CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: VE3CV
Operator(s): VE3CV
Station: VE3CV
Class: SOSB(A)/160 LP
QTH: EN93el
Operating Time (hrs): 16
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 311 12 32
80:
40:
20:
15:
10:
------------------------------
Total: 311 12 32 Total Score = 27,016
Club: Contest Club Ontario
Comments:
Best all band conditions in years and I decide to do SOSB 160! Well there was a
reason as described below if you want to read it. First the contest comments -
first time I did more running than S&P and really enjoyed it...of course on
Top Band you can run at 22 wpm and not get blown away by 35-40 wpm stations
coming back at you. The tricky part was quickly switching Beverages to catch
the faint ones. Lots of DX to be had, but I couldn't break the never-ending
pileups easily. The sunrise openings to EU were disappointing on both
mornings, but it was nice to have OH1XX and KH6AT call me at 0638 and 0642!
Missed 4V1JR after getting a VE3C? before he faded and quickly when QRT again.
OK, now why I had to stay on 160m.... If you go through the pain of putting up
3 temporary Beverages on a freshly deep-plowed bean field in one day, you are
damn sure going to use them! Here is my saga of Beverage erection at VE3CV
(well actually my kind local farmer's field) sent to some of my Top Band
friends
Well Boys here was my Monday (November 17).....
The Beverages are up! What a marathon I had on Monday. Figured I needed to get
them up before the soil freezes as it was going down to -8C the next two nights.
I started at 8:30AM with the wind out of the South, about +2C and some sunshine,
but windy! Enough snow on the field to make it slippery. I had to walk on top
of the furrow ridges and they were about 2 feet deep! Got the 45 degree Europe
Beverage up first and that took until 12:30PM! After lunch and a change of
undershirt I started the South 160 degree Beverage at 1:00PM and this went
relatively fast as there was a good tractor tire track running N/S so I could
walk the length of it easily. So by 3:30PM I decided to go for it and get the
NW Japan 320 degree Beverage up or at least pound in the ground rods and 5 8ft
rebars. The sun actually came out as a started and so I thought I could do the
whole thing before dark........then Murphy joined me. First the 5 ft ground
rod must have had to go through rocks as it took forever and wore me out at the
start...but I got 'er in about 4 feet. Then I connected the antenna via
insulator and dacron line to the ground rod. When I went to attach the ground
from the transformer box the soldered lug at the end of the wire that goes
under the acorn clamp on the ground rod, it broke off as I tightened it......so
back to the shop to install a new crimp lug and solder it (a major effort to
walk at this point). The wind started to shift to the West with snow off Lake
Huron and the temperature dropped to below zero and ice started forming. So I
go to install the next rebar for this antenna and slip while carrying the light
weight 6ft step ladder...breaking the hinged supports. So....back to the shop
to pick up the heavy duty 8ft stepladder.....sun is gone and light starting to
fade....along with my stamina. But I am so close to finishing! So I get the
next two supports installed before I slip and take a good face plant (XYL Linda
saw this from the house....apparently she was taking pictures of all the fun I
was having). I had turned on the lights in the shack during one of my trips
back (for resistor, insulator, rebar and ground rod for the far end) so I could
see the window to get back home. No damage done in my fall so I got the next
two supports up, but the antenna wire (last years' wire) decided to get tangled
about halfway during deployment so I lost about 15 minutes of valuable light
while I got it going again. Finally, to install the last rebar support and the
far end ground rod with just barely enough light (5:30PM now) to line up the
last rebar and ground rod with the rest of the antenna. While I was bending
over to pick up the sledgehammer the wind blew the stepladder over onto my back
and knocked the wind out of me. I recovered enough to pound in the last ground
rod (fortunately into sandy loam now). But I had to call it quits then as I
could not physically connect the terminating resistor and lay out the 3 x 50ft
radials and it was too dark. During the 600ft walk back to the shop I could
just see the dark soil ridges against the snow filled furrows and carrying the
8lb sledgehammer and the stepladder, about half way home in the blowing snow
and wind and cramping legs, I had thoughts of...OK Lord take me now, I can just
lay down here! The things we do for this hobby and Top Band....must be nuts. I
had to write this all down so I can remember what to expect next year and maybe
rethink installing three Beverages (15 X 8ft rebars 2ft in and 6 X 5ft ground
rods) over deep plowed field in one day in a blizzard....piece of cake!
So if level of adversity during antenna installation is directly proportional
to performance these should work like a charm! First tests on the NE and S
Beverages sounded good....no noise effect of wind towers. Today at 4PM in -15C
windchill I finished the NW Beverage, but it sounds too quiet and the SWR was
high compared to the other two. Turns out in my haste to finish the last
Beverage, I forgot to connect the antenna wire to the transformer box. Had to
finish this antenna installation late Tuesday afternoon in driving snow!.
Fun.
So tonight (Nov. 19) on 160m I worked W1AW/4 in FL on CW and RTTY and J6/DL7VOG
on CW for a new one on 160 and HI2DX on 80m SSB and the South Beverage really
helped. Also heard HC1/W0OR on 80 CW pulled out of the noise by the South
Beverage, but he could not hear my 100W. No EU heard tonight on 160m.
So we are off to the races. Now we just need some good propagation for DX on
Top Band. Will give these Beverages and the rebuilt 160m top-loaded vertical
(80m doublet)at good test for the CQWWCW and ARRL160 contests.
And who says that ham radio is just sitting in a chair spinning dials!
73 es gud DX
Jeff
VE3CV
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