CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1996
Call: W9RE Country: United States
Mode: SSB Category: Single Operator
: Unassisted
: High Power
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 45 97 2.16 10 27
80 115 293 2.55 21 60
40 172 479 2.78 26 76
20 605 1716 2.84 34 125
15 578 1660 2.87 27 114
10 95 266 2.80 11 35
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 1610 4511 2.80 129 437 => 2,553,226
Rig #1- IC-781 Alpha 78
Rig #2 TS-930 Pair 3-500Z's
Antennas:
160m - 1/4 wave Vertical, 5 Beverages
80m - Phased NE/SW Bobtails, 500' per leg V-Beam SE, 1/2 wave sloper NW
40m - 3 element @ 140', V-Beam SE
20m - pair 7 element log-yagis @ 150'/75', fixed SE 204BA @ 60'
204BA @ 60' on 15 meter rotating pole (90 degrees through 300
degrees. (not used)
15m - 4 high stack of 4 element W2PV @ 160'/120'/80'/40'
2 high stack of 5 element Razor beams @ 100'/35'
fixed SE 4 element @ 45'
10m - 2 high stack of 5 element Razor beams @ 90'/55'
2 high stack of 4 element W2PV yagis @ 130'/100 (not used)
fixed SE 4 element W2PV @ 70'
fixed NE 7 element (not used)
Mike Wetzel W9RE
7880 Shelbyville Road
Indianapolis, IN 46259
The week before contest I get the OK from farmer to extend my European
beverage into his corn field (corn is 8 feet tall). Enlist help of my son
to help sight where poles go up through stalks. We get two poles in and
set out to put in the final pole, ground rod, etc. Using two ladders and
trying to site was difficult due to the tall stalks. Wire gets caught up
back on my property and I go back to unsnag, in my haste I have laid down
my ladder, sledge hammer, pipe, and bucket of tools when I go back I only
pick up ladder and bucket of tools. I soon discover that sledge hammer and
pipe are now missing. Spend next 2 hours looking with no luck. Get my
wife to help me look on Friday, after about an hour, it starts to rain,
wife not happy. I thought if I somehow found the tools, I would be buoyed
to finish project, no such luck. So with 5 man-hours of looking for lost
tools, I abandon the project.
I start monitoring bands for line noise 5 weeks before CQWW,
I have a S5 noise level on 20 and S9 on 15 with antennas pointed SE where
they will be most of the time. Even noise on the beverages on 160 and 80,
not too encouraging. Power Company not able to repair pole until week
before test. I still have noise. KO9Y graciously lets me borrow a ANC-4
that he just bought and has never had a chance to even try. I question
whether it is working because I can't seem to null out my noise. After a
friend who has an ANC-4 comes over, we get it to work by using a fixed SE 4
element for a noise antenna. On Wednesday I stick up a TA-33 for a noise
antenna to work with ANC-4, it only gives me a slight reduction in noise.
It turns out I need a good beam for a noise antenna to get rid of noise on
my main antenna.
I start the contest on 10 just because I hear some signals and I like to
start on highest open frequency. I work VB9DH (only VE on 10 whole test)
didn't hear the VP9. I go to 15 and work AH8, HC8, VK, etc. stay here 25
minutes then go to 20. On 20 work Caribbean, SA, JA's HS, and only Europe
is a LA. 1st hour 43 q's. I know 40 dies early to Europe so I go there at
0100z, work SA/Caribbean and some Eu for 20 minutes then back to 15, where
I work the KH6 that I couldn't work before. On to 80 where I work SA/Car
only. At 0146z I go to 160 working 8 mults (Caribbean) then back to 20
till 0123z then to 40 where I only work 3 Europeans the rest of night--not
too good.
At 0419z on 160, work IG9 (double mult--'dm'), after first 4 hours, I seem
to be having some trouble getting out, is it me? Is it the fact that I
have old design antennas (read not computer optimized), is it conditions?
Between my SE V-Beam and my 3 element pointing NE on 40 I see no signal
difference, is my yagi not right? (Thanks to K3ZO, I learn the disturbed
conditions are to blame). I start thinking that if I want to compete all
my antennas have to come down and be optimized. Thats a lot of work for
next summer 18 yagis in the air total. Also at this time I realize that my
output is not 1500w anymore, when I check on 15 meters key down only 1100w
output, what happened. It turns out the medical pulls (8874's) that I put
in my amplifier evidently have gone soft. Maybe this is part of the
problem. About this time I hear Randy (K5ZD) make a comment about him
being puny weak because stations don't hear him well. He must have been
weak because after the contest he only beats me by a million points (3.5 to
2.5) in a partial effort on his part (34 hours).
Back on 20 at 0500z I work ZD8, and VK, go back to 40 at 0515z and finally
work EA, and F for new mults. At 0530z work 9A, GI, TK, I, DL, etc. for
mults on 80. At 0900z I work my first JA on 40, I have only 258 q's--
kinda slow. I decide to take 10 minutes off and put my original tubes back
in the 78, (with them I could almost get 1500w out on all bands). This
turns out to be a mistake. After pulling the amp out of operating table
and putting the original tubes in, the amp blows fuses (I have spares)! I
decide to put back in the tubes that I started with and this time, through
the meter face I see a flash and amp is dead. Main fuses not blown! At
this time 0945z I figure I am finished, my second radio/backup amp is a
marginal pair of 3-500z's and I am not going to run the whole weekend with
that and no second radio. I pull the amp out one last time and discover
that I have inadvertently shorted one of the plate leads to ground and the
flash was a slow-blow fuse near the meter face. I hunt and find a close
value fuse and try one last time. It works, guess I am happy now.
