ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: K9XE
Operator(s): K9XE
Station: K9XE
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Urbana, IL
Operating Time (hrs): 14
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 186
40: 70
20: 164
15: 36
10:
------------
Total: 456 Sections = 80 Total Score = 72,960
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
I never wrote a very long Soapbox after a contest, but please indulge me because
this was my . . . First Clean Sweep!!
I was thinking I at least had a chance when my first contact in this yearâ??s
Sweepstakes was VE8EV! I was literally high fiving thin air in the shack when
I logged that one. I had actually worked him ten minutes before the start of
the contest, and I think I was the 4th or 5th station to work him after the
contest began.
By noon on Sunday, I was missing 5 sections â?? SB, MS, NL, ND, and MAR. MAR
wasnâ??t hard â?? VE1RGB had a great signal on 15. That left SB, MS, ND, and
NL â?? I thought of it as my â??West, South, North, and Eastâ?? challenge.
I heard N4OGW very faintly on 15. Tor is now in MS after living in
Champaign-Urbana for several years. He is a good CW op. With my beam pointed
west, he was S3/4. When I pointed at him, I couldnâ??t hear him at all, so
back West it went! I called him several times and got several ???s I tried
him a few minutes later and he came back. I copied all except his NR. So I
gave it a stab, since I recalled hearing him send a â??600 somethingâ?? a while
earlier. I realized that QSO might be thrown out, but I would take my chances.
But an hour later, I found WQ5L in MS, which got me off the hook with my
probable screw-up with N4OGW.
Next I found VO1MP in a chaotic pile-up on 15. Stations were calling in an
uncontrolled manner. In 5 minutes, I only actually heard the VO1 once or
twice. Then he made a genius move and announced he was listening up 1. I got
him on the first call.
Then I found KE0A in ND on 20. Solid S9 signal from there. Then a while
later, I found N7IV in ND, one of our SMCers who was operating from the Minot
area. When it rains it pours!
So now the big question is â??Whereâ??s SB???â?? I had heard one SB station on
Sat., but he soon disappeared. By 1 PM, my only missing section was SB, so I
decided to start at the low end of 20 and work my way up listening closely to
see if I could find one. And there was W6AYC, making his way up the band
hitting all of the CQers. So now what is my strategy?! How ruthless do I want
to get? I tried calling him right after one of his exchanges, but I came to my
senses and realized why that was not good â?? for a variety of reasons. So I
went up the band about 20 kHz and found a fairly open slot (although it
probably wasnâ??t!). I called CQ and got 3 quick replies, and then BINGO! â??
W6AYC answered my CQ. After the exchange I thanked him for making my first
Clean Sweep. He responded with a quick â??ditâ?? on his paddle. Guess I was a
bit more excited about it than he was. I think Iâ??ll send him a QSL, anyway.
A short while later I found VY1EI calling CQ â?? 2 NTs! Who would have
imagined?! Not me!
After completing the clean sweep, I went to 80 to just add Qs.
Thanks for reading about my first SS Clean Sweep! I promise to be a bit more
low key about my next one.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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