running there at 2341Z, my rate sagged. And 15M seemed very tantalizing, but just never seemed to have the broad opening that would have made it a good run band. I didn't sleep much (or well), and I felt my concentration slip a few times on Sunday, especially after a half hour off time when I tried to doze. I don't think I chose the best off times. I was expecting an afternoon football rate sag, but it never seemed to happen. There seemed to be a Sunday church/lunch sag and another sag around dinner time, but otherwise the Sunday rate was fairly steady. I was within one QSO of my personal best (last year). It was fun! Robert K5PI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6KC Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 39,680 It took about 6 hours of operating time to get the sweep. I was still missing 9 sections on Sunday morning, but it only took about 2 hours of S&P to find them all, finishing with VO1HP at 1819Z. It was nice to be able to take a lot of time-off for the football games, etc. and still get a sweep. 73, Jim, W6KC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6KW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 185,760 Thanks to Peter and Pat Dalton for their generous hospitality and for the opportunity to play in W6KW's spectacular antenna farm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6KY Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 30,030 Elecraft K1, Gap Challenger, All S&P Little K1 receiver held it's own. Interesting how ALL the high score stations heard the K1 peanut whistle with no problems. Great antennas at the other end! 73, Art W6KY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6MVW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 62,524 I never heard KY at all. VO1HE was very weak and slipped away. VE4YU worked a few stations while I listened but just couldn't heard him at all. WTX & Jay, VY1JA came late on 20M with no callers but me. I was grateful! Mostly S&P. Getting too old (CK 51) and slow to run 'em even if I had decent antennas. An old R5 on roof for 20M and a 135' long CF Zepp 20' high in center as an inverted V that bends all over the lot for 40M & 80M. If I didn't have fun I wouldn't put the the thing up. I just enjoy chasing Multipliers and giving the real guys a contact. Thanks for the Q's & multipliers. Dick - W6MVW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6NF Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 88,000 First sweep ever from my home station. Upgrading to an IC-765 was a huge improvement, as was running HP for the first time. Now to upgrade the operator :>) Good decision, going to 15 for a short while Sunday morning...wound up having VY1JA answer my CQ for my only NT mult. Very much looking forward to the SSB weekend! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6OAT Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 175,200 My thanks to Brad, K6IDX for allowing me to operate from his fine station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6RK Class: SO Unlimited LP Total Score = 23,660 Playing on and off for few hours. Icom IC-7000 Inverted-V's 100W WriteLog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6SC Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 48,000 Got the clean sweep, computer missed the time change. Grrrrr ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6SX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 82,236 Omni VI+, AL-1200, 80 meter dipole at 46 feet with Matchbox, TRLog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6YX Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 182,400 This was one of 2 SS CW efforts from the W6YX station. I operated single-op in the Unlimited category while the other station (K6SU) was a multi-single. We were down to a single working amp and hoped that a second Alpha-78 would be repaired by Saturday, but it didn't arrive so K6SU was a low-power M/S. Both of our switchable bandpass filters (ICE 419B's) had a blown 20-meter position so switching to/from 20 meters involved unscrewing the coax connectors and swapping in/out a 20-meter single-band filter. If we don't get the 419B's fixed by SS Phone we'll need to find a dual-position coax switch and some short jumpers to simplify band-switching. I started on 15 meters and made 100 Q's in the first hour. Things slowed down in the second hour so I left 15 meters at 2243 with 154 Q's in the log. Since the K6SU station was still doing well on 20 and it was a major hassle to switch to 20 I went directly to 40. I couldn't effectively run on 40 that early so I S&P'ed until just after 0000Z, logging 72 S&P Q's in the 2300 hour. I spotted all stations not already in my bandmap to the cluster - I just counted 438 total spots on DX Summit that I made over the course of the contest. Our two stations switched between 80 and 40 a couple times in the evening. 80 meters was amazingly good. We recently installed a K9AY beverage switch/pre-amp which made all the difference on 80. Stations that I'd normally fight to copy through QRN were easy copy on the beverage. I turned off the radio at 0800Z after a 31 Q hour. In retrospect that was probably a mistake and I should have stayed up an hour later. My last 2 hours on Sunday were 22 and 21 so another 30 hour would have netted 10 more Q's. I went to bed with 699 Q's and 77 mults, needing NT, NL and WTX. I started up again shortly after 1200Z and had a 32 hour on 80/40, working N5ZC in WTX shortly followed by N5DO. I took an hour off and then started up again on 40 and quickly moved to 20. My best hour on Sunday was the 1500 hour with 69 Q's. I tried 15 meters several times in the morning but couldn't really get anything going there. The band was wide open to some areas of the country, but the openings were not widespread. It reminded me of 10 meters in SS in recent years. This year the only thing I heard on 10 meters was the 2nd harmonic of a local station. I saw spots for several VO stations but the pileups were horrendous so I didn't stay. Then I saw VO1HP spotted and he was specifically asking for 6's and 7's so he was quickly worked. Later I was called by VO1MP and found and spotted VO1TA. I worked VY1JA for the sweep at 2111 on 15 meters. J was very loud here at that time. I heard VY1EI several times but he was struggling with a pileup and I never ended up working him. Sunday was slow going. I probably should have spent more time CQing and less time searching, but I was really bored. Having a second radio would have been really helpful. I'm