On the Right radio (Radio B) for 10, 20 and 80 meters, I use an Ameritron AL-80B. The PW-1 is on the Left radio (also referred to as Radio A) and is used primarily for 15 and 40 meters. After connecting everything for both radios, I tested them and everything seemed to work OK. It’s not bad with the unit behind the desk and remote control head on the desk. The big fan in the amp comes on quite often when used on RTTY and it’s extremely loud. I also reconnected the PW-1 and placed it on the floor behind the desk. With the wood left over from building my shelf earlier this year, I made a small platform to house that rotor control box just above the other Yaesu controller and directly in front of me at eye level. One of my Yaesu rotor control boxes (the one for the lower A3S tribander used for 15 meters) was out to the left and I wanted it directly in front of me like my other control box for the higher A3S (with 40M add-on kit) used for 20 and 40 meters. So I spent most of the day putting everything back together, reconnecting and testing the station. I usually take that day off to rest, but because of preparations for the possible arrival of Hurricane Ivan the week before, most of the equipment had been disconnected and moved off the floor in case of flooding. I took Friday off from work as I normally do for major contests. But I wanted to go high power since I now own a big amp (Icom IC PW-1) that will run a KW on RTTY. But I also knew that the A and K could rise at any time even though the numbers were lower than forecast.
And when I saw the solar flux at 90, the A at 6 and the K at 2 on Friday, I was optimistic that low geomagnetic noise would make the contest better than what we experienced in SARTG and SCC. I actually didn’t make my mind up until the day the contest started. I still enjoy low power more than high power, but after struggling with poor band conditions during the past several contests, I was leaning toward going high power well before the weekend. In declining solar years, such as this year when DX conditions are normally not very good, I may tend to go high power. To decide which category to participate, I try to guess which one will allow me the most fun.ĭuring solar cycle high years, I may have more fun going low power. Having won world titles in this contest twice – Low Power Single Op (1999) and High Power Single Op (2002), I go into this contest only to maximize my fun since there is no pressure to win. This contest is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to DX.
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