On Nov. 16, 1996, (shown seated from left to right) Rosemary KD8SC, Joni KC8BXH, Judy KC8BOM, Byrness W8LE, Jean AA8RZ, Peg KB8NPA, and (shown kneeling on the right) Carol KB8VYB arrived at the home of (shown kneeling on the left) Nancy KC4IYD in North Ridgeville, Ohio to operate in the multi-operator category of the November Sweepstakes (Nov. SS).

We were in this contest as a result of a challenge from Steve N8CPA (shown here on the right) and his group, the Bean Counters, from Columbus, Ohio. N8CPA had talked his Bean Counters into "kidnaping" the Buckeye Belle president, who was also from Columbus, OH and proclaimed that in order to free her, the Buckeye Belles had to enter the Nov. SS and make at least 10,000 points. Vice President of the Belles, KC4IYD, not wanting to accept another presidency, rallied the Buckeye Belles to meet this challenge.

Using the Buckeye Belle club call, W8MBI, the 8 YLs started operating at 4:30pm EST and operated 24 hours straight. The station consisted of a Drake TR7 running 100 watts into a Mosley Pro 67B antenna up 68 feet. One YL would operate while another logged on paper and a third used a logging program. Meanwhile, the other YLs ragchewed or ate the food that everyone brought. During the contest, it was discovered that two YLs had never used a computer before so KC4IYD introduced them to the wonderful world of computer games. They quickly learned how to use a mouse and soon became whizzes at Solitaire. "This is fun" proclaimed W8LE after winning her first hand of solitaire. KC4IYD then showed several of the YLs what the internet and the WWW was all about. As a result of these exposures, one of the YLs now plans to ask for a computer for Christmas.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, the YLs took turns operating and logging. We started on 15m, then moved to 20, 40 and then 75/80 meters. Joni KC8BXH made her very first HF contact with K4UVD, a station in Florida, and immediately relayed that information to her husband, Ken on 2 meters. At 9:30 p.m., we sent a radiogram to N8CPA telling him to "Beware, the Belles are on the air." At this point, we had already reached 10% of our goal and had contacted 23 sections. A short time after that, several of the YLs left for home. Before leaving, KB8NPA commented she had enjoyed participating in her first all YL event, KD8SC, a former Buckeye Belle president, mentioned she was glad to have a chance to get back into contesting, KC8BXH still could not contain her excitement now she had been initiated into the world of HF contesting and W8LE and AA8RZ thanked KC4IYD for introducing them to the wonders of computers and the computer age.

By 11 p.m., the remaining 3 YLs, KC8BOM, KC4IYD and KB8VYB got down to serious operating. We took turns operating, logging and sleeping. KB8VYB slept for about 2 hours while KC8BOM and KC4IYD operated. During that time, KC8BOM got Hawaii to give us another section. Soon all three of us were up as the excitement mounted with the addition of each new section. Our goal of 10,000 points was coming closer and closer to being a reality. We were working well as a team, KC8BOM making contacts, KC4IYD logging and KB8VYB keeping track of the sections and adding up the points.

At 4:26 a.m. on Nov. 17, the goal was reached and we proceeded to call N8CPA on the phone and tell him to let our president go. We were a little unnerved when an "unknown" lady answered the phone and told us N8CPA was sleeping and we would have to call back. (Later on we were told the mystery lady was N8CPA's mother-in-law). KC8BOM and KC4IYD then crashed for about 2 hours while KB8VYB was left alone to log and operate. This didn't slow KB8VYB down as she managed to get Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 2 of the harder to get sections. KB8VYB left us at 7:45 a.m. that morning.

Hyped up by our earlier success, KC8BOM and KC4IYD continued to rack up the points. When we had accumulated around 15,000 points, we wondered what the chances were of making 20,000 points. So while KC4IYD continued making contacts, KC8BOM implemented a new strategy- a list of needed sections. The excitement escalated when we hit the 20,000 points around 12noon. Sleep was no longer of great importance. All effort were concentrated on trying to get those missing sections. Each time we heard a new station in a needed section, we concentrated on getting it, or if there was a pile up, we would at least write down the call and frequency and then try to contact the station again later in the day. When we did get a new section, we would cheer, add up our new total and return to searching of the bands and frequencies for more. Both of us jumped for joy and hugged each other when we reached the 30,000 points mark. To be safe, we made several more contacts and went a little over 31,000 points because we knew there could be some dupes in the logs. At 4:30 p.m., on Nov. 17, we turned off the radio. KC8BOM left for home while KC4IYD wasted no time going to bed.

Our final score, which was tallied by Carol KB8VYB was: 30,498 points with 221 contacts and 69 out of the 78 sections. Next year we plan to get all 78 sections and to increase our score. If anyone contacted us and would like a QSL card from W8MBI, please send an SASE to Nancy Hall, KC4IYD, PO Box 775, N. Olmsted, OH 44070-0775. It is not to late too get one.

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