North America QSO Party - SSB
Call: KK1L
Operator(s): KK1L
Station: KK1L
Class: SO
QTH: VT
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
----------------------
160: 18 14
80: 49 24
40: 193 42
20: 231 43
15: 165 37
10: 41 9
----------------------
Total: 697 169 = 117,793
Club/Team: Green Mountain Boys
Comments:
Antennas:
160m Inv-Vee apex at 85'
A3S+40m at 92'
ground mounted HF-6V vertical
Radio: TS-850S/AT
At the last minute there was a change of plans. WJ1Z(ex N1MEZ) and
myself were going to do a M/2 entry again, but "something came up" and
that was not possible. I entered as SO for the first time in two years.
This was the maiden voyage of my 88' tower. Thursday I discovered a
problem with the tribander. SWR fluctuated all over the place. I spent
five hours on the tower Friday (took vacation) diagnosing it to a bad
10m trap on the driven element. My third party family band radio
controlled XYL provided the needed feedback from my shack. She even
IDed for me with the straight key! I pulled the element apart on the
tower and repaired the trap on the ground. I replaced it Saturday
morning. Three trips up and down the tower and I was back in business.
The next issue to address was the lack of a 160m antenna. My vertical
dipole had broken and would be incompatible with the 80m inverted vee
hanging off the tower. I needed something I could do in less than two
hours. I decided to try adding 60' to each leg of the 80m inverted vee
to allow me to load it on 160m and 80m.
The contest went pretty well. The A3s+40m played well enough from 92'.
10m was very long though. West coast galore from here, but no midwest
:(. 15m was the better of the two daytime bands, but not spectacular.
20m was also long before dinner. I went to 40m after a dinner break
aorund 23:00Z, shortly moving (or being moved) to 20m. I found 20m
spectacular. The band had shortened up and there were many mults
waiting. When I moved back to 40m I had that fresh meat feeling for a
short while. It was hard to leave at least a 120 rate on 20m, but mults
are king. I took my second break for 1 hour at 02:03Z.
The final stretch was the 160/80/40m shuffle. I usually feel a little
loud on 80m, but that was NOT the case today. The noise level was
anywhere from S9 to +20dB on 80m, and not much better on 40m. 160m
seemed quiet to me compared to 80m.
Anyway looking back I think the tribander is too high for domestic
contests. I have a second A3S on the way here to put at 62'. That will
make a difference for the Sprint (if I can operate it in September) and
certainly SS in November.
Thanks folks for all the Qs! I had a great time.
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