2010 ARRL Sweepstakes CW Results

Photograph 1 taken while rain danced with sunshine producing a spectacular moment at the station during Saturday afternoon. The metal in the sky is 1.) 6-element 20m yagi, 2.) 4-element 10m yagi, and 3.) 6-element 15m yagi pointed eastward for Sweepstakes.

Photograph 2 captures an emerging second rainbow with the pot of Sweepstakes' gold at the base of the tower. It was one of those weekends where butt-in-the-chair time was not a big deal. I heeded advice and worked out that is jog/walk with Radio Dawg through the week then napped a couple of hours before hand as well. I recommend following the same that is work out and rest. The result made a huge difference in the chair.

Photograph 3 breaks out my band totals for the weekend. The biggest surprise was 80m late into the evening. The band went short then long with what seemed like a constant stream of stations going into the log. I had a lot of ham radio fun inside the swarm, next time, improve my usage of receive incremental tuning for swarm management.

I started on 15m Saturday afternoon with positive results then operated at the high end of 20m because this band was gridlocked. In contrast, 10m opened early Sunday morning, enough so, that I logged a few Qs before the band closed.

I'm still surprised that 80m production actually beat out 40m however word is 40m went long early in the game.

Photograph 4 is my hourly totals with a 10-minute rate meter cresting at over 100 per hour on occasion. I did not search and pounce much on Saturday although when Sunday arrived I spun the dial when the rate fell below 50 per hour. I logged 77 multipliers missing NWT, NL, and PR without assistance; an almost clean sweep! One can begin to observe the advantage of a second radio.

Photograph 5 illustrates skip conditions into the middle of the country.

Conclusion.
It was a stellar Sweepstakes CW weekend with a few propagation surprises thrown into the mix. I recommend working out the week of one's planned event and resting prior to the start gun. We looked for that pot of Sweepstakes' gold at the base of the tower however it looks like another try for a clean sweep. I want to thank everyone who went into the log especially the Qs and As who made a big difference in my total!

Contest on.