WAS in a day? It's a trick, right? Wrong! It's the ARRL November Sweepstakes.

Mark your calendars! The weekend of November 4-6 is the ARRL November CW Sweepstakes and the weekend of November 18-20 is the 'phone Sweepstakes. These two weekends by far offer the most fertile territory to pick up needed states for the Worked All States QRP certificate. In the CW Sweeps alone, we are talking about 1000-plus operators typically making hundreds of contacts apiece in the 30 hours of Sweepstakes (participants may operate up to 24 hours total). It's like shooting fish in a barrel--well, almost.

I remember my first shot at operating the ARRL CW Sweepstakes. I tuned the radio to the low end of 40 meters for the start of the contest, and proceeded to move up in frequency looking for someone I could copy. I was intimidated. The code speed was extremely fast, the exchange rate was furious, and I had no idea what I was doing.

Fortunately (for me, at least), I managed to hang in there and broke the ice with a first contact--because SS now is my favorite operating event.

A hint for the first-time CW Sweepstakes operator: Make your first several contacts in the Novice portion of the band.

There are many contest-grade stations operating the CW Sweeps. We are talking, big antennas, good receivers and great ears. Chances are very good that your 5 W is going to be heard if you ensure that you are transmitting in the receiving station's passband. Most good contest ops use narrow filters on CW. The trick is to make sure that you are transmitting where the station of interest can hear you. I find that if a station does not respond to my initial call, often making small adjustments to my transmit frequency will remedy the situation. In extreme cases, I will wait until another station works the station of interest, then zero beat the other station to ensure I am transmitting where I can be heard. If I still fail to make contact, I mark the frequency and come back later, hoping that band conditions have improved.

Now that I am a seasoned veteran, I know better that to start CW Sweepstakes on 40. My new concept of operations is to maximize my chances by always starting on the highest open band. I start by checking 10 meters for activity. If 10 is open, I stay there until my contact rate starts to drop, then move down to 15. After milking 15 dry I always give 10 another quick check before moving down to 20 meters.

I have found that my 5 W signal is much more competitive on the higher bands. In past SS runnings, that's where I have been able to contact most of my "rare" states.

SS Rules:

For those of you interested in working WAS 2× QRP, check out "The Running of the Bulls". A group of QRP stations operating in the upcoming ARRL November CW Sweepstakes has agreed to deviate from their normal "search-and-pounce" method of operation and to spend some time attempting to hold (or "run") a frequency. If you hear any of these stations calling "CQ SS," there is a very good chance that they will be able to hear you as well. For example, be looking for WO3B operating out of the SV section again this year.

Last month I promised some pictures of my portable hotel operations. I have included some pictures from a recent trip to Palo Alto, California.

My Elecraft K2 set up in the hotel room kitchenette.

The single-wire feedline fence antenna. I used this to make several contacts on 40, 30 and 20 meters.

Pictured is my Elecraft K2 (serial #044), sporting four 10-foot, five-conductor ribbon cable radials and a short length of 20-gauge hookup wire connected to the fence outside the hotel room kitchenette. Not the most efficient antenna in the world, but the K2 internal ATU was able to match it well on 80 through 10, and I made several nice contacts on 40, 30 and 20 meters.

Also pictured this month is a new portable antenna from W6MMA's Super Antennas site. Vern, W6MMA, has taken his PW-1 portable antenna one step further. The new antenna, the MP-1, can be used 40-6 meters. Besides being smaller then the PW-1, the MP-1's pieces can be stored inside the coil for easy storage. I have been A/B testing the MP-1 against the PW-1 and have found that the new MP-1 has always been within about --3db on receive of the bigger PW-1. Either antenna makes a good addition to a portable QRP kit.

The W6MMA MP1 antenna for 40 through 6 meters--disassembled and mounted. An antenna like this makes a great addition to a portable QRP station.

The Elecraft K1 has started shipping! If mine doesn't get lost in shipping, I will start walking you through its construction next month.

Editor's note: QRP Contributing Editor Bob White, WO3B, was first licensed as WV2YYO in January 1962. He was introduced to Amateur Radio by his grandfather, Emil J. Meyer, WA2JIA, now a Silent Key. Bob enjoys all aspects of Amateur Radio but is especially fond of QRP operating, QRP kit building, and wire antennas. He lives in Shingle Springs, California, which is located 30 miles east of Sacramento in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He invites comments and questions via e-mail to WO3B@arrl.net.

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