1999 ARRL DX SUMMARY SHEET
Contest Dates : 05-Mar-99, 06-Mar-99, 07-Mar-99
Callsign Used : W6XR
Operator : W6XR
Category : SOABHP
Default Exchange : 59-NY
Section : WNY
Hours : 32
Name : Natan Huffman
Address : 27 Hungerford Rd,
City/State/Zip : Ithaca/NY/14850
Country : United States
Team/Club : Frankford Radio Club
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Countries
______________________________________________________
160SSB 13 13 39 11
80SSB 55 55 165 34
40SSB 143 143 429 61
20SSB 531 530 1587 105
15SSB 552 552 1656 84
10SSB 256 256 768 77
______________________________________________________
Totals 1550 1549 4644 372
Final Score = 1727568 points.
Soapbox Comments
________________
I have observed all competition rules as well as all regulations established
for amateur radio in my country. My report is correct and true to the best
of my knowledge. I agree to be bound by the decisions of the Awards
Committee.
Date ______________ Signed _____________________________ Call___________
COMMENTARY:
Had every intention of doing my normal 2 op MS for this one, but a failure
in communication with Art N2AU was responsible for a lonely shack when 0000Z
rolled around. Had not really prepared myself or even evaluated myself to
decide if I could even do a single op, but after a discussion with my wife,
she suggested that I do it and gave her support completey. This contest was
to be an opportunity to evaluate my recovery and to prove to myself that I
could "play" contest again on my own. My love has always been SOHP, and
that remains my long term goal!
Shortly before the start, I grabbed my buddy, Sadie D. Dachschund Dogge and
just went at it. Outside, the blizzard was howling, the temp was dropping
and the wind was gusting to 82 mph. The precipitation/wind static masked
anything below S-9 on the low bands, so as the hour approached midnight
locally, I went to sleep with the expectation that this effort was going to
be a bust. Was unable to hear anything on 160 even on the Ewe's!
Awoke next morning, well rested, and grabbed Sadie as I went to the
basement. The view of a complete contesting ham shack with everything
turned on, faint "radio" odors subtely wafting about, has always sent a most
seductive message to me. Each amplifier droned on, containg within the
sound of its fans the message that battle was to be done. This morning was
no different as that presentation gave me the resolve to be as serious as I
could be!
Started around 1300Znd for some reason the static/noise was down
significantly even though the snow continued. Worked all I could hear on
the low bands and went to 15 as it was just opening up. Spent the morning
on 20/15/10 running and had success, limited by my inability to get the
calls into the computer. The high bands just did not sound right at all,
even though they were behaving somewhat normally. Running Eu. on 10 yielded
a long list of I's and southern Europe, interspersed with an
arctic/Scandanavian QSO. I cursed the person who ever came up with the
"last 2" letters of call recognition. Those who call with 2 letters only
slow things down considerably! The night before, I observed stations on 40
listening on 7299 kHz . Suspect the originator of the 2 letter issue and
that person are one and the same.
The day continued and was uneventfull and even included my nap at 1800 Z.
Worked hard until 0500 Z when the support staff decided it was time to
sleep, a suggestion I agreed to immediately! Before making Z's, I made a
mental note that 20 was still open, an indication that thing may be amiss!
Sunday morning started around 1110Z and my previous intuition proved to be
correct. Just was not able to get good runs going on 20 and tried as I did,
the band did not cooperate. During the 1300Z hour a most interesting
phenomenom took place. As I continued to try to run on 20, with assurances
from Eu that I had a clear frequency, the continent of Europe simply
disappeared for me. My CQ's were replaced by endless Asian stations
including JA, 9M, BY, V96, etc. No Eu. for 17 minutes, but a buzzing
cauldron of JA's and others! Suddenly, as if a switch were thrown, Europe
appeared once again. The Asian signals were peaking around 60 degrees and
were barely audible if I turned the array 180 degrees. Any ideas? Would
love to "program" my antennas to null a certain part of the globe. So much
for disturbed conditions.
Ten meters was worthless on Sunday and I made few Q's on that band. 15 can
only be described as a band that wanted to, but just couldn't. 20 was my
workhorse band on Sunday. Enjoyed playing in the 14150 to 14200 band
segment.
Thanks to the 8 stations who were 6 banders for me. Also thanks to Tom,
N4XP/V2 who persisted in getting through while I was running Eu. on 20, and
finally I wish to thank all who worked me! The amount of DX participation
is just great.
My experiment to see what could be done given the circumstances was an
unqualified success! My plans include major summertime antenna/radio
improvements which will hopefully enable my station to be more competitive
and usable.. Art and I will do the WPX and after that, things -- changes
begin.
73,
Natan
W6XR is:
160 -------ground mounted 1/4 wave with elevated radials
80--------- rotatable dipole at 72'
40---------2 el at 80'
20/15/10 -- stacked C3s....one at 72' the other at 36'
10 ---------4 el at 85' (seldom used)
Yaesu FT 1000MP, Alpha 86
Yaesu FT-920 Alpha 374
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