I plan to be on a little. 75 meters might be more free of QRN than normal, 
so don't count it out. And we have had some sporadic-E now and then, unusual 
for this late in the summer, so 10 or 15 could open to somewhere at any 
time. My rotor control box is still out of commission, so the beam is 
pointed north-northeast. Fortunately, the front-to-back and front-to-side 
ratios are not infinite, so I can still work some folks.
73,


Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, MD
http://lras.home.sprynet.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: Tom Behler
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2015 9:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: North American QSO Party SSB Contest This Week-end

Hi, all.



Is anyone planning to play in the North American QSO Party SSB contest this
week-end?



The contest runs from 1800Z Saturday to 0600Z Sunday, or from 2 p.m.
Saturday afternoon until 2 A.m. Sunday morning, eastern time.  As I
understand it, those who do the contest single-op can only participate for
10 hours, but it is a really fun contest in which you can wrack up quite a
few contacts in a relatively short period of time.  The power limit for the
contest is 100 watts, so the playing field is much more level than in other
contests.  Also, the exchange is very simple-call, name, and state/province.



I am going to play at least a little in the contest, although we will have
our three grand-kids visiting, so I will not be able to embbark on an
all-out effort.  Nevertheless, I'll do what I can, and plan to have lots of
fun in the process.



I understand that conditions on the higher HF bands have not been the
greatest, and, of course, 80 and 160 meters are plagued by lots of
thunderstorm noise at this time of the year, so I suspect my operation will
be mainly on 20 and 40 meters.



Will definitely check the higher bands out, though, early in the contest.



Hope to work some of you on Saturday!



Tom Behler: KB8TYJ, Big Rapids, MI