Got Contest?

Today starts the ARRL's Annual November Sweepstakes SSB contest. The objective is to work as many ARRL and RAC sections as possible. Work all 80 sections and you've made a clean sweep. The contest starts at 4:00pm EST and ends tomorrow at 10:00pm EST (2100z Saturday Nov. 21 - 0300z Monday Nov. 23).

I will be working in the contest from my little gun station, in the SOLP category so be on the lookout for my signal and make a Q with me on the different bands. Propogation seems to be on the upswing as of late so the contest should be interesting and fun.

I've been contesting for a very short time compared to many in Amateur radio, and daily I'm discovering new things on the internet about contesting. For example I've just recently joined up with the Tennessee Contest Group and found a plethora of information about contesting on their site and their Google Group Page. In so doing, this has led me to contesting.com where I have found a couple of lists of interest to keep up with and some very helpful blogs when it comes to contesting. I've even found some rather hilarious blogs on contesting. Just yesterday I came across the Fi-Ni report. I must have busted a gut more times than I can count reading the exploits of Cousin QRM and the members of the Lost Island DX Society. A must read for those with a sense of humor and especially to those who take things a little to seriously sometimes.

Anyway, my journey has just begun in the realm of contesting and I find it to be one of the funnest things to do in Ham Radio, that and chasing DX. So I'm sure I have lots more to learn and experience. While I may never be a Big Gun, I will always put my little pistol on the air and in so doing I have tasted the sweet taste of victory. Everytime I beat a previous score which I officially done during the Tennessee QSO Party (the results for 2009 are now posted on the site), and plan to do this weekend during the November Sweepstakes. Also, I've managed somehow to win a contest this year, which was pretty darn cool if I may say so. The PODXS070 80 meter Jay Hudak Memorial Sprint was held back on September 11 this year and I put my little pistol station on the air, and after 6 hours of operation I put in a worthy effort. To my surprise I ended up Top Dog by a mere 3 points.

If you've never contested before, what are you waiting for? It's a lot of fun, there are many contacts to make, whether you like to search and pounce or run, there's something for everyone. Get on the air this weekend during the Sweepstakes and give it a shot. I'll listen for you there.

73 es Good Luck de AJ4JD,
Tim

Tennessee QSO Party Results are in....

At last, at last, the results are in at last. Much to my amazement, I decided to check www.tnqp.org (the home site of the Tennessee QSO Party) to see if the results had been posted yet. I wasn't really expecting them to be as I had checked it almost daily for the last two weeks since I had exchanged emails with Doug Smith (W9WI) and he informed me that all the logs had been tallied and the final results had been sent to the webmaster.
Well, this evening I figured I would just check as I hadn't looked today and figured I would find the same as I had the past two weeks. Instead I was pleasantly surprised that the 2008 Tennessee QSO Party results were indeed posted to the site. I quickly scanned the initial results page to see what records had been set this year, and it appears that all but 4 records were broken this year. I quickly clicked the link to the 2008 results and fully expected to see us (The Toad Town Team comprised of Robin - AJ4IJ, Dad - KU4ME, and me - AJ4JD) listed amongst the top ranks of the Multi-op High Power Category. Unfortunately though it appears that our log was separated into our individual entries and we ended up in the Fixed Single OP - Low Power category. I reckon our mistake must have been operating under our own calls instead of one single call. I will email Doug to verify that so we will know for next year.
So the results for us individually are as follows: Robin with 80 qso's and 49 multipliers for a grand total of 7,840 points landing her in 26th place out of 43. Next was me with 33 qso's and 25 multipliers for a grand total of 1,650 points landing me in 33rd place out of 43. Finally was dad with 17 qso's and 15 multipliers for a grand total of 510 points landing him in 39th place out of 43. Overall, we are completely satisfied with our result considering it was our very first contest and we only worked it for about 3 or 4 hours. As for the Toad Town Team result we ended up with a total of 10,000 points landing us in 4th place out of 5 in the Tennessee Team category.
With our effort we will each receive a certificate for being first time participants.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun to work the QSO party and we look forward to 2009. We will figure out what we have to do to be qualified for the Multi-op single High Power category and we will be ready for a better showing. Until then congrats to all participants and to the Tennessee Contest Group for holding a wonderful QSO party.

73 de AJ4JD
Tim

Happy DX.