North American QSO Party, CW - August
Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 9
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 12 7
80: 35 20
40: 125 37
20: 190 44
15: 55 20
10: 4 1
-------------------
Total: 421 129 Total Score = 54,309
Club: Orca DX and Contest Club
Team:
Comments:
* FT-2000 and FT-920
* Steppir 3-el at 27'
* 40M 2-el quad (aimed at W6)
* 40M dipole (Steppir)
* 80M 3-el triangle
* 160M inverted-L
Despite a lot of effort, this one gets filed as a "so-so"
performance. The bands fought me the whole way.
10M was very poor, with four CA stations worked and that's it.
15M was poor, too. Half the expected mults (found 45 in 2012).
20M was pretty good, but not as good as 2012 -- down 57 Qs and 3 mults.
40M was all right, but not a lot of action. Down 41 Qs and 8 mults.
80M played pretty well but activity was sparse. Managed 20 mults, but I know
more were out there. Had 96 Qs and 31 mults in 2009 with a 2-element array, so
the 3-element triangular array of verticals didn't hold up its end of the
bargain tonight. (But it did land 10 more than 2010's mult total with the 2-el
array). The band might not have been as good tonight as it was in 2009. Will
have to see how others in the Pacific Northwest fared.
160M went exactly as I thought it would. More mults (by one) than any recent
year. Sad but true that 7 states is my new high water mark on 160M in this
test.
ZF, FG and XE bumped up the mults on 15 and 20.
Ran a second radio (FT-920) in duelling CQ mode in the evening (80 and 40) with
the larger antennas. Used it during the day with an all-band vertical that
wasn't getting out (lots of CQs on 20 and 15 went unanswered) while the radio
with the Steppir yagi had a reasonably steady stream of callers. Just two
resonant elevated radials per band on the vertical, so it could use a bit more
wire around it. A work in progress.
My 20-amp Astron power supply packed it in recently, after 24 years of
admirable service. It's now fixed (voltage regulator), but in the meantime I
ordered a new supply. Conveniently, a new Astron SS30M arrived Friday morning
just in time to power the venerable old FT-920 in NAQP. The switching supply
works extremely well -- I was skeptical, but no hash found anywhere on the
bands, and it held up very cool and steady under load.
This was the maiden voyage for the refurbished 160M inverted-L -- now with
three 134' elevated radials (E, S and W cardinal directions, but missing
north). Might not seem like much of a feat, but it was a real chore running
134' of wire through forest so thick you can't see the sky, all the while wary
of disturbing ground hornets at every step. It was also the debut of a
refurbished 80M vertical on the east point of the triangle array, which also
got updated radials (elevated) seeing as I was already out there risking my
life in hornet country.
Two weeks of vacation allowed plenty of sundry fixes and recongifurations, even
after taking time out for the Pacific Northwest DX Convention in Vancouver. What
a great time with 190 old and new friends. The hospitality suite was a busy
place, and I managed to be on hand for last call both nights due to extremely
important chatting well after midnight. One of many highlights was meeting Tree
N6TR, fresh back from an extraordinary job scoring WRTC.
Okay. Next up: WAE CW. Oh, and I still have 600 feet of wire on the roll, and
two more days to find a use for it. Gotta love summer.
Thanks for the contacts.
-- Bud VA7ST
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