With 100-degree temperatures here in Texas, I’m glad I wasn’t out roving. From home I had a great contest with lots of fun on 6 meters and a bit of fun on 2 meters. Thanks to everyone for their QSOs and working through the FT8 QRM/QSB maelstrom — at least those who made it through. Apologies to those whose QSOs were lost.
Contest Numbers
I spent 19 hours in my air-conditioned ham shack with a nearby fridge full of drinks and food. Not like my rover days at all. Here’s the QSO and multiplier count.
- 6 meters, 157 QSOs, 84 multipliers.
- 2 meters, 16 QSOs, 13 multipliers.
The score came in at 18,333. Here’s what that looked like at Contest Online ScoreBoard.
I did get some sleep when the contest essentially shut down from here at about 11 PM. I then tried picking it up around 5:30 AM with some MSK. Fortunately, there was a tropo opening primarily here in Texas, where I worked a few stations in South Texas on 2 meters.
Rover N7PHY
On Sunday morning, I was watching for N7PHY in DN67 for a new FFMA grid. He was on 50.303 MHz, but nothing was heard. As I was exercising and getting ready to head off to the shower before the contest really heated up, I managed to decode his signal. Woo hoo! He faded. I called. He came back, and we got it in the log!
That makes seven rare 6-meter grids Ed has put in my log from the Northwest. Amazing effort on his part. And fortunate for me that the conditions supported those QSOs to North Texas.
Not In Log
All my QSOs were either FT8 with a few MSK144 meteor scatter contacts. That made for interesting times, as a few people were unaware of the contest or contest mode. Of course, some may have been using JTDX, which doesn’t support contest mode. The really peculiar ones would send CQ TEST and then respond to my call with a signal report… Fortunately, most made it through the QSO by manually progressing or using the latest WSJT-X, which automatically progresses to RR73. That’s also where a few problems surfaced.
I lost quite a few contacts after sending RRR, and then nothing further printed. Sometimes that was due to QRM wiping out the signal. Other times it was QSB with the signal fading. I also feel it was the other station sending RR73, logging the contact, and moving on. Unfortunately, since I didn’t copy the RR73, the QSO didn’t go into my log. I usually sent about three RRRs before moving on.
In a few cases, I would see the same station later and call them once more. Often this got them into my log at least. Fortunately, no one sent “QSO B4” and refused to work me again.
On VHF, I always send RRR rather than RR73. That does require one more sequence with the 73, but at least it doesn’t result in the QSO in my log and not in the other station’s. I’ve got a hunch the log-checking reports will show quite a few NIL, not in log entries. Oh well, that’s the price we pay for an excellent digital mode.
Rover No More
Normally after a contest, I can include some nifty sunrise and/or sunset photos from my various rover locations. Not this time and not in the future. I’ve started to sell off my rover gear and will be focusing on my home station. I just don’t have the energy or stamina to for roving. Glad I could help with a few contests and FFMA grids over the years. To see the full history of my rover operations, go to my rover operations page.
Thanks, everyone, for the QSOs and sorry if I didn’t get you in the log for one reason or another. See you in September.
The results have been posted. Not too bad. It was also worth 24th in the USA.
