Hello, everyone:

 

Well, this year's NAQP SSB contest was a very unique  operating event in a
number of respects, owing to very strange band conditions.

 

10, 15, and 20 meters were in extremely poor shape for me up  here in
Central Lower Michigan, and I probably stayed on those bands too long.  My
main disappointment, though, was 40 meters.  I usually do quite well on that
band with my Alpha Delta DXCC antenna, but that was not the case yesterday.
I usually make the mistake of getting to 40 meters too late, and that really
hurt me this time around.  By the time I got there around 6:30 Eastern time,
the band had really gone long, to the point that there were actually very
few stations to work.

 

After about 9 and a half hours of operating, I ended up with 226 qsos and

88 multipliers.

 

My breakdown by dand was as follows:

 

160 meters--9

80 meters--117

40 meters--27

20 meters--43

15 meters--21

10 meters--9

 

I did mostly hunt and pounce, but tried some c q ing on 80 late in the
evening.

 

I did have a bit of a good run between 11:30 and 12:30 Eastern time, which
is what raised my qso count so much on 80 meters.

 

To show you how strange things were for me up here, I only worked one
Michigan station, and that was KE8FT on 160 meters at the very end of the
contest.  I heard some Wisconsin stations, but my efforts to contact them
were unsuccessful.

 

I did manage to work Steve (KW3A) on 80 meters.  I also heard Lloyd on 80
meters, but we were both doing S and P, so couldn't work him.

 

I am trying to decide whether to submit my log.  I submitted my log for last
week's CW contest, not because I thought I would win anything, but because
it was a much better showing.

 

I'll see how I feel about that later this evening.

 

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