Back on air at 1008z (lost an hour) I work JF1IST (dm) working split on 80
(nice job) also work VK6 (dm). I work a 2nd VK6, my phased NE/SW bobtails
must be working. Work VK9NS on 80, feel a little better.
At 1138z work my first Eu on 20 S & P, this turns out to be how I work 95%
of my q's on 20 this morning, rate not bad. I try CQing but few takers.
Could be that I don't feel loud, and kinda down.
At 1209z first q on 15- SA/CAR, no Eu
At 1232 back to 40 work VK6 and KH2 for dm's.
1325z first Eu on 15 qso #385.
1341z work first of quite a few Africans on 15, a ZS.
Somewhere around 1400 or 1500z I get a run going on 15, not great but not
bad.
1524z go to 10 and work SA qso #531. Make 22 q's in 18 minutes.
1544z on 20, 1607 on 15, 1620 on 10 work Caribbean mults.
1700z on 15 work 5X, TZ6, at 1715z on 10 finally work a PY (dm)
1800z on 15 work more AF- ZD7, 9G1, and 5H, last Eu at 1823z.
1842z on 10 work CP, YV, 8P and V4 for new ones.
1900z on 20 work ZS, 3DA0, FR5, V5 for new ones.
1956z on 10 qso #722 work FS, KP4, KP2, VP2V for new mults.
2029z #748 on 20 work 5Z4, JW Z21, RN9, KL7, TL8, last Eu at 2042z.
2121z on 40 work Eu including first zone 16 and LZ (dm)
2354z on 40 work my first G wow!
0049z #848 on 80 work 5N0 for (dm)
0200z #870 on 80 work FR5, G and S5 for mults. About this time I hear ZD8Z
trying to work HC8N on 3748, I need both. I finally do work HC8N but no
ZD8Z. Late in day on 15 I ask Jim and he says it's a lot of work to run on
80 and I ask him if he will be on 80 at the end, he says maybe. I have
hard time working AF on 80 now, I try all antennas, a SE V-Beam, my NE/SW
bobtails and my 40 meter double Zepp, none do much good, I do work a zone
33 finally after a lot of calling on my 40 meter Zepp. I haven't had this
problem before, at one time I used my 160 1/4 wave vertical on 80 but the
last few years I haven't hooked up the tuner for it and haven't needed it.
0616z #912 gee 50 q's last five hours, this isn't that much fun after all.
Go to sleep for first time, get up at 0737z.
0740z feeling a little hazy, work TI, FK and Zl on 40 for mults. Guess it
was worth getting up!
0820z to 1041z sleep again.
1138z first Eu on 20.
1156z first AF on 15, there will be lots more today.
1200z #935 on 20 S&P Eu
1217z first Eu on 15. Back to 20 and run some, unbelievable.
1325z #1050 go to 15 to run.
1400z first zone 16 on 15.
1500z #1197 on 15 work EA6, 9J, VQ9 and successfully move VQ9 to 20!!
1539z go to 10 nice AF- ZD8, V51, ZS, 3DA0 and D44.
1700z #1302 been on 15 and 20.
1800z #1379 work SV9, 5U7 and 5X4 and move all to 20.
1900z on 15 work a CE for a dm??
2116z on 20 get the /TF that I'd heard someone else work earlier. Now I'm
able to run both JA's and EA's on the same frequency as a PY. We both run
for what must be more than an hour during which time I go to a se ant and
work him then back to running.
2204z on 20 get DU9 (dm).
2240z on 40 get PA, C31 and SP for new ones.
2307z on 15 after hearing a VR6 on 21198 at start of test and never hearing
him again, I work VR6MW for a new one. I have the preamp on and meter is
S0, what happened to my noise? I keep listening for JA and it seems like I
should be able to work one and sure enough at 2315z I work JH5ZJS for a dm.
2358z on 40 last qso is 3V8BB, who I've never heard before for a new one.
Can't believe XX9X makes 10,000 q's and I never hear him!!
All in all, I'm glad I didn't quit when I had trouble with the amp because
after all CQWW SSB is only once a year and I may not have that many more
full efforts left in me. When I started the contest with the noise, I felt
it probably wouldn't hurt me much because generally signals from SA/CAR are
strong but it would really increase my fatigue if I had it the whole test,
I lucked out and it went away sometime late Friday night. On Monday the
utility guy said he found a couple noisy insulators close but that the real
problem was about a block from me, somebody had an electric dog fence and
maybe a bad heat tape, that were really noisy and were in the SE direction
where I had all the trouble.
Mike W9RE
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/3830faq.html
Submissions: 3830@contesting.com
Administrative requests: 3830-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-3830@contesting.com
Sponsored by: Akorn Access, Inc & KM9P
|