Saturday, May 28, 2016

Winning PACC on third try

Looking at the winners of the PACC 2016, you might ask yourself "why not me"? And you are right of course. YNOMY captured first place in the multi operator single tx category, with most QSOs and most multipliers of all single tx contestants, using the call PA55A.

Last year we (PD7YY, PG8M and PH0NO) were very content with our second place. We started this year's contest knowing that it would be difficult to match that result.

For three times in a row we have entered this contest with a field day setup and matching spirit. On Friday we arrive on an empty campsite where we set up our wire antennas and hook up our radio. On Sunday afternoon we leave the campsite empty again. In between we give our best shot at logging as many contacts as possible using our band strategy as a guide and the conditions as we experience them to fine tune our operation.

Looking at our way of working there are I guess three important ingredients for success. The first is spirit: we enjoy what we do and we enjoy doing it well. The second is our eagerness to learn. We used our previous two experiences to understand which decisions worked and which did not. The third is our focus to log flawlessly. We again had a very low number of errors.  The experience we have gained in various expeditions helps us copy calls even in difficult circumstances.

Looking at the setup we used and the setup our competitors used, you can see one other thing typical of our way of operating: we value skill and dedication over "stuff".

All three times we participated we have been out in the field in the rain, snow and wind. Stuff broke, things didn't work, antennas had to be cut during the contest, etc.
This both gives us great campfire stories and makes the results even more satisfying.

Now.. on to the next challenge..