ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: K3KU
Operator(s): K3KU
Station: K3KU
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: MDC
Operating Time (hrs): 3:37
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 181 Sections = 38 Countries = 0 Total Score = 13,756
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
TS-850SAT and the 200-ft tree-supported dipole. No separate rx ant.
An antenna support rope broke 10 days before the 'Test. I did my Robin Hood
act to get it back up, but the tuning was different, and on Thursday I was
still playing with feedline lengths to get it matchable on all bands. I should
have played more, and I should have paid more attention to the small rise in SWR
from heavy CQing on the low end of 160M during the 'Test.
Got started Saturday night at 0050Z. Lots of East Coast (PVRC). Some
exhilarating bursts. Heard TM6M, but he was not hearing any W/VE callers. At
about 0419Z, with 177 QSOs in 35 Sections in the log, my CQ brought WB0CFF. As
I went to send him the report, my SWR went to infinity and the power cut back
accordingly. That's when I realized that I had blown out the TS-850SAT's
auto-tuner (again). If you know 'CFF, please pass this to him so he won't
think I'm a lid.
So, QRT. But about an hour later I came up with Plan B -- Go high in the band,
and see if I can get a bit of a match w/o the tuner. I went up to 1.875, saw
that I could get about 25W of folded-back power (SWR too high to read on the
bar graph). So I called CQ. Hey! I worked four stations, including three new
Sections -- including K0RF in CO !! -- in nine minutes. I can live with that
rate.
But then it ran out, and even K3KU could not abide the futility of S&P with
25W. QRT. I sure hope I get the tuner fixed (and the antenna/feedline tweaked)
in time for next 'Test where 160M is useful.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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