ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: SOAB(A) HP
QTH: Lancaster, Ohio
Operating Time (hrs): 14
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 30 27
80: 6 6
40: 100 47
20: 1 1
15: 72 27
10: 1 1
-------------------
Total: 210 109 Total Score = 68,670
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
Well, I started the contest on 160 with the intention of gaining
additional experience with my Steerable Phased Array (read: screwing
around). However, operating 160 exclusively during a multi-band phone
DX contest is excruciatingly boring, so I started chasing DX on 40,
which is the only other band besides 160 for which I have an antenna,
a ground-mounted quarter wave vertical over 32 radials.
So, Friday evening I alternated between 40 and 160. I napped from
about 0230Z to 0530Z, and went to bed for good after 0630Z. I don't
think I worked anything remarkable.
Saturday afternoon I observed that a 40 meter vertical also works on
15 meters, so I hung out on 15 for a while. When 15 got slow, I
screwed around trying to load up the vertical on 20 without the
benefit of an antenna tuner. By being careful, I could get the
amplifier to emit about 250 watts without tripping the SWR protect
circuit. Thus, I was able to work TM6M on 20 meters.
When 15 got slow and 40 got going, I stayed on 40 for a while and
worked a lot of Europeans and South Americans. I discovered that its
faster to enter a split frequency via the keyboard that via the radio
front panel, even though one has to put fingers on both the radio and
the keyboard at the same time. When I worked TM6M on 40, they told me
"3787", so I thought, what the heck.
Now, a few months ago, I tried adding a parallel 80 meter wire to my
160 meter "T" for Sweepstakes. Although the wire is cut for 3530 or
so, I could trick the amplifier into producing a few watts on 80 by
again being careful not to trip the SWR protect. So, I worked TM6M on
80 meters, along with 5 other stations, thus making TM6M my first 4
band contact.
I stuck with 40 and 160 until European sunrise, and went to bed. ZL3A
was my best DX on 40, and CW6V was probably the best DX on 160. I
heard a whisper of US0LW on 160, but he was not strong enough to call.
I heard lots of Europeans coming back to the big east coast stations,
but I didn't care to call CQ.
Sunday morning, I managed to hit the 15 meter band opening just right,
and stayed with it most of the day, except for a couple of hours of
family support duty. I think I worked all of the actual South
American countries except PZ, 8R, OA, and CP. My vertical didn't have
enough oomph to reach ZL2AWH, and I didn't hear any Europeans. Maybe
I need more radials :-)
I made a couple of excursions to 10 meters, and one time I found
TI50DX, and again the amplifier trick worked. So, TI50DX is my other
4 band contact.
I finished on 40 winding up with the following breakdown:
band QSOs mults
160 30 27
80 6 6
40 100 47
20 1 1
15 72 27
10 1 1
TOTAL 210 109 SCORE: 68,670
Maybe I should put up a tribander or buy an antenna tuner.
Antennas:
160: 65' vertical with "T" top
80: 48' inverted L tied to 160 vertical (read: very narrow)
40: 33' vertical
20: 33' vertical
15: 33' vertical
10: 33' vertical
Victor, K1LT
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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