The 2023 ARRL Sweepstakes contests at N5EIF

I'm new to contesting and was pleasantly surprised by contest operation on both CW and sideband during the ARRL Sweepstakes contests. I operated both contests "part time": I operated for a few hours on CW and just about one hour on SSB.

CW Sweepstakes

The weekend of this contest, George, K5TR, posted some info in the contesting chat at OHARC. I decided on a whim to try this contest just to see what it was all about.

I had taken part in Field Day before at W6ARA, and made around 100 contacts there, at about 22 wpm, but had not really tried a CW contest from my home station before. My CW speed has been slowly improving, around 25 wpm now, so I thought it would be a good time to try a contest. This is the home station I had for this contest:

• IC-7300 at 100 W
• Antenna system, in order from the antenna to the radio:
  • 44' doublet up 20'
  • 25' of 580 Ω open wire line
  • AH-4 auto tuner
  • 100' of RG-8X coax
• Bencher BY-1, using the IC-7300 internal keyer at 25 wpm
• Location: Cupertino, CA, grid CM87xh

I think the main issue here is the antenna system. I wanted to use all bands from 40 to 10 meters, and the antenna did radiate on all these bands. However, the efficiency was probably pretty bad on 40, and the radiation pattern is not really known. That's fine for local QSOs, but I found that on 40 meters, there were many stations that I could hear well through the local QRM, but many of these could not hear me at all. 20 worked a lot better, but I still clearly had a weaker signal.

I am antenna limited by power lines and the size of an apartment patio, so the simplest way to get around this is probably to operate portable. I will have to try that for a future contest.

It's also possible I could effect a 0.5-1 dB improvement by improving the efficiency of the feedline. In particular, 100 feet of coax is not needed and I could probably get away with just 50 feet of some lower loss coax.

All of the operators I worked on the air were very courteous and went out of their way to copy my weak signal. Many were calling CQ and sending their exchanges at 30-35 wpm, so it was a challenge for me to copy at that speed, but it was very gratifying to learn that I could do it if I tried enough and asked for a repeat if I needed to. I'm very thankful to all the operators for their patience.

Overall, this contest was a lot of fun and I really appreciated the upbeat yet courteous atmosphere on the air. Thanks to all.

Phone Sweepstakes

The weekend of the Phone Sweepstakes, I knew I was not going to have a full 100 watts, since I only brought my QRP rig — the IC-705 — with me that weekend. This is an extra challenge because traditionally, SSB tends to require more power than CW for minimum copyable signal. I also haven't had nearly as much experience with sideband, and never tried QRP sideband before. But despite that limitation, I was surprised by how much QRP 5 W can do, and how stations can pick a weak QRP signal out of the noise.

The antenna system here was significantly better than the home station I used for the CW Sweepstakes, and much more clear of obstacles, so that probably contributed at least a little to being able to make those QSOs. The station I used for the phone sweepstakes was

• IC-705 at 5 W
• 100' doublet up 25', fed by 35' of 580 Ω open-wire line
• AH-705 auto tuner with a short RG-58 jumper to the IC-705
• Location: Austin, TX, grid EM10cj

For this antenna system, I'm much less worried about loss in feedlines or danger of overhead power lines, but the antenna still does not clear the roof and I have not measured or modeled its radiation pattern, which is probably significantly affected by nearby structures.

I made 19 contacts in just about an hour. There were plenty of strong stations on the air I could QSO with, and many that tried to copy my weak signal. I am again very thankful to all of the operators for picking out my QRP signal from the noise.

Next year

I'll try and prepare more for next year's Sweepstakes contests. QRP was fun, but maybe I should pair it with a good portable antenna like a fan dipole at an appropriate height, say 30' up, and clear of buildings. That would mean it's still easy for me to switch bands, but the radiation pattern would also likely be more as expected for a dipole. It might also be worth combining this with a POTA activation, which would limit the time I can operate, but would give me a lot more space to put up a good antenna.

I also have plenty of time to keep increasing my CW speed. Maybe I can get to 30wpm by next time.

Thanks once again to all the ops and organizers of this event, and especially to George, K5TR, who introduced me to these contests.