guessing I could have made a hundred or more additional Q's if I'd been SO2R. I took my final off-time in the 0000 hour and then slogged it out on 40 and 80 for the last 2 hours. I want to echo other comments on working dupes. As I worked my way up the band pouncing I distinctly heard a second station respond to my call twice. After working the station I initially called I moved up another 50 Hz and called the second station who said I was a dupe, but relented and worked me again with my next higher QSO number. While running I also sent exchanges to a couple of stations that were below my frequency by about 50 Hz - in both cases I waited a couple of seconds and heard another running station acknowledge the QSO so I didn't log these. I apparently accidentally failed to log a KB9 station - easy to do with WriteLog if you're clicking on Bandmap entries and forget to hit Enter. When I tried to work him again later he said "QSO B4". When I responded "Not in log" he reiterated "B4". I do remember working him but he is not in my log. Is it worth all the penalty QSOs to avoid having a dupe in your log? Thanks to everyone for all the Q's. This was my first 24-hour single-op effort ever in SS CW. I've always either been part of a multi-op, done a split effort at two stations, or operated just a few hours single-op. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6ZL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 83,680 Missed the last two years /MM in the South Pacific. Always a fun contest, my best yet. Thanks to all for the contacts! Dave / W6ZL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7RM Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 214,428 A few dupes in there somewhere. Used two radios - TS850 on the left and the K3 on the right. Next SS, there will be two K3s. This new radio continued to put smile on my face. If you worked me on 80 or 20 meters, that was the K3. Big thanks to W5OV at Array Solutions for sending me a pair of W3NQN filters for 80 and 40. I remembered almost too late that I wanted to try and setup my beverage system to work on 80 and 40 and needed some filters. Got them overnight about an hour before the contest. 15 meters sounded very spotty from here. There were often signals that were very loud - but there never seemed to be much activity. CQing there was almost never as productive as being on 20 meters. Very suprised how 20 meters seemed to go very flat around sunset (or even just before). I do not remember that happening to me. However, 40 meters was very productive and I almost felt like I was operating back down in Louisiana for a few hours. I never could ever have imagined a result where I had more QSOs on 40 than 20+15. After some recent health issues - just being in the chair for 24 hours is enough of a victory for me. Congrats to N2IC on very STRONG WORK getting over 1500 QSOs. I imagine it would Kinda Suck going to KP4 and not winning. :-) One loud station on 40 had some interesting artifacts with their signal that was clearing out 700 hz of space above them (key clicks mostly). It appeared they fixed the problem later. No excuse for that kind of signal in the SS. I did work neck and neck with a K3 user early on 40 meters and we seemed comfortable with each other about 300 hz away even with stronger signals. Great to hear all the activity. I smile now when I work a check in the 30's - or also when working ones that start with a zero, but have it figured out. TS850S - Viewstar PT2500A - 3 element 40 @ 105 feet, 5 element 15 @ 80 fee. K3 - Henry 2K Classic - 5 element 20 @ 72 feet, 4 square on 80. HOUR 80CW 40CW 20CW 15CW TOTAL ACCUM ---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- 21 0 0 12 74 86 86 22 0 1 74 19 94 180 23 0 76 18 0 94 274 0 1 83 0 0 84 358 1 0 99 0 0 99 457 2 4 65 0 0 69 526 3 2 66 0 0 68 594 4 20 40 0 0 60 654 5 45 17 0 0 62 716 6 29 27 0 0 56 772 7 19 5 0 0 24 796 8 15 2 0 0 17 813 9 0 0 0 0 0 813 10 0 0 0 0 0 813 11 0 0 0 0 0 813 12 25 18 0 0 43 856 13 3 22 0 0 25 881 14 0 6 39 0 45 926 15 0 1 51 0 52 978 16 0 0 33 16 49 1027 17 0 0 45 9 54 1081 18 0 0 29 9 38 1119 19 0 0 29 0 29 1148 20 0 0 44 0 44 1192 21 0 0 30 0 30 1222 22 0 5 32 0 37 1259 23 0 2 20 0 22 1281 0 0 30 2 0 32 1313 1 5 34 0 0 39 1352 2 1 8 0 0 9 1361 TOTAL 169 607 458 127 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7RN Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 188,640 K5RC & K7AFO are great hosts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7WHY Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 71,760 Well, almost made the sweep. Missed NL and NNY. Closest in a long time. Heard them on and the NL station came back to me Saturday, but they got clobbered and I never did get my report. One thing, IF I CALL YOU, YOU ARE NOT IN MY LOG. I hate the "wrkd b4" when I know I didn't work you. I use computer logging, so I know who is a dupe and who isn't. When the bands are as crowded as this weekend, you may think you worked me, but I was possibly working someone else you didn't hear. It takes less time to work the dupe than to argue about it. Thanks to the ARRL for a really fun contest. This is one of my favorites. Thanks for all the Q's and 73. Log is already on LOTW. Tom W7WHY Radio 1 TS-450SAT + SB-200 ~500 watts Radio 2 TS-450SAT 80 meter dipole, 40 meter vertical, HB 2 el 20 meter monobaner, 15 meter dipole. N1MM Logger 7.10.12 (worked perfectly) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7ZRC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 57,652 Short time on Sunday afternoon and evening. First time for new A3S. 15 was open for awhile. Had a good run on 40. Hope to do SS Phone. Thanks for the Q's. 73, Rod ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8CAR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 143,622 Had a great time and made more second radio Qs than ever (accounting for more than 10% of my score). Never found VY1 (sigh) but lots of good operators and lots of fun. I watched the beginning and end of the Browns game(they won in overtime) and just never got back in the grove hence the 22.5 hours. Still have my goal of 1000 Qs to go for! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8UE Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 62,370 QRP with a low wire antenna, this is real radio :) It is hard to bust pileups with this setup, but I managed to squeeze through a few. Missed AK, NT and NL. One NL station heard me, but could not pull out my exchange. Not much short propagation. Among my last 8 sections were CT, WPA, LAX and OH. