Was asked a couple of questions by email over the last two weeks so here are my answers for any that will ask.
Will I be running the station 24 hours? YES
Will I be running the station SSB and CW ? YES
Will I be running the station QRP ? YES
What is my station setup ?
KX3, wire vertical dipoles and VDA on higher bands (20m up), GP on 40m, Dipole on 80m.
YES I will be QRP ONLY, 5W BOTH MODES
I will not take a PA just so you can manage a qso
Outside contest 160m dipole,60m dipole, 17 and 12m vertical dipoles
KX3 utility, win-test and winkey for CW
Will I have a short call? NO I will be using SM7/M1KTA/P (/P means portable) please get it right or else you will loose points.
Will I be running all the bands during RSGB IOTA? YES
Will I be running all the bands at the same time ? NO It will be just me so that means I will be qrv on one band or mode at a time only. If I am busy on SSB or CW please don't ask me to qsy to another band or mode or ask when... LISTEN as I expect I will say something.
Can I send CW slowly please? YES I am a slow CW op anyway so this should not be a problem. 12-14 wpm will probably be my slowest.
If anything like most solo IOTA attempts in previous years. Probably safe to expect I will probably run CW during the BOTTOM 20 minutes of any hour if the bands are open unless I have a horrendous SSB pile up (very unlikely). But please listen on air.
I was asked about expected frequencies.... :-) It is one of the busiest contests of the year in EU and I do not expect a QRP station to be able to maintain ANY frequency for very long. The usual QRO contest station practice will probably dominate.... manage a qso and then move barely 1KHz away and start calling CQ they benefit from other stations looking for mebut I will be buried under their signal. Please use your ears do not rely on DX spots I already expect I will have to qsy often!
No I will not be running split, it is a contest so expect simplex only except WARC operating outside the contest!
Where to find me on the bands:
I will tend to avoid the QRP frequencies (yes this may seem like an oxymoron but they should not be used for contests).
SSB
15 and 20m......285 should be QRP SSB but there is bound to be someone on it when the sun is up calling CQ contest.
I expect I'll be up from .288 or BELOW .200. Forget .260 unless I'm feeling suicidal.
If 10m SSB is open wherever it seems clear about 28.400 the band will become a zoo if open.
CW
I may sometimes join in the fun below .025 but not fast enough usually.
10, 15 and 20m CW .059 and BELOW
40m CW .0295 and BELOW
80m CW .559 and BELOW
YES I will be QRV 160m, 60m, 12m and 17m but NOT during the contest, do not ask for a qso on those bands.
How will I QSL? I expect LoTW almost immediately. I may upload to eQCL if I can get it to work. Not planning actual cards but will QSL direct or via buro... Note NO CLUB LOG OQSL, I'll ignore requests. --- CORRECTION CLUBLOG UPLOADED AND NOW ACCEPTING OQRS
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