Competition, radio-style.

   Well, my first official ham radio contest is under my belt, and although my total score is extremely low, I’m happy that I was able to participate and get my feet wet.

   Without going into detail as to why, let’s stipulate that running only the 10-meter band isn’t setting you up to win any accolades during the 24-hour IARU HF World Championship*. My 406 points are a mere blip on the radar compared to the other contestants, most of whom are running big radios with big antennas across all bands. In the 2012 contest, the top operators in my category ranged anywhere from 31,000 to 1,490,000 points. But, those 406 points are MY points and I earned them!

   Some background is in order:  I am currently using a borrowed 10-meter mobile radio (28.0-29.7 MHz). Its 25-watt output power puts me at a disadvantage out of the gate as most operators run 100+ watts (up to 1,500 W, legally). I have set it up in the house and it is connected to my old CB base station antenna that had been gathering dust in storage for the past 10 years. Not a rig expected to instill fear in my fellow contestants, but it works and I am happy to be using it!

   In fact, the setup just described is QUITE usable! Of the 16 two-way contacts I made, one station was in Mexico City, two were in Argentina, two were in Chile, and six were in Brazil! That’s an average contact range of around 5,000 miles! SWEET! South America was “open” most of the day. Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Connecticut rounded out my log. (Although I’m quite sure I heard someone with an Aussie accent late in the afternoon, but they couldn’t hear me…pity.)

   [To those of you with Technician licenses who think a 10-meter radio would be a waste of money, almost ALL of the 10-m action was in the bandwidth available to you:  28.0-28.5 MHz...I only heard one contact outside that range!]

   Anyway, just felt like passing that along. Ham operators have many activities they can engage in; contesting (radiosport) is just one. But I think I’ve caught the bug.

   Take care and thanks for your time.

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*  IARU = International Amateur Radio Union
   HF = High Frequency (1.3 to 30 MHz)