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9RE Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 214,248 Missed YT! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9SZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 74,412 Missed NL and NT. Spent some time in the pileups calling VO1HP and VY1EI but not busting through. I had a blast but hope for some sunspots next time. Most of my QSO's were on 80, 40 and 20 with a handful on 15m. 73, Zack W9SZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA0MHJ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 72,800 Very enjoyable contest with limited and spotty operating times. There were some huge signals on the band. My S-meter was pushed to levels not often seen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA2MBP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 81,120 Where were KH6 and KL7? Never heard either one...Maybe if I didn't sleep so much ! Rig is a TS-570 (Now on e-bay for sale..too much front end overload!) and a Carolina Windom 80 at 80' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA2MNO Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 145,992 My goal was to operate 24hrs with the hope of finally making 1,000 Q's for the first time. I only made 924 raw Q's this year compared to 946 last year but I did make 24hrs. When I stood up after the contest Sunday night I felt like I was walking on sponges. Spent most of my time trying to run. Sunday afternoon and evening was realy slow so I was surprised with my final number of Q's. As most, NT wasn't in the cards for me this year. I missed the opportunity to get them at the beginning of the contest on 15M. I decided to go with SOHP(U) again this year because of my limited antennas. Power definitely makes a difference for me being heard and getting an amp was due to our dear friend Dave/KT0R (SK) talking me into getting one. He not only directed me to a great used AL-80B amp but also a great used Ten-Tec HP tuner. The radio is a very trusty Mark V. Thank you to every Ham that called me and gave me a Q ! 73 - Bob WA2MNO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA3SES Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 114,076 Missed NL. My record of never having achieved a sweep in Sweepstakes...CW or SSB....remains in tact. (19 years of trying). Stayed "in the chair" much better than any of the past 5 or 6 years. Ed/WA3SES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA4DOU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 82,992 Hadn't intended to stay and play so long. Was just going to dabble a bit but got hooked. Like so often, I eventually got tired of it and the time in the chair diminished accordingly and the breaks increased. Wish I had the desire to really pursue it aggressively. Thanks to all for the q's and hope to see you all next time. 73 de Roy WA4DOU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA6BOB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 14,396 Collins 75S-3B Collins 32S-3 5BTV & 160 DP WL 10.63 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WB2ABD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 42,256 Granddaughters stayed Sat and Sun. Seemed to have problems working stuff close-in. Includes one computer crash. T-T O2 80m inv vee 60ft 40m inv vee 55ft rot.dipole 20>10 18ft. K9AY N1MM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WB8JUI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 88,140 Missed MB and NT. Thanks to all for the QSOs. 73 - Rick WB8JUI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WC4J Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 2,838 well was able to get on for just over 2 hours. Had a blast and worked out some new CW skills. At 3 min a qso trying to decipher 35wpm code as being I'm about a 5wpm op. Ran QRP for the fun of it and broke many pileups with good timing and good antennas. See you all in SSB SS Brian WC4J ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WD0T Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 220,000 Saturday was very good on 20 and 80m with good rates and a lot of fun. 40m on Saturday evening just never did really perk up. Only one hour with decent rates on 40m. Sunday was like running with concrete shoes on, I just could not get momentum going on any band. Best station change/improvement was actually 80m, being much better with a vertical than the dipole. Maybe an indication of conditions, not sure. Thanks for all the Q's and have fun in SS Phone, Lord Bless! Todd WD0T ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WD4AHZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 98,252 First time in a while, I missed a Sweep. Missed the "rare" ones of SC, NE, and VE2! (DOH!) A weak VY1JA called me Sunday morning (after not being able to break the pile Saturday evening), so that made me happy (tnx Jay). Couldn't get any runs going late Sunday, so spent that time S&P'ing, looking for the missing mults and working the few non-dupes, before deciding to call it quits (need to solve my minor TVI issues, so I can spend more time in the chair). May be on with some local up and coming contesters for Phone. Ron ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WD5K Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 128,160 Last sections worked: MB and ID FT1000mp 100w TH7DX @ 50' 40m Dipole 80m Inv V ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WE9V Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 138,400 What a great time. The wife won't ever let me put in a full effort, so I was glad to get in 14 hrs worth. Was about to take an extended off-time for church Sunday morning and on my last CQ, VY1JA calls in for a sweep. Must be divine intervention. :-) Chad WE9V http://www.we9v.