CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: TO3A
Operator(s): VE3EY
Station: TO3A
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: St Barts
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 365 19 56
80: 709 23 73
40: 1694 26 91
20: 1559 30 88
15: 1657 21 84
10: 286 11 28
------------------------------
Total: 6270 130 420 Total Score = 8,440,850
Club: Contest Club Ontario
Comments:
Equipment used:
Rig: Elecraft K3 + ACOM 1010 @ 600 watts
Antennas: SteppIR vertical for 40-10 and "T" loaded vertical for 80/160
supported by a single 18 meter tall Spiderpole.
I operated the contest from the beach hotel. This was a field-day type
activity
as I had to bring along everything on the airplane including antennas etc.
I visited St Barts last year in August but I was mostly making QSOs and
enjoying
some pileups. This time I wanted to get a feel as to what the contesting looks
like from this area. I also wanted to install some antennas for low bands.
I was pondering for a while how to make the best use of the 18 meter tall
Spiderpole which I have recently acquired to use on 160 and 80. After several
ideas, I followed Sinisa's, YT1NT advice to simply make a "T" loaded vertical
and match the antenna to the feedline by using a "L" network.
My friend Dragan, VE3FF built such unit for me into a plastic utility box. It
basically contained two "L" networks for each band which could be switched
remotely from the shack with coaxial relays. We utilized a roller Inductor for
160 and vacuum variable capacitor for 80 meters to bring the antenna into
resonance.
Even for such apparently simple setup it took 5 suitcases and two 8 foot
long fishing rod containers to pack everything in. The matching network itself
took half of the space in one of the suitcase. Then there were radials, coax
cables, control cable for SteppIR vertical and all other stuff.
We arrived at the hotel on Monday, Nov 22nd. Setting up a BiggIR vertical
which I was going to use from 40-10 was easy and it was done in
just under two hours. I got on the bands and had instant pileups even though
there were two very recent activities from the island by other hams.
Installing the 18 meter tall Spiderpole was another story though. It took few
tries on a windy day until it was safe to tie the antenna without fear of it
falling over. I was able to lay down 16 radials each about 45 feet long
covering about 180 degrees around the antenna.
It was 21:15 GMT when I called a first CQ on 160. First to reply was OH3XR
with
really nice signal followed by MD0CCE.
Soon enough a pileup by mostly EUs ensued. I could hear better than to be
heard.
I ended up working some 700 QSOs on top band that night with many callers being
from EU.
I was really thrilled with how the antenna performed on 160. Just minutes
before the contest I had a QSO with Nodir, EY8MM. His signal was solid 579. I
never even heard him on 160 from VE3.
The contest itself was a brand new experience for me. I hardly needed to keep
pushing F1 key to attract callers. Thanks to spotting networks soon after I
started calling CQ anywhere, a pile-up would build up soon. On many occasions,
pileups were more than I could handle. This was especially true for low bands.
The hardest part was when stations were all calling on the exact (zero beat)
frequency forming just a 'whizzing' sound where I could hardly copy anything at
all. Some guys were easily getting through with just a 'peanut whistle' signal
by just calling off the frequency but still within the passband.
>From the sleep management perspective, I thought that pileups will keep me
awake and alert but that proved to be not true in my case too. On second night
I found myself falling asleep in between QSOs on 80 meters although the pileup
was intense and I was working split. I decided to take one hour nap but once
the clock went off I was delirious and simply fell asleep for additional two
hours. At the end of the contest I ended up loosing about four hours in total
of the operating time.
After all is said and done when I look back, I wish I could have operated a bit
longer and also to have spent more time moving multipliers around. Second radio
would have helped but it was impossible to add such additional complexity and
weight.
Being the only multiplier from a certain entity makes it easy to ask for a QSY
but I didn't use that opportunity well enough.
All in all this was a great experience for me. I am happy with the outcome of
the contest and I hope to be able to return some day.
Special thanks to Pascal Rapharin, F5JSD for his assistance in obtaining a "TO"
callsign.
Also big thanks to Dragan, VE3FF who helped me prepare for this trip. List of
things Dragan helped me with is too long to name here. Without him this would
have never been possible.
Also thank-you goes to Peter,VE3EK and Paul,VE3TA.
Here are few pictures what the setup looked like:
http://dx.fireroute.com/to3a/album/index.html
Thanks for all the QSOs. CU in next one.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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