ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: N4TZ/9
Operator(s): N4TZ
Station: N4TZ
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: IN
Operating Time (hrs): 40
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 34 28
80: 80 48
40: 152 60
20: 248 80
15: 342 87
10: 903 101
-------------------
Total: 1757 404 Total Score = 2,129,484
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Countries
__________________________________________________________
160SSB 36 34 102 28
80SSB 81 80 240 48
40SSB 152 152 456 60
20SSB 249 248 744 80
15SSB 342 340 1020 87
10SSB 908 903 2709 101
__________________________________________________________
Totals 1768 1757 5271 404
Final Score = 2129484 points.
2014 ARRL-DX-SSB N4TZ
Continent List
160 80 40 20 15 10 ALL
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
USA calls = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Canada calls = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NA calls = 19 23 29 32 40 44 187
SA calls = 6 6 14 31 34 55 146
Euro calls = 10 47 93 167 239 744 1300
African calls = 1 2 2 5 6 14 30
Asian calls = 0 0 2 11 4 8 25
Japan calls = 0 2 9 0 11 29 51
Ocean calls = 0 1 3 3 8 14 29
Total calls = 36 81 152 249 342 908 1768
Conditions were great! Unfortunately, my station didn't keep up
with them. Friday morning, one of my radios wouldn't boot.
Couldn't find the problem, so moved it out of the console and
put the back-up rig in. (Today, the offending rig seems to
work ok.)
After the cw weekend, I noticed that the TIC ring
on the lower 20 was about 100 degrees off - that is how much
calibration it lost during the contest, so that at the end
of the cw weekend I had it pointed for minimum signals.
I was able to climb the tower and recalibrate the antenna
before the fone weekend. However, during a storm we had in
between, my bottom 15 meter yagi lost its reflector, and
the weather didn't improve enought to drop it and fix it.
The 160m antenna is hung from a rope and pulleys on the tower;
during one of the storms, the rope (a continuous loop
through pulleys at top and bottom) had sagged about 10 feet.
I tightened the rope up Friday afternoon. Just before the
contest I had to drive to the city to pick up some tickets
for a Irish dance program for my wife (last minute request).
Got back just before sundown, and turned the top 10/15 toward
JA for the beginning of the contest. I noticed the control
box meter stopped turning and the motor didn't kick off.
I ran outside and found the top 10/15 had caught in the
support rope for the 160 meter antenna. I loosened the
rope, and the antenna element released, but with a huge
bend so it wouldn't clear the guy wires any more. I
turned it back to the NE and parked it for the weekend,
and raised the 160m antenna as the sun set.
Then, during the night, I noticed that the prop pitch rotor
for the top 20 and 40 had stopped at about due north.
I thought it had frozen from the cold, so turned on the
heater, but even an hour of heating didn't thaw it. I
tried from time to time for the rest of the contest, but
as of this writing it is till pointed Due North.
At this point I was down to two rotating antennas:
the 10/15 at 42' and the 20/40 at 61'. I was afraid
to turn the lower 20/40 any more than necessary so
just turned it from time to time from NE to SE. At the
end of the contest it was still pointing in the correct
direction, but it was almost impossible to work EU on
40 Sunday afternoon with that antenna, while the top
antenna pointed Due North didn't even raise a reply.
I spent a lot of time and energy Sunday trying to figure
out any way to get the top antenna turned back to EU
again, but the weather forecasts for a major storm
kept me from trying any outdoor solutions. The storm
did not materialize.....
I did have some good times. I had a 60 minute hour
with 150 QSOs Saturday morning (10 meters). TR4W did
fine keeping up with the recorded audio files at that
rate. As has been the case in recent years, the
computer has done my talking for all of the QSOs.
Sure wish I could have given N5AW and W9RE a better
run for their money. Did finally edge Marvin in
multipliers.
I need to find a way to have better redundancy on the
antennas. Perhaps a second tower might be in order.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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