We made the 05:00 contest start time, but suffered from poor band conditions for the first 1:15. As the sun came up, propagation improved and remained decent for the rest of the day. The day was partly cloudy, which helped keep temperatures lower than normal. In the evening, thunderstorms blew in, causing us to lose close to two hours of operating time due to lightning. A football game being played on campus also meant that we temporarily shared our overhang with the marching band, dance team, and the occasional tailgater seeking shelter from the rain. (Some of the tailgaters even fired up the barbecue next to us! Sadly, they did not offer us any of their munchies.)
We were disappointed with the number of college/university stations we heard this year. We're hoping it was just conditions and not an actual drop in the number of participants.
As usual, a special thanks goes to Patricia Munson and all the friendly folks at the Student Services Building. Thanks also goes to KC7KFF for loaning us their R7 antenna and the family of N7UJJ, for donating pizza to the club.
Time Operated: 14:10/16:00
| Individual Phone QSOs | 344 |
| Individual Digital QSOs | 0 |
| College/Univ Phone QSOs | 9 |
| College/Univ Digital QSOs | 0 |
| W4C Phone QSOs | 1 |
| W4C Digital QSOs | 0 |
| QSO Points | 1970 |
| Multiplier | 9 |
| Final Score | 17,730 |
| Band | # of QSOs |
| 20m | 318 QSOs |
| 40m | 36 QSOs |
| Total | 354 QSOs |
Proof that chicks dig amateur radio!
(Seated: KC7MOD and KD7LGH. Background: Six members of the
Sun Devil Dance Team.)
KB7FJN and KD7LGH getting serious about the contest.