ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: W4KAZ
Operator(s): W4KAZ
Station: W4KAZ
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 9.5
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 199 Sections = 42 Countries = 4 Total Score = 18,860
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
199 Q's, 46 mults(42 & 4) for 18860 total score.
Only my second foray onto 160. It could be that I'm going to get hooked.
No great rate, no cause for panic amoungst the Big Dawgs, but great fun. I
really only got on to experiment on 160 and have a little fun while practicing
my CW. I really enjoyed finding and working stations every 300 to 400 hz or
so. S&P was a lot of fun that way. My ability to copy CW was not nearly so
taxed as during Sweeps, but I still need a lot of work. I spent a lot of time
'reading the mail' on run stations on both nights, both to get an idea how well
I could hear and as practice copying folks calling into the run.
The good:
The fourteen short radials hastily installed for the inverted-ell made a big
improvement over the four I used last year. Too bad I didn't get the K9AY
repaired in time--it got toasted during SSCW. It would appear that terminating
resistors do not appreciate even my meager 100 watts. (yeah, go ahead, yuck it
up.... :o) The ell seemed to work just fine, and most seemed to be able to
hear my exchange on the first pass. CW ear is improving. Worked PJ2, P40, C6
and HI, but I was really more excited about the VE7.
The bad:
I didn't stay up late or get up early. Lost opportunity. Radials are a pain
in the posterior. Tune the matching network BEFORE the week of the contest. I
didn't hear much from 6 or 7 land. No NNY or RI on the east coast.
The Ugly:
The small antenna tuner with the teeny capacitors just was not up to the
challenge of a hastily tuned antenna. "What's that sound....Is that ARCING?"
zzt zzzzzzzzzt zzzzzzzzzzt zzt zzt zzt zzt zzzzzzzzzzzt zzzzzzzzzt zzt
zzzzzzzzt .......
MOAHT(Mother of All Homebrew Tuners) to the rescue!
Station:
radio: FT-920
antenna: inverted-ell--60' vertical, about 90' horizontal, with fourteen
elevated radials of
various sizes from 20 to 37 feet long, all at about 7 feet height.
73
W4KAZ
dit dit
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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