"The Barnstormers News"                                                                         Volume 6 No.9, November 20, 2001

 

Pre-CQWW CW Issue

 

Well, here comes the second part of the CQWW DX Contest. It has been tough to get anything done regarding our list. Travel, turkey killing day, six-meter openings, and other reasons have kept everyone busy.

 

I did get the parts to fix the Yaesu rotor but to date it still has not been reassembled. We still plan to reinstall this rotor Friday morning of the contest. We have attacked a few of the problems in the shack but like I said, most items are not done. Frank did get a few more poles for the beverage cemented in.

 

Looking at last year’s score plus considering what we did four weeks ago, these are the goals for the CW weekend. Not scientifically derived, they still give us something to shoot for.

 

            QSOs – 5,000      that would be an increase of 250 QSOs from last year

            Zones – 177       an increase of 10 zones

            Countries - 625           an increase of 14 Countries

 

This total could allow us to break the 10 Meg barrier. We claimed more than 10 Meg last year but the UBN brought us down below that mark. Let’s try to stay above the 10 Meg line this year after UBN. Also a UBN report under 2% is always a goal.

 

Operators for this contest look even thinner than SSB. The list looks like K1EBY, KB1H, NB1U, N1BU, N1XS, KB1DFB, and AA1CE. We know Kim is good for one QSO. Dave expects to be only part time this weekend. WE basically have no overnight crew. We may have to adjust our operating times to get some kind of coverage. It could be that we shoot for only two chairs filled during the contest. I have asked Wayne Mills, N7NG to come but have gotten no reply. Wayne works at ARRL and was here once before. It would be nice to hear from Ted, W3TB, or Paul, K1GX. Those are the only other CW Ops in the crew. K1UQE, a local, might come over. A big disadvantage is that both K1GX and K1UQE are NOT YCCC. Please remember that the total is divided by the number of operators and then the YCCC gets those shares that are YCCC members. We really need some YCCC ops!

 

 

Did you realize we had 42 countries on 160 last year in this contest? I hope we at least equal that total and improve due to the better listening antenna.

 

Bring your drinks and snacks. We will figure meals to be BBQed or take out. We have eggs.

 

I hope to have more operating time myself except for taking Alain to hockey. Mary gets her back operation Monday.

 

Let’s do the best we can. Remember to run as much as possible. Hope for no equipment failures and good band conditions.

 

73 – Dick