[LCC] CQ WW RTTY AA5AU SOAB LP

[Don Hill AA5AU]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

Call: AA5AU
Operator(s): AA5AU
Station: AA5AU

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: LA
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------------
   80:  265   311       50      17    10
   40:  312   588       42      60    19
   20:  478   868       48      54    22
   15:  829  1775       49      78    25
   10:  500  1250       30      71    24
------------------------------------------
Total: 2384  4792      219     280   100  Total Score = 2,870,408

Club: Louisiana Contest Club

Comments:

There shouldn't be any doubt that this was the best ever contest in RTTY contesting history.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw
the SFI had jumped to 190 on Saturday.  It has been so long since we've seen these kind of conditions on 10 and 15 meters that I
forgot what it was like for these band to be totally open.  Man, it sure was fun, huh?

I beat my previous best score by more than 600k points.  I tried going SO3R but the 3rd radio died hours before the contest.  I
don't know that it would have really mattered much as on the first night I didn't get the all-night  20 meter opening to EU I was
hoping for.  Actually, the band was totally dead.  And it was barely open the second night although I was able to work some stations
in EU, Japan and South America between 2-4 AM  local time.

Despite excellent high band conditions, I could not sustain any decent CQ runs on 10 or 15 meters until late morning and afternoon,
then the runs came big-time on both bands.  Before that, I was forced to do power S&P on both radios and that drained a lot of
energy out of me because it's very difficult to do and you can't rest at all like you can if you are running on both radios.
Despite that, I was able to maintain decent rates until the bands came to me later.

I think the 10 meter JA run on Saturday night was the best I'd ever experienced from my home station.  With all the action on 10
meters, 20 meters got left out and my numbers were way down.  So I decided to leave 10 in the early afternoon on Sunday to
concentrate on 20.  Operating way up in the band, around 14136 kHz, I had a tremendous run of stateside and EU (and a couple of
JA's) the last few hours of the contest.

Before the contest, I was greatly concerned how my body would handle a 48 hour contest.  I did receive some suggestions from several
contesters before the contest and read the Randy, K5ZD, webpage concerning sleep deprivation and contesting.  I decided to try the
90-minute sleep schedule for each night and it seems to have worked well for me.  After the contest, I felt pretty good.

I got plenty of rest before the contest.  I ate only small meals (one Friday before the contest and one Saturday night).  Instead of
eating breakfast and lunch, I drank a nutrition shake.  I did not eat snacks.  I had a can of whole cashews but didn't break it open
until Sunday afternoon. Someone suggested drinking Gatorade instead of soda, but I went ahead and stuck with a constant flow of Diet
Coke.  I drank four 5 Hour Energy drinks during the contest when I felt myself dragging a bit.  I limited my intake of BC powder to
2 each day to keep headaches at bay and ease the pain the headphones were inflicting on my ears.  Might be time for a new set of
headphones.  Anyway, I like to report that everything I did worked.  I did start to hallucinate in the last hour of the contest and
knew I was losing motor skills.  Hand-eye coordination became very difficult.  But I knew there was only a short time to go so I was
able to concentrate a little harder in order not to become a total zombie by hitting the wrong keys or forgetting to come back to
someone.  Sorry to those who I worked in that final hours.  It was rough! hi

Even though I had the best CQWW RTTY contest I'd every had, including my '92 trip to P4, I know it could have been better.  The
converted KT34 did not work well on 10 meters, but luckily worked very well on 15 and 20.  So I was forced to keep the SteppIR on 10
meters nearly the whole time.  The SteppIR worked just great as it should. But I wonder what would happen had I been on the USA east
coast.  I think I probably could have beaten the USA Low Power record. Regardless, what I scored this weekend is probably the best I
could ever hope for with what I have (3 antennas and they are all low to the ground).

I want to thank everyone who worked me.  It was the best of times!

73, Don AA5AU


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