ARRL 160-Meter Contest - 2020
Call: W2GD
Operator(s): N2HM N2NC W2GD W2NO W2RQ WW2Y
Station: W2GD
Class: M/S HP
QTH: SNJ
Operating Time (hrs): 32
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1728 Sections = 83 Countries = 57 Total Score = 528,450
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Elecraft K3 x 3
OM2000HF 1250 watts
Win-Test Logging Software
2 element vertical Yagi @ 240' with NE, West and Omni direction options
Beverage antennas NE, E, S, SW, W, NW, plus HI-Z Four Vertical System
This ARRL 160 was certainly different. Not exactly a replay of the last few
years - conditions were quite subdued at this location. In particular both the
number of countries worked and the volume of five point contacts were
substantially lower.
We use the ARRL 160 weekend to iron out whatever station configuration problems
might be lurking when you pass through the gate at the end of "Murphy
Drive". Our goal is to have everything functioning 100 percent for the
TBDC and later the CQ160 CW.
Just one work party the week prior to CQWW CW was all we needed to re-install
the TX array on the 300 foot tower which is taken down for hurricane season ...
and to complete cabling the seven RX antennas. There was tree damage to
virtually every wire RX antenna which had to have a repair of some kind the day
of the contest.
Fortunately the weather cooperated during setup but we had heavy rain the first
night with gusty winds and temperatures in the 40s ... dropping down into the
high 20s night two. At least the predicted Nor'easter didn't materialize.
The team experienced it's BEST start in any ARRL 160 meter contest ... putting
over 600 contacts in the log in the first three hours. This was even better
than ANY start in ANY 160 meter event over the last 35 years. We attributed the
exceptional high rates to the 'Covid Effect". The band was actually
somewhat noisy with an approaching coastal storm and conditions toward EU seemed
below average. All of the station work we've done over the last decade to
enable in-band operation made it super fun.
The first night we had a disjointed flow of EU callers riding waves of QSB,
never seeing any sustained runs nor was there a noticeable enhancement as
sunrise approached over EU. We logged only about 140 five pointers (down from
246 in 2019) during night one and added about 100 during night two. Overall the
low number of five pointers reflects the muted conditions and the drop of nearly
30 percent in country total year to year. The only Section missed was once
again NT.
Activity, especially during the early going was exceptional, we feel because of
so many operators being stuck at home due to the virus. The band map was full
- NO GAPS from 1800 to 1870 both nights and god help you if you left your CQ
frequency for any length of time. Conditions were not good overall. The
opening to the western US was pretty dismal the first evening, but somewhat
better night two.
The only failure we experienced was loss of the DSL internet service to the
site. It was down upon arrival Friday morning, came back to life an hour before
the contest start, then failed completely again at 0130 UTC. We switched to a
cell service backup system for the remainder of the event. Unfortunately we
were unable to successfully reconfigure our computers to auto post on the
scoreboards because of all the last minute internet problems but we did post
manually.
As always we enjoyed the team camaraderie ... but this year it was a much
smaller group.
We thank the owners of WYRS-FM for continuing to invite us to use this fabulous
site and for providing on-site network support.
On to the Stew Perry TBDC in a few weeks. Merry Christmas to all.
73,
John, W2GD
For the 160 CW TEAM
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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