Well, I got none of the antenna improvements done I was hoping for, nor did I have a new radio. The condx seemed down, and my score bore that out...as did some of the preliminary reports I've seen on the 3830 list.
I went to the Lawrenceville hamfest in the morning, and was later getting home than I wanted to be - I just kept on running into old friends I hadn't seen in years, as well as visiting with new ones I've made since I've become a QRPer. And I didn't even get to see *all* of the stuff at the 'fest before I decided I had to head back home to get ready for SS. We took the scenic route to avoid UGA homecoming football traffic on the way home, so that slowed us down....etc.
After getting everything set up and ready for the contest, I found I only had about 20 minutes for the 2-hour nap I was hoping for! Oh well. The first hour this year was actually a little better than it was last year, and I was able to hold run frequencies a little more than last year. But, in the end, my score was still down a bit, just over 10% actually - and that was with more multipliers than last year too as well as an additional hour in the chair!
Even with the less-than-exciting results, I was fairly happy with the FT817's performance (hint: turning down the RF gain really helps on 80 and 40!), as well as the old reliable 80m doublet. I also used an EFHW on 20 some, but could have gotten by without that one.
Here's the sad tale:
Band QSOs
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80: 101
40: 161
20: 101
15: 66
10: 2
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Total: 431 Sections = 80 Total Score = 68,960
Mults missed were SB, MB, and NL. For the second year in a row, I was able to complete WAS QRP with an 80m doublet in one weekend....it's amazing how well QRP works sometimes!
Already looking forward to next year's SS!