CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW
Call: W2GD
Operator(s): W1GD, K2SG, K2TW, N2HM, N2OO, W2CG, W2GD, W2NO, W2OB, W2RQ, N3RD,
K9CT
Station: W2GD
Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: NJ
Operating Time (hrs): 39
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1815 State/Prov = 59 Countries = 84 Total Score = 1,131,845
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Location: On Barnagat Bay near West Creek, NJ, 20 miles north of Atlantic City.
Run Position: K3 for TX, a second K3 RX only, Alpha 91B, 1.5 KW
Mult. Position: K3, Alpha 76CA 1.2 KW
Homebrew Rig Interlock. All K3s are subreceiver equipped.
Contest Software: Win-Test.
K3WW cluster node and RBN Internet Connections
TX Antennas: 2 element Vertical Wire Beams NE and West; Inverted L (New)
RX Antennas: Beverages NE 900'(2el phased array - realigned), South/North
465'(unterm), SW 560', West 560', and NW 560' (new); Remote 20' Vertical
located 2500' from TX array for SDR and diversity reception
LIVING A DREAM
While driving home from the station after the contest, I remembered how over 40
years earlier I'd dreamed about how terrific it would be to use an AM broadcast
station for 160M contesting. Somewhere I'd read that a contester (WA9UJU?) had
actually been lucky enough to be doing just that from a small daytime only AM
station in WI. OK....fast forward 30 years to 2001. I'd just joined a small
startup company that had plans to use HF packet to deliver commercial email
services to the global shipping industry. One of my early assignments was to
perform due diligence audits of coastal marine stations in NJ, AL and WA. Soon
thereafter we bought the properties. My boyhood dream was about to become
reality. The NJ station, WSC, had a 300' tower completely surrounded by salt
marsh. So for the past decade, I've been living that boyhood dream, operating
from a former coastal marine station with primo 160M antennas. It doesn't get
much better than that!
PREPARATIONS - Line Noise, Back-up TX Antenna, Beverages
Our STEW experience identified a few items still needing remediation before THE
BIG ONE.
The most pressing problem was a new case of line noise that had begun buzzing
nearby. We did some investigation of our own, identified several areas of
interest, and turned the information over to the local power company. We were
pleasantly surprised when they actually responded and found the source of the
most serious problem (bad lightning arrestors) and then made repairs. The band
was dead quiet contest weekend.
An offshoot of the line noise problem, we decided to relocate our NW beverage
further from the power lines (some insurance in the event the noise problem
wasn't solved in time). W1GD and I slogged through over a foot of snow one
cold Thursday afternoon installing the new 560' element. That same afternoon
we took GPS waypoint readings to map the location of our other beverages.
Another work party a week later was devoted to building and installing a new
backup TX antenna. The vertical dipole we've been using the past 3 years has
been significantly underperforming the Inverted L it replaced. We decided to
install a new "L" further from the station building to hopefully limit RF
intrusion issues. This antenna performed exceptionally well.....a keeper.
The GPS work identified serious issues with the NE beverage installation (a
pair of 900' elements 280' apart located in very thick woodlands). We
discovered the crude methods used 8 years earlier to erect the array were far
from accurate. One of the elements was staggered over 100' forward, and the
dirction skewed so the far ends were only 190 feet apart. On the morning of the
contest we pulled the entire 900' element out of the woods and stared over using
GPS waypoint locations every 100 feet. Now we know the geometry is exactly spot
on.
THE TEAM
This year we were better staffed than the last several. Dave, N3RD a fellow
FRCer from nearby EPA joined us for the first time and hopefully not the last.
And Craig, K9CT, made the long journey from Peoria, IL to find out what EU
sounds like on the east coast. He didn't leave disappointed. And the regulars
were there too. W2CG and W2NO worked their station and network setup magic,
W1GD, K2TW and I did most of the outdoor prep work, with support from SJDXA
members K2SG, W2ARP, N2OO, N2HM, and W2OB. W2RQ gave us some operating relief
the second night. Our 160 contests are as much a social events as they are
serious competitions. Interaction of the participants is a big part of the
fun.
CONTEST RECAP
Can't remember a 160 contest when it was so difficult to find and hold a
frequency. This aspect of the event was not particularly enjoyable, and in the
end frequency selection was probably the winner's edge. The lower 50 Khz were
completely occupied every 200 cycles. It was impossible from NA to find a
frequency that didn't have one or more EU stations CQing. Total madness at
times.
Despite the crowding, we averaged 100/hour rate the first five hours. The band
was quiet which helped keep things rolling easily. We were posting on GetScores
from the beginning (wish all the competive multi's would do the same - watching
the scores live is great fun).
After falling significantly behind the first few hours we agressively worked
our 2nd station and pulled virtually even with the K1LZ team at 0500Z. But then
the boys in MA pulled away decisively, opening up a 100K lead over the next few
hours, by virtue of working more EU ten pointers (congratulations to the K1LZ
team). In a nutshell, this was the turning point of the contest. We knew
aferward we were likely playing for 2nd place the rest of the way. If we had
it to do over, we might decide to go higher in the band for better EU
"visibility". W2OB came in at 1230Z to do the morning daylight shift, allowing
the rest of us to head out for our traditional team breakfast after sunrise each
morning.
There was plenty of DX to work both nights, although we felt conditions were
somewhat better during the first night of the contest. We ended up with 497
ten pointers and 101 five pointers, about the same as 2010 (thanks to N6TV with
help with the stats). CW skimmer has really made the task of multiplier hunting
much less difficult. We found the RBN network exceptionally effective at
identifying multiplier opportunities, some being visible for just minutes. And
it was always a wonderful surprise to be called by new ones.....notably ZS, EA9,
CX, HK, HR, LU, UA9, and very unexpectedly VP8ORK. We apparently didn't catch
the active VO2 but did work ND and SD, both missed last year. Did you know
Jorge, CX6VM/CW5W left his seashore family vacation the first night and drove
750 Km just to make the CX multiplier available for the rest of us? That's
what I call dedication! We sincerly thank all the operators worldwide who
made their own extraordinary effort to get on the air for the benefit of all
participants. BRAVO!
Last year's rule change limiting M/M operation to 40 hours continues to be a
great source of relief for our team. No more having to send CQ for hours and
hours on a dead band during daylight. Thanks again for listening Andy!
We seemed to have turned the corner on station performance in this contest,
after struggling with various nagging TX and RX antenna performance problems
the past few years. Everything worked as expected, we had no failures, and felt
competitive with our New England friends. The trend toward virtual hardware
parity continues. The numbers seem to confirm it. We still see opportunities
for further station improvements but they will wait until next fall.
As always, we want to thank the owners of WYRS-FM for hosting our 160M
activities year after year. And a big THANK YOU to everyone of you who took the
time to work us and others this past weekend.
CU again next season.
73,
John W2GD for THE TEAM
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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