ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: K1KA
Operator(s): K1KA
Station: K1KA
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NH
Operating Time (hrs): 20.5
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 18 16
80: 106 53
40: 125 65
20: 449 88
15: 152 53
10: 66 19
-------------------
Total: 916 294 Total Score = 807,912
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
Rig: K3s/P3, SPE 1.3K-FA, Ants: 10-40- Cushcraft X7 with 40m element@ 70 ft; 80m
�" Dipole @ 60 ft.: 160m �" Double L. No Rx antennas.
I was not expecting to do this well or even stick with it, after the way it all
started. I was hoping to beat my usual 500-600 Q performance, but the
propagation predictions and band noise did not look good. I had decided to
start on 20, and I had worked a nice strong TI5 ahead of time who gave me a
glowing signal report and asked me to be sure to work him in the contest. Right
on time I started calling him but was getting beat out by everyone. Finally he
pieced my call together after many minutes. I then began to S&P many others
with no success. After nearly 20 minutes, and still only one QSO in the log I
smartened up enough to pack my bags and move to 40m. QSO #2 was that VP9/W6PH
guy who picked me up quickly told me I was loud which gave me some hope. Thanks
Kurt. That and the “emergency preparedness” email provided some push.
Thanks Tony. For the next few hours things were tough with many calls to get
through. When it was time to switch to 80 I had a dilemma. In the past I
haven’t had a workable antenna on 80m. The dipole I have is primarily used by
Glen K1GW for his remote rig he has here. Its fine for 100w, but in the past
full power results in too much RF in the shack. I would have usually gone right
to 160 or put up with 40. Still I figured that 100w on 80 was better than zero
watts. I even started off with the amp in the low power setting just to see if
I could have a few hundred watts. To my surprise, it seemed to worked well- no
RF in the shack. I gradually increased to full power and no problems. What’s
more, I was busting pile ups pretty well, which was good as later 160 yielded
only 1 EU QSO.
As the weekend went on I seemed to be doing better and better in the pile ups
getting through often on the first call. Saturday night I realized I had a real
shot at busting out of my 600 Q ceiling, but to do it I’d have to get an EU
run going on Sunday morning. My few attempts at running on Saturday went
nowhere. Sure enough before the good prop worked its way west, I found a nice
spot high in the band on 20, and ran for over an hour, which is good for my
station. The 700 Q goal seemed achievable with a stretch to maybe 750. As
things continued, my stretch goal kept moving up. Maybe someday I’ll make
1000 Qs, but 900 was pretty good for me and my little pistol station.
73, Dave, K1KA
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