Half-time at the ARRL Centennial QSO Party

This logbook was last used in 2006.

OK, we are now half-way through the year, and that means we are half-way through the ARRL Centennial QSO Party, with portable operations of W1AW visiting all fifty states!

As I wrote earlier, the Centennial QSO Part is a great opportunity to get nine-band WAS confirmed, since all of the W1AW-portable operations are being loaded up to the Logbook of the Word (LotW).

So, it is half-time! How are we doing?

Well, I can say for one that I have been having a blast trying to work the W1AW-portable operations from Floyd county. With the dipole down, I have been forced to make all contacts with the 160/80/40m trap inverted L. The Floyd county station only has 100 watts (so does Gwinnett county as well, since I blew up the amplifier -- but that's another story).

Sometimes, I've been very successful working stations in every band and mode possible. Other times, it has been very difficult. Just recently, I worked the Alaska operation on exactly one band/mode. One. Conditions just weren't optimal for that circuit. Conditions can also be very weird. I had pretty good success with the W1AW/9 operation in Illinois, working them on all modes from 80-17m. But, I hadn't made any contacts on 15m or above. Then, yesterday morning, I worked them on 15m RTTY early in the morning. Late that the evening, at around 0200-0300z, I worked six more contacts for 15m CW, 12m SSB, and 10m SSB, CW and RTTY. Who would have thought that the band would be open on 10m two hours after sunset?

What's the secret? Well, you have to know how to bust a pileup. Other than that, it's just perseverance. Like working a Dxpedition, early in the week of operations, it is tougher to get through. By Friday or so, it is usually easier. By Sunday, they often are begging for contacts. I temper my patience by calling on Wednesday or Thursday, but I don't waste a lot of time.

And, how am I doing on the whole WARC-band WAS? If you remember, I had no states confirmed on 30m and one each on 17 and 12m when I started. Today, I have 34, 30 and 21, respectively. And there's still more logs to be uploaded from the last month of operations.

So, if you haven't jumped in to the fray, perhaps it is time. Enjoy.