Sweepstakes CW 2015

This year I operated from home and put in a nearly full-time effort. All the equipment was the same as last year. And I again strung up my 2-element triband wire yagi. For some reason, it worked very well on 20m, beating the G5RV by 1-2 S-units on most signals I was hearing, but on 15m signals were usually louder on the dipole. I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps there's some interaction between the two antennas, since they hang from the same tree.

In any case, here are the results:

 Band     QSOs     Pts  Sec

   3.5      71     142    3

     7     189     378   13

    14     413     826   22

    21      86     172   34

    28      20      40   11

 Total     779    1558   83

Score: 129,314

Rig: Elecraft K3, KPA-500 amplifier, KAT-500 antenna tuner
Antennas: G5RV inverted vee with apex@60ft, 2-el triband wire yagi@35ft

I opened on 10M, worked most of the stations on the band, then tried CQing with no joy. I dropped down to 15 and did the same, but the band didn't seem to be in very good shape. So this year, 20m was the money band for me. I even had a nice 75/hour run on 20, with some shorter runs with good rate. It's a good reminder that even with a modest station, calling CQ in SS is a good idea.

ARRL SS CW - 2015-11-07 2100Z to 2015-11-09 0300Z - 782 QSOs

KM6I Runs >10 QSOs:

2015-11-08 0008 - 0105Z,   14062 kHz, 74 Qs, 77.9/hr KM6I

2015-11-08 0551 - 0603Z,    7023 kHz, 12 Qs, 58.7/hr KM6I

2015-11-08 1706 - 1735Z,   14029 kHz, 24 Qs, 50.3/hr KM6I

2015-11-09 0014 - 0101Z,   14006 kHz, 36 Qs, 45.6/hr KM6I

I took midnight to 7am local time off, and also ran a few errands in the middle of the day on Sunday, so my total time on ended up being 22 hours.

Rate sheet:

Day        Hr   3.5  7    14   21   28   Tot  Accum 

2015-11-07 21   0    0    0    33   14   47   47    

2015-11-07 22   0    0    1    32   6    39   86    

2015-11-07 23   0    0    59   0    0    59   145   

2015-11-08 00   0    0    75   0    0    75   220   

2015-11-08 01   0    31   7    0    0    38   258   

2015-11-08 02   0    49   0    0    0    49   307   

2015-11-08 03   9    19   0    0    0    28   335   

2015-11-08 04   11   13   0    0    0    24   359   

2015-11-08 05   13   20   0    0    0    33   392   

2015-11-08 06   15   10   0    0    0    25   417   

2015-11-08 07   15   6    0    0    0    21   438   

2015-11-08 14   0    1    17   0    0    18   456   

2015-11-08 15   0    0    43   0    0    43   499   

2015-11-08 16   0    0    20   8    0    28   527   

2015-11-08 17   0    0    35   0    0    35   562   

2015-11-08 18   0    0    0    5    0    5    567   

2015-11-08 19   0    0    33   2    0    35   602   

2015-11-08 20   0    0    22   6    0    28   630   

2015-11-08 21   0    0    26   0    0    26   656   

2015-11-08 22   0    0    9    0    0    9    665   

2015-11-08 23   0    0    32   0    0    32   697   

2015-11-09 00   0    2    35   0    0    37   734   

2015-11-09 01   0    26   2    0    0    28   762   

2015-11-09 02   8    12   0    0    0    20   782   

Total 0    71   189  416  86   20   782  782   

I was worried about getting NT for the sweep, as every time I saw a spot they were S0. But on Saturday night I found them at the low end on 40m with a nice S5 signal and worked them on the first call. EWA, NNY, ME, and UT were also a bit hard to come by this year, but I finished Saturday night needing only PR, which I snagged early Sunday morning.

Sunday got pretty slow, and I ended up CQing while reading W1VR's book on antenna zoning. Next year I'll want to do something more personally challenging, depending on the NCCC's goals for SS. Possibilities include getting off my butt and installing some better antennas, adding SO2R, dropping use of the cluster, using low power, or finding a big station to guest-op at and go for a section/division win again.

Echoes during CW Sweepstakes

On Saturday night local time I experienced some echoes of my own signal on 80 meters that were pretty interesting. Here are the details:

Timeline

0645Z: I'm bouncing between 40M and 80M following RBN spots.
0648Z: I work 4 stations S&P on 80M, and don't hear any echoes.
0700Z: I pop up to 40M to make a couple of S&P QSOs, then call CQ for a bit with no takers.
0703Z: I drop back down to 80 to call K6JS and hear the echoes for the first time. I can hear them so distinctly in between QSK breaks that I think I'm losing a jump ball (that's when 2 or more stations respond to another station's CQ).



(Direct link to mp3, if your browser isn't showing an audio player.)

0706Z: I find a clear frequency at 3571 and start calling CQ. Again the echoes are so pronounced I think I'm doubling with another station.



(Direct link)

0730Z: I pop back up to 40M for a couple of S&P QSOs. No echo there.

0746Z: I send a series of dits on my CQ frequency so I can measure the delay later using Audacity.



(Direct link)

Here's one echo, zoomed in. I've selected the time period from when I send the dit to when the echo is heard. That's reflected in the "Selection Length" text at the bottom on the window, where you can see that the delay is 0.157 seconds (157 milliseconds). 186,000 mile/sec * 0.157 sec ~= 29,000 miles, roughly the circumference of the earth.

0752Z: I work N6RO and the echoes are starting to fade.

0802Z: I hear K6MMM (about 15 miles directly south of me) and hear echo on Rich/Anna's signal.

0804Z: I head to bed.

What was happening?

I'm not sure if it was related, but there was a coronal mass ejection late last week that impacted the earth. If I recall correctly, the A index was about 42 and the K index was 4 at the time I was hearing the echoes. Those numbers represent geomagnetic activity in the unsettled to minor storm range.

I did find another blog post from W2PA about a similar phenomenon (with links to other QST articles about echoes like this, as well as longer-delayed ehoes). My best guess is this was some sort of magnetospheric ducting. I can't imagine around-the-world multi-hop F2 propagation being this strong. The delay of the echoes is consistent with an around-the-world trip, although from reading the articles, it looks like magnetospheric ducts can take the signal away from the earth and back.

The effect seems to have been localized to stations in the immediate area. One station in Sonoma County (K6SRZ), about 70 miles NNW, reported the effect, as well a few stations just to the south of me in Campbell (W6FB), Cupertino (N3ZZ) and Los Gatos, CA (K6MMM). I did not hear the echoes on stations in SoCal, nor did I see anyone other than N3ZZ reporting it in soapbox comments on the 3830 reflector.

My big regret is that I didn't think to hook up my SDR and capture the entire band data. Then I could have gone back and listened to all the other local stations on 80m to see which ones were experiencing the echo. But what a reminder about how cool mother nature can be!

SSCW 2013 Recap

                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: KM6I

Operator(s): KM6I

Station: KM6I

Class: SO Unlimited HP

QTH: Mountain View, CA

Operating Time (hrs): 21

Summary:

Band  QSOs

------------

  160: 0

  80:  47

  40:  168

  20:  336

  15:  193

  10:  10

------------

Total:  754  Sections = 83  Total Score = 125,164

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

K3, KPA-500, Dipole @ 60ft, temporary 2-el triband wire yagi @ 35ft

This year was the first year since 2009 that I activated my home station. For the past few years in SS CW and Phone I've been a guest op at AD6Z's shack above Los Gatos, CA, but Kevin's moved, so it was time to find a new place to operate. Initially I'd thought about finding a new station host, but since this year is a focus year for NCCC in the November Sweepstakes, I felt like I could make the best contribution to the club effort by getting my own station on the air and putting as many QSOs in the log as possible. Also, I had a division win last year from Kevin's shack (Pacific Division SO/U/HP), so my need for a personal best was temporarily satisfied.

