California QSO Party
Call: K3FIV/6
Operator(s): K3FIV
Station: K3FIV/6
Class: SOFixed LP
QTH: Point Arena CA
Operating Time (hrs): 19
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
160: 3 0
80: 49 136
40: 80 45
20: 151 44
15: 134 72
10: 26 30
6: 0 0
2: 0 0
--------------------
Total: 443 327 Mults = 57 Total Score = 112,632
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
Wow, I bet that was as much fun as you can have with 100W and a dipole!
It's novel to be on the "prey" side of the hunt, and a nice surprise to be
called even by DX on 20/15/10 where I occasionally found a little bit of elbow
room for my weak signal. This was 95% running, which is the opposite of what I
normally do in contests. I hopped around from band to band, mode to mode,
trying to make MEND available. Sadly, no one in SD was around...but the other
57 made it into the log. When my voice failed Saturday nite, I switched to
only CW. Then when my brain failed, I struggled into bed.
Most interesting event was about 15 minutes before the end. I was on 20CW, and
all of a sudden the noise level went from S2 to S8, pretty much wiping
everything out. I thought maybe the antenna/tuner succumbed to the early rain
we've been getting since yesterday. But when I switched to 10M to check it
out, the signal levels there were way up, much better than any time before in
the contest. Hmmm, I wonder what the sun did at 2145 UTC?
Every contest is a learning experience, and I learned a new thing about the
optimal way to structure your exchange macros. They have to be the right
length, not too short, not too long. If it's too short, you won't be able to
grab that glass/bottle/can of whatever you're using to avoid dehydration. If
it's too long, prospective callers will get tired of waiting and you'll lose
Qs.
It turns out there is a critical length, to be avoided at all costs. If it's
long enough to reach out for the refreshments, but not long enough to get back
to the keyboard when that next station calls, instability occurs, and the
container has a high probability of falling over, especially if the headphone
cable provides an assist. Don't ask me how I know this.
Hope everyone had fun! Thanks for all the Qs and the patience.
73,
/Jack de K3FIV/6
Point Arena, CA
Rig: Flex-3000, 100W
Ant: 135' Carolina Windom at 35' on all bands
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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