Off the Random Wire (Week 3)

Satisfaction achieved! The life of low-power, low-profile contesting in a dense-packed condo setting equals 'less is more'. This is especially true when the home owner association board strolls through the neighborhood looking for irregularities like an antenna. The hours of antenna labor reduced the visual print of my low-profile random wire. And, in the up and down between two floor's process, its efficiency and height improved. For example, KA3DRR heard a 20-decibel station operating out of Arizona for the first time. The blue liquid crystal display of the FT100 thumped to the beat of this operator's keyer.

Literally, I sat in the operator's chair listening to the sweet sound of loud carrier wave (CW) and glowed in the armchair copy. But, I did not glow like a 6146 driving my old Heathkit DX-60.

The buzz this weekend? The parties on high frequency (HF) nearly eclipsed the 130th running of the Kentucky Derby. Stations in Washington and Utah reported QRN on 40-meters. KA3DRR missed the Utah, Idaho, and Nevada multiplier. In contrast, signals out of Arizona packed a radio frequency (RF) wallop an hour prior to gray line and shortly afterwards.

The New England QP (NEQP) in unison with the 7QP created a blitz of contesting fun throughout Saturday afternoon into late evening. KA3DRR heard but did not work any northeastern station on 40-meters. Good signal strength from 1-Land. I'm wondering about the steep rising hills to the east/northeast of my QTH? Perhaps.

The -Qs looked like this Az, Az, Az, Or, Mt, Az, Az, Wa, Az, Az, Az, Az, Az, Az, Wa, Az, and you guessed it, Az. Two -Qs on twenty-meters and the remainder on forty. My takeoff shot south/southeast meets slow, rolling hills unlike the steep rise to the east/northeast. I enjoyed the 7-land QP contest and look forward to its '08 running.

Overall, I'm learning just a little more about my station and the effectiveness of KA3DRR's random wire antenna. My weekend is coming to a close followed by a trip up the staircase onto the second floor terrace. I took a moment after walking Radio Dawg and looked at the labor of passion just above the roof. Satisfaction achieved.

73 from the shack.

NCCC Thursday Night Madness 8 of 8

A tough one but not a goose egg. This is contesting at 25-watts into a random wire. I continue working on my antenna through trial and error searching for optimal effective radiated power (ERP). Admittedly, my girlfriend is patient as KA3DRR tromps up and down the staircase between the 1st and 2nd level terrace. It is not like I have not had my moments. Does one peg the outcome of the day on standing wave ratio (SWR)? Sometimes. Meanwhile, Radio Dawg dutifully follows until I sit back in the chair testing my antenna once more.

KA3DRR prepped the photon powered sprint shoes for 15-minutes of Slow NS (SNS) at 20 words per minute (WPM) or less. SNS provides an excellent opportunity for the beginner to sharpen their carrier wave (CW) skill in a supportive contesting environment. The SNS exchange is no different than the NS Sprint. One can sit in the chair and comfortably operate in the SNS populated by the best of the best in amateur radio contesting.

I logged Indiana and Maryland multipliers prior to the call to the keyers at 0230 Zulu. KA3DRR recorded Maryland as best long-hop multiplier off the random wire during SNS. The Maryland and Indiana contact validated my improvement efforts thus far. Then the contest clock rolled into NS Sprint time.

Propagationally, the numbers favored a 20-meter start along with 15-minute old SNS results. KA3DRR moved out of the blocks searching and pouncing (SP) for the first Sprint -Q on twenty. The clock ticked, ticked, and ticked. Zero production in the first few minutes. Precious time evaporated like electrons exchanging orbits, go to 40-meters, and I punched a band change.

KA3DRR SP'd on 40-meters then called CQ. Yes! One Californian in the log and a multiplier. Ok, I thought to myself, not a goose egg. Forty meters just did not play like previous evenings. KA3DRR called CQ a few more times without any give-me from propagation. The Sprint clock shed electrons and one -Q thus far. KA3DRR changed bands and moved to the 80-meter red zone.

Propagation might of placed a ion tombstone on this band. Or just not enough ERP punch through the random wire. The clocked chimed ending the eighth run of the NCCC Sprint for KA3DRR.