In my previous post, I laid out some overall goals for my CW effort this year. After the first weekend, I'm pretty pleased with my results, although my BIC* time was not as optimal as it should have been, On the plus side, I made the clean sweep, I'm close to my (slightly optimistic) target number of QSOs, and Murphy stayed away for the whole weekend.

I wasn't thinking clearly and committed to the club to make 800 QSOs, as I (erroneously) remembered making that many contacts in the past. What I was actually remembering was making 832 contacts from AD6Z during the second half of a split-site effort in 2009. Oops! Looking back, the best I've ever done from home was about 600 QSOs and an 80-section sweep (pre-Ontario split).

For the contest I raised my temporary 2-element wire Yagi, hanging diagonally from my big redwood tree. It's consistently about an s-unit better on receive than the multiband dipole at 60ft, which is what I would expect.

Because of my son's soccer match, I couldn't start on time, and ended up finally getting started at 2336 UTC. I was feeling fairly loud on 15, and even put together a one-hour run of 60 QSOs on 20 meters starting at 0140, which I found a little surprising given my simple antenna and 500W signal. I had a good S&P session on 40, found 80 very noisy, and conked out too early (0721Z). That was not good, as I ended up only spending 21 hours BIC.

Starting at 1340 the next morning, I started on 20 meters, and bounced back and forth between 20 and 15. 10 never seemed to be good when I listened. Sometime Sunday morning I found ONE for the sweep. Things were predictably slow on Sunday, although when I popped down to 40 for the NCCC rally I did find a few KBers there. I spent the last 2 hours on 40 meters, except for the 80-meter NCCC rally where I picked up 8 KBers.

I finished the contest with 754 QSOs and the sweep, which I am pretty pleased with. It's 30% lower than my score from last year, but then again I had 2 elements, not 5 on 20/15/10, 1/4 the power, and 3 fewer hours. It looks like I'll be able to make KB-1000 this year.

Thanks for the Qs!

* BIC == Butt In Chair

SS2013 CW Prep

Aargh, SS 2013 has snuck up on me like a stealthy brain-eating zombie. Here's my last-minute panic plan. I don't have a station to guest-op this year, so I need to maximize my home station's effectiveness. This means:

• Putting up the best temporary antenna(s) I can muster
• Optimizing my BIC time
• Doing all the usual things

Goals

Given all these constraints, my goal is to make the NCCC KB-1000 award (1000 QSOs across both SS weekends) this year. My stretch goal is 1200 contacts total.

Sub-Goals

• A clean sweep on CW
• 300 contacts on SSB

My temporary 2-el triband yagi is already in the air, but is missing a functional feedline. I'll get that at HRO Sunnyvale tomorrow and should have the thing operational on Friday.

Operating Plan

I'm going to miss the first few hours of the contest because I'll be at my son's soccer match. I should be home around 1700 local time and on the air around 1900, which means I've had 5 hours off time already. Other than that I should have as much BIC time as I need. Looks like an all-nighter!

On the air I'll be operating Unlimited HP, using the cluster spots as much as possible to optimize mults and keep the S&P rate high. On Sunday I'll try to be fresh meat as much as my modest antennas allow.

Operating plan for the SSB weekend is still TBD. Hope to see you on the air this weekend!

-KM6I

ARRL Sweepstakes Phone 2011 Recap

For the 2011 ARRL Phone Sweepstakes, I was again up at Kevin, AD6Z's place, and like last year, the two of us did a shared-station operation, with both of us on the air at the same time on different bands, making use of his excellent antenna farm, with bandpass filters keeping us from hearing each other. Many thanks to Kevin - the SS weekends are the highlight of my ham contesting experience every year, and I look forward to them with the same excitement I had when I was a new ham in the 1970s.

Here's the raw data:
Call: KM6I
Operator(s): KM6I
Station: AD6Z

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: Los Gatos, CA
Operating Time (hrs): 24

Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 105
40: 267
20: 357
15: 167
10: 71
------------
Total: 967 Sections = 80 Total Score = 154,720
Club: Northern California Contest Club

A few observations:

- I'm about 100 QSOs short of my score from last year, despite the improved conditions on the high bands.
- My QSOs are skewed away from 10 meters, in spite of the the fact that many NCCC stations had many, many 10M contacts in the contest.
- I didn't have this skew toward the lower bands during the CW contest two weeks ago. In that contest, my QSO distribution across the bands was about the same as other NCCC operators.

This all points to me not using 10 and 15 effectively. That may be due to the fact that, due to the way Kevin's feedlines are arranged, one station gets exclusive use of the 10/15 meter tower. It's not possible for one op to use the 10 meter yagi while the other op uses the 15 meter stack. That wasn't a big deal when sunspot numbers were low, but I think it's limiting the combined performance of our dual-op efforts, and will also limit any SO2R efforts as well. For the CW weekend, I was the only op using the antennas, and could use whatever band I wanted.

Or, that previous paragraph may be total BS and I just wasn't aggressive enough in establishing a run frequency early in the contest. On 10 and 15, I was much more tentative in calling CQ because I was worried I was right on top of another west coast station I couldn't hear. It seemed like every clear frequency that was a candidate for a run had some faint station I could just barely hear, and I'd move on. I suspect that a better strategy would be to put out a couple of "is the frequency in use" calls, and then set up shop, moving only if the frequency is clearly in use or is unproductive.

By contrast, I am much more comfortable slotting in and calling CQ on CW. I think that may be due to the fact that I feel proficient in managing my receiver on CW, and can pretty much zero in on any weak CW signal using the K3's controls, and therefore feel "justified" slotting into tight spots on CW. On SSB, however, I have a hard time tuning out loud and splattery adjacent signals, and feel like I must be causing pain to someone running if I slot in 2 KHz above them. That is probably a false equivalence, and I should just call CQ. If I'm inconveniencing someone, I'm sure they will tell me. :-)

Another uncertainty is how long to call CQ before declaring a frequency unproductive and seeking a new one. Oddly, this turned out to be much easier on 20 and 40 for me than on 10 or 15, because I felt like I could hear the "whole situation" better on those bands. Once I slotted into a run frequency, even if it was crowded, I started to produce QSOs. Heck, on 40m I even tried the technique (K9YC's advice, I think) of zero-beating a broadcast station's carrier and calling CQ, and I made contacts.

In spite of these shortcomings, I had some great fun on Sunday afternoon running, with stations sending me serial numbers in the 100-200 range. Those casual contesters are what keeps Sunday fun. Thanks!

Because I did a poor job getting runs going on Saturday, I paid more attention to the spots on the band map, and I had a sweep before I went to bed on Saturday night. Surprisingly, the last section for my sweep was SFL - most of the "hard" sections either called me when I was running, or fell victim to Kevin's 5-el 20M yagi.

Other random thoughts:

I used the same WAV files that I used last year. I recall that, when I recorded and edited them with Audacity, they almost seemed comically fast. This year, I found myself sometimes sending my exchange manually because the recorded messages seemed too slow.

I felt like I was yelling when the run rate was high, but listening to the recording I made, I sound like I'm half-asleep. I should work on sounding excited at a low volume level - I suspect that the top SSB contesters are able to sound loud and fast without expending a lot of energy.

While running on 10M Sunday, I got called by my alma mater station W8UM. It was great to hear them on the air after a long contesting absence. The W8UM station has had some great operators pass through, including top contesters Pat Barkey N9RV and Steve London N2IC. Go Blue!

