ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: N2WN
Operator(s): N2WN
Station: N2WN
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Grainger County
Operating Time (hrs): ~32
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1208 Sections = 79 Countries = 27 Total Score = 267,544
Club: Tennessee Contest Group
Comments:
ARRL160 is the pain game... It is amazing just how painful it can be on so many
levels. I figure it is a true test of equipment and operating mettle for most
people. Can't compare it with a DXpedition, but it has to come close. Where
else can you cram so many people in such a small spectrum with fish buoys, AM
broadcast, tuners ever 50 hz, rapid QSB, short propagation windows, even
smaller spectrum for many non-US/VE stations, mega power, mega antennas, QSOs
happening 8 layers deep, hearing needed EU multipliers and knowing they can
hear you (or vice versa). Gotta love it!
As a betting man, I would not have placed any money on this year's event to be
worth talking about. After CQWWDX CW, I actually had really low expectations.
Thursday night wasn't horrible and did hear a JA Friday morning, so I was not
so depressed that it might be really lousy.
Friday night started off hot and heavy, was able to run for a few hours
maintaining a rate of about 91 QSOs per. I'll take it! Had a problem with the
keyboard towards the middle of the night with the "M" key becoming
intermittent. My apologies to those with Ms in their calls or sections. Swapped
it out in the morning and all was well. Wound up zonking out for almost an hour
and a half in the wee hours, probably missed a few things. Ended up just shy of
800 QSOs and 92(!) multipliers. 92 was what I worked for the entire 2008
contest. That was VERY nice to see.
Heard my first W6 around 2330Z and EU was solid copy, albeit one way for me,
shortly after the opening bell.
Worked a few in TARA then went to snooze for a bit. Figured I'd get up no later
than 3PM and head back to the game by 4... Well, got back earlier than that and
was happy I did, the band was very steady and active. My hope was to beat my
previous high score. That multiplier count was 96, figured a couple DX and a
couple Sections still needed would do the trick, anything else would be gravy.
New multipliers were slow in arriving, but the rates were decent, so figured
1000 QSOs should be doable, maybe even match last years number. Well things
just got better, multipliers seemed to pop up all over the place, many really
easy. EU was very solid copy. Was a bit disappointed on missing"easy"
multipliers like GM, EA and PA. Heard them but they were all S&P... Oh well,
got called by a CT and I felt much better!
Managed all 50 states and 79 Sections, with NWT missing in my and probably many
other logs too.
NL7Z was my last state, caught him as he was starting to build, beat Fred out
(but I'm sure he landed them shortly afterward)
G3OLB called in around 0830z for my last EU QSO.
W9YK put me over 250K
NP4A called in as my last multiplier and VE1ZAC was my last QSO. Had a total of
36 five pointers at the close of the night and every one of them was a thrill.
I never worked so many LAX stations before, usually I miss it or only manage
one.
It was great to hear "Tennessee Row" with TCG out in force. Looking forward to
seeing the club scores as many other sections were also extremely numerous!
Finally REALLY worked the K3, played with diversity reception using a selection
of antennas (40m vertical, 80m tee, 40m delta loop and 330' beverage pointed
towards the tip of South Africa, gotta go with what you have, and my mainstay
tx Tee) It was a hoot to use and did help with much of the QSB unless it was
very deep. Also, ran and S&Ped with it. This is a real art and have to adnire,
or at least be amazed, at those who can do this well. I did pick up a couple
multipliers and manage to keep running for a while.
Oh, Saturday morning was also worth mentioning, we had an unusual event: SNOW
in East Tennessee. It was great! Heard it coming in, but was tickled to see the
ground covered and it still coming down at dawn.
Many thanks for all the QSOs, greetings and chuckles along the way.
This contest was my personal best for an ARRL160, look forward to reading the
other posts and seeing what happened. Thanks to Gene, Rick, Scott, Kyle for the
pre and half time emails.
Now on to 10!
Happy Holidays to all and best wishes for a great 2010.
Julius
n2wn
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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