ARRL 160M CONTEST "SPOILERS" de N4KG
After years of not participating in this two night, mostly USA / NA
contest,
I started dabling hunt and call style Friday evening, without a real
objective.
After 92 contacts in the first hour, I decided this was FUN, so I
continued with the idea of going for a sweep of the ARRL sections.
I went to bed after about 5 hours of operation, still needing several of
the
less populated areas, including many western and Canadian sections.
Saturday night I decided to try CQing to attrack some of the missing
sections
which had eluded my calls. Two hours and 180+ contacts later, several of
the less common Eastern multipliers were in the log (WV, ME, LA). I
heard
VE1ZJ answering people near the low end of the band so I moved up a few
and started CQing. A few minutes later he called me. When I heard VE2ZP
I called him, slowly sliding the VFO up a few hundred Hz. Signals from
the West were fair but not strong and I found that the best way to
attract
them was to CQ, especially in the higher end of the band. ORG, SF, and
SDak were especially elusive. I called it quits shortly after KK6BB
from
ORG called me at 0910Z following another 8 hours of operation Saturday
night. Bottom line: 722 contacts, 75 sections, 10 countries in 13
hours.
I'm sure there was more DX available but I did not spend much time
looking, concentrating instead on a possible "sweep". The 4 spoilers
included the 3 new sections VO, NNY, KP4 and VE8. Apparently the
movers and shakers who pushed for the creation of those new sections
are NOT 160M enthusiasts!
Anyone know why KP4 wanted to be separated from KP2 and KG4?
I guess they were all still recuperating from the CQ WW CW contest.
Even WP2Z was ailing....sounded like a QRP signal to a low dipole.
K2DB, the trustee for K2NNY told me the cabin was snowed in and
he couldn't get there. Reminds me of the time a 1A0KM operation
had to be postponed because they were putting a roof on the country. :-)
Why would the ARRL field organization want a section with so few
amateurs? Apparently I missed W2NNY Friday evening. Does
anyone actually live there? As usual, the northern Canadians were
just trying to keep warm. Perhaps they should put an amp under the
operating chair! I'm learning to enjoy contesting as a "participant".
It was good to say HI to old friends and hand out a few AL multipliers.
Listed below are the number of contacts in the N4KG log from
the less common sections:
W1 ME - 2 NH - 7 VT - 2 RI - 3 WMA - 4
W2 NNY - ZERO
W3 DEL - 3
W4 AL - 8 SC - 4
W5 LA - 2 MS - 5 AR - 7 OK - 5 WTX - 4 NM - 3
W6 EB - 1 LAX - 5 ORG - 2 SB - 7 SCV - 7 SDG - 1 SF - 2 SJV - 3
SV - 9
W7 EWA - 2 WWA - 12 OR - 3 ID - 3 MT - 3 WY - 3 UT - 6 NV - 5
AZ - 7
W8 WV - 8
W0 MN - 18 IA - 2 MO - 7 ND - 3 SD - 1 KS - 9 NE - 2 CO -
16
KH6 3
KL7 2
KP2 1
KP4 ZERO
VO ZERO
VE1 1
VE2 1
VE3 17
VE4 2
VE5 2
VE6 6
VE7 5
VE8 ZERO
DX DL, G, HP, JA, PA, P4, SM, SP, UA2, XE
de Tom N4KG in ALabama
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