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AA7TF CQ160PH -- The Whole Story (Long)

To: <3830@contesting.com>
Subject: AA7TF CQ160PH -- The Whole Story (Long)
From: stuthill@micron.net (stuthill@micron.net)
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 96 20:52 MST
                           The Whole Story
                      CQ 160 METER CONTEST -- 1996

      Call: AA7TF @ NK7U              Country:  US/Oregon
      Mode: SSB                      Category: Single Operator/
                                               High Power/ 
                                               Unassisted

               QSO   QSO PTS  STATES COUNTRIES
     Totals    677    1565      53       8    =   95,465

      Antenna: 1/4 wave ground plane with 3 elevated radials @ 15'
               supported from the top of a 180' AB-105 tower that
               has a 3 element 80M beam on top.
               No beverages (if some of you think I was an alligator
               this might be why.)
      Rig:     Kenwood TS-950S
      Amp:     Amp International LK-800


This was my first semi-serious single op contest in three years, coinciding 
with the length of time since I got married. It was also my first real effort 
at operating on 160M. The number of QSO's made effectively increases my 
lifetime 160M QSO total by an order of magnitude! Following is my story of the 
contest. 

Credits
=======
Thanks Joe, NK7U, for letting me use your station.

Statistics
==========
QRATE Showed: Top Minute       4 (240/hour) @  4:34 1st night
              Top 10 Minutes  26 (156/hour) @ 11:19 1st night
              Top Hour       101            @ 12:08 1st night 

Distribution of QSO Points:  10 pointers =   5 (tough from the left coast!)
                              5 pointers =  57
                              2 pointers = 615

Distribution by State & Province:
CA    108    TN    10   CT     4
WA     50    OK     9   MT     4
TX     32    UT     9   AK     3
AZ     30    AL     8   LA     3
IL     22    IN     8   MO     3
OH     22    NM     8   ND     3
CO     21    NV     8   SC     3
MI     21    WY     8   SK(VE5)3
OR     21    KS     7   HI     2
PA     21    MD     7   MA     2
AB(VE6)17    NE     7   NH     2
BC     15    AR     6   ME     1
NY     15    KY     6   PQ(VE2)1
GA     14    NC     6   RI     1
IA     14    SD     6   YU(VY1)1
VA     14    WI     6           
FL     13    MB(VE4)5
MN     11    MS     5
NJ     11    ON(VE3)5
ID     10    WV     5

Missed: Delaware, Vermont, All Canada east of VE2
DX that I called and worked: P40V, KH6CC, WP2AHW 
DX that called me: H44MS, XE2DV, NL7J, VY1JA, PJ9JT, KP4AAQ, AH6GN, AL7MX, 
KL7Y

BREAKDOWN QSO/mults  

HOUR     160   HR TOT   CUM TOT  
  23    24/14    24/14    24/14
   0    20/5     20/5     44/19
   1    44/8     44/8     88/27
   2    34/8     34/8    122/35
   3    39/5     39/5    161/40
   4    81/6     81/6    242/46
   5    33/3     33/3    275/49
   6    26/0     26/0    301/49
   7     2/0      2/0    303/49
   8      .        .     303/49
   9      .        .     303/49
  10      .        .     303/49
  11   100/5    100/5    403/54
  12    42/1     42/1    445/55
  13    19/0     19/0    464/55
  14     8/0      8/0    472/55
...............................
  23     3/0      3/0    475/55
   0     4/0      4/0    479/55
   1    45/1     45/1    524/56
   2    20/0     20/0    544/56
   3    28/1     28/1    572/57
   4    17/0     17/0    589/57
   5    41/0     41/0    630/57
   6     1/0      1/0    631/57
   7    .....    .....   631/57
   8      .        .     631/57
   9      .        .     631/57
  10    24/4     24/4    655/61
  11     8/0      8/0    663/61
  12     6/0      6/0    669/61
  13     3/0      3/0    672/61
  14     5/0      5/0    677/61
  15    .....    .....   677/61
  16      .        .     677/61
DAY1   472/55      .     472/55
DAY2   205/6       .     205/6 
TOT    677/61      .     677/61


Play by Play
============
Here is a chronology of some interesting events. Callsigns given are meant to 
be part of the story and not to be indicative of flames or other whining. A 
contest is a contest! (For context Sunset for me was 1:32 and Sunrise 14:38 
UTC.)