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WI9WI Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 88,322 This has got to be the bottom of the cycle. Last year I worked 87 (of 589 QRP also) QSOs on 15. This year I had 13, although the most important one was J, VY1JA, Sunday afternoon. I started on 15 and worked the band out in a few minutes, all of 10 QSOs, but I got KH6 and KL7 there quickly. Then it was slug it out with the big boys on 20 and 40 in the day and 40 and 80 at nite. Things were slow so I worked hard at practicing my virtually nonexistant 2 radio skills. After years of assembling a lot of 2 radio equipment, SO2R box, filters, decoders, etc. I finally got it all working in a fairly smooth manner. I've used 2 radios before but mostly for listening for band openings and looking for mults. This time I actually made more than a couple of QSOs. Most were on 20 while running on 40 during the day. From 1500 until 1800 Sunday AM I was able to CQ on 7055 without losing the frequency and work stations on the second radio. Made 110 QSOs, 82 on 40 and 28 on 20. I had 36 second radio QSOs for the weekend, a previously unheard of number for this operator. Total QSOs were 559 with 241 running, and 318 by S&P. Got all the mults except VE4. I heard VE4GV at one point but he was S&P and I couldn't bait him into a QSO. Never heard Kelly or any other VE4 in spite of looking a lot the last 6 hours. I miss Derrick VE4VV. The 2 previous times I made a sweep QRP he was my last mult on Sunday evening. He was with KK9K, K5KG and myself at the J7OJ operation for CQWW CW in 2004. RIP OM. Gear: Radio 1: IC-765 80 m inv V at 75 ft 40 m 2 el at 100 ft 20 m 4 el at 110 ft, C3E NE at 65 ft, A3 SE at 35 ft 20/15/10 m C19 at 55 ft plus C3E and A3 Radio 2: IC-7000 OCF 135 ft dipole at 45 ft for 80/40/20. Loads well without tuner. Thanks for all the Qs and the patience of many pulling out my signal, especially on 80. 73 Jim WI9WI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WJ9B Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 170,324 ...missed YV1! I finally put up a high 80 meter dipole (doubles as an element in my phased 160 T antennas). It provided better domestic coverage than my four square. 73, Will, wj9b, dit dit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WK6I Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 87,360 I apologize for my lousy CW technique. Deeply. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WN6K Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 123,662 Well it was interesting... sometimes we think that we have turned the Solar corner and then you get into a contest to prove we have not. Missed NT,NL & QC Our Border crossings were sure locked up tight this weekend. WN6K, Paul ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WO1N Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 30,912 Equipment: FT1000D, C3-SS@38',R7,80M Vert dipole, N1MM No special effort here though I did put the 80M Verticle Dipole up under the lights Friday night to beat the rain storm we had on Saturday. Ropes were already in the trees so it went pretty quick. Always a good test to work out the cobwebs.... Ken WO1N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WO4O Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 119,200 My first effort with HP in SS. Bailed out after the Sweep. Had all the fun I could handle… Tnx fer Qs. 73 RiC wo4o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WP3R Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 239,360 No excuses! Congratulations to the top scorers. You finally did it I think! You beat it out of me. hihi. It just goes to show...never mind. Maybe I can win the Puerto Rico certificate. Nice to hear you on, Felipe -- no worries about where I was going to find a P.R. QSO this time. I've been watching the "you've gotta work me to get the sweep funnel" slipping away in recent years. A couple forced off times early didn't help, which put all the contenders 100 QSOs ahead at that point. Lots of demands from my clients during the weekend didn't help, but I adjusted and made the best of it. Usually my weekends are free, once I get past Friday night. 80M sounded really good. I think the most I've ever done on 80 in SS CW is 22 QSOs, but that might have been different this year, but our 80M antenna that tested good earlier, what with swapping coaxes during critical repairs of 20 and 15, somehow something got messed up and I didn't have 80 after all. Oh well. And good news for all contesters...as per N2IC's SS writeup from last year, you too can have a superstation -- just get a single 60-foot tower and put two Yagis on it. Perhaps Steve meant "super QTH." And, from driving back and forth to Dayton with "that wag," WM3O and yukking it up over the contest banquet and mirror ball and the FB presenter and our hypothetical "sorry I couldn't be there in person video," "It ain't a superstation if it don't have a mirror ball!" (WM3O found them at Kohl's for $3 if you didn't get yours yet.) Congratulations, guys! I know I can look forward to many, many years of coming in someplace other than first! hihi. Bye-bye, first place...it was fun while it lasted... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WQ5L Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 137,280 First sweep for me since 2002. Figured it was a good omen to work both VY1s on the first call. AK and QC had me sweating, with neither in the log when the sun set on Sunday, but I managed to find KL7WV on 20 soon after that, and finally VE2CWT on 80 to seal the deal. 73, -- Ray WQ5L ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WR3Z Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 179,680 Thanks again to Brian N3OC for use of his station for SS CW. I went ahead and did Unlimited to make sure I got all the sections but honestly only needed it for 1 of them. I've got similar comments to W3PP in that I went to sleep Sun morning at 0300 local only needing NL. I got back on at 0800 local, got on 40, and split the antennas between NE and W and started calling CQs. Sure enough within the first 15 minutes I got a VO1 to call me. I felt pretty good about my 20-40-80 split this time, and could have done a bit more if I put in that last hour, but was just too tired with ~4.5 hours sleep. Congrats to all the fine scores. Should be Multi for SS Ph at N3OC in two weeks. Barry WR3Z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WT9U Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 122,304 Missed WTX and VE4 although I'm pretty sure I heard both on Saturday night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WW9R Class: SO Unlimited HP Total Score = 68,796 My score is way down from last year. Never did hear NT or NL. It was tough to get a run going. On the bright side, I worked some new cw Ops. See you in the SSB week-end. Pat WW9R, WI Equipment Yaseu FT-1000D, Ameritron AL-811H @600W, Gap Titan for 20 mtrs, Gap Voyager for 40, 80, and 160, N3FJP logging software ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WX0B Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 230,080 Congrats to N2IC for the win, and to K5GO, K5TR, N0IN, and N3BB for great scores reported so far. Unfortunately for me, it was an off year. Mental mistakes really cost me. I didn't utilize 80 