13 Colonies Special Event

Had fun this past weekend working the 13 Colonies Special Event. This is the 13th year running and the second or third time that I've participated. 

I participated at first via 20M and 40M voice. There were huge pileups and, well, some rudeness on the bands. It is a time honored practice to 1) listen to what is going on. The op on the other end may call out by numbered call districts, so wait your turn and 2) not tune up on the operating frequency. 

With a less than ideal location and antenna height, and since the population of CW proficient operators is smaller than the total of licensed hams, I switched to CW....

Some findings:

1. CW efficiency. CW exchanges are much more efficient than voice exchanges. CALL RST  STATE TU. That's it. Maybe 20-30 sec in total. For instance, the op on the other end would call CQ CQ K2X  I'd respond with NG2E or DE NG2E. He'd reply with NG2E 5NN TU (5NN short for 599). My final reply would be 5NN VA TU. That's it. See this video taken on the last day of the special event:

2.    Operating speed. Even though my comfort zone is14 wpm, I cranked it up to 18-22 wpm. I've never gone this fast. But I can recognize his exchange (my call sign and sig report) at up to 25-30 wpm and, well my part of the exchange is simple. I practiced a little before going live. What a confidence boost!

3. I need to learn how to deal with a CW pileup. I set my rig to operate split 1-2 khz about the operator's listening frequency. All should've been OK, but I was never pulled out of a pileup. Either I mucked up the split or, well, there were so many folks that I was never pulled out. 

Way forward. Probably best to ride this wave. Scout the RBN for nearby beacons and some more DX stations that I can hit at a little quicker pace than my characteristic 14 wpm. I'm not crazy about carrying on a conversation about the my rig, my antenna, my medication, and other subjects old hams chat about. Consider me more desirous to get the QSO at a good clip and spare myself the embarrassment. Also should maybe jump into a CW contest and try to work split and get pulled out of a pileup. I pulled Bob Locher's The Complete DX'er out of the bookshelf for tips. And by bookshelf, I really mean the stack of radio books that sit on a shelf by my operating station.

Logbook 1

Logbook 2

73,

Jack

NG2E