ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: K1WHS
Operator(s): K1WHS
Station: K1WHS
Class: SOSB/160 HP
QTH: FN43mj ME
Operating Time (hrs): 18
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 214 68
80:
40:
20:
15:
10:
-------------------
Total: 214 68 Total Score = 43,656
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
I operated on 160 meters exclusively unassisted. My log ended up with 214 Qs in
68 sections in my single band effort. (43,656) In the past, I operated un
assisted, and always had a hard time finding fleeting multipliers. Taking a cue
from K1KI this time, I started using my 2nd receiver all the time, and tuned
across the band while CQing on a run freq. I multi tasked and spent much time
looking for new mults thru tuning the big knob on the radio. If I found a
pileup, I stopped and figured out who was at the bottom. It always was a new
one. Another trick I used was to always watch the P3 monitor and look for the
big guys. It was easy to pick out W3LPL as well as K3LR and WE3C...all biggies
on 160. If I saw a big blip off their run frequency, it was probably them
calling some choice DX that just appeared. I can't tell you how many times this
trick also worked. I could even recognize W3LPL by the TX envelope displayed!
(It looked good, just distinctive.) I also started experimenting with using
the TX offset control while calling in a pileup. I tried + and - settings of
about 120 to 150 Hz and had some good success in breaking some big piles. It is
all timing and placement. I am learning.
I operated until about 2 AM both nights and then slept, missing the sunrise
period on both mornings. I also gave up on Sunday evening before 0000 UT as
the XYL and I went out to hear bluegrass and have dinner. I probably put in 18
hours or so. Some easy mults missed in Europe included CU, GJ, HB, LA, OH, and
YU. I did manage to work OH0 though. Go figure! Friday night was the better
evening by far. Too bad there was a bunch of static in the gulf of Mexico. It
made copy rough. I saw long periods of 20 dB crashes that covered up many
weaker calls and I needed many repeats. Some of the signal strengths from
Europe were mind boggling at over 35 or even 40 dB out of the noise. The next
night, the K had gone to 4 and signals were lousy except for short periods.
Calls came in bunches or not at all. It was very disappointing. Too bad
because Saturday was very quiet as far as static was concerned. I wish Friday
had the same quiet condx. It would have been awesome. The first evening I
quit with 150 Qs and 52 mults. So Saturday had only 60 Qs and another 16 mults.
The static hurt on Friday! A few gave up and wandered away b efore I could get
their call. I did check the band on Sunday before sunset, and 9A1A was
blasting in at about S7 or S8. I could have probably picked up a few more QSOs
and maybe a mult or two, but the urge for bluegrass music and a nice meal beat
it out.
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