Hi All!
Since the majority of messages on the list seem to be problem related
I thought I'd make a posting about how much fun I had this weekend
with my new F3K ;)
I decided to have a go at the ARRL International CW DX contest over
the weekend just gone, it's the first time I've ever had a go at this
particular contest.
Currently I only have a delta loop for the 40m band erected in the
garden so there was no choice when it came to band selection, 40m or
40m, that's was it!
On the run up to the start of the contest I grabbed a few rare DX
stations in the Caribbean area who were just warming up which was
great as I bagged a couple of islands that I hadn't worked before.
Then the contest started, I tuned down to the bottom of the 40m band
and started trawling upwards working US stations one at a time as I
went.
I was amazed how many stations there were in such a small amount of
space, I had the F3K filter set to 50Hz and used the panafall display.
It was so easy to find each station using the waterfall display and
the panadapter (Panafall) to ensure I was smack on frequency, then
getting the DX US
station normally on the first call using just 100w from the F3K into
the full wave delta loop antenna.
With the filtering set at 50Hz I was able to work the US stations
even if they were almost on top of each other and grabbing the weaker
stations even if they were next door
to a large contesting station was a doddle.
I was able to find and work far more stations per hour than I ever
could with my conventional radio, mainly due to the narrower
filtering and the fact that PSDR takes the guess work out of finding
each station.
Early in the morning when all the neighbours were asleep and TVs were
turned off I fired up my trusty Ranger 811H amplifier, this would be
the first time I had used
the amp and F3K in anger and I am happy to report they worked
faultlessly throughout, a perfect combination!
Since I was working more stations per hour than ever before I found I
needed more breaks, the old gray cells aren't as lively as they used
to be, but it was a most enjoyable experience.
Whilst trawling for stations I used my Schurr Profi II twin paddle
for each contact, key in left hand, mouse in right hand, it's handy
being ambidextrous!
Later on I settled on a frequency and called using the PSDR CWX
facility, whilst not as much fun as using my lovely twin paddle I was
surprised how easy it was
to contest using this mode of operation, I've never used the keyboard
for CW before, I'm a bit old school, but once I had the pre-prepared
messages saved in the onscreen
memory slot I was able to work stations just as quick as when using
my twin paddle, but without the wrist fatigue!
I thoroughly enjoyed contesting with the F3K and am really pleased
that I went ahead and bought it even though I had some doubt
initially, it really is a super CW rig!
Mike.
M0AWS / F5VKM
Read about my F3K exploits on my BLOG at http://www.f5vkm.com
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