North American QSO Party, CW - August
Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 7.75
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 14 6
80: 26 12
40: 105 36
20: 152 41
15: 181 33
10:
-------------------
Total: 478 128 Total Score = 61,184
Club: Orca DX and Contest Club
Team:
Comments:
SO1R Gear:
* FT-2000 + N1MM Logger
* SteppIR 3-el. at 27'
* 40M SteppIR dipole at 27'
* 80M 2-element wire vertical array
* New 160M inverted-L over 250' of chainlink fence
Fifth-best-ever August NAQP CW for me. Intended to get the full 10 hours in,
but after taking a two-hour break I ended up spending another 1.75 hours on
various antenna chores that needed addressing if I was to get on 80 and 160
later in the evening.
Spent Thursday and Friday reconfiguring the wire rope catenary system that
supports wires for both bands. The system consists of endless loops in trees at
the north and south, with pulleys attached at 70' and 85' respectively. The
catenary cable goes up through one pulley, north to the other pulley about 60'
away, and back down to earth. the wire antennas are suspended from that
catenary cable.
After many missed attempts with slingshot to get the lines where I wanted them,
I finally raised the support cables on Friday evening only to have a too-flimsy
elm tree branch break as daylight faded. Bloody great (not exactly what I
said).
I was out at daybreak Saturday morning with slingshot in hand, mindful of the
11 a.m. 1800z NAQP start. After three false attempts, I got a new line over the
top of the elm tree, pulled the 150' steel cable (with catenary cable pre-strung
in a pulley) through a sturdy trunk "Y" at 70' and by 1750z I had the
80M vertical and 160M inverted-L ready to raise into the air. But not yet
actually raised. That would be done during a planned mid-afternoon break.
While antenna improvements are part of the story, the rest of the story is
broken strategy, due to the antenna time invested. That really messed things
up. My "two-hour" break was from 2030z to 2250z. I had a little nap
(1 hour), some lunch (20 minutes), and figured I could get the antennas hauled
up and be back on the air in 40 minutes. It went smoothly with the XYL's help
but took an hour instead, so I was now burning up contest time.
After getting back on the air, I focused on 20M. But the lure of those low-band
antennas was strong. Around 0045z I checked the SWR on both -- 80M was fine.
Whew. But the all-new 160M inverted-L showed a short in the feedline. Several
checks of the 200' feedline (cobbled together from various runs of coax)
revealed a bad barrel connector.
The 1.75 hours finding and fixing the fault reduced my 20M and 40M time. Yes, I
would have been far ahead by sticking with the high-production bands and
forgetting about 160M entirely, but anyone who has raised a new antenna knows
that's not really an option.
At least the 160M antenna is resonant precisely where I wanted and, though only
hooked up to 250' of chainlink fence for now, it worked all right considering
conditions and activity on Saturday evening. The new L is 70' vertical and 65'
almost perfectly horizontal... the first properly shaped inverted-L I have ever
been able to arrange here. After lawn chores Sunday, I will turn attention to
installing at least a couple of 130' elevated radials.
As for the contest:
10M provided nothing at all. Couldn't even work K7RL south of me on an
attempted move late in the evening. Last year 10M offered 7 mults; zero this
year.
15M was good, but very much in spotlight mode moving around the south and
eastern states, with big gaps in 0-land and 7-land. Last year, 45 mults but
just 33 this year.
20M was very good but I didn't get enough time to wring out everything I should
have there. Qs (247 -> 152) and mults (47 -> 41) down considerably from
last year's personal best.
40M also felt solid, but I couldn't devote as much time as I should have. Last
year, 45 mults; this year only 36.
80M was better than last year mult-wise (last year the switchable array was
stuck in west-firing mode). Mults up from 7 to 12.
160M was about the same as last year, but stations seemed easier to work with
the new antenna. 6 mults both years (chainlink fence this year; 80M on-ground
radial system last year). Never managed to find BC on 160.
Was really great to hear so many long-time contest pals on the air for a day of
fast-paced fun. Sure missed a lot of VE mults this year. Special thanks to Brian
VE7JKZ and Barry VE6BMX for the near-field mults, and to Dan K7IA for the only
NM mult worked all day.
-- Bud VA7ST
2013: 478 128 61,184 7.75 hrs
2012: 654 157 102,678 10.00 hrs
2011: 479 132 63,228
2010: 347 96 33,312
2009: 551 128 70,400
2008 386 116 44,776
2007: 481 131 63,011
2006: 457 129 58,953
2005: 419 129 54,051
2004: 175 72 12,600
2003: 261 86 22,446
2002: 191 72 13,752
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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