Hi, all.

Well, this week-end, I made my first ever genuine effort to participate in 
the ARRL November Sweepstakes CW contest.  Since I wasn't totally 
comfortable with the lengthy contest exchange, my effort was strictly S and 
P.

After 16 hours and three minutes of operating time, I wound up with a total 
of 320 QSO's.  I operated on 10 through 80 meters.  I got all but six ARRL 
sections in the U.S.  I missed VT, NLI, NNY, SNJ, WY, and ND.  I missed 5 
Canadian sections which are more challenging now because of the new Ontario 
sections.

Doing this contest also allowed me to work extensively with the N3FJP 
Sweepstakes logging contest software in the new C # format, and I'm happy to 
report that there have been some major improvements over the older versions.

First, the software is much easier to install than previously was the case, 
and the Wave files are now included in the initial installation.  Second, I 
noticed a much better response from the dupe Wave file when it came to 
announcing potential duplicate contacts.  Finally, and this is a real 
important thing for me:  I no longer have the problem of having to type the 
first letter in an entry field several times before it takes.  With the new 
C# rewrites, what you type immediately goes into the entry fields, with no 
need to repeat key strokes.

So, all and all, I consider this contest outing a success.  My goal for next 
year is to become comfortable enough with the contest exchange so that I can 
do some serious C Q ing, and then really wrack up the points.

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