IARU HF World Championship
Call: K3CR
Operator(s): LZ4AX
Station: K3CR
Class: SO CW HP
QTH: State College, PA
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Mults
---------------------------
160: 15 0 8
80: 63 0 28
40: 317 0 57
20: 847 0 68
15: 660 0 72
10: 23 0 13
---------------------------
Total: 1925 0 246 Total Score = 1,894,446
Club:
Comments:
Station:
Two FT1000 MP's (all filters and Inrad mods)
NA set up for 2 radios
Alpha 87A, Ameritron AL-1500
Antennas:
160M - Flat offset fed dipole at 175 feet fed at 450 ohm feedpoint
80M - Inverted-V at 100 feet NW/SE
40M - 3 el V-Yagi (switchable/rotatable) at 55 feet, 4 dipole curtain array at
175 feet NE
20M - 6 over 6 over 6 48 ft boom OWA Yagis (top at 180 feet)
15M - 6 over 6 over 6 48 ft boom OWA Yagis (top at 190 feet)
10M - 7 over 7 over 7 over 7 48 ft boom OWA Yagis (top at 180 feet)
20M, 15M, 10M - 10 to 30 MHz Log Periodics at 100 ft and at 35 ft.
Whow ! This was really hot one ! I didn?t expect so much for the middle of the
summer, even wondered how these guys managed to make over 2000 QSO?s last year.
As it turns out however, it wasn?t so difficult even for me.
The station was perfect again, the only drawback was the lack of the high 80 m
dipole and the beverages ? they had to be taken down for the summer, although
I?m still wondering why these guys raise corn on that field ? it looks much
better with the beverages installed !
The bands were crowded as in CQWW, I guess the WRTC caused a positive impact on
the overall activity during the contest. And under bands I assume 40, 20 and 15
? they were really the bands to ride on; 10 behaved more like a VHF band with
short sporadic openings to different places in EU with unbelievable bearings and
80/160 were a real nightmare for me. Heard a lot of EU?s (HA, S5, YU, OK) on 10
on the second radio but managed to work only S50HQ. The culmination point was
when I heard 4X4ARC lonely CQing on 10 ? then I stopped the run on 15, switched
the radios and started calling him. I?ve tried everything ? different stack
combinations, directions, even Log periodics but couldn?t get even ? ? ?. He was
readable for about 5 min and then his signal slowly faded away. Few minutes
later found him on 15 and we moved back on 10 but everything was gone. Of
course, I missed the longer lasting and much better opening at 20 UTC but that?s
the reality. I guess it was one of these rare occasions when those devices with
the large bandscopes (normally people are using them to keep their soap inside ?
746, 756, PRO 1, 2, 3, ? 20, etc) could be handy just to monitor the band
activity.
I decided to go to 80 early hoping to catch 18 and 19 zone before their sunrise
but not a chance at all. The low dipole which was supposed to serve as a RX
antenna sounded much like a dummy load, so I had to use the main antenna for
receiving ? really painful decision for my ears. The static was so loud so I got
the feeling the earphones were moving around my head ! I tried to find OI2HQ and
found something but wasn?t sure what was it ? OI2 or OL2HQ. Spent at least 5 min
trying to figure that out but not even a chance. Then after CQing for about 10
min without single QSO and having at least several dozens EU?s calling realized
that I could get ?The World?s deafest guy? prize and went back to 40. Later, at
EU sunrise the situation was just the opposite ? I could copy them all but even
DA0HQ asked me to repeat my call 2 times. Zones 18 and 19 were gone long ago and
the best response I could get from 29?s guys was ?K3 ???? agn agn?. Finally I
had to move ER1OO from 40 meters to get the most populated EU zone on 80 meters
! 27 and 28 were little bit better but I guess K3CA will be very popular in EU
80 meter logs.
160 was even worse ? heard few EU?s but only YT0HQ was able to copy me after
calling him for several minutes. 160 meters antenna seems to be a very rare
stuff among the VE7 guys, at least among those I asked for, P41HQ didn?t have
one too and I didn?t even dare to think about SA.
I did a lot of S&P again which negatively impacted my overall QSO?s number but
allowed me to feel the contest much better than just sitting nailed on some
frequency and taking their scalps one by one. Still can?t get used to
propagation here ? this time completely missed SA on 20, not even a single
multiplier. I hope it wouldn?t take another 20 years, just haven?t planned to
stay so long here.
Finally I managed to fall asleep last 2 hours during a good JA?s run at 80-90
rate and was getting up with each call, missing to type-in the prefix so all of
them had to repeat their calls again. I?m really sorry for that guys ? you were
really loud and I didn?t have bananas in my ears, I was just sleeping.
OJ?s ? ? well, I have some of them but will wear my own T-shirt during the next
IARU. I guess they were enjoying running barefoot with simple antennas and I
really hope they will keep doing that when they get back here. It would
definitely make my life much easier.
The two things I will remember after this contest:
1. Set my personal record ? exactly 170 QSO?s after the first hour (ran 15 and
S&P on 20 on the second radio). Actually I could reach even 180 but had to
reboot twice ? NA went crazy when I?ve tried to transmit on the second radio.
2. The signal of my LZ team ? LZ9W on 20 meters at 21.30. The band actually was
divided into two parts ? below and above the LZ9W frequency ! They were the
loudest station I ever heard from this part of EU since my first contest from US
? 2001 CQWW. Even YT6A was weaker on 15 meters ! I?m really sorry that Jim,
WA3FET wasn?t here to hear himself how his 6 el. OWA yagi design performs when
there is a real amplifier at the other end of the coax ( ACOM 2000 in this case)
and not the 500-600 W toys we were used to. Great job guys and keep my saddle
warm there !
My sincere thanks to Jim, WA3FET who allowed me to operate this beauty again and
made everything possible to keep her in pretty good shape during the summer, and
to his students who had planned to work on the towers this Saturday and
postponed their job because of me.
Thanks to all of you who moved to give me a new multiplier, especially to VE7RAC
and VK5GN who was so loud on 40 that I?m still regretting I didn?t ask him to
try 80 as well.
Congratulations to Ranko, YT6A and Chris, KL9A for their respectable scores and
hope to see you all in IOTA after 2 weeks !
73,
Alex/ Al/ Sasho, LZ4AX/AA3AX
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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