My CW QSO total (1099) + my SSB QSO total (967) adds up to 2,066, which will qualify me for another NCCC KB-2000 award this year. Woohoo!

Thanks for reading, and hope to work you in the 2012 Sweepstakes!

-Gordon KM6I


Rate Sheet:

Cabrillo Statistics           (Version 10g)           by K5KA & N6TVhttp://bit.ly/cabstat

CALLSIGN: KM6I
CONTEST: ARRL-SS-SSB
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
OPERATORS: KM6I

-------------- Q S O   R a t e   S u m m a r y ---------------------
Hour     160     80     40     20     15     10    Rate Total    Pct
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2100       0      0      0     48      0      0     48     48    5.0
2200       0      0      0      5      7     15     27     75    7.8
2300       0      0      0     25     27      0     52    127   13.1
0000       0      0      0     58      0      0     58    185   19.1
0100       0      0     43      0      0      0     43    228   23.6
0200       0      0     47      0      0      0     47    275   28.4
0300       0     19      8      6      0      0     33    308   31.9
0400       0     45      0      0      0      0     45    353   36.5
0500       0     17     24      0      0      0     41    394   40.7
0600       0      0     48      0      0      0     48    442   45.7
0700       0     10     48      0      0      0     58    500   51.7
0800       0      8      0      0      0      0      8    508   52.5
0900       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    508   52.5
1000       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    508   52.5
1100       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    508   52.5
1200       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    508   52.5
1300       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    508   52.5
1400       0      0     11      0     12      0     23    531   54.9
1500       0      0      0      0     32      0     32    563   58.2
1600       0      0      0     34      0      0     34    597   61.7
1700       0      0      0      8      0     18     26    623   64.4
1800       0      0      0     20      0      3     23    646   66.8
1900       0      0      0     10      0     15     25    671   69.4
2000       0      0      0      9      0     17     26    697   72.1
2100       0      0      0     24      0      0     24    721   74.6
2200       0      0      0      3     29      3     35    756   78.2
2300       0      0      0      0     60      0     60    816   84.4
0000       0      0      0     50      0      0     50    866   89.6
0100       0      0      4     57      0      0     61    927   95.9
0200       0      6     34      0      0      0     40    967  100.0
------------------------------------------------------
Total      0    105    267    357    167     71    967

Gross QSOs=971        Dupes=4        Net QSOs=967

Unique callsigns worked = 967

The best 60 minute rate was 86/hour from 0029 to 0128
The best 30 minute rate was 94/hour from 0039 to 0108
The best 10 minute rate was 114/hour from 0057 to 0106

The best 1 minute rates were:
 3 QSOs/minute   19 times.
 2 QSOs/minute  182 times.
 1 QSOs/minute  546 times.

There were 21 bandchanges and 0 (0.0%) probable 2nd radio QSOs.

Number of letters in callsigns
Letters  # worked
-----------------
   3         1
   4       474
   5       344
   6       146
   7         2

------------ M u l t i p l i e r   S u m m a r y ------------
Mult     160     80     40     20     15     10  Total    Pct
-------------------------------------------------------------
MDC        0      4      4     24     11      2     45    4.7
MN         0      2      8     17     14      3     44    4.6
IL         0      1      9     14      9      7     40    4.1
WWA        0      6     18     12      2      0     38    3.9
VA         0      0      8     21      6      2     37    3.8
OH         0      2      7     17      7      1     34    3.5
MI         0      1      9      8      7      3     28    2.9
SCV        0      6      8      3      4      6     27    2.8
CO         0      1      6     13      6      0     26    2.7
AZ         0      4      7      9      2      0     22    2.3
OR         0      5     12      4      0      0     21    2.2
NC         0      3      2     11      4      0     20    2.1
NH         0      0      3      8      5      2     18    1.9
IN         0      0      3      7      4      3     17    1.8
TN         0      2      3      9      2      0     16    1.7
EPA        0      0      1     12      2      1     16    1.7
NTX        0      0      7      6      1      2     16    1.7
EMA        0      0      3      4      5      3     15    1.6
ENY        0      0      7      6      1      1     15    1.6
WI         0      0      5      4      5      1     15    1.6
WNY        0      1      5      5      3      1     15    1.6
SV         0     11      3      0      1      0     15    1.6
WY         0      4      2      4      4      0     14    1.4
NM         0      2      3      8      1      0     14    1.4
KS         0      1      2      6      4      1     14    1.4
UT         0      2      5      6      0      0     13    1.3
CT         0      0      2      5      2      4     13    1.3
NV         0      8      5      0      0      0     13    1.3
STX        0      1      2      4      3      1     11    1.1
EWA        0      0      5      5      1      0     11    1.1
WMA        0      0      4      3      1      3     11    1.1
ME         0      0      2      4      4      1     11    1.1
MO         0      2      2      4      3      0     11    1.1
ORG        0      4      7      0      0      0     11    1.1
BC         0      2      4      3      1      0     10    1.0
ID         0      2      4      3      1      0     10    1.0
NLI        0      0      0      8      1      1     10    1.0
SF         0      5      5      0      0      0     10    1.0
EB         0      2      5      0      0      3     10    1.0
LAX        0      3      7      0      0      0     10    1.0
WPA        0      0      1      4      4      0      9    0.9
AB         0      1      1      0      2      5      9    0.9
NE         0      0      3      1      3      2      9    0.9
MT         0      1      4      3      1      0      9    0.9
SDG        0      2      6      1      0      0      9    0.9
AK         0      2      3      1      3      0      9    0.9
WCF        0      0      3      5      1      0      9    0.9
ON         0      0      3      2      2      1      8    0.8
SNJ        0      0      2      5      1      0      8    0.8
NFL        0      0      2      3      2      0      7    0.7
OK         0      0      0      5      0      2      7    0.7
SK         0      0      2      1      4      0      7    0.7
SD         0      0      2      4      0      1      7    0.7
SJV        0      1      4      2      0      0      7    0.7
NNJ        0      0      2      3      2      0      7    0.7
WTX        0      2      2      3      0      0      7    0.7
KY         0      0      3      3      1      0      7    0.7
MAR        0      0      1      2      3      0      6    0.6
AL         0      1      1      2      1      0      5    0.5
GA         0      1      0      4      0      0      5    0.5
DE         0      0      1      4      0      0      5    0.5
MB         0      0      1      1      1      2      5    0.5
IA         0      1      0      1      0      3      5    0.5
NNY        0      1      2      1      1      0      5    0.5
QC         0      0      0      2      2      1      5    0.5
WV         0      1      0      1      2      0      4    0.4
SC         0      0      0      3      1      0      4    0.4
LA         0      0      1      2      1      0      4    0.4
SB         0      2      2      0      0      0      4    0.4
PAC        0      0      3      1      0      0      4    0.4
ND         0      2      1      1      0      0      4    0.4
AR         0      0      1      1      0      1      3    0.3
NWT        0      0      2      0      1      0      3    0.3
SFL        0      0      1      2      0      0      3    0.3
VT         0      0      0      2      0      0      2    0.2
NL         0      0      0      1      1      0      2    0.2
VI         0      0      0      2      0      0      2    0.2
RI         0      0      1      1      0      0      2    0.2
MS         0      0      1      0      0      1      2    0.2
PR         0      0      1      0      0      0      1    0.1
------------------------------------------------------
Total      0    105    267    357    167     71    967