Feb 23.
2305  Make my first Q of the test with KB7WON in Wyoming. Shortly after I 
      work K7XU in SD who has a giant signal the whole contest.
2330  W2GD is S7, by 0050 is S9. Can't hear me though.

Feb 24.
0052  VE3RM tries to make me AA2TF, can't believe OR is coming in so early!
      This is my first indication that my signal is getting out.
0112  Hear P40V call CQ on 1831, don't really expect to be able to work him
      through the east coast and still being 20 minutes before sunset. Give
      a call anyway and get right through! I never heard him again the whole 
      contest.
0142  KE2C says I am 59+20 in NY. All right!
0310  Something seems to click and the band is suddenly wide open everywhere 
      with clear static free signals.
0402  Find 1807 fairly clear and make 68Q's in next 40 minutes. Lose the freq. 
      when AD6C fires up right above me and N3MKZ make his first of 3 
      appearances right on my freq!
0500  Static crashed and buzzes begin and build toward 0615. Rate starts 
      dropping off, can't get any runs going. Decide to take a nap. Crash
      from 0730 to 1100. (I really am not much of a night person. I knew I
      would get punchy later if I didn't sleep, so took a chance to be fresh
      during east coast sunrise period.)
1100  Up, refreshed, and on the air. Find 1816 clear, call CQ and the band
      explodes. Have a 100+ hour. In the middle of it H44MS calls in. I try
      several times to turn him into W4??? until something in my head
      finally clicks and I recognize the call. Finally lose the frequency
      around 1300 after being squeezed from both the top and bottom for 45 
      minutes and having my rate drop way off. Glad I slept as don't think
      I could have done this run after being up all night. 
1445  Make my last Q of the morning with VE7JRS. Had no sunrise DX pop up
      out of the noise. Though without beverages who knows what was out 
      there? 
1600  Hit the sack and sleep until 1930.

2225  AA0RS audible. Another big signal station the whole weekend.
2242  KV0Q up to S7.
2345  Work AA1AA in MA.

Feb 25.
0115  Signals start coming in. AB7BS says I'm 59 + 30 in Las Vegas.
0140  Find 1807 clear and get a small run going. PJ9JT calls in. 
0203  N3MKZ makes his third appearance right on my frequency. Rate
      drops but keeps going. I really lose it when K7XU moves in
      right above me soon after. 
0245  Bands seems to be getting worse, rates drop off. Hard to find
      new calls to work. Can't find a clear frequency to call in and
      reach the east coast. 
0315  Find a small hole at 1817 and get a run going, though a slow
      jog might be a better description.
0435  Feel like someone dumped a load of bricks on me as the frequency
      suddenly becomes a mass of QRM. Find out XE2DV parked in at 1818.
0615  Hear AA5BL running Europeans. Makes me feel so hopeless that I
      decide to take an early nap.
1000  Back on and great timing. Catch WP2AHW loud and in the clear.
      Hear YV2IW but can't raise him. Settle in about 1811. Right
      away KL7Y and KP4AAQ call in, then back to the slow jog. Work
      about 20 stations in the next hour. Do get both a ME and RI 
      station to call in as sunrise sweeps through the east coast. Kept 
      hoping for a VT, DE or any of the eastern VE's to call in, but to 
      no avail.
1110  Leave the frequency just for a second to look around. W6GO slides
      instantly right into the clear spot I left. Keep looking around, 
      not much to find. Spend the next 3 1/2 hours calling CQ and S&Ping 
      with little return.
1441  Make my last QSO with KE6QR. Once again, nothing special happens
      at my sunrise.

Overall, just missed my goal of 100K points. Probably would have made it if I 
had cut my sleep periods by a couple of hours. I need to figure out a way for 
my normally night phobic body and brain to perform through the night. Anyway, 
had a great deal of fun, and figured out a few tricks to try next year.
     
Big Signal Awards
=================
Some of the bigger signals of the weekend were from the following stations. 
Where known from my Contest Station Database I have included their antenna.
AA5BL -- using a 135' tower that has a klm 6 ele 20m yagi (58' boom) on
         top with 20 radials
AA0RS -- 
K7XU  -- with an elevated 1/4 wave ground plane, per a chat I had with 
         them on Sunday morning.
NC0P  -- 
AA8U  -- 
VE3RM --
KV0Q  -- 
WB9Z  -- 160' vertical tower on a base insulator with 120 buried radials 
         and 4 elevated ground radials

Thanks to everyone for the Q's

======================================================================
Scott Tuthill/AA7TF                                stuthill@micron.net

              "On a clear frequency you can run forever!"



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