Results

Band Raw QSOs Valid QSOs QSO Pts Pts/Q Mults
-------------------------------------------------------------------

20 -- -- -- ---- --
40 1 1 1 1.00 1
80 -- -- -- ---- --

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals 1 1 1 1.00 1

Final Score = 1

Lessons learned from the low-power, low-profile shack is 1). Never give-up, 2). Keep working on the low-profile antenna until that moment arrives and, 3). That moment always arrives.

73 from the shack.

Inside the NCCC Sprint Grid (Week 7)

A blockbuster finish! W9RE (2,052) and N3BB (2,052) recorded the first tie in the series. RE and BB sonic boomed the sprint pack accomplishing in Series VII the following 1). Grid Series Leader tie, 2). An RE/BB 2007 sprint record tie and, 3). An RE/BB divisional win, respectively. Now that is sheer velocity behind those photon powered sprint shoes. Stadium Earth still reverberates and our G4 class star is not yet below the horizon. Who will hit the speed of light and score 3,000 points? The VVA 'X'-prize awaits this intrepid sprinter.

The East of Mississippi Division produced an afterburner race between N4OGW (1,856) and N9CK (1,815). OGW and CK are locked in a classic high frequency duel. This match-up of titans promises an exciting run worthy of an ESPN highlight on Sportscenter in Series VIII. The following sprinters broke best-point in week eight, NS3T (1,107), N2ZN (756), W1UE (680), and KC4HW (90). Congratulations! W9RE tamed the photon winning the number one divisional seat with 2,052 points.

Meanwhile, the one who looms larger than a 100-foot tower, N3BB, West of the Mississippi Division set the side tone with a 2,052 point win. W5JAW (1,530), KZ5D (1,500), and W0BH (1,488) pumped up the WPM rockin' the stadium Earth crowd with an excellent finish. KG5U put the voltage to his score (1,014) a new best. On the other hand, N5DO (1,408) and K5NZ (720) made their first-ever appearance. Welcome to the Grid!

CQ Hall of Famer, N6RO in the NCCC/CA Division continues with a seventh straight divisional win and 16th overall win since 2006. RO is the first to break the 10,000 point barrier (10,120) as well. K6VVA moved back into second seat and set a personal best (1,426). Right on. K6UFO scored 666 for the third seat within the division.

The standings:

Record Sprint Scores
1. N4AF, East, 2400 (2007) 2nd consecutive week
2. N4OGW, East, 2255 (2007) 2nd consecutive week
3. W9RE, East, 2052, (2007)
3. N3BB, West, 2052 (2007)

Grid Leaders Week 7
1. W9RE, East, 2052
1. N3BB, West, 2052
2. N6RO, NCCC/CA, 1872
3. N4OGW, East, 1856

East of the Mississippi Division
1. W9RE, 2052, 5 of 7, week -5 grid series leader
2. N4OGW, 1856, 6 of 7
3. N9CK, 1815, 7 of 7

West of the Mississippi Division
1. N3BB, 2052, 3 of 7, week -1 and -3 grid series leader
2. W5JAW, 1530, 4 of 7
3. KZ5D, 1500, 3 of 7

NCCC/CA Division
1. N6RO, 1872, 7 of 7, week -2 and -4 grid series leader
2. K6VVA, 1426, 7 of 7
3. K6UFO, 666, 6 of 7

The sound barrier is broken and the next frontier is the 3,000 point speed of light achievement. There is one. Who will it be? They told the Wright Brothers 'never' and Kitty Hawk became their legend. They said a man on the moon and many scoffed. Yet, powered by the Apollo program, we did it. The speed of light achievement awaits one intrepid sprinter beneath the starry dome of stadium Earth, such is the NCCC Sprint.

Join the fastest 30-minutes in radiosport starting at 0230 Zulu. The stretch with the best Slow NS Sprint begins at 0200 Zulu until 0215 Zulu. All code speeds welcomed!

Further information click http://www.ncccsprint.com/next_ns.htm.

73 from the shack.

Reference:
Northern California Contest Club, (n.d.) NS Results Retrieved on May 1, 2007 from http://www.ncccsprint.com/results.htm.