Sweepstakes Checks
Check  QSOs    Pct
----------------------
  00    11     1.1
  01     7     0.7
  02     8     0.8
  03    11     1.1
  04     6     0.6
  05    13     1.3
  06    13     1.3
  07    19     2.0
  08    19     2.0
  09    14     1.4
  10    16     1.7
  11     7     0.7
  12     1     0.1
  13     1     0.1
  14     0     0.0
  15     0     0.0
  16     2     0.2
  17     0     0.0
  18     0     0.0
  19     0     0.0
  20     0     0.0
  21     1     0.1
  22     2     0.2
  23     0     0.0
  24     1     0.1
  25     0     0.0
  26     0     0.0
  27     0     0.0
  28     0     0.0
  29     0     0.0
  30     1     0.1
  31     0     0.0
  32     0     0.0
  33     1     0.1
  34     0     0.0
  35     2     0.2
  36     0     0.0
  37     0     0.0
  38     1     0.1
  39     1     0.1
  40     1     0.1
  41     0     0.0
  42     0     0.0
  43     0     0.0
  44     0     0.0
  45     0     0.0
  46     0     0.0
  47     1     0.1
  48     1     0.1
  49     0     0.0
  50     1     0.1
  51     2     0.2
  52     9     0.9
  53     7     0.7
  54    17     1.8
  55    22     2.3
  56    16     1.7
  57    25     2.6
  58    23     2.4
  59    26     2.7
  60    26     2.7
  61    20     2.1
  62    18     1.9
  63    31     3.2
  64    17     1.8
  65    17     1.8
  66    17     1.8
  67    28     2.9
  68    14     1.4
  69    23     2.4
  70    20     2.1
  71    24     2.5
  72    16     1.7
  73    27     2.8
  74    11     1.1
  75    18     1.9
  76    37     3.8
  77    39     4.0
  78    20     2.1
  79    16     1.7
  80     9     0.9
  81     8     0.8
  82     9     0.9
  83     8     0.8
  84     7     0.7
  85     6     0.6
  86     9     0.9
  87    16     1.7
  88     6     0.6
  89    12     1.2
  90    10     1.0
  91    17     1.8
  92    17     1.8
  93    16     1.7
  94    13     1.3
  95    11     1.1
  96    10     1.0
  97    12     1.2
  98    12     1.2
  99    11     1.1

U.S. Call Areas Worked
Area    QSOs     Pct
--------------------
   0     120    12.4
   1      84     8.7
   2      86     8.9
   3      78     8.1
   4      96     9.9
   5      52     5.4
   6     109    11.3
   7     138    14.3
   8      73     7.5
   9      76     7.9
--------------------
Total    912    94.3

Sweepstakes Precedents
Precedent  QSOs    Pct
----------------------
    A      398    41.2
    B      228    23.6
    Q       34     3.5
    M      102    10.5
    U      194    20.1
    S       11     1.1

ARRL Sweepstakes CW 2011 Recap

ARRL Sweepstakes CW is in the log for 2011. Here's my story

First, a million thanks to Kevin AD6Z and his wife Christine for letting me use his station again this year - and for that awesome banana bread. Kevin's located in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Los Gatos, CA, and has a fabulous station:

80m: Dipole @ 110', main lobes N/S, Dipole @ 120', main lobes E/W
40m: Moxon @ 50', 2 el yagi @ 70 '
20m: 5 el yagi @ 70'
15m: 5/5 yagi stack
10m: 5 el yagi
Beverage receive antenna

Score Summary:

Op Time: 24 hours

Band    QSOs    Pts  Mlt
3.5     108     216    2
7       301     602    5
14      162     324    4
21      280     560   20
28      248     496   49
Total  1099    2198   80
Score: 175,840

This is a personal best for me operating from a single station (last year I had 1215 QSOs, but that was across two different stations). I'm happy with the score, but I know I can do better.

Like last year, I brought my Elecraft K3 and plugged into Kevin's Ameritron AL-1200B amplifier. The antenna switching is well laid out, with a StackMatch and SixPack making antenna selection very point and shoot. The rotators were also computer controllable, although I tended to to leave everything pointed at about 70 degrees except when chasing a multi I needed.

On the drive up, I was tuning around the bands on my HF mobile and, despite a lousy antenna, was hearing many, many CW beacons on 10 meters, including a VY2. Thad me me think really hard about starting on 10 meters.

Everything at Kevin's was set, as I'd been up there Thursday night to get my K3 hooked up and verify that everything was working correctly, including my computer, which last year had a disk fail at the start of the contest. I had about an hour to tune around the bands, so I put out a few "test km6i" to poke the reverse beacon network, and noted that I was 30 dB+ snr into some of the east coast skimmers. I decided to start on 10m.

Like last year, Kevin set up his SDR IQ on the extra 80m dipole and hooked up CW Skimmer, which gave me access to very high-quality spots. I'm amazed at how well CW skimmer does its job. It does bust calls occasionally, but I'd put the error rate at well below 1%. Since it has a built-in packet cluster, I just connected to it like any other cluster in N1MM.

At the start of the contest I spent the first two hours on 10m running and occasionally chasing skimmer spots. I dropped to 15 and had my best hour (97 QSOs), made a short pass through 20 and headed down to 40. During the 0400Z hour I went to 80, but rate really went down, so I went back up to 40 and things picked back up. I quit at 1 am and had 643 Qs and 78 sections (needed ND and NL).

Recording of my 97/QSO hour (sorry about the audio quality - I think the recorder I used for this had some sort of AGC and I didn't think to turn it off):



I started the next morning at 6am local time on 20, but noticed that the skimmer was seeing a lot of activity on 15, so I moved up before the hour was out. 15 seemed to dry up a bit, so I dropped back down to 20 at 8 am for an hour, then jumped up to 10. Rate was fairly steady around 50 Q/hour.

Around 11am, with 836 Qs in the log, rate started to fall off quite a bit, and most of the skimmer spots in the N1MM bandmap were gray, indicating that I was running out of stations to work. At this point, I switched between running for a while, then stopping to let the Skimmer work (it was getting desensed and didn't get much time to listen when I was beacon-CQing). After the map populated, I would go into "shooting fish in a barrel" mode, waiting for an unworked call to show up and pouncing on it. It's S&P without the "S". Lazy? Probably. Effective? Yes. I kept this up until the end of the contest, although I did make a number of manual passes through the bands listening for stations the skimmer had not found (there were a few, but not many).

Another great thing at Kevin's is the beverage he installed recently. I connected this to the aux antenna input of my K3 and used it with the subreceiver in diversity mode. Simply put, it was awesome. I've used diversity receive at home a bit, but I don't think my antennas are"diverse" enough to fully take advantage of the feature. At Kevin's, though, it was amazing. Signals that would have experienced a deep fade on a single antenna would instead swing from one side to the other in the stereo mix (diversity receive on the K3 places the receivers one in each ear). Even with weak east coast stations on 80 meters, I hardly ever needed fills. It gave me a lot of confidence to call stations I normally would not have.

A couple of other highlights/lowlights/notes:

• This is the first time I've had to give EU stations a signal report so they would leave me alone. And on 10 meters yet! Kevin noted that we were lighting up the EU skimmers - perhaps that was part of it.
• We dodged the power failure that hit W6NL. Kevin's power comes down from a different direction, apparently.
• During the first day of the contest, I was running and, when I didn't get calls for a while, I would surf over to a spot and work it, then Alt-Q to get back to my run frequency. One time, however, I was in a hurry to get back to CQing, and I unknowingly fat-fingered the Alt-Q and CQd on top of the guy I'd just worked. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it right away, because I got a response, so I inadvertently stole the poor guy's run frequency (I did hear a well-deserved, sarcastic "TU" though). I figured out who I'd done it to and sent an apology via email, and he was *very* nice about it.
• My 837th contact was with my friend Tim, KT8K in Ann Arbor. Running 5w and wire antennas, his number to me was 416. Only 0.3% of my power, but almost 50% of my rate!
• Almost half my QSOs (48%) were on 10 or 15. And I got 61% of my mults on 10. Thanks, Sol!
• QRP stations seemed to benefit from the good band conditions. Many times I had S9+ stations give me a "Q" precedence. And I worked 90 of them (8% of my contacts).
• We dodged the power outage that got W6NL - Kevin's power comes down from Skyline Blvd., and although we had a few minor brownouts, it stayed on.

