Stew Perry Topband Challenge
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 14
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 679 Total Score = 3,214
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
This year's Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge was a mixed bag of
results. I boasted on the Mad River Radio Club's email list that I
was going to "win" the contest, based on the success of my latest
receiving phased array. However, I've been too lazy to guarantee my
continued success.
Conditions this season continue to be sort of an average of the two
recent good seasons of 2008 and 2009. I started operating around
2100Z, about an hour before sunset here, and worked 3 Europeans in the
first few minutes. Activity was very good, so CQing was effective for
quite a while. I took a break as usual after about an hour to eat
dinner and consume off-time, since one has to be selective about which
14 hours of the 16 hours of available open-band time.
The first half of the contest seemed to be better than normal (for
varying definitions of "normal"). V55V and D3AA both called and both
had sufficient signal strength to be heard when I was not specifically
listening in their direction. I did accidentally bump the "east"
direction key and V55V was there, but his signal was very good. EA8CN
rounds out the African compliment. I don't think I've copied an EA8
grid before. It was very gratifying to collect some new grids for the
(unofficial) "list". (Some day, I'll fill in a map or something.)
Normally, European signals gradually get stronger as their sunrise
approaches, but this year the trend seemed to be flat. I worked a
number of ESP level DLs and OKs. (Central Europe seems to be harder
to work that elsewhere.) IZ3AZV was very persistent, to his
advantage. A number of other stations gave up before the QSB helped
them out. IV3PRK had a great signal, as I was able to hear him
through a couple of local callers.
After European sunrise, I took a 90 minute nap to consume the rest of
my off-time. When I resumed operating, I tuned the band first. I
heard ZL3IX calling someone who couldn't hear him, but I couldn't
attract his attention by going up the band and CQing. In 2009 and
2010 I worked ZL3IX at 1037Z and 1041Z and this year I heard him
around 1040Z. Is the opening to ZL from Ohio that narrow? I did not
hear any VKs.
This year, my "northwest" noise was particularly oppressive. It
stayed away from all of the contests so far this winter, which led to
some complacency on my part. The new phased array shows that the
noise if very close to my location since the noise is stronger on some
elements compared to others. I approached my neighbor about hunting
around his property for the source, but so far, I haven't figured out
a good way to actually search. The noise sounds like ordinary power
line noise, except that the noise blanker doesn't help very much the
noise spectrum also diminishes very rapidly with frequency. The best
method may just be poking around with an AM radio.
The new phased array was supposed to assist with reception from Japan
where both my Beverages and the existing phased array are rather weak.
The new array proved its utility during the ARRL 160 and my
expectations were high for this test. However, the only stations I
actually copied using the new array were Alaskans. I did work 3 JAs,
but they seemed to be arriving a from about 300 degrees instead of 330
degrees, and the old phased array delivered a better signal to
power-line noise ratio than the new array. There were a couple of
other probable JA callers, but I could just not hear them through the
noise. So, I can't tell if my moderate results with JAs this test
were because of better receiving capabilities (compromised by local
noise) or just unusual propagation.
Since this season demands comparison with the best of the past, here
is a breakdown:
raw raw points cooked cooked points ratio
year QSOs score per QSO QSOs score per QSO
2005 491 2033 4.14 483 2439 5.05 1.22
2006 604 2224 3.68 didn't submit log in time
2007 691 3712 5.37 669 4293 6.42 1.19
2008 633 3328 5.26 617 3895 6.31 1.20
2009 761 4006 5.26 737 4871 6.61 1.26
2010 642 2477 3.86 623 2931 4.70 1.22
2011 656 2501 3.81 642 3169 4.94 1.27
2012 679 3214 4.73
The "points per QSO" number seems to be a potentially useful figure of
merit. Also note that the "cooked" score is usually about 20% better
than the raw score, because of the points awarded for working low
power stations. Since that ratio is pretty constant, then the "points
per QSO" number looks like a concise measure of "conditions". 2012
seems not as good as any of 2007, 2008, or 2009, despite my memory.
My other mistake, besides not fixing the local noise, was probably not
tuning the band often enough. I seemed to have missed a number of
usually strong stations that were on for a while, according to several
3830 reports.
V55V and D3AA were the surprise contacts, especially since V5 was my
best DX this year. TF3DX/m was another surprise contact of a
different sort. I got a bit of a chuckle from his instance that I
acknowledge the "/m".
DX worked: 4O, 6Y, 9A, CE, D3, DL (22), E7, EA8, EI (2), F (6), FM, G
(14), GM (3), I (3), JA (3), KH (4), KL (2), KV, LA (2), LY (4), OE
(2), OH, OH0, OK (5), OM (2), ON (2), PA (5), SM (5), SP (2), TF(2),
UA, UR (4), V5, XE, YL, and YU.
Equipment: K3, ETO 91B (thanks Jeff!), 65 foot "Tee" over 70 125'
radials on the ground, 6 2-wire Beverages every 30 degrees varying in
length from 450 - 900 feet (didn't use them), 4x2 broadside/end-fire
phased array and SDR receiver, 2x2 broadside/end-fire phased array and
SDR receiver.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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