IARU HF World Championship
Call: K1TN
Operator(s): K1TN
Station: K1TN
Class: SO CW LP
QTH: NJ
Operating Time (hrs): 13.5
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Zones HQ Mults
-------------------------------------
160: 0 0
80: 30 0 6 9
40: 133 0 12 28
20: 154 0 17 31
15: 33 0 4 2
10: 0 0
-------------------------------------
Total: 350 0 39 70 Total Score = 103,352
Club:
Comments:
Welcome to the K1TN Superstation at a secure, undisclosed location in southern
New Jersey!
Elecraft K3/100.
60-foot end-fed TX wire in a tree.
MFJ-993 auto tuner,
130-foot snake-in-the-grass RX aerial.
I bought the K3 used on Thursday so this was its shakedown cruise. I'd never
even seen a K3 before. No CW filters in it but it came with an AM filter and a
hand mic, if that tells you anything.
In the past month or two I made several station "improvements." Since I've not
had a single TVI/RFI complaint in two years of operating from this apartment I
felt brave.
1. Moved the end of the TX wire from the corner of a door frame to the top of
16 feet of plastic conduit strapped to the balcony railing and ran coax up to
the feedpoint. This got the TX aerial a few feet higher and away from the
building. It's still only about 25 feet above ground, though.
I hung two flowering plants off the balcony railing near the conduit to maybe
distract prying eyes.
2. Pounded a six-foot copper pipe in the ground for a, well, ground. Treated
myself to 25 feet of 3/4 inch tinned braid from The Wireman.
3. Ran 130 or so feet of wire along the ground and into the woods for a "snake"
receiving antenna. My 80 Meter local noise is down two S Units on it compared to
the TX antenna and at times it's even better on 40 Meters.
4. Installed two AC line filters, one I.C.E. and one MFJ, for all the station
equipment and the computer.
During contests, I unplug just about everything in the apartment, including the
cable TV connection and phone/internet lines, hoping to keep RF pickup to a
minimum. I've spent months trying to track down stray RF. At one point I
discovered that unplugging the heated mattress pad on my airbed made my "hot
key" problem on 80 Meters go away. Maybe in winter this will have the added
advantage of keeping my butt in the chair instead of in the rack.
My station is so many decibels down I can't even "compete" with "QRP" entrants
with towers and beams but this is just one reason why I don't care about
certificates and "competing." My score this weekend was five times higher than
last year and that's good enough for me. I admit that I put in more hours this
year learning the K3 by "doing."
I told a friend that I think I can make one meg in the CQ WW CW with this
station. But that's a secret, so don't tell.
Jim Cain
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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