1994 ARRL 160 Contest
Call: W9UP
Operator: N0BSH
State: Wisconsin
Category: Single-op, High Power, Un-assisted
Equipment: IC 751, Homebrew 4-1000
Antenna: 130' vertical, insulated base, elevated ground
Hours operated: 24
Score: 1070 Qs 86 Mults (75 sections + 11 countries) 187,136
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The best laid plans o' mice and men.............(Steinbeck)
"Planning" for this year's ARRL 160 contest began about 10:00 AM
Friday morning. The "plan" was to get on for maybe 4 or 5 hours as
time and other activities permitted. This was gonna to be a
(mostly) Friday night thing as I had other "plans" for Saturday
night. Then as Friday morning progressed the "plan" was revised to
operate from the beginning through EU sunrise.
2030Z: Arrive at the station. First thing to be done is to clean off
the operating desk. It is still full of 'FOX's SS stuff. Dump all of
it in a corner. (Fortunately, his "can" is not part of the mess!!!)
Wire up a new LPT keying cable and get computer running. Tune up
the vertical - everything is according to "plan."
2200Z: CQ 'TEST... Stake out a frequency and, since I'm just
messin' around, decide to just run guys. I stay in this mode until
about 0800Z - never really looked for any EU. J77J called in as did
KL7Y, WP4IIW, and about 700 other guys. Found my old log from
the last time I did this contest - 1987 - and see that I'm only a
couple thousand points behind that score. Revise the "plan." I
decide to catch a couple hours of sleep and get up again for the
morning stuff - besides, I had never worked JA on 160 from here.
1100Z: Back at it. VK5GN calls in at 1256Z. Time to look for JA.
Cool!! A few signals. Call and call..... Bummer, they don't hear me.
Work Ws 'til 1400Z and it's sleepy time. Head home. Check the
mail from Friday - new Frederick's catalog.....EXCELLENT!!!
2000Z: Wake up. I don't figure to do too much more contesting as
the "plan" was to meet a YL downtown Saturday night. Try some
phone calls but nobody is around. This "plan" is starting to
unravel. Well, it wasn't a real "date-type" thing, we just said we'd
see each other downtown, but......... Try calling some other friends
so I'd at least have some drinkin' buds to talk with while I was
waiting - nobody is home. Leave more messages. Start thinking
about 160 again as the sun is setting. Get caught up in watching
the 'Bama/Florida football game.
0100Z: Decide to head back out to the prairie and put a few more
Qs in the log. Back on the air at 0138Z. Stop at 0300 to make a
run to Kane's Prairie Market to use the phone (yes, this place is
kinda primitive - but the antennas work!!) Check for messages but
there are none so back to the contest. I've not yet given up on the
"plan" but I'm starting to have second thoughts. I'll go for a couple
more hours and then make a decision.
0500Z: Tune around an find a loud ON4UN as well as a couple other
EU stations. Somewhere around 0600Z I tune across a YL2 calling
WE9V. I have thoughts of another kind of YL......... Well, like I said,
it wasn't a real "date" so.... CQ DX. (Besides, by this time, even if I
left immediately, it would take more than an hour just to get back
and get ready to head out.) Revise the "plan" once again. 5T5, CT,
SM, G, etc. call in and makes me feel a little better.
1100Z: At it again after a couple hours of snoozing. Finally get
the Pacific Section. Listen for JA again. WOW!! JR5JAQ is loud!!
Would this be the one?? Bzzzzzzt!! Call a couple others but no
luck. So I still haven't worked JA on 160 - NEXT TIME!! Final "plan"
is to hit F1 'til 1500Z and go home. WD0T is the last Q.
Very pleased with the final results. Lots of fun!! Worked some
cool DX and lots of W/VE. The thing I always find neat about 160
contests is all the guys you work that you never work anywhere
else. Sunday morning I found myself wondering "Gee, what if I had
"planned" to do this?"
Thanks for reading this far. This really was more of a saga than
just a contest.
73 Mike N0BSH
n0bsh@aol.com
ps Based on this experience I think I'll "plan" to do a full effort
in the 10 Meter contest. Maybe it will work in reverse and I'll end
up with a lot of "unplanned" time with the YL!!! ;-) ;-)
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