And some lessons learned

• With good-quality skimmer spots, you can achieve pretty good rate solely S&P. The technique I developed was to select 3 or 4 unworked spots, and sequence through them to identify the one most likely to finish the QSO next (since the SS exchange is so long, it's really to your advantage to do this).
• SS Prefills are a blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing.
• Having the prefill allows me to be faster on the turnaround at the end of a contact if the exchange I'm receiving from the other station matches the prefill - my finger is already on the enter key.
• If your attention wanes, it's easy to not actively check the preflll. I thought this would be rare, but it actually happens quite a bit when you're focusing your mental energy on what to do next. The incoming exchange has the serial number first, which you need to copy, but then the rest of the exchange may be prefilled, and it's easy to, say, start thinking about which spot you're going to grab next. I found I really had to focus on double-checking the prefill.
• With the prefills, the band map can also actively advise you of new mults you need. For example, on Sunday morning my band map was completely full of gray (already worked) spots, and a W0 popped up in red, because the prefill "knew" he was in North Dakota, which was the last multi I needed. One click, one call, and my sweep was complete.
• Once in a while, if I hit Esc to terminate a message, my rig won't unkey. It's not transmitting, but the PTT from the Winkey is asserted, so the receiver is turned off. The only way I've found to get out of this mode is to send another message and hit Esc again. This is a real bummer because I like to abort my "TU" message, (which is "TU KM6I") after the "TU" when I know I've got a several-deep pileup. It not only makes things a little faster, but tends to thin the pileup a bit, or at least spread out the callers in time.
• When surfing packet spots, it's a good idea to click the spot, then tune up or down about 100 Hz. This separates you from all the other spot-surfers who are all zero-beat with each other. Being on the running side of the equation, I noticed that if I had, say, 4 stations calling, with 3 of them zero-beat and one way up or down in frequency, I would get the outlier's call first.
• Another technique I used was sort of a poor-man's SO2R. It works like this:

1. Get a run frequency and call CQ.
   
2. When things dry up, look at your bandmap. If there is an unworked spot, click it. If the QSO is just about to end, hang out and try once to make the S&P contact.
3. After (a) deciding the contact won't finish soon, or (b) calling once and losing, or © making the contact, hit ALT-Q (in N1MM at least) to pop back to your run frequency, and if no one has stolen it, call CQ.

• This poor-man's SO2R technique works a lot better if you have a monitor that's tall enough to show the whole band. My netbook has such a tiny screen that this wasn't as effective as it could have been.
• CW Skimmer spots show the caller's CW speed. This helps you, say, avoid blasting some 20 WPM CQer with your 35 WPM callsign (although, I have to say, when I did accidentally do this to people, they did a great job of coping my call. I did, of course, QRS for the exchange).
• The smaller keys on my netbook caused some fat-finger QLFs.
• In the heat of battle, I found it easy to hit the wrong F-key when using them for fills. I think the function key template I have taped to the computer could be clearer.

If I worked you in the contest, thanks for the QSO, and thanks for reading!

73,

- Gordon

Rate Sheet:

Cabrillo Statistics           (Version 10g)           by K5KA & N6TVhttp://bit.ly/cabstat

CALLSIGN: KM6I
CONTEST: ARRL-SS-CW
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
OPERATORS: KM6I

-------------- Q S O   R a t e   S u m m a r y ---------------------
Hour     160     80     40     20     15     10    Rate Total    Pct
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2100       0      0      0      0      0     76     76     76    6.9
2200       0      0      0      0      0     76     76    152   13.8
2300       0      0      0      0     69      6     75    227   20.7
0000       0      0      0     13     57      0     70    297   27.0
0100       0      0     51      4      0      0     55    352   32.0
0200       0      0     62      0      0      0     62    414   37.7
0300       0      0     59      0      0      0     59    473   43.0
0400       0     23     13      0      0      0     36    509   46.3
0500       0      2     49      0      0      0     51    560   51.0
0600       0     47      0      0      0      0     47    607   55.2
0700       0     25     11      0      0      0     36    643   58.5
0800       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    643   58.5
0900       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    643   58.5
1000       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    643   58.5
1100       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    643   58.5
1200       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    643   58.5
1300       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    643   58.5
1400       0      0      0     35     12      0     47    690   62.8
1500       0      0      0      0     43      0     43    733   66.7
1600       0      0      0     53      0      0     53    786   71.5
1700       0      0      0      0      0     50     50    836   76.1
1800       0      0      0      0      9     28     37    873   79.4
1900       0      0      0      0     28      0     28    901   82.0
2000       0      0      0      0     20     12     32    933   84.9
2100       0      0      0     15     12      0     27    960   87.4
2200       0      0      3     18      7      0     28    988   89.9
2300       0      0      0     11     23      0     34   1022   93.0
0000       0      0     16     13      0      0     29   1051   95.6
0100       0      8     19      0      0      0     27   1078   98.1
0200       0      3     18      0      0      0     21   1099  100.0
------------------------------------------------------
Total      0    108    301    162    280    248   1099

Gross QSOs=1104        Dupes=5        Net QSOs=1099

Unique callsigns worked = 1099

The best 60 minute rate was 97/hour from 2331 to 0030
The best 30 minute rate was 102/hour from 2331 to 0000
The best 10 minute rate was 114/hour from 2349 to 2358

The best 1 minute rates were:
3 QSOs/minute    3 times.
2 QSOs/minute  199 times.
1 QSOs/minute  692 times.

There were 23 bandchanges and 0 (0.0%) probable 2nd radio QSOs.

Number of letters in callsigns
Letters  # worked
-----------------
3         1
4       695
5       311
6        90
7         1
9         1

