ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: PJ2T
Operator(s): K8ND
Station: PJ2T
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Curacao
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1185 Sections = 77 Countries = 0 Total Score = 182,490
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
Station:
Radio: FT-1000MP Mark V Field
Amp: Ten Tec Titan III
TX Antenna: Inv-L (~60 feet vertical, rest
sloping up to 90 feet)
RX Antenna: USA Beverage (750 feet)
Flag (USA East Coast)
Flag (USA West Coast)
Europe Beverage (1000 feet)
RX Antenna Switching: K9AY RAS-8x2
This was the second time I've tried the ARRL 160 Contest from the Signal Point
Station, PJ2T, sticking around after the PJ2T CQWW CW Contest operation.
You have to really like 160 meters to operate from 12 degrees North of the
equator! Noise is a constant, and the only thing standing between a tolerable
weekend and a bust is the movement of storm fronts.
I have a relative measure I use to evaluate how the noise is at any given time.
I listen on the inv-L, and note the S-meter. For the week before the contest, it
was about S9 with crashes to +30 dB, pretty much normal for Curacao at night. On
both nights of the contest, the S-meter was about S7 - S8 with crashes to +20
dB, a big difference and a good sign!
The signal was loud enough to hold a run frequency, and except for some rude
louts who settled 50 Hz from me and started their own CQs (ignoring my "QRL"
statements), I was staying pretty much in one place. People got more rude on
the second night.
Roughly 40% of the QSOs went like this:
Me: "CQ PJ2T"
Caller: "K8A <Noise CRASH!>"
Me: "K8A? 599"
Caller "<Crash> 8AJ <Crash!> 599 <Crash>"
Me: "K8AJ? CL?"
Caller: "K8A <Crash> 8AJS <Crash!) K8A <Crash> BK"
Me: "K8AJS?"
Caller "R <Crash> R R <Crash> R R"
Me: "SEC?
CAller: "OH <Crash!> OH <Crash> BK"
Me: "K8AJS TU PJ2T"
By the end of the first night, I had surpassed the South American record that I
set in two nights in 2003, and thought that ZF2NT's 2002 DX World Record in this
contest (150,176-993-76) was within reach.
First night rates were excellent, with two hours at 98, one at 90, one at 84,
and one at 77!
One bad point. On the second night, I was plagued early by a very strong
opening to Europe for a few hours around 0000Z! I heard what I thought was a
weak W4, and was cycling among the receive antennas to see if I could copy him
on any of them. I hit the Europe Beverage button, and up popped VERY strong UU4
and G4 stations! They were not alone. At any other time, I would have loved
working such an opening, but as I was chasing a personal goal in the ARRL 160
Meter Contest, I announced "No EU" and switched the RX antennas back to my
target audience.
The Europeans and other DX kept calling, and I was chasing nothing but phantom
W1, W2, W3, VE3, etc. stations, and the rate failed to build. Frankly, I lost
my cool and told off one particular unfortunate DL in no uncertain terms. For
that, I apologize! I cooled off after about 15 minutes, and just ignored the DX
callers as best I could. I see from reviewing the spots that some European
posters noted that I wanted no EU, and that may have reduced the number of
callers. The Europe opening faded after 2-3 hours.
RATES:
Hour 160 Total Cumm
D1-2200Z 17/11 17/11 17/11
D1-2300Z 69/22 69/22 86/33
D2-0000Z 98/16 98/16 184/49
D2-0100Z 84/10 84/10 268/59
D2-0200Z 78/9 78/9 346/68
D2-0300Z 98/2 98/2 444/70
D2-0400Z 90/2 90/2 534/72
D2-0500Z 77/1 77/1 611/73
D2-0600Z 47/1 47/1 658/74
D2-0700Z 46/1 46/1 704/75
D2-0800Z 34/0 34/0 738/75
D2-0900Z 37/0 37/0 775/75
D2-1000Z 31/1 31/1 806/76
D2-2200Z 20/0 20/0 826/76
D2-2300Z 28/0 28/0 854/76
D3-0000Z 32/0 32/0 886/76
D3-0100Z 40/0 40/0 926/76
D3-0200Z 34/0 34/0 960/76
D3-0300Z 41/0 41/0 1001/76
D3-0400Z 41/1 41/1 1042/77
D3-0500Z 44/0 44/0 1086/77
D3-0600Z 27/0 27/0 1113/77
D3-0700Z 26/0 26/0 1139/77
D3-0800Z 21/0 21/0 1160/77
D3-0900Z 7/0 7/0 1167/77
D3-1000Z 15/0 15/0 1182/77
D3-1100Z 3/0 3/0 1185/77
Total: 1185/77
The last QSO of the contest was made at 1125Z wih an Ohio station, a full 43
minutes after the cruel Caribbean sun had made a full appearance!
Thanks to Geoff W0CG/PJ2DX and his two non-Ham friends Fred and Lynda, who
agreed to share the Signal Point house with me for the week following CQWW CW
and who kept me fed during the week! Also, to Jim W8WTS and his XYL Jan, who
along with the others helped to re-point the Flag antennas from their CQWW
directions to USA bearings.
And, as always thanks to the other 18 members of the Caribbean Contesting
Consortium, for their support in the building and maintenance of the PJ2T
station!
And finally, thanks to all who called and either worked me or went away
disappointed! I hope to see all of you (plus all those spurned DX stations)
during the CQWW 160 CW Contest, when I will be back at Signal Point and
listening hard through the noise!
73, Jeff K8ND
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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