ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 29
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1475 Sections = 81 Countries = 36 Total Score = 375,687
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
34 duplicate QSOs! To many dupes! Too much time wasted pulling
duplicate calls from the noise.
The goal this year was to do more than beat last year's score which
was a pathetic low because of an unlucky power line noise event. I
prepared rate charts for all ARRL 160 tests since 2008 so I could pick
the event that best matched this year's conditions.
Another goal was to prove or disprove that the new 300 by 60 foot
broadside/end-fire phased array is useful. This new array of short
verticals broadside to Japan feeds a 4-way SDR receiver like the
existing 8 vertical array (see reprinted QEX article on k1lt.com for
details). These verticals are made of PVC instead of wood like the
others and I'm hoping they require less reconstruction than the wooden
versions.
After the first couple of hours it became apparent that the all-time
best score from 2009 was the old score to beat. The first night was
very quiet and noise free (except for about 30 minutes of buzz). I
was able to maintain BIC for 7.5 hours straight. European DX contacts
arrived at a slow but steady pace until western Europe sunrise when
conditions in that direction seemed to dry up. After 0700Z I replaced
the office chair with the recliner to try again to stay awake all
night. It worked! About an hour before sunrise I switched to using
the new phased array as the main receiving antenna. Exactly at
sunrise at 1228Z JH2FXK called with the clearest signal from JA that
I've ever heard on 160. Thus the new phased array seems to work. All
hail physics!
I operated until about 1330 and then took a 2 hour nap. I had to get
up after the short nap to perform a parental chore.
Since my phased arrays all depend on software, switching between the
two phased arrays is also a matter of software. However, I hadn't
truly integrated the new array with the old. Just prior to the
contest I arranged for both "software receivers" to be available at
the same time but switching from one to the other required too many
key presses to switch "software antennas" between QSOs. So Saturday
afternoon I added some code to better streamline that process. Now a
single key press changes from one to the other phased array.
Ultimately, the software should automatically select the best array
for any particular direction, but that level of integration requires
more work than I could do in an afternoon. Also, I need more
computing horsepower to run 16 analog to digital converters and 2
receivers simultaneously. For this contest, onearray had to idle
while listening on the other. For future contests, one ear on each
array might be very useful.
Conditions the second night were almost as good as the first. The was
just a little static a couple of hours after sunset that didn't last
too long. But QSO rates were very, very low. I guess conditions the
first night were good enough to work most participants leaving little
to work the second night. It seemed like many contestants compensated
by making duplicate QSOs. A few more Europeans called at a slow and
almost steady pace. But by now it was apparent that only the European
big guns were calling and the smaller stations were either not on the
air or not able to overcome propagation.
By 0700 I has very tired and very cranky and getting very annoyed with
the duplicate QSOs. I set up the recliner but shortly I dosed off
with the CQ machine running for about 30 minutes. When I woke up, I
was sufficiently annoyed with myself and conditions that I decided to
take a 3 hour nap and come back for the sunrise. At sunrise,
conditions seemed to be the same as the day before, but no new DX was
heard.
DX worked: C6, CE, CX, DL (11), E7 (2), EA, EU, F (4), FM, G (4), GD,
GM (2), GW, HA (2), I (6), JA, KH6 (2), KL (2), KP2, LA, LY (2), OE
(2), OH (2), OK (8), OM (3), ON, OZ, PA (5), PJ2, S5 (4), SM (3), SP,
TF, UA, UA2, UR (7), VP2V, VP5, and XE. Heard VK working K5.
Equipment: K3, ETO 91B (thanks, PJ2/K8ND), 65 foot "Tee" over 70 125'
radials on the ground, 6 2-wire Beverages ever 30 degrees varying in
length from 450 - 900 feet, 4x2 broadside/end-fire phased array and
SDR receiver, 2x2 broadside/end-fire phased array and SDR
receiver. too many computers with too much software.
Some history:
Year DX K/VE Total K/VE DX Total
QSOs QSOs QSOs Mult Mult Score
2007 101 1452 1553 78 48 429534
2008 119 1350 1469 77 42 392105
2009 238 1447 1685 78 51 526836
2010 185 1419 1604 77 51 481664
2011 65 1288 1353 77 30 310407
2012 87 1388 1475 81 36 375687
Looks like my raw score tends to track the number of DX stations
worked and everything else is roughly constant. 2011 was a bad year
because of the severe line noise problem. 2012 added 3 new K/VE
multipliers.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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