November SS Phone 2010

[KC9ECI]

Did you play? How did you do?

[NQ6U]

Freakin' contesters! They screw things up for everyone!

Kidding.

I'm not contester myself but contests don't bother me.

[W2NAP]

evil contesters!

i had to do it.

if i only had a rig.

[KB3LIX]

YOU know I did...Tom

306 Q's and 77 sections.
47k + points
Missed SB, SF and QC.

I did find Tom on 80 m.

[N8YX]

I had a lot of fun listening.

Too much to do around the house to make a serious go of things.

10M was surprisingly devoid of action, but 12 and 11M most assuredly were not. Methinks some folks missed out on points by not venturing into the 28MHz area.

[W1GUH]

YOU know I did...Tom

306 Q's and 77 sections.
47k + points
Missed SB, SF and QC.

I did find Tom on 80 m.

I didn't participate -- I had the mobile out and was listening, but that contest doesn't really lend itself to mobile entries. But I did listen for quite a while Sat. and Sun. I listened for an extended period Sat. night about 9-10 PM, and the band really sounded in good shape for the contest. I heard all parts of the country -- even heard three 6-land sections, including SF. Heard the middle of the country, tne midwest, Florida up to NL.

The thing is, had it not been for SS, I doubt if I would have heard anyone at all. I woulda listened, maybe make a few CQ's (probably with no results), and switched it off after concluding that the "band is dead." Listening reminded me of my novice days back in '60 when the 80 and 40 meter novice bands were usually as crowded as the bands were for SS. Sure, it was tough being that crowded, especially if you didn't have good selectivity, but it was a lot of fun, too, to have so many stations from all parts of the country to work, just for the fun of it. Don't hear much of that type of operating anymore; that's too bad, IMHO.

[KC9ECI]

YOU know I did...Tom

306 Q's and 77 sections.
47k + points
Missed SB, SF and QC.

I did find Tom on 80 m.

You had a few more Q's than I did. 301 here. 80 sections. I was just killing time on 80M and handing out WI when you ran across my signal. It was fun. I've done U class before, but always at QRP power levels. This year I did it with 100W. NT was my last section and I had to call him a lot of times before I finally made it to the top of the pile. Fun stuff, can't wait for next year. The next big thing contesting now is the WI QSO party in March. Myself and two other guys will occupy a freq and hand out 3 counties in one stop. I'll have to put the PA QSO party on the calendar so I can give you some points next year.

[KJ3N]

Did you play?

Nope.


How did you do?

Lousy. :neener:

[KJ3N]

The thing is, had it not been for SS, I doubt if I would have heard anyone at all. I woulda listened, maybe make a few CQ's (probably with no results), and switched it off after concluding that the "band is dead." Listening reminded me of my novice days back in '60 when the 80 and 40 meter novice bands were usually as crowded as the bands were for SS. Sure, it was tough being that crowded, especially if you didn't have good selectivity, but it was a lot of fun, too, to have so many stations from all parts of the country to work, just for the fun of it. Don't hear much of that type of operating anymore; that's too bad, IMHO.

Yet the way the bitching goes on about contests, you'd think there are thousands of stations just waiting in the wings to fill those non-contest weekends. The reality, of course, is that there aren't thousands. In fact, I bet not even hundreds. More like tens. :bfd:

The other reality is that the bands are NOT DEAD. The bands are open practically every day. In order to hear that fact, however, people have to be on the air. Two RXs don't make a QSO. It takes someone to actually TX before the RX hears anything.

Another part of the equation is that you have to have an antenna that works. Being a member of the Piss-Ant, Weak-Ass, Indoor / Attic Dipole / Severe Compromise antenna club isn't going to help. I'd be willing to bet that close to half of the complaints about contesters "stomping" on someone is due to the fact that they (the stompee) can't be heard outside of the USA, or even half way across the country.

[N8YX]

I'd be willing to bet that close to half of the complaints about contesters "stomping" on someone is due to the fact that they (the stompee) can't be heard outside of the USA, or even half way across the country street.
Fixed, courtesy of all those radial-less worm-warming WonderVerticals! which so many folks seem to be a fan of.

I also don't get the whole "Spouse won't let me put up an antenna!" whine. Unless the living arrangements are totally bought and paid for by one's partner and you really don't have a say in the matter, grow a set and string some wire. Or move to a place where you can. :roll:

[KJ3N]

I'd be willing to bet that close to half of the complaints about contesters "stomping" on someone is due to the fact that they (the stompee) can't be heard outside of the USA, or even half way across the country.
Fixed, courtesy of all those radial-less worm-warming WonderVerticals! which so many folks seem to be a fan of.

I have to say that, although I have used both an R-5 and R-7000 vertical (and did fairly well on both), I never really knew how much I didn't hear until I got wire up in the air. This was illustrated to me about 6 months ago when I was switching different antennas while on 40m. While I could hear just about the same amount of stations on the R-7000, signal strength was definitely lower on the vertical.


