ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: VY1JA
Operator(s): W1NN
Station: VY1JA
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Yukon Territory
Operating Time (hrs): 30
Remote Operation
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80: 22 8
40: 108 50
20: 195 51
15: 208 51
10: 47 19
-------------------
Total: 580 179 Total Score = 311,460
Club: North Coast Contesters
Comments:
This was a trial run of Jay's new OMNI VII with its built-in remote capability
when used with TenTec's proprietary One Plus GUI control program or the more
advanced Pegasus Plus GUI designed by Carl, N4PY. For this contest, Pegasus
was interfaced with Win-Test to provide computer logging and CW sending
ability. I don't think very many have tried this arrangement previously and
naturally there was a steep learning curve. Carl is extremely attentive and
even produced two updates during the contest to help solve a problem I was
encountering.
This was quite a spread out affair. I was operating the equipment from my
apartment in Tokyo. The equipment was a Jay's QTH in Whitehorse, and Jay
himself was in Alberta on business. Carl was in Florida part of the time and
returned back to North Carolina during the contest.
Power was limited to 100 watts and only two simple ground plane antennas were
available. Jay is working hard to upgrade the station and wants to make the
VY1 multiplier much more available, so hopefully the future will bring louder
signals for everyone.
A severe delay made running very challenging. By the time I was done
transmitting the replying stations were already well into their calls,
requiring several repeats. Hopefully in time and with some work, the delay can
be overcome or at least shortened and this remote arrangement will be a lot
easier to use in the future.
Most surprising to me was the number of US stations (and a few Canadians as
well) who called me repeatedly. I would think that any US station who has
worked Sweepstakes would know that VY1 is not a DX multiplier but quite a
number of very experienced contesters called me. In the beginning I worked a
few of these stations just to get rid of them, hoping that when they got my
report that they would realize that I don't count for them in this contest.
Win-Test would not let me log these stations. After a while, I decided that
working these stations was likely to encourage them to call me on another band,
so I stopped doing that and, when I became desperate, I sent the pre-recorded
message "DX ONLY PSE." As the contest wore on, I experienced fewer
and fewer callers, so I presume that most of them caught on.
Most of my experience with VY1 has been in Sweepstakes where everyone wants to
work them and they are the most popular stations on the bands. YT is a rare
mult in this contest too and I should have been in strong demand, but I think
it may be so rare that nobody ever expects to work it and nobody is ready to
hear this callsign. I had to repeat my call over 10 times for some stations,
and it was the rare station that got the call on the first go. After studying
the map, I realized that VY1 is awfully far from most stations that can be
worked in this contest. With the exception of the nearby KL7 mult, the closest
mult is Hawaii at 3,000 miles distant. The next closest are a few UA0's and
some XE stations in the northern part of Mexico. Otherwise, most mults are
more than 4,000 miles away and many more than that. A lot of these have to be
worked through the wall of loud W stations that are everywhere.
My thanks to Jay for his generosity in allowing me to operate his new radio and
for spending so much time to nurse me through the process. Thanks also to Carl
N4PY and John Henry, KI4JPL,at TenTec for their help and support.
73 Hal W1NN
Tokyo
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