ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: WP2AA
Operator(s): KK9A
Station: NP2N
Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: USVI
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 80 27
80: 326 54
40: 721 57
20: 1418 59
15: 1543 59
10: 2148 59
-------------------
Total: 6236 315 Total Score = 5,893,020
Club:
Comments:
My wife and I made our first visit to St Croix, VI and we had a wonderful time.
It is the largest of the Virgin Islands however it is not real touristy. There
are many nice restaurants and fun things to do. We stayed at NP2N’s home
which is on the side of the mountain about 300 feet (100m) high. From the
balcony there were beautiful views of the island and sea. The station is modest
with a 3 element tribander on a 33’ (10m) high tower. Fred ,K9VV/NP2X repaired
a fallen element just prior to our arrival so it was in perfect working
condition. With the sloping terrain and clear salt water path to the U.S. this
antenna performed very well. I set up wire antennas for the low bands which
also worked well on 40m and 80m. There is a SteppIR vertical on the property
which was fun to use on 30m before the contest and I could have also used it on
40m. You can see the antenna picture by clicking on the link below my signature.
I brought my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark-V along with all of the accessories needed for
a phone contest with me. This is not a small or lightweight transceiver however
I am very comfortable using it. A special thanks to my XYL for sacrificing much
luggage space for this equipment. I did not have enough available coax positions
with my radio and external 2 position switch so I had to unscrew the 80m coax
and connect the 160m cable when I operated on top bad. This was not much of an
inconvenience because top band conditions were poor and with low power and I
had few callers there. The shack has a solid WIFI system and I decided to
operated low power unlimited in an attempt to break P40P(W5AJ)’s record. With
only one transceiver the spotting network made it easy to follow what bands
everyone was on. It was very entertaining to watch while running my pileups.
Power outages are common in this area. I was prepared by having the generator
fueled up and tested, luckily it was never needed. 10m was my best band. There
was some QSB and unfortunately a few stations faded out before I could copy all
of the information. 15m and 20m were in great shape and also produced high QSO
rates. I had not operated this contest as a DX station since 2011 and I was a
little rusty. I only made 400 QSOs before the contest and many were on CW. This
was a new callsign so I stuck a large WP2AA note on my monitor to remind me of
my call. I started on 15m and stayed there for over an hour before moving to
20m. I stayed on 20m for the next three hours before going to the low bands.
After four hours I had 1000 contacts in my log, I forgot how much fun this is
from the Caribbean! I wish that I slept more on Friday and after 31 straight
hours of operating I took a much needed dinner and sleep break. On Sunday rates
were slower and I tried to fill in any missing multipliers using the spotting
network. Two hours before the end I had a surprise 200 QSO hour on 15m which
easily brought me over the 6000 QSO mark. This score should be a new record!
Thanks for the QSOs. A special thanks to the 30 stations who worked me on all
six bands and to the 86 who worked me on five. On Monday evening many local and
visiting hams along with their spouses met for a post contest dinner. It was
great to meet everyone and it was a most enjoyable time. Thanks to NP2N for the
use of his station and to K9VV/NP2X making repairs and helping with the
logistics of this operation. I hope to do this again soon!
Please QSL via WD9DZV.
73,
John KK9A �" WP2AA �" W4AAA �" P40A
http://www.wp2aa.com
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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