CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB
Call: KV4FZ
Operator(s): KV4FZ
Station: KV4FZ
Class: Single Op Assisted HP
QTH: US Virgin Islands
Operating Time (hrs): 9
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 212 State/Prov = 39 Countries = 27 Total Score = 80,124
Club:
Comments:
First night was a total washout and after calling W8PR for 2 hours with out even
a QRZ I decided to call it quits. Only stateside that could hear me was the
good ears of K3ZM. Even Jeff VY2ZM with the best TB ears on the planet cold
not hear me. 150 mile west of me was KP4KE claiming to be Low Power didn't
seem to have this problem at all. On Saturday night things were different and
I even managed some Europeans. Still some stations like XE1RCS was 20 over but
just kept calling CQ in my face and that of many stateside stations calling as
well. At one point all the 12 Beverages stopped working and the only antenna I
could hear on was my 1/4 vertical. A machine like "zagga zagga zagga
zagga" noise was very strong and constant. I could even hear it when all
antennas were disconnected. So I started to tear the shack apart, pulling wall
warts, turning off routers, led lights, even a 2000 watt UPS shack backup. (Till
I could get the generator on line.) On Sunday I came to the realization that my
160 meter DX chasing would be over if I didn't find the noise source. When i
pulled the main breaker to my adjoining quest apartment the noise stopped. The
problem was traced to a APC power strip and surge protector (expensive one)
which ironically had nothing connected to it and was even turned off. On the
circuitry there is a fault detector circuit, some LED's, and a bunch of MOV's.
The model number of the "high tech" power strip is PRO-7 in case you
have had similar noise problems. It seems to use the power line itself as a
common mode of propagation
.
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