CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW
Call: W3HKK
Operator(s): N4HAI W3HKK
Station: W3HKK
Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: OHIO
Operating Time (hrs): 20.38
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 934 State/Prov = 58 Countries = 38 Total Score = 230,375
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
IC-7610/ACOM 1000/SAL 30/52' VERT 1/4 WAVE INV-L/N1MM+
First time using new IC-7610. Bands seemed very quiet from a QRN standpoint
with many clear spots between stations to drop into. (ie 7610 seemingly
provides much improved rejection of adjacent channel QRM, is much quieter to
listen to from QRN standpoint, and was a pleasure to use. Gone are the days of
the ole brain and ears taking a pounding from splatter, artifacts, etc. I'm not
kidding.
Night One was pure pleasure. Crisp sigs, abundant DX, every thing working
well. Then I noticed sigs on the SAL30 sounded odd. Strong sigs were fine but
weak ones were suddenly in and out. At sunrise after calling it a day I looked
out the window and saw two ground spikes had pulled out and collapsed in on
themselves ( due to ground thaw, rain, and recent winds) So I headed out in
the rain and resecured everything, before catching 5 hours sleep.
Sat at 4pm I was joined by superb cw op N4HAI - Tom, and after a tour of the
shack/ants, etc, he took over and operated from 5pm through 1:30am while I took
it easy and logged. Some rfi problems with the software (hang ups) caused by
computer sitting inches from the amp were solved by Tom.
CNDX: 160 was a real treat on Night One. Rain moved in for Night Two but
only increased QRN from S-0 to S-2. Rates continued to perform really well with
Tom at the helm, and we seemed on our way to maybe 1050-1100 Q's. BUT around
1am something happened. Rates dried up. Europe was weak and we couldn't get
past the East Coast wall when we tried.
Tom put in 8.5 hrs at the key then headed home at 1:30 am to get some rest. I
carried on, on and off, from 2am-7:30. with poor success. The Euros started
entering the log around 2:30 but not much else. I took a short nap from
3-4:30am anticipating a nice pre-dawn run ( as usual). But there was no
pre-dawn run. It was brutally slow. Even s&p would produce just one new
call in the log for every 10 stations I tuned across. The other nine were
dupes.
I finally pulled the plug early, around 7am.
Listening in the afternoon I heard a handful of stations around 2pm,
including one new one. Then at 4-5 things picked up but so many were already
in the log I didn't try. Meanwhile up on 40 ssb I heard an Italian station
CQing NA. around 5x7.
Summary: The first contest with my new IC7610 was almost effortless, so easy
on the ears. Having a 2nd op made it easier still. Time flew by as we told
stories while making/logging qsos. The YUGE runs of 100+ didn't happen this
year but rates were steady and peaked at 96/hr. Avg Rate took a plunge due to
the final 7 hours where we seemingly ran out of stations to work and were
forced into a slow s&p mode. Avg Contest Rate=45.8. OP Time: 20.38 hrs
Worked all US states. Missed AK and 5 VE provinces way up north.
NIGHT ONE DX: KH6 CO2JD CR3DX NP2J C6ANM PJ2T ZF8CW 9A5M KL7SB/VP9 OK7K OK5Z
ZF9CW EI5KF DM7C LX7I YV1KK P33W OT6M G4IIY UA2FZ CT3KN XE2B C6AGU DL1AUZ DL6MHW
PA0Z ES5G EF8R OM7M P40AA F5IN FM5BH P40A LU8DPM KV4FZ KH7M XE2S
NIGHT TWO DX: J68HZ ZF2BJ NP2X G6M EI0R CR6K CR3DX OZ7AM CR2W GM4Z MD2C G5K
DL6FBL LA7ZPA CR6K
Only two S.A. stations. No continental AF stns. No Pacific other than KH6. No
Asia. Limited C.A. Decent Carribean participation.
Best DX: P33W
Thanks to Tom N4HAI for joining W3HKK this year.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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