I worked parts of three contests this weekend:
- the 7th Area QSO Party
- the New England QSO Party, and
- the Indiana QSO Party
Jim, K8ELR, and I had planned to work the New England QSO Party, but oddly enough, it didn’t start until 4pm EDT. Instead, we worked the 7th Area QSO Party. We just pointed the beam west and racked them up. We only worked it for about four hours, so I doubt we’ll be winning any awards, but it was fun to hand out some Qs.
Later on, here at home, I fired up the rig, intending to work just the New England QSO Party. There were so many Indiana stations still pounding in, though, that I decided to work both of them.
The funny thing is that I ended up using N1MM for the Indiana QSO Party and the N3FJP software for New England QSO Party. I couldn’t figure out how N1MM wanted me to input the exchange for the NEQP, so I just downloaded the N3FJP software and used that.
I didn’t make a lot of contacts in either contest, but I had fun working them.
My First GAL
Last Friday, I got a card from W4GAL. That’s my first QSL from a GAL. In the New England QSO Party, I worked N2AT, while in the Indiana QSO Party, I worked W9GO. More cards for my collection, I hope.
Finally, I wanted to mention working KD8HES Saturday afternoon. Zeke’s a 16-year-old ham who lives just down the road in Jackson. It was great working another kid using CW. He told me he only operates QRP CW on 40m. I joked that he was breaking a rule, and that if you look closely, you’ll see that you need to be at least 50 years old to work CW–at least it seems that way.
Randy Wright says
Dan, was going to use your material for a technician class I am doing in Little Rock. I had a few questions.
The material covers all the new questions in the 2010 ARRL change, correct?
Do you have a power point that follows your guide? If so can I get a copy?
Thanks
Randy Wright
AE5RW
Dan KB6NU says
Hi, Randy.
Yes, I updated the study guide last year to include all of the new questions.
No. I don’t have a PowerPoint. I don’t believe in them. When I teach a one-day Tech class, I just go through the study guide page-by-page, speaking from my experience and tailoring what I cover to the needs of the students in the class.