ARRL 160-Meter Contest - 2021
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 27
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1341 Sections = 82 Countries = 36 Total Score = 345,858
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
Last year I made my second best score ever (magic year 2009 was
better) while this year I just achieved my second worst score ever.
While reviewing last year's results, the rediscovery of my log
submission error was quite disheartening. Other than "my heart wasn't
in it" excuse, I don't have a good explanation for my poor
performance.
About a week ago I noticed that one of the buried feedlines to the
main phased array had failed. A TDR sweep from the shack showed the
fault to be in a relatively inaccessible location. I deployed a
temporary replacement feedline but I didn't have time to calibrate the
electrical length.
The first evening went sufficiently well that I thought everything was
great until I noticed that I was 200 QSOs behind 2020. Well, 2020
probably got a big pandemic lock down boost, so no matter! Saturday
night will be great!
During that first evening I noticed that the micro-arcing problem I
observed last year got worse and did not go away with reduced power.
The noise from the arcing made full duplex operation much less
effective, but there was plenty to do to keep up with the flow of
spots.
I finally worked the loud LU8DPM on the third attempt. He seemed to
have noise issues the first 2 times, not to mention the unruly pileup.
I must have gotten to CX2DK before the unruly pileup.
Chased spots for KL7SB several times but I never heard a trace of his
signal.
I stayed up all night by making myself comfortable in the recliner.
However, I didn't doze very much, if any. I wonder if dozing a little
helps.
Just before sunrise I was rewarded with a short JA run which hasn't
happened in a long time. I worked JA3YBK and 2 others with easy
signals in a row and then no others.
During the day Saturday I removed and reinstalled the hardline
connector at the transmit antenna feedpoint. I burnished the center
conductor with my fingernail since I could not quickly find an
appropriate polishing tool. This fix seemed to improve the
micro-arcing problem. I also noticed that the NE quarter of the
radial field had become disconnected so I soldered that back together.
I have been deferring transmit antenna maintenance because I have
plans to replace everything.
Shortly after sunset Saturday, the QRN from lightning in the Atlantic
Ocean became quite evident. Even though the noise was not as bad as
typical Summer Stew QRN, the effects were very debilitating. Perhaps
most winter 160 ops are not aware of the tactics for making QSOs
through noise (many, many repeats, adjusting speed as appropriate:
either faster or slower). Also, without a lot of DX, the rates became
painfully slow and I found numerous excuses to visit the kitchen and
elsewhere. Being tired from the first night didn't help.
By 0700Z I was particularly bored and tired so I napped for 4 hours.
The Sunday morning rate was reasonable but there was no DX.
I did not notice any difference in transmit antenna performance after
reconnecting the missing quadrant of radials.
I think the lesson here is that the year following a particularly good
year will frequently feel worse by comparison. Also a more positive
attitude will probably help. Hopefully 2022 will offer a chance for
improvement.
DX worked: 9A (3), C6, CM (2), CT3, CX, DL (14), E7 (2), EA, EA8, EI,
EU, F (5), FM, G (9), GM (2), GU, GW, HA (3), HI, I (3), JA (3), LU,
LZ (2), OK (3), OM (2), ON (5), OZ, PA (2), PJ2, S5, SP (3), TI, UR,
V3, XE, and ZF for a total of 36 entities.
1258 2 point QSOs (82 VEs)
83 5 point QSOs
Some history of K1LT raw scores:
Year DX K/VE Total K/VE DX Total First
QSOs QSOs QSOs Mult Mult Score Eu DX
2007 101 1452 1553 78 48 429534
2008 119 1350 1469 77 42 392105 2207Z
2009 238 1447 1685 78 51 526836 2201Z
2010 185 1419 1604 77 51 481664 2207Z
2011 65 1288 1353 77 30 310407 2323Z
2012 87 1388 1475 81 36 375687 2213Z
2013 117 1378 1495 82 32 380874 2221Z
2014 67 1359 1417 79 23 309570 2223Z
2015 94 1394 1488 80 33 368154 2214Z
2016 93 1435 1528 83 44 423545 2206Z
2017 141 1323 1464 81 41 408822 2210Z
2018 186 1254 1440 79 46 429750 2203Z
2019 110 1179 1289 81 39 348960 2222Z (quit early)
2020 94 1544 1638 83 34 416286 2205Z
2021 83 1258 1341 82 36 345858 2241Z
This annual analysis suggests that the number of US stations is
roughly constant while the amount of DX participation varies a lot.
Equipment: K3S, P3, Alpha. K3 and P3 as the 2nd VFO. 61-foot
(formerly 66-foot) "Tee" top vertical over 75 or fewer radials. 2x4
BS-EF phased array and receiver contraption and another 2x3 BS-EF
contraption. 6 2-wire Beverages ranging from 500 to 900 feet, some of
which even work but few were used. I use the 150 degree Beverage to
watch for signals on the P3 from the south that the phased arrays
often miss. For spotting: NE Beverage combined out-of-phase with a
sample of my transmit signal. Also the Eu Beverage did not seem to
hear as much QRN as did the phased array.
New Phased Array Antenna Update: last spring I discovered that the
Zedboard does not have enough computing power to allow 2 SDR receivers
to run simultaneously, even when running the beam-steering in
hardware. So I bought an UltraZed board which has much more computing
power, more memory, more FPGA space, more PMOD ports, a working video
output, and other stuff. I did not make much progress moving my
project since then, but in the past couple of weeks I have the
separate pieces all working again. Now to just finish integrating the
software and new board and to put the whole mess in a box. No more
predictions about when it will be ready.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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