The July round of the SSB League is unique in that it falls on the weekend when Field Day is taking place on VHF, and it also marks the start of summer vacation. Many ham radio operators are therefore away from their QTHs. This requires greater attention when exchanging the call sign, which includes the county code.
Steve OM7KW
From experience, I can estimate the number of contacts after an hour of operation within a few minutes. Števo OM7KW also tends to make very good estimates. He starts at 3756 kHz, while I begin my call 2 kHz higher. Some signals are right on the edge of noise and interference. The intelligibility of some exchanges isn’t 100 percent, but based on the voice and fragments of the call sign, it’s possible to figure out who’s transmitting when the contest participants are stable. The same goes for the QSO code. I had the most trouble connecting with Rudo OM8SL.
“Please, station OM?”
“sssss….sss…. SL”
“Could that be OK1WSL?”
“…..ssss…sss… SL”
(A prompt sounds: OM8SL)
“OM8SL, Rudo, 59 TNC”
“OM8SL 59 SLU SLU”
Yaesu FT-1000mp
That district was clear, but without that cue, I wouldn’t have understood the call sign OM8SL at that moment. That’s what summer propagation conditions are all about. However, it seems that ham radio operators are also plagued by a scourge: creeping noise and crackling from other electronic devices. Unfortunately, in the jungle of electronic devices, an amateur radio station is the one that’s hardest to protect. You know how it is: the S-meter shows a few points, yet there’s no discernible signal on the frequency. According to the S-meter on my Yaesu FT-1000MP, it sometimes even reaches S8 on 80 meters.
It was clear, however, that there were fewer stations. Several stations that don’t usually have “broad shoulders” responded to the call. Toward the end of the hour, I managed to work a few more stations in response to the call. I logged a total of 90 contacts, which was not what the start of the SSB League had suggested. I had estimated 80 to 85 contacts.