NN7SS and RSGB IOTA

 A brief recap.

The goal was to work from Mark (K6UFO) station on Vashon Island NN7SS for the full 24 hours. The other goal was to average at least 1 Q every 2 minutes. I had been able to keep that rate in MST over the last few weeks as practice. I arrived at the QTH NN7SS Friday evening and settled in. Mark showed me the station and we worked out how the Flex operated. A lot of automation and good organization on his part made that straight-forward. I can appreciate those "remote stations for hire" much more now. At 4:00 am I woke, got ready and shuffled into the 'shack' to get the radio ready. On the dot, at 5:00 am (1200Z) I was on the air. Then I dropped the call and began working stations.. It was a flurry and I appreciate all of the patience from those who had to do a AGN? now and then. Highlights were to work some new and old friends.. K4BAI (on three bands), Dan N7SS/M, Tim W7EEE, and Joe AA2IL from CWOps, as well as some others. If I left someone off the list, forgive me. I'm just off the ferry and home.. Unpacking. Anyway, back to NA-065 --- At around 11.5 hours into the contest I started to fade and I hadn't not taken any real break. My mind was going to QRN. I couldn't copy too well and it was creating too much stress. I didn't want to disappoint the operators with my disfunction, so I bid a QRT and several TU before closing down. 24 hrs at 2Q /min would have been 720 Q. Since I threw in the towel at 12 hours, that would have been 360 Q. So my 200 Q was shy of my goal by an amount. But on the plus side -- it was all 'head copy' and I probably got most of the S/N right... I was having fun and I was glad to give the IOTA NA-065 to all of those who took my CQ. The NN7SS station worked flawlessly. The 50+' tower was racked with a multi-band beam and the station control let me work the propagation changes. There were some things that I should have planned better for. - I need to make an inline switch to adjust which paddle is dit/dah. I'm really used to my paddle and it was difficult to adjust to a new one. - My headphone cable was a bit too short and I should have brought the extension and a AF amplifier bus so I could hear a bit better. But no complaints. Mark kept me fed and watered. I had a superb dinner and breakfast. The donut was enormous. A gracious host and in some breaks we had a chance to chat. Before and after the contest, great eyeball-QSO about all sorts of things involving DX. The key -- The coffee was always just a moment from being poured and I was for want of nothing. Last words: Contesting CW builds character. It builds confidence and there is nothing quite like trying to unpack a pile up of stations and provide everyone the Q they deserve. The more contests I work, the more I appreciate the skill and dedication real DX'p people put in. I have a long way to go. My next big challenge is Salmon Run. But between now and then is a lot of MST to do. Thanks. Be well.