------------ M u l t i p l i e r   S u m m a r y ------------
Mult     160     80     40     20     15     10  Total    Pct
-------------------------------------------------------------
VA         0      5     10     12     17     11     55    5.0
IL         0      2     12      5      6     17     42    3.8
MN         0      3     11      2     11     15     42    3.8
MDC        0      2     17      8      6      6     39    3.5
OH         0      1      6      8      9     14     38    3.5
WWA        0      7     16      1      9      4     37    3.4
SCV        0      4      6      3      6     16     35    3.2
STX        0      2      7      4      7     13     33    3.0
EPA        0      6      7      5      7      7     32    2.9
WI         0      5      7      1      9      8     30    2.7
TN         0      4      6      7      5      6     28    2.5
CO         0      3     10      6      9      0     28    2.5
NC         0      1      9      3     11      3     27    2.5
NTX        0      0      4      0      8     14     26    2.4
OR         0      3     13      1      3      4     24    2.2
IN         0      6      8      3      2      4     23    2.1
AZ         0      1     10      8      3      1     23    2.1
MI         0      2      4      3      4      9     22    2.0
EMA        0      2      7      3      4      3     19    1.7
SV         0      1      7      2      2      6     18    1.6
WNY        0      1      2      3      9      2     17    1.5
NH         0      1      4      5      4      2     16    1.5
SFL        0      0      3      2      5      6     16    1.5
EB         0      1      4      0      6      5     16    1.5
ON         0      2      4      3      6      1     16    1.5
AL         0      1      2      3      4      5     15    1.4
GA         0      0      3      3      5      4     15    1.4
ORG        0      4      6      3      1      1     15    1.4
CT         0      0      3      4      5      1     13    1.2
ENY        0      0      4      1      6      2     13    1.2
WCF        0      0      4      0      8      0     12    1.1
NM         0      2      2      2      6      0     12    1.1
WPA        0      0      3      1      6      1     11    1.0
MO         0      0      0      4      1      5     10    0.9
SJV        0      1      5      0      1      3     10    0.9
NLI        0      0      2      3      3      2     10    0.9
KS         0      3      3      1      1      2     10    0.9
IA         0      2      2      3      1      2     10    0.9
SDG        0      2      5      0      3      0     10    0.9
MAR        0      0      4      2      1      2      9    0.8
OK         0      0      0      0      4      5      9    0.8
LA         0      2      2      1      3      1      9    0.8
ME         0      1      4      0      2      2      9    0.8
NFL        0      0      2      2      4      1      9    0.8
LAX        0      1      5      1      2      0      9    0.8
SF         0      4      2      1      1      1      9    0.8
BC         0      0      2      3      2      1      8    0.7
SNJ        0      1      4      1      2      0      8    0.7
WY         0      2      3      1      2      0      8    0.7
NNJ        0      0      2      0      3      2      7    0.6
EWA        0      1      1      2      1      2      7    0.6
MT         0      1      4      0      1      1      7    0.6
AK         0      0      2      0      4      1      7    0.6
UT         0      2      4      1      0      0      7    0.6
KY         0      1      0      1      3      2      7    0.6
SD         0      1      2      0      1      2      6    0.5
SK         0      0      1      0      2      3      6    0.5
WMA        0      0      2      0      3      1      6    0.5
WV         0      1      2      1      1      1      6    0.5
VT         0      2      1      2      1      0      6    0.5
NV         0      1      1      1      1      1      5    0.5
WTX        0      1      0      1      3      0      5    0.5
ID         0      1      2      1      1      0      5    0.5
SC         0      1      0      1      2      1      5    0.5
AR         0      1      0      0      1      2      4    0.4
QC         0      0      1      2      0      1      4    0.4
VI         0      0      1      2      0      1      4    0.4
NNY        0      1      0      1      1      1      4    0.4
PAC        0      0      2      0      2      0      4    0.4
SB         0      1      2      1      0      0      4    0.4
RI         0      0      1      2      0      1      4    0.4
MS         0      0      1      0      1      1      3    0.3
NE         0      0      0      0      1      2      3    0.3
DE         0      0      0      1      2      0      3    0.3
AB         0      1      1      1      0      0      3    0.3
PR         0      0      1      0      0      2      3    0.3
ND         0      0      0      1      2      0      3    0.3
NWT        0      0      1      0      0      1      2    0.2
MB         0      0      0      1      1      0      2    0.2
NL         0      0      0      1      0      1      2    0.2
------------------------------------------------------
Total      0    108    301    162    280    248   1099

Sweepstakes Checks
Check  QSOs    Pct
----------------------
00     6     0.5
01     1     0.1
02     2     0.2
03     2     0.2
04     1     0.1
05     6     0.5
06     5     0.5
07     3     0.3
08     3     0.3
09     3     0.3
10     5     0.5
11    10     0.9
12     7     0.6
13     4     0.4
14     6     0.5
15     2     0.2
16     5     0.5
17     5     0.5
18     7     0.6
19     6     0.5
20     5     0.5
21     4     0.4
22     5     0.5
23     3     0.3
24     3     0.3
25     2     0.2
26     3     0.3
27     6     0.5
28     2     0.2
29     1     0.1
30     4     0.4
31     2     0.2
32     7     0.6
33     5     0.5
34     3     0.3
35     1     0.1
36     1     0.1
37     3     0.3
38     3     0.3
39     7     0.6
40     4     0.4
41     1     0.1
42     3     0.3
43     2     0.2
44     5     0.5
45     0     0.0
46     3     0.3
47     5     0.5
48     5     0.5
49     4     0.4
50     2     0.2
51     7     0.6
52    13     1.2
53    11     1.0
54    24     2.2
55    33     3.0
56    24     2.2
57    27     2.5
58    40     3.6
59    34     3.1
60    37     3.4
61    25     2.3
62    46     4.2
63    30     2.7
64    19     1.7
65    21     1.9
66    23     2.1
67    18     1.6
68    27     2.5
69    31     2.8
70    32     2.9
71    28     2.5
72    33     3.0
73    22     2.0
74    16     1.5
75    23     2.1
76    36     3.3
77    30     2.7
78    20     1.8
79    16     1.5
80     8     0.7
81     6     0.5
82     9     0.8
83    11     1.0
84    10     0.9
85     3     0.3
86    13     1.2
87    10     0.9
88     6     0.5
89     7     0.6
90     9     0.8
91     9     0.8
92     9     0.8
93     7     0.6
94     5     0.5
95     9     0.8
96    10     0.9
97     7     0.6
98     8     0.7
99     4     0.4

U.S. Call Areas Worked
Area    QSOs     Pct
--------------------
0     117    10.6
1      93     8.5
2      95     8.6
3      98     8.9
4     136    12.4
5      93     8.5
6     125    11.4
7     116    10.6
8      69     6.3
9     105     9.6
--------------------
Total   1047    95.3

Sweepstakes Precedents
Precedent  QSOs    Pct
----------------------
A      479    43.6
B      227    20.7
Q       90     8.2
M       34     3.1
U      264    24.0
S        5     0.5

N1MM Logger and Sweepstakes - QLF

While operating CW Sweepstakes this year, I forgot that N1MM requires that you type the serial number and precedence without a space in between them, if the fields are typed out of order. When using a prefill file, you are typing things out of order most of the time, because the check and section are auto-populated from the prefill.

For example, if I type W6YX in the input field, and press space, the entry field will auto-populate with:

24 SCV

Then if W6YX sends me "74 S W6YX 24 SCV" I have to remember to type:

74S

rather than

74 S

If I type the latter, the contact gets incorrectly logged with a serial number of 24 and a check of 74.

I didn't realize until after the contest that I'd done this, and at first I thought my log was toast. However, the "damage" is regular and can be fixed up by applying the following algorithm:

for each log entry:
if serial number in log == check from prefill file
  swap check and serial number

Note that this only affects contact where the serial number is less than 100, because N1MM knows that's not a valid check and does the right thing.

It also doesn't affect contacts where the prefill data was wrong and I copied the whole exchange, because it uses the last two numbers typed as the serial number and check, which is, again, the right thing.

Here is a Download link. You'll need Python 2.X. Just run the program to get help.

Woohoo!

How much does the station matter?

Here are some comparisons of my efforts from home and from AD6Z (all SO1R).

Home: FT-857D + Ten Tec Hercules amplifier at 500W, G5RV inverted vee at 60 feet, 2 element wire yagi at 35 feet and fixed @70 degrees. Sea level.

At AD6Z: Elecraft K3 + Ameritron AL-1200 amplifier at 1500W, 80m dipole, 2 el 40m Yagi, 5 el 20m Yagi, 15m 5/5 el Yagi stack, 10m 5 el Yagi. At about 1700' elevation, decent downslope to US.

