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Dear Friends topbanders:
I thought maybe you would be interested in the story of this contest. =
Any comments are welcome (to me directly, please).
73, John, ON4UN
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The Jan 2000 CQ 160 m CW Contest at ON4UN
I have participated in almost every edition of this contest, except for =
the last two years. In 1998 I was plagued with industrial QRM from a =
chemical plant some 8 km from my QTH. It took a long time to solve that =
problem ( I keep my fingerd crossed). As I had a S7 QRM level (all over =
the band) when I beaming towards the States, the contest was off in =
1998. Last year a really bad flew kept me in bed with very high fever =
for over a week. I did not think this year was going to be any good, as =
we have just about reached the maximum of the sunspot cycle. That is the =
general opinion anyhow. But I just felt like "doing" it once more on top =
band, not having been very active on 160 for well over a year for =
various reasons.
All Beverages were up, and the old man (now almost 60, the "title" =
starts applying) prepared himself as well as possible. Well, even if the =
conditions would not be good, it would be the same for everyone. But I =
had read on the internet there had been good openings between Europe and =
the US lately, and XZ0A has been up to S9 on 160 here in Western Europe. =
So, it could not be all that bad.
The worst part of this contest is the first few hours. It looks like =
everyone wants to work everyone right in the first few hours, like if =
they were afraid of a general black-out. In Europe you must try to work =
a JA right at the start of the contest (it's right at their sunrise). =
But, not a peep from Japan tonight. I had installed myself on about =
1830.5 some time before the start of the contest. Twenty minutes into =
the contest "it" started. Every CQ was answered with a dah dah dah dah =
dah string (at S9 plus) for about 30 seconds. This is not the first time =
I attract jammers. You can't be everyone's friend, can you? I remember =
years ago I was being jammed, both on 80 and 160. One famous jammer, who =
eventually was caught while doing this was EI8-plus 1 letter. Everybody =
in Europe know him. I know he is quite an old man now (in his eighties) =
and thought he would have grown wiser by now. Anyhow, I tried to go =
split, but that did not really work well. So I gave up my beautiful =
running frequency and started search and pounce. That was the last I =
heard from the jammer, at least the first night. Looks like he did have =
to go to bed early (old age?). It was 23:45 when I worked the first =
North American station. The band was reasonably good to the US between =
01:30 and 03:00 UTC, but signals were all rather weak. A good thing I =
now have phased Beverages, and the additional gain and better =
directivity really pay off. The furthest West the signals reached was 1 =
station in MO (K4VX, who else), one in IA (N0AC) one in TX and N7JW in =
Utah (fb!). In total approx. 125 North American stations were worked =
including 8P9DX, V47KP, VP2EJ, KV4FZ as well as PY2BW. Not bad for this =
time of the sunspot cycle, I thought. I went to bed at 07:40 with 480 =
QSO's in the log.=20
After a good day's night rest (??) I worked XZ0A more than 1.5 hours =
before my sunset, and it took me only two calls to get him! That was a =
surprise. The Saturday evening was as usual, listening towards the East, =
firing right into the high (I mean really high) power East European =
stations. The clicks and clacks and noise sidebands and whatever other =
kinds of distortions generated in that direction are quite something. =
One station in particular, SN3A, had a signal that was more than 3 kHz =
wide (that means sidebands stronger than S9 over more than 3 KHz). OM7M =
has a signal that sounds very alike, as well as SP2FAX. I have been told =
some stations use a transmitter in the SSB position and use a keyed tone =
generator which has a lot of harmonic content. Well, that is what this =
signal sounds like. It's not just clicks, it's not just VCO noise, it's =
sounds really like what I described above. This is of course an =
efficient way of keeping other station from coming near your frequency. =
Of course, with a DX window of 5 kHz wide, and if you sit right in the =
middle (which this station did) it really created havoc for all the =
others. Many stations made the comment to SN3A about his horrible signal =
quality but he ignored it, at least then. Well, funny thing is that the =
second night he was on with a "clean" signal (just the usual clicks). =
After the contest I checked the packet cluster messages and found a good =
number of spots from people telling SN3A about his bad signal. Fact is =
that this station ruined a large part of the DX segment for many =
European stations, at least the first night. Right, the second night =
SN3A was on with a "normal" signal. Maybe it was not intentional after =
all?
Have you ever heard yourself in a contest? I mean have you ever heard =
your own call being used by "someone else". Both nights there was =
another ON4UN active on 160. Where are we going? The guy doing this was =
clearly trying to harm me. By working stations using my call, he would =
keep them out of my "genuine" log. And I must say he was certainly =
successful to some degree. When running S&P I repeatedly had European =
station (which I called) answering me "WKD B4", while I clearly did not =
work them before. Maybe he also wanted people to notice that there were =
2 ON4UN signals on the band, which, clearly, is not allowed in the =
contest. I got a call from a couple of friends after the contest to tell =
me about that as well! All I can say, there really are some sick minds =
around.