early enough after leaving 20 Saturday evening to combat the long conditions on 40. I didn't start running on 80 until the 0400 hour. I made a mistake on one of my off-times Sunday morning by only taking 20 minutes instead of 30. I caught it later in the afternoon so there's 20 minutes with no Qs. I never found nor was called by VY1JA but found VY1EI Sunday afternoon sending 15wpm with the perverbial pileup. I made the decision to slug it out for the multiplier but it took me too long, and I didn't make enough Qs on the 2nd radio to make up for it. This cost me another 20 minutes and at least 10 Qs. I also let my rate get too low in the 2100Z hour without taking a break which probably cost me 10-15 Qs. Just goes to show you, even experienced operators can lose the concentration required to compete for the top spots. I normally have better rates than my competitors Sunday morning after the 0900-1100 break, but it didn't happen this year. Thanks once again to Jay and Sharon for their hospitality and allowing both myself and my wife Melanie into their home. Melanie and Jay are keyboard musicians so while I was operating, they were jammin away along with Bob W5OV on bass guitar......a fun weekend for all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WX3B Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 172,000 My best effort on SS CW! I planned a part time effort and got started 2 hours late. Bands were unbelievably slow Sunday afernoon but re-gained some spice after sunset. Thanks to K3MM for leading the charge, and having a great score. Also heard a rumor that Howie, N4AF really tore up the bands. Thanks to Kam, N3KS and Tom, NI1N for the company and motivation to keep going long after I felt like doing something else. Sweepstakes SSB should hold some more activity - with all those newly licensed hams we can hope Sunday will be better. 73, Jim Nitzberg WX3B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WY0L Class: Multi-Op LP Total Score = 120,320 Another weekend of fun and frolic at the YMCA camp in eastern NE, Field-Day style. We pretty well know the drill by now, but there are always surprises: other campers playing football amidst the feedlines, antennas that didn't resonate, a blown-up TS930s (*another* blown-up TS930s...making a habit of this....). "The girls" (KB9CES and ex-KB0HJO) came along again to sight-see and keep us fed. A good time was had by all. Our first sweep since we've been doing this; also the first time we've had Internet access; there's a correlation... Glad to provide at least one sweep. Index of Calls Call: AA3B Class: Single Op HP Call: AA4FU Class: Single Op LP Call: AA4GA Class: Single Op LP Call: AA6SS Class: Single Op LP Call: AA9DY Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: AB2E Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: AC0W Class: Single Op LP Call: AC5AA Class: Single Op LP Call: AC8E Class: Single Op HP Call: AD5VJ Class: Single Op LP Call: AE6RR Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: AE6Y Class: Single Op HP Call: AJ1M Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: AJ3G Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: AJ9C Class: Single Op LP Call: AL1G Class: Single Op HP Call: K0AD Class: Single Op LP Call: K0AV Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0EJ Class: Single Op LP Call: K0EU Class: Single Op LP Call: K0HB Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K0HC Class: School Club HP Call: K0HW Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K0JJR Class: Single Op HP Call: K0KX Class: Single Op LP Call: K0OB Class: Single Op LP Call: K0OU Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K0PC Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0PK Class: Single Op LP Call: K0PY Class: Single Op LP Call: K0RC Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: K0SR Class: Single Op HP Call: K0TG Class: Single Op LP Call: K0TI Class: Single Op LP Call: K0TO Class: Single Op HP Call: K0UK Class: Single Op LP Call: K0VBU Class: Single Op LP Call: K1EP Class: Single Op LP Call: K1ESE Class: Single Op LP Call: K1GU Class: Single Op LP Call: K1HT Class: Single Op LP Call: K1HTV Class: Single Op LP Call: K1JB Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K1KD Class: Single Op HP Call: K1LT Class: Single Op HP Call: K1PQS Class: Single Op HP Call: K1RX Class: Single Op HP Call: K1TN Class: Single Op LP Call: K1TR Class: Single Op LP Call: K1XM Class: Single Op QRP Call: K1ZZI Class: Single Op HP Call: K2AV Class: Single Op HP Call: K2NNY Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K2ONP Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K2PS Class: Single Op HP Call: K2QMF Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: K2SX Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K2WK Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K3AN Class: Single Op QRP Call: K3AU Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: K3DNE Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K3KU Class: Single Op LP Call: K3MM Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K3MQ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K3NCO Class: Single Op LP Call: K3OO Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K3STX Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K3SV Class: Single Op LP Call: K3WA Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K3WI Class: Single Op HP Call: K3WW Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K4AB Class: Single Op HP Call: K4AQ Class: Single Op LP Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op HP Call: K4CZ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K4EU Class: Single Op HP Call: K4GM Class: Single Op LP Call: K4GMH Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K4HAL Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K4IX Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K4OD Class: Single Op LP Call: K4RO Class: Single Op QRP Call: K4TD Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K4WW Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: K4XD Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K4XU Class: Single Op LP Call: K4ZGB Class: Single Op LP Call: K5AF Class: Single Op HP Call: K5AM Class: Single Op QRP Call: K5GO Class: Single Op HP Call: K5KA Class: Single Op HP Call: K5KG Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K5NA Class: Single Op HP Call: K5NZ Class: Single Op LP Call: K5OT Class: Single Op HP Call: K5QQ Class: Single Op LP Call: K5RC Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K5TA Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K5TR