Major differences:

• Triple the power (+4-5 dB)
• Way better antennas (+9-15 dB)
• Better terrain (just guessing +5 dB)

So here's what you can expect from an improvement of 18-25 dB)

               @Home          @AD6Z (callsign NW6H)
Time:             10:18          14:13
QSOs:               383            832
Sections:            77             79
Average Rate:        37/hr          58/hr (+57%)
Best 60 min:         52/hr          83/hr (+60%)
Best 10 min:         96/hr         108/hr (+13%)
Longest run:         50 QSOs       151 QSOs
Run/SP count*:  120/263        577/255
Run/SP ratio*:     0.46           2.27
Score:           58,982        131,456

*only counts runs of more than 10 QSOs. Runs less than 10 counts as S and P since that's all that N1MM will show.

There were 258 callsigns that I worked at both stations, meaning there were 125 stations I worked only at KM6I, and 574 that I worked only at AD6Z.

Another interesting thing to look at is the signal levels at the various Reverse Beacon Network CW Skimmers out there. Here's how my home signal compared with AD6Z's signal on 20m and 40m at the K4TD Skimmer site (at the time, Donald, AE6RF was operating AD6Z's station using the callsign K6WC). Click to zoom in on the charts.

While there's a lot of noise in this data (did I really put a 54 dB signal into the Skimmer? I doubt it), it's roughly consistent with my estimates for the signal differences between the stations.

CW Sweepstakes Plans Set

I've got a second station lined up to operate for the CW weekend of the ARRL November Sweepstakes. Here's the general plan:

Saturday: lead off from home, signing KM6I. Equipment:

• FT-857D + Hercules amp @ 500w
• 80/40m: G5RV @ 60ft
  
• 20/15/10m: 2 el wire yagi @ 40ft

(I need to use my old FT-857D so I can haul my K3 up to the second operating location - SS rules only allow a transmitter to be used with one callsign.)

After 12 hours or so of operating from home, I'll get a quick nap, then drive up to AD6Z's place, where I'll be signing NW6H. Equipment:

• K3 + AL-1200 amp
• 80m: high folded dipole
• 40m: XM240 2-el Yagi
• 20m: 5 el Yagi
• 15m: 5/5 stack
• 10m: 5 el Yagi

This is far and away the best station I've ever operated, so I'm really stoked to do well. On top of having all this great aluminum and copper in the air, the station is up at about 1700 feet in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Thanks to Kevin, the owner, for the chance to operate!

Preparations for November Sweepstakes

I've gotten spousal approval to go for two full-effort weekends in the November Sweepstakes, including a full 30-hour CW split station effort at AD6Z's excellent QTH. So, to get my home station ready to go, here's my list of tasks:

• Repair my triband wire beam - replace broken spreader arm. [DONE]
  
• Upgrade K3 firmware and N1MM well ahead of time (get them installed by the CQP in early October). [DONE]
  
• Secure the coax feedline attachment to the G5RV - the strain relief appears to have worked loose, so all the downward pull from the coax is on the PL259. I just know it'll pop loose in the middle of SS. [DONE - feedline replaced, too]
  
• Give the station a good shakedown in CQP - aim for at least 10 hours of operating. [DONE - some new problems discovered]
  
• Spend some time tweaking my transmit microphone EQ settings. [DONE]
  
• Get WAV files recorded for phone SS.
• Get my netbook set up to do logging tasks. [DONE]
  
• Make a list of things I want to take with me to a guest station (e.g. K3, headphones, netbook, keyer, etc.) so I don't have any unpleasant surprises upon arriving. [DONE]
  
• Clean up the shack. [DONE]
  
• Hang some blinds in the shack - that afternoon sun is blinding. [DONE]
• Fix RFI problem that kills DSL when running high power (otherwise I won't be able to supply spots) [DONE - switched to Comcast for internet access]
  
• Get FT-857D working with N1MM on Netbook. [DONE]
  
• Fix virus infection on desktop (Grrrr!!)
• See about maybe adding a simple longwire receive antenna to use with diversity reception on the K3. [NOT DOING]
  
• Run an RFI check with amplifier running at 500w on 80-10 meters.
  
• See if the ANC4 noise cancellation unit does any good.
• Write down antenna tuner settings for all bands and put cheat sheet on tuner.
  
• Raise the triband wire beam on Friday and test. [DONE]
• Get hooked up to VE7CC cluster and get spot filtering working. [DONE - needed to change the SH/DX macro to SH/MYDX/30]
  
• Find a packet cluster that includes RBN spots.
• Make a function-key cheat sheet that can sit on the keyboard. [DONE]
  
• Get N1MM set up with two separate log databases, one for each callsign, including FN keys. [DONE]
  
• Make "go kit" list so I can roll out to AD6Z's place in a hurry. [DONE]
  
• Make a rate sheet from last year's CW logs. [DONE]
  
• Come up with an operating plan. [DONE]
  
• Get N6BV propagation PDF on laptop. [DONE - actually printed it out]
• Put "SS" back in at end of CQ. [DONE]
• Update Prefill and SCP files. [DONE]
• Get set up to record contest audio.
• Add "R" to S and P exchange [DONE]
• Be Faster on S and P!!!!!
  
• Do the Sunspot Dance
  

ARRL DX CW 2010

I put in a limited effort in the ARRL DX CW Contest this weekend. I was planning on making it a "get to know 40m better" effort both Fri and Sat nights, but a flu bug made me go QRT after Fri night. I did manage to stick my groggy head in the shack on Sunday morning and catch a nice opening into Europe on 20m. 40m on Friday night was really great. I even worked a couple of EUs there, which was a nice surprise.

Final tally:

Call: KM6I
Operator(s): KM6I
Station: KM6I

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Mountain View, CA
Operating Time (hrs): 3.5

Summary:
Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
160:       
80:       
40:  57    30
20:  16    11
15:  4      4
10:       
-------------------
Total:  77    45  Total Score = 10,395

Rig: K3 + Hercules @ 400w on 40m, Inv vee @ 60 ft.

I'm now up to about 122 countries worked. Also, this puts me at an even 100 countries worked from California, which is pretty satisfying. Those evenings tuning around 40m for dxpeditions are paying off.

CQWW CW 2009

I spent a little over 8 hours playing in the CQWW CW contest this weekend:

Band    QSOs    Pts  Cty   ZN
1.8        1      2    1    1
3.5       16     41    7    9
7         81    209   31   19
14        13     35    5    6
21        20     53   11   10
28         2      6    1    1
Total    133    346   56   46
Score: 35,292

Most of my operating was overnight, when the kids were in bed, but I did get to spend some time on 20, 15, and 10 during the day. I got six new countries, which brings my DXCC worked count to 114:

Barbados: 8P5A and 8P9SS
East Malaysia: 9M8YY
Costa Rica: TI5N
Mongolia: JT1C
Nigaragua: YN2GY
Grenada: J39BS

And, although this wasn't a new country for me, as I have it confirmed from 1977, I worked Senegal, 6W1RW on 40m.

I'm just amazed at how many of the stations along the east coast of Europe and Africa were able to copy my 100 watts and a dipole (Madeira Island, Canary Islands, Senegal, Galapagos Islands, Portugal)

Here's the complete list of all the different countries (34 total):

Alaska
Argentina
Aruba
Asiatic Russia
Barbados
Belize
Bonaire, Curacao (Neth. Antilles)
Brazil
British Virgin Is.
Canada
Canary Is.
Chile
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
East Malaysia
France
Galapagos Is.
Grenada
Hawaii
Jamaica
Japan
Madeira Is.
Martinique
Mexico
Mongolia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Portugal
Senegal
Turks & Caicos Is.
United States of America
Venezuela
Virgin Is.