A nice surprise was being called by a very strong VK3IA, and later by =
VQ9IO. VK6HD ended up in the log as well. All evening long I checked =
1910 for JA's, but it was not until almost 22:00 when I heard the first =
weak JA: JH4UYB. Fortunately I got him after just 2 calls.: my only JA =
in this contest, but that's enough for a multiplier! Around 22:30 the =
band suddenly opened to the US. This time the signals were much stronger =
than the first night. In about 1 hour not less than 50 US-stations were =
worked: it looked like I had a real pipe line! This was clearly a duct, =
not just a "normal" propagation mode. During this period the noise on =
the band was extremely low. At the end I heard like waves of noise =
setting in, and the band returned -for a while at least- to it's normal =
condition: much weaker US signals and more noise. I guess the dct was =
"closed". Would this be the end of better conditions? I remember similar =
periods of enhanced signal strengths during other contests. Well, at =
least, I had enjoyed this short spell.=20
Two hours later, however, around 01:30 UTC the band suddenly switched to =
"overdrive". US-stations were abundant again, and the skip was really =
stretching. K0RF (CO) was the first sign of this. From this moment on, =
the band really staid in this "overdrive" condition until sunrise. Or =
maybe, there was an extra afterburner effect starting about 05:00 UTC. =
Between 05:00 and 07:15 UTC the band was like I hardly recall having =
seen it in the past 15 year: just incredible. WO,s W6's and W7's at a =
honest S9. And not just one, but dozends! One after the other. It almost =
sounded like 10 meter! And that in the year that the sunspot cycle is =
peaking! Who would want to predict this? Let me list a few genuine DX =
calls (for us in Europe): W6RFF, K6ANP, W6THN, W6MPY, WN6K, KC6X, K6DB, =
K6RC, AB6WM, N6CW, K6LA, K6RN (all CA), AD7U, N7TT, W7WA, N7QW, W7RM =
(all WA), W7YAQ (OR), K0EIA/7 (MT)N7IR, W7YS, NM7I, K7MQ (all AZ), K7UP =
(NM) , VE7AV (BC), VE5SF and VE5UA (SK), K0RL, W0AH, W0CP (all CO), =
K0KES (ND).. Quite a list! There also were a lot of TX stations as well =
as various WO's. The main thing is that all signals were loud! I did not =
have to dig for them, they were all solid, proverbial 599 copy! I =
recorded the opening on my hard disk, and try to make something out of =
it, and pots it on internet.
Not less than 290 North American stations were worked the second night, =
and out of a total of some 1250 QSOs, not less than 1/3rd were with =
North America. Fifty one states + Canadian provinces is the highest =
number I have ever achieved in the 160 m contest, and together with a =
DXCC country total of 72, this helped me reach just over 1 Mi. points, =
much more than what I ever would have dared to dream of for this year! =
During night # 2 other nice multipliers that made it into my log were: =
VP2VW, NP3G, SU9ZZ, E41/OK1DTP, JY9QJ, TA3D etc.=20
By the way, when I was running these West coast stations on Sunday =
morning, I was on 1831.8, and was able to keep a clear channel, until =
EI8H came up and started calling CQ 200 Hz below me, ruining the =
frequency. Apparently I must have been too close to hi for comfort as =
well, as he soon disappeared. Minutes later the jammer with the =
dah-dah-dah-dah technique showed up on the frequency. Then I went S&P. =
Nothing could ruin this most wonderful and unique experience now. Not =
even him!
