ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: K1XM
Operator(s): NB1B, W1FJ, W1KM, K1XM, K3NA
Station: W1KM
Class: M/M HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 350 75
80: 1204 105
40: 1550 116
20: 1728 125
15: 1702 131
10: 697 103
-------------------
Total: 7231 645 Total Score = 12,976,505
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
Station:
160/10: Ten-Tec Orion, A2000
80: Ten-Tec Orion, AL-1200
40: Ten-Tec Orion, AL-1500
20: Ten-Tec Orion, Alpha 91b
15: Ten-Tec Orion, A2000
Antennas:
160, 80: 4 squares, beverages
40: 4 sq, 3 el @120'
20: 4/4/4(130'); 5 el @100'
15: 6/4/4 (100'); 4 el@ 60'
10: 4/4/4(90')
Comments:
Conditions were much better than expected, especially on the low bands.
We had our best 160, 80, and 40 results ever, both QSOs and multipliers,
and our first 5BDXCC. Every band except 10 meters did better than last
year. And our multiplier total is the highest we've ever had.
We were "Team Ten-Tec". We had five Orion transceivers. The Orion
receiver is definitely better than anything else we've used. The
radio takes some getting used to, and we undoubtedly lost some QSOs
due to operator inexperience. There were also some interesting
glitches in the Writelog interface to the Orion. For example, setting
the frequency from the computer changed the passband. I'm sure it
will all get worked out soon.
We switched a couple ops around this year. NB1B did 160/10, K1XM did
80, K3NA did 40, W1FJ did 20, and W1KM did 15.
Eric decided we needed some W2VJN stubs. We spent Friday
afternoon constructing them. We finished an hour before the contest,
which meant we didn't have time to go out for dinner. But the
stubs worked well and allowed 80, 40, and 20 to operate near the
bottom of the bands. They were definitely worth the effort and the
missed meal.
Congrats to Frank and Tim. Also to the crew at NY4A who did a very
fine job.
Here are some band-by-band comments, mostly from the primary ops:
160m: I got on about 2200Z, but only because the 10M beam was stuck on JA
direct path and I couldn't get it to move to the West. The band was fairly
quiet, and propagation was good. The signals seemed to come in riding the
surf- I could get half a call, then QSB would take it out and I'd have to
wait to get the other part of the call. Never did hear a JA on 160M.
80m: We had 300 more QSOs than last year. There were many 5 watt
stations on. 9M6NA called in Sunday evening, long path.
My QSO total was just slightly under VY2LZ's, even though he had a much
longer European opening. I take this to mean that we both pretty much
worked out the band.
I didn't really get the AGC adjustments on the Orion worked out before
the contest. I often fell back on adjusting the bandwidth and RIT to
bring stations out of the noise.
Two midwest multi-multi stations landed on my frequency during the contest.
In one case he called CQ about 100 HZ from me. I moved up, and a few
minutes later he did too. So I moved down and got rid of him. In the
other case I just tweeked the passband on the Orion and ignored him.
Hint to midwest multi-multis: I'm a LOT louder into Europe than you.
40m: Conditions were excellent. Huge first hour. Amazingly strong long
path Asia signals in our local afternoon. The dreaded mid-latitude trough
was much in evidence the first night, depressing signal strength on paths
over the north Atlantic but not closing down the band to Europe. On the
second night the mid-latitude trough effect was much weaker and Europeans
continued to be strong all night. Europeans had great signals for many
hours past their local sunrise, until 20m opened up. Then, in just a few
minutes, all the Europeans vanished to work the higher bands! Strangely,
the last hour of the contest (normally one with big rates) was extremely
slow.
The TenTec Orion receiver was just awesome on a band that destroys most
receivers: no artifacts at all. On the negative side, there were far too
many big signals with strong clicks. At one point I just abandoned a
perfect running frequency on 7000.3 kHz (after many happy hours) because
some loud HG station opened up on 7000.7 with key clicks extending over 1
kHz either side. As soon as he started operating, my rate dropped in half.
While I could adjust to hear callers, he was clearly causing trouble for
many European contesters. I kept hoping he would go away...
Please, FT-1000MP owners, please make the click-reduction modifications to
your radios! You are breaking the radio regulations and the obligations
of your license if you operate an unmodified FT-1000MP.
20m: This year it was mostly a daytime band. The operator actually got
some sleep. We had some rain on Saturday, which caused precipitation
static. Most of the noise was on the top antenna. We switched to the
lower antennas and were able to keep running.
15m: On Saturday it was about as good as it gets. Things were much slower on
Sunday, and for a while there was this eery broadband signal from the NE
that covered the lower half of the CW band.
10m: Saturday was MUCH better than Sunday. The opening was longer and
stronger, and the runs were faster. The opening started out almost due
south, but within 30 min was back up to direct path.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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