Wasn’t sure about starting on 15m, but glad I did. Once the opening bell rang, the band opened nicely and it was off to the races. That lasted about an hour before it was time to QSY to 20m.
Decided to take my break in one big two hour chunk. The master plan was to arrive on 40m as fresh meat around sunset with 20m starting to fade in the late afternoon and the east coast moving to the low bands. Felt like a solid plan. What could go wrong?
40m was unusually bad stateside – that’s putting it mildly. Static levels were abnormally low and the band appeared almost completely empty. It was so pronounced that I had to check I was on the correct antenna. Adding insult to injury, W1 and most of W3 was completely absent, including the eastern Canadian provinces. I can’t ever remember hearing the band so bad. It never did bounce back. What a huge disappointment.
After reading some of the other comments, it appears only ops in Washington and British Columbia were affected? More Qs and mults on 80m versus 40m? That tells the tale. Aside from an absent 40m band, this was a blast. Great operators and great fun. Thanks to all for the Qs and another outstanding NAQP!
Congratulations to N2IC on a monster score! Wow! Well done Steve. The bar has been set!
Special thanks to fellow WWDXC members and N7WA for organizing four teams this year. Great showing!
73, Mitch(EdWa), K7RL
