ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: P40A
Operator(s): KK9A
Station: P49Y/P40L
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 260 44
80: 595 54
40: 865 55
20: 1902 62
15: 2100 58
10: 278 35
-------------------
Total: 6000 308 Total Score = 5,544,000
Club:
Comments:
I arrived in Aruba a week before the contest and I immediately started removing
the antennas and one of the towers. I had originally planned on waiting until
after the contest to do this work, however my tower assistant had cancelled his
trip and with limited local help I needed more time to complete this task. The
corrosion had destroyed the top two sections of Rohn 55G tower and the loading
coil on the 40m beam had disintegrated so this antenna did not work at all.
My homebrew antennas held up well, but there was also some element and boom
corrosion. The destruction from the salt spray was amazing. Working on a
rusted tower in 90 degree heat and 25-30 mph wind is not the Caribbean vacation
that most dream of, but it was how I spent much of my time. Luckily for me,
AE6Y/ P49Y cancelled his Aruba trip to go skiing and he and W6LD generously
allowed me to use their super station for this contest. I brought my
transceivers and related equipment to their station on Thursday afternoon and
spent a few hours setting up and familiarizing myself with their antenna
system. Unfortunately, I had little time to play radio or study the bands
prior to the contest. I retuned to their house a couple of hours before the
contest to finalize my setup and the station played well though out the
weekend. The first day was a lot of fun, I seemed to have endless pileups
and I made 3800 QSOs. Even 10m opened a little! The second day was more of a
struggle at times and the 10m opening was very poor. Europeans were so loud on
20m that I could not maintain a frequency and I had some power line noise on 15m
making receiving difficult. I made 2200 QSOs on the second day. This was my
sixth consecutive SOABLP entry into the ARRL DX Phone contest as P40A. I had
hoped for better conditions to have a shot at breaking the LP record. This did
not happen, but it was a lot of fun. I would like to thank everyone for the
QSOs, especially the 39 stations who worked me on all six bands. Please QSL
via WD9DZV. After the contest I continued removing antennas from my station and
now only an empty 50 foot aluminum tower and a 54 foot homebrew vertical remain.
Once the tower work was complete I finally was able to enjoy Arubaâ??s beaches
and relax a little before flying home.
73,
John KK9A / P40A
john@p40a.com
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|