Class: Single Op HP Call: K5YA Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K5ZD Class: Single Op HP Call: K6AM Class: Single Op LP Call: K6CSL Class: Single Op LP Call: K6DBG Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: K6DEX Class: Single Op LP Call: K6GEP Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: K6III Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6JEB Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6JS Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6LA Class: Single Op HP Call: K6LL Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6LLK Class: Single Op LP Call: K6LRN Class: Single Op HP Call: K6MM Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6NA Class: Single Op HP Call: K6OWL Class: Single Op LP Call: K6RB Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6RC Class: Single Op LP Call: K6RIM Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6SU Class: Multi-Op LP Call: K6TA Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6TD Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6XV Class: Single Op HP Call: K6YT Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K6ZM Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K7ABV Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K7BG Class: Single Op LP Call: K7HBN Class: Single Op LP Call: K7JA Class: Single Op HP Call: K7MM Class: Single Op HP Call: K7NV Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K7RL Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K7UP Class: Single Op QRP Call: K7WA Class: Single Op LP Call: K7XC Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K8AZ Class: Single Op HP Call: K8BL Class: Single Op LP Call: K8DD Class: Single Op QRP Call: K8FH Class: Single Op LP Call: K8GT Class: Single Op LP Call: K8GU Class: Single Op LP Call: K8IR Class: Single Op LP Call: K8MFO Class: Single Op LP Call: K8MM Class: Single Op QRP Call: K8MR Class: Single Op HP Call: K8ND Class: Single Op HP Call: K8WDN Class: Single Op HP Call: K9BGL Class: Single Op HP Call: K9CT Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: K9DU Class: Single Op LP Call: K9GY Class: Single Op LP Call: K9MMS Class: Single Op LP Call: K9MUG Class: Single Op HP Call: K9NS Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K9NW Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KA2D Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KB7Q Class: Single Op QRP Call: KB9OWD Class: Single Op LP Call: KC4HW Class: Single Op LP Call: KC5R Class: Single Op QRP Call: KC7V Class: Single Op HP Call: KD2HE Class: Single Op QRP Call: KD2MX Class: Single Op LP Call: KD2RD Class: Single Op LP Call: KD4D Class: Single Op HP Call: KE0WO Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KE1FO Class: Single Op LP Call: KE5OG Class: Single Op LP Call: KE6ZSN Class: Single Op HP Call: KG4CUY Class: Single Op LP Call: KH7Y Class: Single Op HP Call: KI6T Class: Single Op HP Call: KI9A Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KJ0G Class: Single Op HP Call: KJ6RA Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KK0HF Class: Single Op LP Call: KL7WV Class: Single Op HP Call: KL8C Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KL9A/W7 Class: Single Op LP Call: KM3V Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KM9M Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KN3A Class: Single Op LP Call: KN7T Class: Single Op LP Call: KO7AA Class: Single Op HP Call: KO7X Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: KQ6ES Class: Single Op LP Call: KR2Q Class: Single Op QRP Call: KR4F Class: Single Op HP Call: KS0T Class: Single Op LP Call: KT1D Class: Multi-Op HP Call: KT3Y Class: Single Op HP Call: KT4PD Class: Single Op LP Call: KT4Q Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: KT7G Class: Single Op HP Call: KU1CW Class: Single Op HP Call: KU4A Class: Single Op QRP Call: KU5B Class: Single Op QRP Call: KU8E Class: Single Op HP Call: KV8Q Class: Single Op LP Call: KX7L Class: Single Op QRP Call: KZ1M Class: Single Op LP Call: N0BUI Class: Single Op LP Call: N0IJ Class: Single Op HP Call: N0KE Class: Single Op QRP Call: N0NI Class: Single Op HP Call: N0UR Class: Single Op QRP Call: N1DC Class: Single Op LP Call: N1LN Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N1MGO Class: Single Op HP Call: N1SZ Class: Single Op QRP Call: N1VT Class: Single Op HP Call: N1WR Class: Single Op LP Call: N2BZP Class: Multi-Op HP Call: N2CU Class: Single Op HP Call: N2GA Class: Single Op LP Call: N2GC Class: Single Op HP Call: N2IC Class: Single Op HP Call: N2NS Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N2NT Class: Single Op HP Call: N2SQW Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N2WN Class: Single Op LP Call: N2YO Class: Single Op HP Call: N3BB Class: Single Op HP Call: N3CW Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N3HU Class: Single Op QRP Call: N3KS Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N3SD Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: N3UA Class: Single Op LP Call: N3ZL Class: Single Op LP Call: N4AF Class: Single Op HP Call: N4DW Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N4EEB Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N4GG Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N4JF Class: Single Op QRP Call: N4KG Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: N4LF Class: Single Op LP Call: N4LR Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N4OGW Class: Single Op QRP Call: N4OX Class: Single Op HP Call: N4PN Class: Single Op LP Call: N4VA Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: N4WW Class: Single Op HP Call: N4YDU Class: Single Op LP Call: N4ZR Class: Single Op HP Call: N4ZZ Class: Single Op LP Call: N5AU Class: Single Op HP Call: N5AW Class: Single Op LP Call: N5DO Class: Single Op LP Call: N5OT Class: Single Op HP Call: N5QQ Class: Single Op HP Call: N5UL Class: Single Op LP Call: N5WLA Class: Single Op QRP Call: N6AN Class: Single Op LP Call: N6BU Class: Single Op HP Call: N6CK Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N6CY Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N6DE Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N6HC Class: Single Op LP Call: N6IJ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N6KI Class: Single Op HP Call: N6KJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N6MJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N6NF Class: Single Op LP Call: N6RNO Class: Single Op LP Call: N6RO Class: Single Op HP Call: N6TV Class: Single Op