CONTESTING

Dave Sweeney, W3MAM, created a series of wooden trays to control the cables in his garage contest station. Dave credits his experience with the installation of medical imaging equipment for inspiring him to his solution, shown in Photo A. “The idea is to keep the floor clear so that I can easily access the back of the equipment,” Dave tells me.

A generous lip on the tray, attached to the desk, ensures the cables coming out of equipment do not tangle onto the floor. The desk tray continues to a matching tray on the wall, which turns a corner to route antenna and rotator cables out to the tower.

Dave further used his woodworking skills to create the equipment stands and the rounded bullnose attached to the front of the solid wood door he uses as his operating desk, which can be seen in Photo B. Dave emphasized to me that his experience in long-distance bicycling taught him that small differences in comfort — like the front of the operating desk — are important in long-duration competitive events, and he plans to spend an increasing amount of time in contests with his newly constructed station.

CQWW 2020: Record Participation Brings Record Congestion

In the 1950s, hams described the dense activity at the bottom of the DX phone segment of the 20-meter band, then 14.200 – 14.220 MHz, as “kilowatt alley.” At the time, both U.S. and