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[3830] SS SSB K4TMC Single Op LP

To: 3830@contesting.com
Subject: [3830] SS SSB K4TMC Single Op LP
From: webform@b4h.net
Reply-to: kilo4tmc@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2023 13:49:30 +0000
List-post: <mailto:3830@contesting.com>
                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB - 2023

Call: K4TMC
Operator(s): K4TMC
Station: K4TMC

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 17

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:    0
   40:   45
   20:  325
   15:   90
   10:    8
------------
Total:  468  Sections = 85  Total Score = 79,560

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Wow…My first ever Clean Sweep without even trying hard!  This trip to the
Atlantic Beach, NC (Carteret County, Bogue Banks, Grid FM14PQ, IOTA NA112, USI
NC010S) sand dune was still 50/50 until Wednesday afternoon before the contest.
With the recent change by ARRL to use a 250-mile club circle, it made the
decision to do more ARRL contests from the sand dune site an easier decision. 
So, with the XYL and dog Zoe, off to the beach we went mid-day Thursday.
Review of the Sweepstakes map on page 3 of the Nov PVRC Newsletter made it clear
that I needed to have antennas oriented to the NE and NW.  But I could not
ignore the hotbeds on the west coast and the smaller scattered areas in the SE.
So I quickly decided to deploy two BuddiHex triband antennas, making them
instantly selected via a manual coax switch on the operating table between the
rig and laptop. Based on reported results from the CW portion of the contest, it
was clear that 20M was going to be my money band, but I wanted to quickly keep a
check on 10 and 15, which turned out to be a wise decision. 
I spent all day Friday erecting the two BuddiHexs and a 40M EFHW inverted-L and
running coax to the operating table.  Even though it was only 70 degrees, the
humidity was high, and some of the summertime biting insects were still around. 
It did not take long to break into a sweat and retreat to the inside for a
cool-off period. Thank goodness for the blessing of the wind gods…there was no
wind Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  Push-up masts are no fun when top-loaded and
winds are creating side loads. My luck ran out on Monday morning as I took down
the antennas.  But taking them down in winds is easier than trying to raise
them.
The contest started a little slow…trying to find a good spot on 20. Plus I had
powerline-like noise of S-5 to 8 on 20 and S-9 on 40M, which plagued me most of
the contest. It stopped for only brief times.  I ran on 20 around 14.245 until
0100 with only a few excursions to 15 and 10 to see what I might be
missing…not much.  Some time on 40 made me go back to 20 where the line noise
was slightly less. And, I kept racking-up mults.  Sometime late Sunday morning I
realized I had 70+ mults.  I looked at the list of mults needed and realized I
needed more West Coast-area mults.  So, I made a strategic decision to move to
15M where I was hearing more West Coast stations, and a brief time on 10.  I did
a combination of running and S&P. I quickly added ID, EB, PAC, BC, SCV, SB,
SV, & AK. Then back to 20 and snagged ONN and MB.  Another shift to 15 and
got SF and SDG…and that was it, at 2039 Sunday afternoon. No assistance, no
self-spotting, just pure BIC running and some mixed-band S&P.  Now if I can
just get N1MM+ to score this correctly. The Multipliers window shows all 85
mults worked; however the Score shows only 84 worked.  A cross-check of the log
mults versus a list of sections note all 85 sections worked. I feel confident
that I worked all 85 sections, although some were only one QSO per section.  So,
I continued until 2330 Sunday evening doing S&P, trying to add more
duplicate contacts in some of the rarer sections. 
Thanks for all of the fellow PVRC contacts.
Rig: Elecraft K3+/100w with Heil HC-4 mic element
Antennas: Two Buddipole BuddiHex (tri-band wires only), one at 32 ft AGL
oriented W/NW and one at 20 ft AGL oriented NE; PAR end fed half wave (EF40)
inverted-L with base at 9 ft AGL on 33 ft fiberglass pole.
73,
Henry – K4TMC


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