HP Call: N6TW Class: Single Op HP Call: N6VR Class: Multi-Op HP Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Call: N6XG Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N6XI Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N7BF Class: Single Op HP Call: N7CW Class: Single Op HP Call: N7FO Class: Single Op HP Call: N7IR Class: Single Op QRP Call: N7IV Class: Single Op LP Call: N7MAL Class: Single Op LP Call: N7NT Class: Single Op LP Call: N7WA Class: Multi-Op LP Call: N7ZG Class: Single Op LP Call: N8BJQ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N8EA Class: Single Op HP Call: N8IE Class: Single Op QRP Call: N8II Class: Single Op HP Call: N8SS Class: Single Op LP Call: N8TR Class: Single Op HP Call: N8XX Class: Single Op LP Call: N9CO Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: N9FC Class: Single Op HP Call: N9NO Class: Single Op HP Call: N9RV Class: Single Op HP Call: NA4BW Class: Single Op LP Call: NA4K Class: Single Op LP Call: NA5Q Class: Single Op QRP Call: ND2T Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: NG7Z Class: Single Op LP Call: NI1N Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: NJ1F Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: NK6A Class: Single Op LP Call: NM2L Class: Single Op LP Call: NN1N Class: Single Op HP Call: NN3W Class: Single Op LP Call: NN7SS Class: Multi-Op HP Call: NN7ZZ Class: Single Op HP Call: NO5W Class: Single Op LP Call: NS3T Class: Single Op LP Call: NS9I Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: NX9T Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: VA2SG Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3DF Class: Single Op QRP Call: VA3DX Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3EC Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3RKM Class: Single Op QRP Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op HP Call: VE1OP Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: VE2CWT Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: VE3CR Class: Single Op HP Call: VE3CW Class: Single Op QRP Call: VE3DZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3EJ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3EY Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3KI Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3MGY Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3NE Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3RCN Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3RZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3TA Class: Single Op HP Call: VE3TW Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3UTT Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3XAT Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3XD Class: Single Op LP Call: VE4GV Class: Single Op LP Call: VE5CPU Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: VE5UF Class: Single Op HP Call: VE6CNU Class: Single Op LP Call: VE6EX Class: Multi-Op HP Call: VE7CC Class: Single Op HP Call: VE7FO Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: VE7YU Class: Single Op LP Call: VE9DX Class: Single Op LP Call: VO1HE Class: Single Op HP Call: VO1HP Class: Single Op LP Call: VO1MP Class: Single Op HP Call: VO1TA Class: Single Op LP Call: VY2SS Class: Single Op LP Call: W0ETT Class: Single Op LP Call: W0ZQ Class: Single Op LP Call: W1AF Class: School Club HP Call: W1AO Class: Single Op HP Call: W1AR Class: Single Op LP Call: W1BYH Class: Single Op LP Call: W1EBI Class: Single Op HP Call: W1ECH Class: Single Op LP Call: W1KQ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W1MD Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W1MX Class: School Club HP Call: W1NN Class: Single Op LP Call: W1TO Class: Single Op LP Call: W1UE Class: Single Op LP Call: W1XX Class: Single Op LP Call: W2CDO Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W2DZO Class: Single Op LP Call: W2JU Class: Single Op LP Call: W2LC Class: Single Op HP Call: W2LHL Class: Single Op LP Call: W2NO Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: W2TB Class: Single Op HP Call: W2UP Class: Single Op QRP Call: W2VJN Class: Single Op HP Call: W3FV Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W3KB Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: W3LJ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W3PP Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W3UR Class: Single Op HP Call: W4ARM Class: Single Op HP Call: W4AU Class: Single Op HP Call: W4BQF Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W4EE Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Call: W4MR Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W4MYA Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W4NF Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W4NTI Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: W4NZ Class: Single Op HP Call: W4OC Class: Single Op LP Call: W4PA Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W4PM Class: Single Op HP Call: W4RK Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W4RM Class: Multi-Op HP Call: W5ASP Class: Single Op HP Call: W5KFT Class: Single Op HP Call: W5WMU Class: Single Op HP Call: W6KC Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W6KW Class: Single Op HP Call: W6KY Class: Single Op QRP Call: W6MVW Class: Single Op HP Call: W6NF Class: Single Op HP Call: W6NL Class: Single Op HP Call: W6OAT Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W6RK Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: W6SC Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W6SX Class: Single Op HP Call: W6TK Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W6YX Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W6ZL Class: Single Op LP Call: W7CT Class: Single Op LP Call: W7QN Class: Single Op LP Call: W7RM Class: Single Op HP Call: W7RN Class: Multi-Op HP Call: W7TMT Class: Single Op LP Call: W7UT Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W7WHY Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W7ZRC Class: Single Op LP Call: W8CAR Class: Single Op LP Call: W8FJ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W8MJ Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: W8TM Class: Single Op LP Call: W8UE Class: Single Op QRP Call: W9RE Class: Single Op HP Call: W9SZ Class: Single Op LP Call: WA0MHJ Class: Single Op HP Call: WA2BCK Class: Single Op LP Call: WA2MBP Class: Single Op LP Call: WA2MNO Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: WA3KYY Class: Single Op LP Call: WA3SES Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4DOU Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4OSD Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4PGM