I hope you all enjoyed the contest as much as I did,
73, John - ON4UN-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
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Station: FT1000MP + ACOM 2000 AMp
TX ant: 1/4 wave vert (full-size) + 250 radials on/in the ground
RX ant: 12 Beverages, phase 160 m long Beverages to the USA
Logging software: Writelog=20
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<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
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<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dear Friends topbanders:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I thought maybe you would be interested =
in the=20
story of this contest. Any comments are welcome (to me directly,=20
please).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>73, </FONT><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2>John,=20
ON4UN</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<HR>
</DIV><B><U><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<P>The Jan 2000 CQ 160 m CW Contest at ON4UN</P></B></U>
<P>I have participated in almost every edition of this contest, except =
for the=20
last two years. In 1998 I was plagued with industrial QRM from a =
chemical plant=20
some 8 km from my QTH. It took a long time to solve that problem ( I =
keep my=20
fingerd crossed). As I had a S7 QRM level (all over the band) when I =
beaming=20
towards the States, the contest was off in 1998. Last year a really bad =
flew=20
kept me in bed with very high fever for over a week. I did not think =
this year=20
was going to be any good, as we have just about reached the maximum of =
the=20
sunspot cycle. That is the general opinion anyhow. But I just felt like =
"doing"=20
it once more on top band, not having been very active on 160 for well =
over a=20
year for various reasons.</P>
<P>All Beverages were up, and the old man (now almost 60, the "title" =
starts=20
applying) prepared himself as well as possible. Well, even if the =
conditions=20
would not be good, it would be the same for everyone. But I had read on =
the=20
internet there had been good openings between Europe and the US lately, =
and XZ0A=20
has been up to S9 on 160 here in Western Europe. So, it could not be all =
that=20
bad.</P>
<P>The worst part of this contest is the first few hours. It looks like =
everyone=20
wants to work everyone right in the first few hours, like if they were =
afraid of=20
a general black-out… In Europe you must try to work a JA right at =
the start of=20
the contest (it’s right at their sunrise). But, not a peep from =
Japan tonight. I=20
had installed myself on about 1830.5 some time before the start of =
the=20
contest. Twenty minutes into the contest "it" started. Every CQ was =
answered=20
with a <I>dah dah dah dah dah</I> string (at S9 plus) for about 30 =
seconds. This=20
is not the first time I attract jammers. You can’t be =
everyone’s friend, can=20
you? I remember years ago I was being jammed, both on 80 and 160. One =
famous=20
jammer, who eventually was caught while doing this was EI8-plus 1 =
letter.=20
Everybody in Europe know him. I know he is quite an old man now (in his=20
eighties) and thought he would have grown wiser by now. Anyhow, I tried =
to go=20
split, but that did not really work well. So I gave up my beautiful =
running=20
frequency and started search and pounce. That was the last I heard from =
the=20
jammer, at least the first night. Looks like he did have to go to bed =
early (old=20
age?). It was 23:45 when I worked the first North American station. The =
band was=20
reasonably good to the US between 01:30 and 03:00 UTC, but signals were =
all=20
rather weak. A good thing I now have phased Beverages, and the =
additional gain=20
and better directivity really pay off. The furthest West the signals =
reached was=20
1 station in MO (K4VX, who else), one in IA (N0AC) one in TX and N7JW in =
Utah=20
(fb!). In total approx. 125 North American stations were worked =
including 8P9DX,=20
V47KP, VP2EJ, KV4FZ as well as PY2BW. Not bad for this time of the =
sunspot=20
cycle, I thought. I went to bed at 07:40 with 480 QSO’s in the =
log. </P>
<P>After a good day’s night rest (??) I worked XZ0A more than 1.5 =
hours before=20
my sunset, and it took me only two calls to get him! That was a =
surprise. The=20
Saturday evening was as usual, listening towards the East, firing right =
into the=20
high (I mean really high) power East European stations. The clicks and =
clacks=20
and noise sidebands and whatever other kinds of distortions generated in =
that=20
direction are quite something. One station in particular, SN3A, had a =
signal=20
that was more than 3 kHz wide (that means sidebands stronger than S9 =
over more=20
than 3 KHz). OM7M has a signal that sounds very alike, as well as =
SP2FAX. I have=20
been told some stations use a transmitter in the SSB position and use a =
keyed=20
tone generator which has a lot of harmonic content. Well, that is what =
this=20
signal sounds like. It’s not just clicks, it’s not just VCO =
noise, it’s sounds=20
really like what I described above. This is of course an efficient way =
of=20
keeping other station from coming near your frequency. Of course, with a =
DX=20
window of 5 kHz wide, and if you sit right in the middle (which this =
station=20
did) it really created havoc for all the others. Many stations made the =
comment=20
