ARRL 160-Meter Contest - 2020
Call: NR4M
Operator(s): NR4M
Station: NR4M
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: FM18ch
Operating Time (hrs): 19:08
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1301 Sections = 81 Countries = 34 Total Score = 335,800
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
**** Warning, This long ****
Started the contest with my receive 8 circle not switching and the Beverages
performance was lackluster. Not a good omen!
For some reason, sometime in the past, I set a personal goal for myself in this
contest, of making 150 Q's per hour for the first hour. Because the starting
time is a transition between day and night, i never know how this will work out.
Last year, I thought I was going to really nail 'it', with a massively good
first half hour, but as I recall, I think I only worked about 15 stations in the
last half hour. Wound up with about a 130/hr. This year, all the planets were
in celestial alignment, or something, as I wound up with a first hour of 165/hr.
Although this has been an arbitrary goal of mine, I don't remember ever
achieving it. So, it appeared things would be looking up.
Things were going well, but I was severely missing the 8 circle. With that
pointing one way and a Beverage pointing another, it made a real good
combination. I normally don't listen on the transmit antenna as the other stuff
heard better. Not this year. With no 8 circle, I used the transmit vertical 2
antenna array on the main receiver and the Beverages on the sub receiver. AS I
said, I think the Beverages were a bit 'sick' as the vertical heard better into
EU. Maybe just 'one of those nights'. Even not perfect, I still did work a
reasonable amount of EU stations.
Ask anyone who operates with me, and they will tell you that I am NOT a
nighttime person. I am 'done' by 10 PM usually. I think this year, I got a
boost from looking at the on-line scoring. Chip, N2YO, had used it last week
when he borrowed the station for the CQWW CW contest, so I connected and saw
that I seemed to be dong quite well; better that I would have thought. This was
about 0200 Z and I think that gave me the drive to stay in the seat longer.
But, about 0600 Z , my mind shut down and I became a sleep deprived CW zombie.
Nothing left to do but go to bed.
My other personal goal, (again, arbitrary) is to average 100 Q's per hour, for
the overall time I'm on the first night. Normally, that's about 600+ QSO's for
6 hours. This year, I stayed up a bit longer, going to bed a 1 AM and had
830-ish QSO's for 8 hours! Never done that before!
Next day, Saturday, I spent time trying to troubleshoot the 8 Circle. After
much back and forth to the field, I did get it switching and thought I might
have it fixed, but it was not to be. Even though the remote preamp, showed a
lit LED, I had no signal in the shack. ("Lights are on, but nobody's
home".) My bad knees were protesting my trips, so I just left the final
fixing for another day.
Second day, things got quite miserable. Band was very noisy and having to
listen on a vertical didn't help. Most of the stations west of the Mississippi
river, were weak, even those who are usually quite strong. That, in addition to
the QRN made it a real slog.
K9ZO and AA1K had stayed with it much longer the night before and were both well
ahead of me on Sunday when I got back on. Although I did do some 'catch up',
there wasn't enough time left in the contest to make really make a difference in
the outcome between the three of us.
Think I really need to get serious about 160. The transmit antenna is a pair of
TEE top loaded verticals on a centenary stretched between two towers. It was
put up about 15 years ago as a quick 'temporary' antenna, it has worked well
enough that it's been used all this time. Will be looking for a more permanent
solution.
Thanks to everyone one who gave me a QSO. Even those few that gave me THREE
QSO's. If it weren't for the participation, it wouldn't be a contest. Was nice
to be called by YV, PY, KH6, HK and HC. Missed AK, NWT and SJV. Was nice to
hear KH6ZM so VERY LOUD, in the middle of all the propagation weakened stations
out west. Many familiar callsigns from CWOPS and contesting in general.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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