Class: Single Op QRP Call: WA6BOB Class: Single Op LP Call: WA6O Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: WA7YAZ Class: Single Op LP Call: WB0N Class: Single Op HP Call: WB2ABD Class: Single Op LP Call: WB8JUI Class: Single Op LP Call: WC4J Class: Single Op QRP Call: WC6H Class: Single Op HP Call: WD0T Class: Single Op HP Call: WD4AHZ Class: Single Op LP Call: WD5K Class: Single Op LP Call: WE9V Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: WG4M Class: Single Op LP Call: WI9WI Class: Single Op QRP Call: WJ9B Class: Single Op LP Call: WK6I Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: WN6K Class: Single Op LP Call: WO1N Class: Single Op LP Call: WO4O Class: Single Op HP Call: WP3R Class: Single Op HP Call: WQ5L Class: Single Op LP Call: WR3Z Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: WT9Q Class: Single Op HP Call: WT9U Class: Single Op HP Call: WW9R Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: WX0B Class: Single Op HP Call: WX3B Class: Multi-Op HP Call: WY0L Class: Multi-Op LP Index of Calls organized by Class Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K0HB Call: K2NNY Call: K2WK Call: K4IX Call: K4TD Call: K5TA Call: K9NS Call: KT1D Call: N2BZP Call: N6VR Call: NN7SS Call: VE6EX Call: W4RM Call: W7RN Call: WX3B Class: Multi-Op LP Call: K6SU Call: N7WA Call: WY0L Class: School Club HP Call: K0HC Call: W1AF Call: W1MX Class: Single Op HP Call: AA3B Call: AC8E Call: AE6Y Call: AL1G Call: K0JJR Call: K0SR Call: K0TO Call: K1KD Call: K1LT Call: K1PQS Call: K1RX Call: K1ZZI Call: K2AV Call: K2PS Call: K3WI Call: K4AB Call: K4BAI Call: K4EU Call: K5AF Call: K5GO Call: K5KA Call: K5NA Call: K5OT Call: K5TR Call: K5ZD Call: K6LA Call: K6LRN Call: K6NA Call: K6XV Call: K7JA Call: K7MM Call: K8AZ Call: K8MR Call: K8ND Call: K8WDN Call: K9BGL Call: K9MUG Call: KC7V Call: KD4D Call: KE6ZSN Call: KH7Y Call: KI6T Call: KJ0G Call: KL7WV Call: KO7AA Call: KR4F Call: KT3Y Call: KT7G Call: KU1CW Call: KU8E Call: N0IJ Call: N0NI Call: N1MGO Call: N1VT Call: N2CU Call: N2GC Call: N2IC Call: N2NT Call: N2YO Call: N3BB Call: N4AF Call: N4OX Call: N4WW Call: N4ZR Call: N5AU Call: N5OT Call: N5QQ Call: N6BU Call: N6KI Call: N6RO Call: N6TV Call: N6TW Call: N7BF Call: N7CW Call: N7FO Call: N8EA Call: N8II Call: N8TR Call: N9FC Call: N9NO Call: N9RV Call: NN1N Call: NN7ZZ Call: VA7ST Call: VE3CR Call: VE3TA Call: VE5UF Call: VE7CC Call: VO1HE Call: VO1MP Call: W1AO Call: W1EBI Call: W2LC Call: W2TB Call: W2VJN Call: W3UR Call: W4ARM Call: W4AU Call: W4NZ Call: W4PM Call: W5ASP Call: W5KFT Call: W5WMU Call: W6KW Call: W6MVW Call: W6NF Call: W6NL Call: W6SX Call: W7RM Call: W9RE Call: WA0MHJ Call: WB0N Call: WC6H Call: WD0T Call: WO4O Call: WP3R Call: WT9Q Call: WT9U Call: WX0B Class: Single Op LP Call: AA4FU Call: AA4GA Call: AA6SS Call: AC0W Call: AC5AA Call: AD5VJ Call: AJ9C Call: K0AD Call: K0EJ Call: K0EU Call: K0KX Call: K0OB Call: K0PK Call: K0PY Call: K0TG Call: K0TI Call: K0UK Call: K0VBU Call: K1EP Call: K1ESE Call: K1GU Call: K1HT Call: K1HTV Call: K1TN Call: K1TR Call: K3KU Call: K3NCO Call: K3SV Call: K4AQ Call: K4GM Call: K4OD Call: K4XU Call: K4ZGB Call: K5NZ Call: K5QQ Call: K6AM Call: K6CSL Call: K6DEX Call: K6LLK Call: K6OWL Call: K6RC Call: K7BG Call: K7HBN Call: K7WA Call: K8BL Call: K8FH Call: K8GT Call: K8GU Call: K8IR Call: K8MFO Call: K9DU Call: K9GY Call: K9MMS Call: KB9OWD Call: KC4HW Call: KD2MX Call: KD2RD Call: KE1FO Call: KE5OG Call: KG4CUY Call: KK0HF Call: KL9A/W7 Call: KN3A Call: KN7T Call: KQ6ES Call: KS0T Call: KT4PD Call: KV8Q Call: KZ1M Call: N0BUI Call: N1DC Call: N1WR Call: N2GA Call: N2WN Call: N3UA Call: N3ZL Call: N4LF Call: N4PN Call: N4YDU Call: N4ZZ Call: N5AW Call: N5DO Call: N5UL Call: N6AN Call: N6HC Call: N6KJ Call: N6MJ Call: N6NF Call: N6RNO Call: N7IV Call: N7MAL Call: N7NT Call: N7ZG Call: N8SS Call: N8XX Call: NA4BW Call: NA4K Call: NG7Z Call: NK6A Call: NM2L Call: NN3W Call: NO5W Call: NS3T Call: VA2SG Call: VA3DX Call: VA3EC Call: VE3DZ Call: VE3EJ Call: VE3EY Call: VE3KI Call: VE3MGY Call: VE3NE Call: VE3RCN Call: VE3RZ Call: VE3TW Call: VE3UTT Call: VE3XAT Call: VE3XD Call: VE4GV Call: VE6CNU Call: VE7YU Call: VE9DX Call: VO1HP Call: VO1TA Call: VY2SS Call: W0ETT Call: W0ZQ Call: W1AR Call: W1BYH Call: W1ECH Call: W1NN Call: W1TO Call: W1UE Call: W1XX Call: W2DZO Call: W2JU Call: W2LHL Call: W4KAZ Call: W4OC Call: W6ZL Call: W7CT Call: W7QN Call: W7TMT Call: W7ZRC Call: W8CAR Call: W8TM Call: W9SZ Call: WA2BCK Call: WA2MBP Call: WA3KYY Call: WA3SES Call: WA4DOU Call: WA4OSD Call: WA6BOB Call: WA7YAZ Call: WB2ABD Call: WB8JUI Call: WD4AHZ Call: WD5K Call: WG4M Call: WJ9B Call: WN6K Call: WO1N Call: WQ5L Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0AV Call: K0PC Call: K1XM Call: K3AN Call: K4RO Call: K5AM Call: K7UP Call: K8DD Call: K8MM Call: KB7Q Call: KC5R Call: KD2HE Call: KR2Q Call: KU4A Call: KU5B Call: KX7L Call: N0KE Call: N0UR Call: N1SZ Call: N3HU Call: N4JF Call: N4OGW Call: N5WLA Call: N6WG Call: N7IR Call: N8IE Call: NA5Q Call: VA3DF Call: VA3RKM Call: VE3CW Call: W2UP Call: W6KY Call: W8UE Call: WA4PGM Call: WC4J Call: WI9WI Class: SO Unlimited HP Call: AB2E Call: AE6RR Call: AJ1M Call: AJ3G Call: K0HW Call: K0OU Call: K1JB Call: K2ONP Call: K2SX Call: K3DNE Call: K3MM Call: K3MQ Call: K3OO Call: K3STX Call: K3WA Call: K3WW Call: K4CZ Call: K4GMH Call: K4HAL Call: K4XD Call: K5KG Call: K5RC Call: K5YA Call: K6III Call: K6JEB Call: K6JS Call: K6LL Call: K6MM Call: K6RB Call: K6RIM Call: K6TA Call: K6TD Call: K6YT Call: K6ZM Call: K7ABV Call: K7NV Call: K7RL Call: K7XC Call: K9CT Call: K9NW Call: KA2D Call: KE0WO Call: KI9A Call: KJ6RA Call: KL8C Call: KM3V Call: KM9M Call: KO7X Call: N1LN Call: N2NS Call: N2SQW Call: N3CW Call: N3KS Call: N4DW Call: N4EEB Call: N4GG Call: N4LR Call: N6CK Call: N6CY Call: N6DE Call: N6IJ Call: N6XG Call: N6XI Call: N8BJQ Call: N9CO Call: ND2T Call: NI1N Call: NJ1F Call: NS9I Call: VE1OP Call: VE2CWT Call: VE5CPU Call: W1KQ Call: W1MD Call: W2CDO Call: W3FV Call: W3LJ Call: W3PP Call: W4BQF Call: W4MR Call: W4MYA Call: W4NF Call: W4PA Call: W4RK Call: W6KC Call: W6OAT Call: W6SC Call: W6TK Call: W6YX Call: W7UT Call: W7WHY Call: W8FJ Call: W8MJ Call: WA2MNO Call: WA6O Call: WE9V Call: WK6I Call: WR3Z Call: WW9R Class: SO Unlimited LP Call: AA9DY Call: K0RC Call: K2QMF Call: K3AU Call: K4WW Call: K6DBG Call: K6GEP Call: KT4Q Call: N3SD Call: N4KG Call: N4VA Call: NX9T Call: VE7FO Call: W2NO Call: W3KB Call: W4EE Call: W4NTI Call: W6RK