In 2007, when ASU rejected the possiblity of erecting a permanent antenna on Matthews Center, the club officers continued the quest to find space on campus where a station could be set up (a task that has been ongoing since the club was revived in 1997). In 2008, we started negotiations for space in the Community Services Building (CSB). ASU promised we would be allowed to erect antennas at this site; the only downside was that the building was located off campus and thus inconvenient to access quickly between classes.
It has taken 2 years of hard work to complete (final station setup literally occurred during the first day of the contest) but W7ASU finally has a new home! For the first time since the 80's, the club has a tower and an HF beam. What a difference this setup makes! Even with poor propagation due to the solar cycle, we were able to obtain the highest score we've had since 2003 and overall our second highest SCR score ever! It was great to be able to hear and work DX!
Monday through Wednesday were phenomenal operating days. Thursday was plagued with equipment
failure, which cost us most of the day. Friday, we bounced back to finish up the contest
with an excellent score!
| KC7MOD (Nicholas) | 427 | 50.5% | 10:43 | 45.0% | 39 |
| W7OYA (Nathan) | 231 | 27.3% | 06:43 | 28.2% | 34 |
| KC7EFP (James) | 130 | 15.3% | 02:50 | 11.9% | 45 |
| KD7NZK (David) | 32 | 3.78% | 01:34 | 6.58% | 20 |
| KE7SHU (Dominic) | 24 | 2.84% | 01:40 | 7.00% | 14 |
| (Brianna) | 1 | 0.11% | 00:17 | 1.19% | 3 |
| Individual Phone QSO's | 729 |
| Individual Digital QSO's | 44 |
| Club Phone QSO's | 10 |
| Club Digital QSO's | 1 |
| School Phone QSO's | 48 |
| School Digital QSO's | 13 |
| KA2NRR Phone QSO's | 0 |
| KA2NRR Digital QSO's | 0 |
| States Worked | 50 |
| Provinces Worked | 5 |
| Countries Worked | 32 |
| QSO Points | 903 |
| Multiplier | 414 |
| Final Score | 373,842 |
| Band | # of QSO's |
| 15m | 142 |
| 20m | 700 |
| 40m | 3 |
| State | # of QSO's |
| Alabama | 8 |
| Alaska | 3 |
| Arizona | 10 |
| Arkansas | 13 |
| California | 32 |
| Colorado | 22 |
| Connecticut | 6 |
| Delaware | 1 |
| Florida | 60 |
| Georgia | 24 |
| Hawaii | 2 |
| Idaho | 5 |
| Illinois | 29 |
| Indiana | 19 |
| Iowa | 20 |
| Kansas | 10 |
| Kentucky | 12 |
| Louisiana | 14 |
| Maine | 3 |
| Maryland | 14 |
| Massachusetts | 11 |
| Michigan | 23 |
| Minnesota | 16 |
| Mississippi | 13 |
| Missouri | 32 |
| Montana | 6 |
| Nebraska | 4 |
| Nevada | 2 |
| New Hamshire | 2 |
| New Jersey | 9 |
| New Mexico | 6 |
| New York | 34 |
| North Carolina | 24 |
| North Dakota | 8 |
| Ohio | 33 |
| Oklahoma | 14 |
| Oregon | 14 |
| Pennsylvania | 32 |
| Rhode Island | 2 |
| South Carolina | 12 |
| South Dakota | 2 |
| Tennessee | 21 |
| Texas | 61 |
| Utah | 6 |
| Vermont | 2 |
| Virginia | 31 |
| Washington | 26 |
| West Virginia | 6 |
| Wisconsin | 15 |
| Wyoming | 3 |
| Total United States | 777 |
| Province | # of QSO's |
| Alberta | 7 |
| British Columbia | 12 |
| Manitoba | 1 |
| New Brunswick | 0 |
| Newfoundland | 0 |
| Nova Scotia | 1 |
| Ontario | 5 |
| Prince Edward Island | 0 |
| Quebec | 0 |
| Saskatchewan | 0 |
| Other Territories | 1 |
| Total Canada | 27 |
| DXCC | # of QSO's |
| Alaska | 2 |
| Argentina | 1 |
| Asiatic Russia | 1 |
| Austria | 1 |
| Barbados | 2 |
| Belgium | 3 |
| Brazil | 1 |
| Canary Is. | 2 |
| Cuba | 1 |
| Czech Republic | 1 |
| Dominican Republic | 1 |
| East Malaysia | 1 |
| England | 1 |
| European Italy | 2 |
| Falkland Is. | 1 |
| Fed. Rep. of Germany | 2 |
| France | 2 |
| French Polynesia | 1 |
| Guatemala | 1 |
| Hawaii | 2 |
| Honduras | 1 |
| Japan | 3 |
| Mexico | 3 |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 3 |
| Scotland | 1 |
| Spain | 1 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| Taiwan | 1 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 1 |
| Total DXCC QSO's (Not including AK and HI) |
41 |
W7ASU's new station, just minutes after being set up. W7ASU operated the contest using almost exclusively the club's own equipment (save some headphones and laptops).
After 20 some years without one, it is good to (finally) have a beam again!
Or is this its good side?
Nathan works a station via PSK while Brianna and David (understandably) mock his typing skills. (L to R: Nathan (W7OYA), Brianna (no callsign... yet), and David (KD7NZK))
"It gets easier to understand phonetics, right?" David, KD7NZK drug Brianna along to see what amateur radio is all about. Apparently we're not too scary as she signed up to be part of the club.
Dominic, KE7SHU, looking for multipliers.
Say cheese! James works the contest while Dominic works the camera. (L to R: James (KC7EFP) and Dominic (KE7SHU))