10m reflections

I've had some time to read the 3830 reflector and also comments from the MWA members concerning the recent 10m contest. Some very good scores but also lots of sad faces with poor results. Most of the bad results seem to be Northern latitudes, verticals or wire antennas and low or QRP power. Not all contesters with the above mentioned station setups did poorly but
many were like Me- results lower than expected.
I had several nice contacts but overall nothing to write home about! I even listened to several local run stations and compared how well I was hearing the far end. Definately a difference for Me and when I did try running,the results were very poor. Sometimes My vertical has surprised Me how well I can hear and be heard,just this time it wasn't doing as well. I read several writeups mentioning tri-banders at 20-30 ft, these contesters did OK. This is about the height of a future setup with My Cushcraft ATB-34 I've been considering. Inverted"L" was this years antenna project- maybe some metal in the air will be next years new project.
I was lucky to not have murphy pay Me a visit-- no computer,software or radio problems. I used My new Heil Proset plus and was very happy with it. I do have some concerns about setting it up with My FT-950. I'm hoping My audio is sounding OK- would hate to be one of the overdriven scoundrels!!
73 for now---Tim

ARRL 10m Contest-- Saturday/Sunday

We are lucky and did not receive but a light dusting of snow. South and east of Us was another story! Today, Sunday the temps started at 15F below zero-- brrrr. The contest has been just as cold. I thought Saturday morning the floodgates were about to open. Signals suddenly were popping out of the ether. Too bad they came and went so quickly! Two Texas and one Puerto Rico station and were gone. Should have kept with S&P but tried calling CQ to try for a run but the band died and I didn't realize it for a time.
No more activity except one local. Sunday so far is the same- nothing. I will update if any openings happen,but for now....
73---Tim
Towards the end of this contest , northern Minnesota did finally experience 10m propagation. I added mostly Texas stations and even tried "running" but without alot of success. I guess I need
some metal in the air. My Vertical antenna just didn't seem to be enough this time. I ended up with a smaller score than the previous two years- which doesn't seem right! Less than 50 contacts-- would be better If I did CW!
73---Tim

ARRL 10m Contest-- Friday night

Well the contest started at 6:00 CST here in Minnesota and so far I've only logged locals. My score would be double if I was a Charlie wiskey op. All the more reason to start studying again.
Slow start but chatting with the locals has been fun and enlightening. About half of these guys only get on the air during a contest! All of them have been interesting and are great operators.
The news is over and I'm monitoring 28400 without much activity-bed soon. Ok- another local contact. He is mobile heading home so We had a nice QSO and even switched to 2m SSB till He pulled into His driveway. I'll give it a little more time-hoping for some activity before the expected 7-12 inches of snow We are supposed to receive! More snow removal again!
73--Tim

Station changes

Changed My main PC to the new/old Dell and moved lots of equipment to make room for the Kenwood TS-850 and an older Kenwood TS-700a. Little crowded but more rearranging will probably happen soon. CU this weekend for the ARRL 10m contest-- starts 6:00 CST Friday .

73---Tim

The week that was

This Holiday season is busy and flying by. My girls and I went Christmas shopping today and the stores are crazy. We also added about nine inches of snow to Our total on the ground and I have to say its a winter wonderland up here! Gotta love it or you need to leave it. I'm loving it!
I've also been trying to finish upgrading My new/old Dell PC to replace an outdated,slow,slow slow PC that has been My main shack one for quite a while. I believe I've successfully added an I/O PCI card so i now have two serial ports. I've also been downloading Ham related programs to this Dell PC and maybe tomorrow I'll swap the two PC's.
I'm also building an interface for RTTY and the digital modes to connect another PC to My Kenwood TS-850-- yes, I know, I haven't sold it yet and I'm actually going to keep it and add to My shack. I must be crazy-- money would be nice but this just might be temporary. I'll use it for several RTTY contests coming early next year.I'll decide after that!
Christmas tree is up- still need to finish decorating it but We are tired and took a movie break!
Appropriate-- "A Christmas Carol" with Jim Carrey-- fun!!
73---Tim