ARRL 160 Meter Contest Results
W1SJ VT
SOHP
qsos points sec DX mults
987 2073 69 18 87
claimed score: 180,351
Hours of Operation: 30
Equipment: TS-830s, MLA-2500
Antenna: Dipole, 50 feet high
Beverage: Coke
On the first night, the band was extremely quiet and I had great
rates up until 0500. Then the bottom fell out and things got
very slow. Distant QSOs were lacking - only the real big signals
from Europe or the West Coast were heard. Antenna problems may
have been a factor. Could not get a match on the dipole with or
without the tuner. Ended up pulling off the coax shield and end
feeding 130 feet of wire plus 75 feet of feedline. Lost a few
db, but managed to do real well the first 7 hours. It turns out
that a tree grew around the dipole and RF was shorting into the
tree. Can't find any software which models pine trees on 160
meters.
Saturday, I managed to clear the antenna problems and the band
was its normal self. DX called in at various times throughout
the evening and I was able to pick up Hawaii - something not done
all too often from up here. The noise level kept rising and
things got bad after 0500. At around 0800, the West Coast went
away and it was a long torturous last few hours, as all the
close-in stuff was already worked.
We all have been spoiled by some great propagation over the last
couple of years. As the sunspots go up however, conditions will
most probably not be as good in the future.
73, Mitch W1SJ
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/3830faq.html
Submissions: 3830@contesting.com
Administrative requests: 3830-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-3830@contesting.com
|