ARRL 10-Meter Contest - 2023
Call: NX5M
Operator(s): NX5M KU5B K5GN NW7DX N5XJ KJ5T
Station: NX5M
Class: M/S HP
QTH: TX
Operating Time (hrs): 32
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
CW: 1435 159
SSB: 957 137
-------------------
Total: 2392 296 Total Score = 2,264,992
Club:
Comments:
Gremlins? Yes. Cause? I do not know.
Certainly a setback when the main set of antennas are having a problem. But,
they worked most of the time. Had to fall back on a couple of tribanders and
monobanders stacked up on another tower for a bit. At the end, looked like a
total meltdown of the main antenna set so again fell back on the secondary
antennas. With about a half hour left I decided to disconnect the main set and
directly connect the top antenna in an attempt to start the process of
elimination. Worked perfectly so this may be an issue with the homebrew phasing
box, a relay or a voltage issue. A tedious task lies ahead in isolating the
problem.
N5DUW, a regular op, could not make it this year so a short notice email to
Dave, K5GN resulted in him driving up from Houston early Saturday morning and
staying for the whole day. He put in several valuable hours on Saturday. I had
picked up KU5B from the airport in Austin late Wednesday night. Nice to have
him in early to help out with setup as well as quality operating. Mike, N5XJ
shows up about a half hour before the start on Friday in a brand new truck and
toting a fully cooked 14 pound brisket. Ben, NW7DX met KU5B and I in a nearby
town to have a pre-contest meal before heading out to the station. Once we
arrived he breaks out a cooler with several pounds of pulled pork. Last year he
operated with one arm so we expected an increased rate from him this year.
Plans changed so he had to depart Sunday morning. Steve, KJ5T was fashionably
late arriving Friday. Traffic was the claimed reason but he did bring a lot of
snacks with him.
One may wonder who there are so many operators. It's simple.....there are two
in the building at all times. The rest can sit, visit, snack, rest, watch
television or even go fishing and not have to dedicate a whole weekend to
sitting in front of a radio and monitor.
We fell short of what was expected but it's still about the fellowship just like
it has been for many years. We did not get anything deep into Europe and what
we did get did not even last that long. The Asian runs were nice but short.
Seemed like as soon as the clock hit 0z things were pretty much done. We had to
work hard to get all states on both modes. There was practically nothing to
work once the sun set here. For example, picture me sitting in the chair with
my feet propped up on another chair with the keyboard in my lap occasionally
pressing the F1 key for 4 hours. By 0430z I decided I had my fill of throwing a
signal into the atmosphere with no return. W9, W8 and W4 were missing in action
the whole weekend and those regions typically account for a great many qsos in
the log. Not this year though.
Only managed to work 6 states in Mexico and every one of those was a struggle.
We are at a huge disadvantage when it come to the XE mults.
Impressive job by the K1LZ crew. Congrats guys!
If I can track down the gremlins before next year we will be back.
Thanks to those who take the time to dial the bands and pass out the qsos. If
it were not for you this would be boring.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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