X

ARRL 10M 2007

[table]
Name,Call,Class,Score
Jim,KK1W,SOLP – Mixed,13888
Dave,KB1MU,SOLP,144
Rick,N1RL,SOLP,2716
George & Ed,KC1V,Multi,440
Tom,N1MUV,SOLP,288
Scott,KB1NGH,SOLP,192
Pat,KB1OAP,SOLP,72
Les,K1DNX,SOLP,1804
, ,Total Club Score:,19544[/table]

SOAPBOX

KK1W: I didn’t think propagation could be any worse than last year – but it was! I spent about 9 hours actually operating this year which was down about a half an hour from 2006 but my score was less than half. Still it was fun and generated some memorable moments. Sunday afternoon while my radio was sending out CQ’s my son called with a question. I forgot all about the radio but when I got back on N1RL was there to tell me I missed a good one! I’m a m0r0n! I worked a bunch of HCRA members including KB1OAP/T. Nice job Pat on CW and thanks for the extra four points! In addition to Pat I worked (in no particular order) K1DNX, KD1UU, N1MUV, N1RL and KB1XG. Lets ask Santa now for more sunspots next year!

Jim, KK1W

N1RL: The ARRL 160-Meter Contest is my big event each December, but 10 meters can be an interesting band, even at this time of the solar cycle — in some ways a little like 6 meters. Occasional activity in one region or another will suddenly burst above noise level, and if you’re fast, you can slip in a contact before they sink into oblivion once more. I heard, but wasn’t fast enough to work, K7RL in WA, for a few seconds. Since my operating was rather sporadic throughout the weekend, I missed at least one good opening into the Caribbean, CA and SA but was able to work into Florida and Indiana here in the US. Most of my operating was on CW. When I heard Jim, KK1W, blasting out a CQ and not returning my calls, I started checking to see if my PROIII had quit transmitting again. He had put his rig on autopilot for a while, however (Jim, despite all the modern technological advances we enjoy these days, the computer still can’t work ‘em for you), and I heard other stations calling in vain too. No Yagis here. I was running 100 W to a big (for 10 meters) vertical loop; that seemed to be the most effective antenna. I find the spectrum scope on the PROIII invaluable in events like this.

BTW, I always put “Hampden County Radio Assn” in the “club” field of CT when contesting, even if I’m just dubbing around. A few points here, a few points there, and pretty soon you’re talking real points (with apologies to the late Sen Everett Dirksen).

73, Rick, N1RL
Feeding Hills

AB1HG : The band was not as good as I would have hoped, but I managed to have a lot of fun. I did not operate all that much but I managed to get FL,AL,GA. I though that was pretty considering conditions and running 100 watts into a umbrella table.

Steve, AB1HG

N1BAA: Prop Saturday was dismal to say the least…Florida was open when I got home at 1AM on Saturday morning….so worked about 4 or so…then a Texas station to boot.

SATURDAY evening I did work 2 WA stations and 1 VE7…but that was it for WESTERN CIV! NOT ONE 6 in the log(AMAZING)…and missed some easy states relatively close by.

Sunday was much better….CQ’d in VP8NO, ZS4JAN,( a few other ZSs).VP9, HR, PY0FF (that is a good one)…and all in all SA opened up later…. so that added the LU/CE/CX/OA and HP…. not bad for LOW POWER TO BOOT. The antennas here work very well…and the preamp was a MUST this time around….

Jose, N1BAA

KC1V: Ed, NWH, and I did a “multi-op” effort on Saturday again this year, not that we had enough QSOs to keep two people busy! Our score was way down from last year, but we enjoyed the multi-op “fun multiplier”. We had plenty of time between Qs to talk radio and we did a little ragchewing with some of the local stations; nobody seemed too worried about possibly missing a contact.

The only antenna available to us this year was my R8, 1/2-wave vertical.

The 6-meter yagi is on the tower now, which means the tri-bander is in the storage shed (someday I’ll think about bigger/more towers). The beam might have added a few much needed multipliers to the log – few sunspots would likely have done the same! Maybe next year. I did get to try out a new (to

me) rig, a Kenwood TS-850SAT, which performed very nicely. Ed helped me get MicroLog setup as our logging program. I like the logger very much and will likely start using it as my general logging program.

The final score was 490 points from 35 mixed Qs with 5 multipliers. All in all, we had a lot of fun and learned a few things too. For me, that’s what it is all about.

Vy 73,

George, KC1V

N1MUV: Punched out of New England for a SC & VO Newfoundland contact.. What a bear! Casual contester that I be, I should have had 100+ for the time I spent. Lord ! Let this be the low point of the cycle.

de N1MUV

KB1OAP:

This was my first contest and I really enjoyed it. Was I surprised when the band opened up and all of a sudden South Carolina, and Florida came in loud and clear. I’m in an antenna restricted condominium and using a home brew trap dipole in my single story attic. I was impressed.

73’s
Pat, KB1OAP