ARRL Sweepstakes 2008
From RhinoHome
Watch and listen to VA2SG during SS CW 2007
Contents |
The PLAN
Here are my goals for my 1st ever SS CW/PH. I have no good way to predict how well I will do. CW is a total conservative SWAG. Phone may be more real.
| Call | N6AJR as M/S ops: N6AJR, N6RNO | ||||
| STATION | N6AJR | Operate | 20+hrs | ||
| QSO | 100+ | Mults | 65 | Score | 13,000 |
| Situation | I will be reprising last years efforts with CW using Digital Master 780. I know I need to learn the code. | ||||
| Call | N6RNO | ||||
| STATION | ???? | Operate | 16-24hrs. | ||
| QSO | 200 | Mults | 70 | Score | 28,000 |
| Situation | I will operate secondary bands for 12 hours at N6AJR as N6RNO. I will operate from xxx as xxx for 12 hours on Sunday | ||||
Stories
CW
Vivian and I stopped by Tom's place (N6AJR) on Saturday October xx,2008. Vivian went shopping and Tom showed me around his shack. We talked strategy and I got in a couple of Q's for CQ WW SSB. Vivian showed up latter in the afternoon and was standing at the door patiently waiting for me to realize it was time to leave. We then went to dinner at Felton's Ice Cream at the Nut Tree. Afterwards Vivian continued shopping at the outlets and I listened to my Ohio State Buckeye's loose to Penn State. Ouch !!!
Friday October 31
I drive up to Suisun City area and get a room at the local Motel 6. Then I head over to Tom's place. Tom has gotten the second station to talk to N1MM but he can not send code or listen to the audio from the Yaesu 990. I rig an audio cable and fix the issues with listening.
Next I build a simple inverter interface (2N2222 transistor and 1kΩ) resistor in a film canister. We sliced a DB-9 cable apart and wired in a stereo 1/4 inch jack. An ugly hack solder job but inside the canister you can not see it, so it looks kind of nice. More importantly it worked during the contest. This is the third CW interface I have built on Friday before SS CW. Last year I build two of them.
Saturday Nov 1
Breakfast at the Bear at 9:30am local.
About 10:30am local we start on getting all the software to the same level of N1MM (8.9.6). We setup the database on Station 0 (The Orion) and the keys are setup as well. Using a USB stick, we copy the entire database and key file to the second station. We bring up both machines. They are not seeing each other through N1MM. Fiddle with station names, station table and reboot a couple of times. Eventually, they are talking together. It is now about 1 pm local about one hour before the contest.
We start listening around on 15m and 20m in preparation to hit the ground running. We really did not check how the keys are setup.
I start the contest and QLF the first two contacts. They are probably wrong in the logs. I would not blame the other guy for deleting the QSO. Our keys are wrong and missing vital information.
There are a lot of early requests for repeats on out check. Turns out we send the check faster not slower as intended. We both change F2 to include their call and our call and make the number and check easier to hear. This happens in the first 3 hours. After that requests for repeats drops dramatically.
Every once and a while I remember to slow from 30 down to 20 or 24 for the slower contesters. Sorry to those who I did not slow for, I was having issues remembering to make the change. I also QLFed a few repeats on my side and the other side. When I needed a fill of your CHECK I often asked for PREC instead.... just had trouble remembering which keys to press even with them on the screen in front of me.
By the start of the contest the rain has started to come down in earnest. It rains pretty much the whole time we have daylight. Several times I look outside and find it hard to see the two verticals only 12 feet outside the window. Glad I am inside for the duration.
About 11:30 PM local, I decide to call it a night. This way I'll get to the hotel relax a little and come back some what rested about 7am local. Tom works a few more minutes and hits the sack as well.
Sunday Nov 2
Wake-up call 4:30 ( I asked for 5:30, hotel did not change clocks )
Slip into station. Orion not powering on.
Start working on the Yaesu, make about 5 contacts.
Tom up early, figures out what I failed to turn on.
Running on the Orion.
Last two hours, really tired. Hard to focus, not many workable stations. 40 not so good from the verticals.
Hey, we are done 259 Q's 72 mults, 37,814 points. Personally, I did 150 Q's. This is almost double last year. It was a blast. 100% search and pounce.
Tom and I agree to work out a way for me to work phone from N6AJR with Tom having the Orion this time.
Phone
Luck is when opportunity meets prepartion
Need to review the ARRL 2008 Sweepstakes Rules? http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/novss.html
Need a quick refresher on the all-important 6-Part SS Exchange format? General format is:
His Call -- Your Number -- Precedence -- Your Call -- Check -- Section
| His Call = his call |
| Your Number = your consecutive serial number (start with 001) |
| Precedence = operating status (Q, A, B, U, M, or S) (see next tip) |
| Your Call = your call |
| Check = last 2 digits of the year you were first licensed |
| Section = ARRL section |
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.
Need to know the 6 possible SS precedences? Train your brain to listen carefully for these letters:
| Q | for Single Op QRP (5 Watts output or less) |
| A | for Single Op Low Power (up to 150 W output) |
| B | for Single Op High Power (greater than 150 W output) |
| U | for Single Op Unlimited |
| M | for Multi-Op |
| S | for School Club |
Want to practice copying callsigns to reduce CW logging errors? Try these free Morse trainers to improve your skills.
- http://justlearnmorsecode.com/
- http://www.dxatlas.com/MorseRunner/
- http://www.rufzxp.net/
- http://www.g4fon.net/CW%20Trainer.htm
Want to print out a copy of the 80 possible ARRL Section Multipliers? http://www.arrl.org/contests/sections.abv.html
Need to assign a set of CW Macros to your Function keys? Setup for a typical logging program:
| F1 | CQSS <Your Call> |
| F2 | <His Call> |
| F3 | Exchange (Your Number, Precedence, Call, Check, Section) |
| (Note: Hit F2 + F3 for the full exchange) | |
| F4 | Your Number |
| F5 | Your Precedence |
| F6 | Your Call |
| F7 | Your Check |
| F8 | Your Section |
| F9 | ? (or Agn ?) |
| F10 | NR? |
| F11 | CK? |
| F12 | SEC? |
The Results
CW
My CW Score (Claimed)
2007
| Band | QSOs | Pts | Sec |
| 3.5 | 20 | 40 | 14 |
| 7 | 50 | 100 | 33 |
| 14 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 21 | 8 | 16 | 6 |
| Total | 80 | 160 | 54 |
Score : 8,640
My CW Score (Actual)
| Band | QSOs | Error |
| 3.5 | 15 | 25% |
| 7 | 44 | 12% |
| 14 | 2 | 0% |
| 21 | 5 | 37.5% |
| Total | 66 | 17.5% |
Mults: 51 (Lost 6% of Mults)
Score : 6,732 (Lost 22% of claimed)
LCR Information
Error rate = 11.3%
1 Busted Call: KU1C instead of KU1CW
4 NILs ... including K9YC (ouch)
5 Penalty QSO's (double ouch on a small log)
Phone
My Phone Score
Operating Time (hrs): 18 2007
| Band | QSOs | Pts | Sec |
| 160 | |||
| 80 | 68 | ||
| 40 | 29 | ||
| 20 | 60 | ||
| 15 | 18 | ||
| 10 | |||
| Total | 175 | 22,400 | 64 |
The Story
Two different weekends, two different stations, two different stories.