to SN3A about his horrible signal quality but he ignored it, at least =
then.=20
Well, funny thing is that the second night he was on with a "clean" =
signal (just=20
the usual clicks). After the contest I checked the packet cluster =
messages and=20
found a good number of spots from people telling SN3A about his bad =
signal. Fact=20
is that this station ruined a large part of the DX segment for many =
European=20
stations, at least the first night. Right, the second night SN3A was on =
with a=20
"normal" signal… Maybe it was not intentional after all?</P>
<P>Have you ever heard yourself in a contest? I mean have you ever heard =
your=20
own call being used by "someone else". Both nights there was another =
ON4UN=20
active on 160… Where are we going? The guy doing this was clearly =
trying to harm=20
me. By working stations using my call, he would keep them out of my =
"genuine"=20
log. And I must say he was certainly successful to some degree. When =
running=20
S&P I repeatedly had European station (which I called) answering me =
"WKD=20
B4", while I clearly did not work them before. Maybe he also wanted =
people to=20
notice that there were 2 ON4UN signals on the band, which, clearly, is =
not=20
allowed in the contest. I got a call from a couple of friends after the =
contest=20
to tell me about that as well! All I can say, there really are some sick =
minds=20
around.</P>
<P>A nice surprise was being called by a very strong VK3IA, and later by =
VQ9IO.=20
VK6HD ended up in the log as well. All evening long I checked 1910 for =
JA’s, but=20
it was not until almost 22:00 when I heard the first weak JA: JH4UYB.=20
Fortunately I got him after just 2 calls.: my only JA in this contest, =
but=20
that’s enough for a multiplier! Around 22:30 the band suddenly =
opened to the US.=20
This time the signals were much stronger than the first night. In about =
1 hour=20
not less than 50 US-stations were worked: it looked like I had a real =
pipe line!=20
This was clearly a duct, not just a "normal" propagation mode. During =
this=20
period the noise on the band was extremely low. At the end I heard like =
waves of=20
noise setting in, and the band returned –for a while at least- to =
it’s normal=20
condition: much weaker US signals and more noise. I guess the dct was =
"closed".=20
Would this be the end of better conditions? I remember similar periods =
of=20
enhanced signal strengths during other contests. Well, at least, I had =
enjoyed=20
this short spell. </P>
<P>Two hours later, however, around 01:30 UTC the band suddenly switched =
to=20
"overdrive". US-stations were abundant again, and the skip was really=20
stretching. K0RF (CO) was the first sign of this. From this moment on, =
the band=20
really staid in this "overdrive" condition until sunrise. Or maybe, =
there was an=20
extra afterburner effect starting about 05:00 UTC… Between 05:00 =
and 07:15 UTC=20
the band was like I hardly recall having seen it in the past 15 year: =
just=20
incredible. WO,s W6’s and W7’s at a honest S9. And not just =
one, but dozends!=20
One after the other. It almost sounded like 10 meter! And that in the =
year that=20
the sunspot cycle is peaking! Who would want to predict this? Let me =
list a few=20
genuine DX calls (for us in Europe): W6RFF, K6ANP, W6THN, W6MPY, WN6K, =
KC6X,=20
K6DB, K6RC, AB6WM, N6CW, K6LA, K6RN (all CA), AD7U, N7TT, W7WA, N7QW, =
W7RM (all=20
WA), W7YAQ (OR), K0EIA/7 (MT)N7IR, W7YS, NM7I, K7MQ (all AZ), K7UP (NM) =
, VE7AV=20
(BC), VE5SF and VE5UA (SK), K0RL, W0AH, W0CP (all CO), K0KES =
(ND)…. Quite a=20
list! There also were a lot of TX stations as well as various =
WO's. The=20
main thing is that all signals were loud! I did not have to dig for =
them, they=20
were all solid, proverbial 599 copy! I recorded the opening on my hard =
disk, and=20
try to make something out of it, and pots it on internet.</P>
<P>Not less than 290 North American stations were worked the second =
night, and=20
out of a total of some 1250 QSOs, not less than 1/3<SUP>rd</SUP> were =
with North=20
America. Fifty one states + Canadian provinces is the highest number I =
have ever=20
achieved in the 160 m contest, and together with a DXCC country total of =
72,=20
this helped me reach just over 1 Mi. points, much more than what I ever =
would=20
have dared to dream of for this year! During night # 2 other nice =
multipliers=20
that made it into my log were: VP2VW, NP3G, SU9ZZ, E41/OK1DTP, JY9QJ, =
TA3D etc…=20
</P>
<P>By the way, when I was running these West coast stations on Sunday =
morning, I=20
was on 1831.8, and was able to keep a clear channel, until EI8H came up =
and=20
started calling CQ 200 Hz below me, ruining the frequency. Apparently I =
must=20
have been too close to hi for comfort as well, as he soon disappeared. =
Minutes=20
later the jammer with the <I>dah-dah-dah-dah</I> technique showed up on =
the=20
frequency. Then I went S&P. Nothing could ruin this most wonderful =
and=20
unique experience now. Not even him!</P>
<P>I hope you all enjoyed the contest as much as I did,</P>
<P>73, John - ON4UN-</P>
<P>
<HR>
</P>
<DIV>Station: FT1000MP + ACOM 2000 AMp</DIV>
<DIV>TX ant: 1/4 wave vert (full-size) + 250 radials on/in the =
ground</DIV>
<DIV>RX ant: 12 Beverages, phase 160 m long Beverages to the USA</DIV>
<DIV>Logging software: Writelog </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<HR>
</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>
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