In a domestic contest, you can usually CQ more if you are a rare multiplier 
than if your QTH is common.  If you don't hear a lot of stations on a band, 
your current propagation may be minimal or only into a low-population area. 
On 40 and 20 the QRM levels can be quite high, causing you not to be heard 
or not to hear the weaker stations calling you.  Which means that a band can 
be too crowded for effective running.  This is why, even though I have a 
good beam antenna for 20 through 10, I don't CQ much on 15 or 10 in domestic 
contests.  For a DX contest, when 10 is open to Europe, though, I work some 
stuff and then find a place higher in the band for CQing.  Each contest is 
somewhat different, depending on how multipliers you expect to work compared 
to your number of QSOs, as well as the capabilities of your station.  QRM 
considerations are not as significant on CW as on SSB, and they were even 
more significant when we all were on AM.  Enough rambling for now, because 
I'm probably not saying anything you haven't thought about already.



Lloyd Rasmussen, Kensington, MD
http://lras.home.sprynet.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: Steve Forst
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 2:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: North American QSO Party SSB Contest Results

I know if I had a higher antenna with some more gain, I could have done
much better on the high bands.  I also think I could have gotten a
higher QSO total if I had spent more time on 40 in the afternoon, but
there were a lot of western mults to be had on 15 and 20.

I think I get lazy and lull myself into spending to much time calling CQ
when things aren't really popping.   I'm never going to be world class
in this game, but always try and  beat my previous year's effort.

73, Steve KW3A

On 1/20/2014 2:25 PM, Lloyd Rasmussen wrote:
> Some stations with bigger antennas can keep running stations on one
> frequency for longer.  But in something like NAQP where everyone is 
> supposed
> to be running 100 watts or less, it's harder to keep a frequency clear or 
> to
> have a really outstanding signal.  I don't think I stayed in one place for
> longer than 15 minutes, either.  But perhaps Steve sees things 
> differently.
> I don't have the patience to keep calling CQ, especially if I know there 
> are
> many stations to be searched and pounced upon.
>
>
>
> Lloyd Rasmussen, Kensington, MD
> http://lras.home.sprynet.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Behler
> Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 12:37 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: North American QSO Party SSB Contest Results
>
> Lloyd:
>
> I am not sure why this is, but I didn't find C Q ing to be as productive 
> in
> the N A Q P contests as I would have thought.
>
> This time, I did more c q ing than ever, and still found myself calling C 
> Q
> for extended periods of time with only occasional replies.
>
> When I did manage to get a good run going, it only lasted for maybe 10 or 
> 15
> minutes at the most.
>
> Perhaps it's just the nature of this particular contest.
>
> In addition, my antennas are somewhat limited in their performance on
> certain bands, so I'm sure that played a role as well.
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Lloyd Rasmussen
> Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 10:59 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: North American QSO Party SSB Contest Results
>
> I was only on for 3 hours and had 170 QSOS and 47 multipliers.  The only
> place where I called CQ was 75 meters, where there is room to spread out,
> especially below 3700.
> 73,
>
>
>
> Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, MD
> http://lras.home.sprynet.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Behler
> Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 8:36 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: North American QSO Party SSB Contest Results
>
> Hi, everyone.
>
>
>
> I just wanted to report that my NAQP SSB contest effort was reasonably
> successful.
>
>
>
> I ended up with 302 QSO's, and 122 multipliers, for a final total score of
> 36844 points.
>
>
>
> I operated for the allowable  full 10 hours.
>
>
>
> I worked most of the states, several Canadian provinces, one Mexico 
> station,
> and a DX station from Bonaire.
>
>
>
> I had hoped to do better, but a couple of things slowed me down a bit.
>
>
>
> First, 10 and 15 were not as good as they had been the week before for the
> CW contest.  I had a much harder time in the SSB contest  getting contacts
> via S and P, and my C Q ing didn't fare me much better on those two bands
> either.
>
>
>
> My other issue was that I had hoped there would be more stations on 160
> meters later at night.  I think I went down there around 11:15 or so.
>
>
>
> I heard very few stations, which surprised me.
>
>
>
> It is pure coincidence, but I also had 302 qsos for the CW contest last
> week-end, but my total points score was a bit  higher for that contest,
> probably due to the fact that I got more multipliers, namely 136.
>
>
>
> The only list member that I worked was Steve (KW3A) on 75 meters Saturday
> evening.
>
>
>
>
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
>