ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: AC6DD
Operator(s): AC6DD
Station: AC6DD
Class: Single Op HP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 729 Sections = 75 Countries = 13 Total Score = 145,992
Club:
Comments:
Equipment:
Radio: FT1000MP (Two of them, but not SO2R)
Amplifiers: (Two of them, but not SO2R) ACOM2000A (first night â??
Buzzzzzzzzzzz), Intech Com1000B (second night)
TX antenna: Inverted L, 50 feet vertical, no radials.
RX antenna: same as above
This was again a portable operation, the shack being a utility trailer on the
Pacific Ocean. You guys sitting at your warm home shacks donâ??t know what you
are missing. The antennas have been in place for a while, so all I had to do
was drive up with my trailer, hook a few cables up and presto, I am on the
air.
Now, I know the contest starts at 22:00. From what I was told the ARRL had to
help the East Coast stations somehow, so they equalized our West Coast
advantage by giving them a bit more darkness time. Fair enough. To help out a
bit, I decided to start at 02:30.
I should be honest here, since I lost a minute or two, stemming from the fact
my radio didnâ??t have any output. No problem, been there before, I have a
second radio on hand. So I switch radios and check for power. Well, the amp
shuts down from an arc fault. The coax to the vertical turns out to be shorted
at the connector (it was fine last weekend). Ha, big deal Murphy, I have more
coax, much more. Bring it on! The DX engineering 4 square active receive array
is dead (Ok, I knew that from last weekend) and I have to listen on the
vertical. No big deal, just a little noisier. After a while you donâ??t even
hear the 500kV lines anymore.
>From what I read here some folks on the East Coast are already calling it quits
by the time I start. I S&P for an hour. Conditions are poor, and not much DX.
When I finally start calling CQ, people tell me I have a buzz. How do they
know? I have to confess that I did have a few beers (Yes, I know all top
contesters say it is a no-no, but I am not a top contester, so I figured it is
OK). It must be all these video cameras on you tube or something. For the
rest of the evening I drink Coke. Well, it turns out it is not me with a buzz,
but the amplifier. The Bulgarian marvel is breaking down again. I am amazed;
the signal reports I get are all 597, not even one 8 or a 6. The RST scale is
perfectly calibrated. Someone even asked me to shut down. Ha, I understand it
now; it is a conspiracy from the competition to get me to quit. No way, I keep
going.
VY2ZM checked in both evenings, first night S3, second night a S5.
Missed some stations from Asia in the morning, which I just could not make out.
Did not contact VK or ZL, which are usually good copy from here.
The next evening I get a new amp hooked up. It is a solid-state job, so it
didnâ??t cover the band like the Bulgarian. My vertical has a 30 KHz 1.5 SWR
bandwidth, and the new amp couldnâ??t move around much. I start off high on
the band for a while, than go out and add two feet of wire to the antenna, and
move low for the rest of the night.
How about that DX window? I asked a few stations to move out, and most are
happy to do it. More information for the masses is needed here. During one
instance a CQing KH8 popped out behind a West Coast station when he moved out.
It was a rough weekend. It was brutal with just the vertical, and I will not
do it again.
Anyhow, this was my best score in the ARRL test, probably due to improved
participation.
Missed: NNy, Mb, Nl, Nt, Pr,
Worked: C6, HI, HK0/A, HP, HL, JA, JT, KV4, P4, PJ2, UA9, XE, ZF
73, Niko - AC6DD
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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