ARRL Sweepstakes, SSB

This last weekend was the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes. I was hoping to get lucky and make 376 contacts to go with the 624 I had during the CW contest, to make an even 1,000. As the weekend approached, though, I realized that other obligations were going to turn the contest into an overnight operating event, with no daytime operation. Even if I was operating the whole time the kids were asleep, I'd still need to keep up a rate of 37 QSOs per hour, which is pretty tough for me.

As it turned out, I made exactly 200 QSOs, and got 57 sections, almost all on 40 and 80, plus a few when 20 opened in the AM:

Call: KM6I
Operator(s): KM6I
Station: KM6I

Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: Mountain View, CA
Operating Time (hrs): 9

Summary:
Band  QSOs
------------
160:    0
80:  127
40:   61
20:   12
15:    0
10:    0
------------
Total:  200  Sections = 57  Total Score = 22,800

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

K3 barefoot, G5RV inverted vee at 60 feet.

Family obligations kept this to an overnight effort.

I actually had a nice 20-minute run on 80, working mostly other NCCC members. And, for the first time, I had someone deliberately QRM me. How flattering! I thought I wasn't loud enough to be a target!

But listening to the recording, I have some opportunities to crispen up my phone contesting. I tend to say "QSL," "you are," and "number" when they aren't really necessary, and the pace of my recorded exchange seems positively glacial compared to some of the better operators. On the bright side, I read numbers correctly, giving each number individually, and can more or less type and talk at the same time.

So between the CW and Phone weekends, I contributed 122,640 points to the NCCC club score. This was an improvement of 96,994 points over my scores from last year (4.75 times as many points).

My Best Hour

Here's an audio recording of my best one-hour rate (39 QSOs, mostly S&P, 40 meters) in the 2009 CW SS. Sorry about the poor quality - I forgot to readjust the audio into the computer before I started recording at the beginning of the contest, and the audio is way too hot.




Listening to this, what strikes me is:

- How little traction I got calling CQ.
- How often I got an answer on my first S&P call.
- How lazy I was moving between S&P opportunities, or moving on after I didn't make it on the first call.

For SS SSB, which will probably be an all S&P effort on 40/80, I'd better keep moving faster.

ARRL November Sweepstakes - CW

SSCW is in the logbooks, and here's how I did:

Callsign Used : KM6I
Operator(s) : KM6I
Station: KM6I

Class: SO Unlimited LP

Name : Gordon Good
City/State/Zip : Mountain View  CA  94040

ARRL Section : SCV
Club/Team : Northern California Contest Club
Software : N1MM Logger V9.10.3

  Band    QSOs    Pts  Sec
  3.5     133     266   26
    7     189     378   49
   14     250     500    3
   21      52     104    2
Total     624    1248   80

Score : 99,840 (yes, I missed 100k by one lousy Q)
Rig : K3 barefoot, WinKeyer
Tïme: 22 hours

Antennas : G5RV inverted vee at 60 feet, 2-el triband wire yagi at 35 feet

My goal for the two SS weekends this year is to beat my CW score from my first SS in 1978 (303 Qs, 57 Mults, 34,428 points), and make KB-500 between the two weekends. I actually reached both goals this weekend

My wife gave me the whole day off Sunday, so my plan was to get the kids to bed on Saturday, then operate from 0500Z until the end of the contest for a total of 22 hours of BIC. I wasn't sure how motivated I'd stay, as I recall getting pretty tired at some of the W8UM multi-op SS efforts in the 1980s, but it turned out to not be a problem. After 300, I got motivated to hit 400, 500, and then 600.

I was also surprised to find that by the time I came off the low bands and went to 20m for the first time at 1400Z, I already had 75 mults. I guess 40 and 80 were pretty good! I hadn't given any thought to trying for a sweep, but once I was that close, I started paying more attention to the red in the bandmap.

The "secret weapon" for me this year was a homebrew 2-element triband wire yagi, fixed at 70 degrees. I found the design in a back issue of QST (link: http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0111035.pdf). The thing worked great - east coast stations were 1 or 2 S-units louder on receive, and I felt loud - often I'd come out on top when several stations were calling. I was able to work MAR with just a few calls (I did wait for the pileups to calm down a bit before I tried, though).

Here's a better picture of the wire yagi:



And this was my first contest with my new K3. It held up well. It got a good workout too, as my neighbor W6XX (5,000 feet east of me) was on and was 60 dB over S9. I was able to work stations a few kHz away from his run frequency - it wasn't easy, and I knew he was there, but I could do it. I also just love the K3's QSK, and the single knob for controlling both the DSP filter width and roofing filter selection. Get the station dialed in and twist the knob to the left until the QRM goes away.

I found that I was able to find a run frequency on the upper edge of the band and run for a while, but after 10 or 20 QSOs, things would dry up. I never got spotted on the cluster, but that's probably because I was up so high in the band and didn't hang around long enough.

Another strategy I used was to "bandmap surf" a few spots I hadn't yet worked. By that I mean I'd click on unworked spots up and down the map until I found one just about to finish a contact. It was more time-efficient than clicking on one and waiting for the current exchange to finish. I did tune and spot stations as well, however.

And my plans to use the K3's subreceiver to do SO2V S&P didn't come to fruition. I'd practiced the mechanics of switching from the run to the S&P frequency and logging the contacts, but I wasn't prepared for the aural onslaught that is a contest. I just lost all confidence in being able to pull it off, so I turned off the KRX3 and only used it when a rare mult went split. Maybe next time...

It was also nice to finally work Scot, KA3DRR in a contest, and to run into my W8UM acquaintance Steve, K8QKY, running stations on 20. I was looking forward to, but missed working Tim, KT8K.

The Triband Wire Yagi Flies!

This morning I pulled my homebrew two-elelement triband yagi up. I got the design from a QST article:

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0111035.pdf (ARRL members only)

I need to pull it up a little higher, but when I'm done, it'll be in a sloping configuration, with the feedpoint at about 35 feet. Just listening around 20m now, it's a really significant improvement to the east coast - a W2 calling CQ was down in the noise on my G5RV, but was much better copy on the beam.


If the antenna performs as expected, this should give me about one S-unit improvement at a heading of about 70 degrees.

A QRQ Nightmare

What would it sound like if everyone in SSCW slowly QRQ'd up to 100wpm? Listen to this: QRQ Nightmare

NCCC SSCW Practice Recording

I couldn't make the NCCC SSCW practice session tonight, but I did turn on the receiver and set up audacity to record it. The left channel is the main receiver of my K3, parked on 7.040 with the wide (2.8 KHz) filter on, and the right channel is the subreceiver on 3.540. Here's what it sounded like from Mountain View, CA

SSCW Practice, 11-6-2009 (10mb mp3)

KM6I CQP 2009

The weekend of Oct 3-4 was my first-ever California QSO Party, and man, what a blast. I set a couple of personal bests:

• My first 300+ QSO contest (in 9 hours, for an average rate of almost 35/hr)
  
• A new one-hour rate record - 65 contacts

It really helped that it was allowable to work a station once per band/mode combination, so it might be optimistic to assume that I'll be able to equal these in the November Sweepstakes, but hope springs eternal...

I was able to get a few nice runs going, and even managed a run of 7 contacts on 80 meter phone, which I would have never thought possible with 100 watts to a dipole at 60 feet.

Other things:

• It was really instructive to listen to the real pros like K6XX and N6TV. I'd love to be a fly on the wall of their shack while they're operating.
• I couldn't believe it when I was running on 20 CW and was called by DL5YM.
• My best hour wasn't solely running - there was a lot of S&P as well, so I'm apparently getting better at S&Ping quickly.
• I was only called by 2 dupes the whole contest. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the operators.