I also don't get the whole "Spouse won't let me put up an antenna!" whine. Unless the living arrangements are totally bought and paid for by one's partner and you really don't have a say in the matter, grow a set and string some wire. Or move to a place where you can. :roll:

Technically, the house belongs to SWMBO, but I can string all the wire I want. The only rule is "no tower". Unfortunate, but I've lived in her house for 18 years and some sacrifices had to be made in order to keep the peace. Not that I could afford a tower in the first place....

[KG4CGC]

A brief description of the rules and what all the numbers or descriptors mean? Anyone? I was clueless listening to the chatter over the weekend.

[kf0rt]

A brief description of the rules and what all the numbers or descriptors mean? Anyone? I was clueless listening to the chatter over the weekend.

1. Exchange: The required exchange consists of:
4.1. A consecutive serial number;
4.2. Precedence;
4.2.1. “Q” for Single Op QRP (5 Watts output or less);
4.2.2. “A” for Single Op Low Power (up to 150 W output);
4.2.3. “B” for Single Op High Power (greater than 150 W output);
4.2.4. “U” for Single Op Unlimited;
4.2.5. “M” for Multi-Op;
4.2.6. “S” for School Club;
4.3 Your Callsign;
4.4. Check
4.4.1. The last 2 digits of the year of first license for either the operator or the station.
4.4.2. The same Check must be used the entire contest.
4.5. ARRL/RAC Section
4.6 Exchange Example: NU1AW would respond to W1AW’s call by sending: W1AW 123 B NU1AW 71 CT, which indicates QSO number 123, B for Single Op High Power, NU1AW, first licensed in 1971, and in the Connecticut section.)

http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes

[KG4CGC]

1. Exchange: The required exchange consists of:
4.1. A consecutive serial number;
4.2. Precedence;
4.2.1. “Q” for Single Op QRP (5 Watts output or less);
4.2.2. “A” for Single Op Low Power (up to 150 W output);
4.2.3. “B” for Single Op High Power (greater than 150 W output);
4.2.4. “U” for Single Op Unlimited;
4.2.5. “M” for Multi-Op;
4.2.6. “S” for School Club;
4.3 Your Callsign;
4.4. Check
4.4.1. The last 2 digits of the year of first license for either the operator or the station.
4.4.2. The same Check must be used the entire contest.
4.5. ARRL/RAC Section
4.6 Exchange Example: NU1AW would respond to W1AW’s call by sending: W1AW 123 B NU1AW 71 CT, which indicates QSO number 123, B for Single Op High Power, NU1AW, first licensed in 1971, and in the Connecticut section.)

http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakesThank you, Rob.

[KB3LIX]

You had a few more Q's than I did. 301 here. 80 sections. I was just killing time on 80M and handing out WI when you ran across my signal. It was fun. I've done U class before, but always at QRP power levels. This year I did it with 100W. NT was my last section and I had to call him a lot of times before I finally made it to the top of the pile. Fun stuff, can't wait for next year. The next big thing contesting now is the WI QSO party in March. Myself and two other guys will occupy a freq and hand out 3 counties in one stop. I'll have to put the PA QSO party on the calendar so I can give you some points next year.


I'll look for ya in the WI QSO Party. I have worked that one for the last
several years. I checked my certificates and see I took First Place-PA
for both 2009 and 2010.

Of course, the fact that there was probably ONE entry from Pennsylvania
both years, that makes it just a wee bit easier to get a cert.

You are NOT playing in the CQ-WW-CW next weekend ???

I am.

[KC9ECI]

I am. I'll probably just watch the cluster and cherry pick the DX stations with a + indicating a LoTW user though. The Flex 1500 came home today. It needed a little under warranty repair work done. Can't say as I'm all that impressed with it as a radio yet. In theory they've sorted out the CW issues and I plan to give that a try. I did get it hooked up when I came home for lunch, but didn't get to try it out until after work. I heard a Canadian station calling CQ on 20M and worked him on the first call. I got a 55 signal report. It was nice to finally try out my Elecraft T1 autotuner that arrived last week.

RE: antennas, I have a tower, but as of yet it is still horizontally polarized. I hope to put it up in the spring. In the meanwhile, my daily driver antennas are a G5RV and a Hustler 6-BTV. I did at one point in the SS disconnect the G5RV and string a 15M monoband dipole in an attempt to work NT section on 15M. Didn't really have any luck with that and eventually worked a different NT station on 20M with the G5RV.

As to contesting, I'll jump in on a few more here and there. I like the 10M contest coming up and always do that one QRP. AF9J and I try to out do each other each year in that one. The MDXA PSK Deathmatch is another one that I like to get in to.