CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2019
Call: N4TZ/9
Operator(s): N4TZ
Station: N4TZ
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: IN
Operating Time (hrs): 30
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 68 15 39
80: 153 20 67
40: 241 22 85
20: 584 28 104
15: 89 21 57
10: 21 11 15
------------------------------
Total: 1156 117 367 Total Score = 1,557,028
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Countries Zones
__________________________________________________________
160CW 68 68 159 39 15
80CW 154 153 408 67 20
40CW 241 241 676 85 22
20CW 586 584 1686 104 28
15CW 89 89 236 57 21
10CW 21 21 52 15 11
__________________________________________________________
Totals 1159 1156 3217 367 117
Final Score = 1557028 points.
2019 CQ-WW-CW N4TZ
Continent List
160 80 40 20 15 10 ALL
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
USA calls = 2 3 2 4 2 2 15
Canada calls = 25 25 23 28 2 0 103
NA calls = 14 17 18 27 23 5 104
SA calls = 5 10 9 25 26 11 86
Euro calls = 18 84 165 460 18 0 745
African calls = 3 8 16 18 11 2 58
Asian calls = 0 1 5 4 1 0 11
Japan calls = 0 2 0 15 0 0 17
Ocean calls = 1 4 3 5 4 1 18
Unknown calls = 0 0 0 0 2 0 2
Total calls = 68 154 241 586 89 21 1159
Unknowns on 15 = 4U25B TO1A
Some of us never learn to leave well-enough alone.
I tested all the gear in my shack Friday and everything worked FB.
But, I had noticed during early morning testing during the week that
there was a noticeable amount of bleed-through from the main TX
antenna to the RX antenna input on both the ICOM 7610 and Yaesu
FTdx5000. In fact, the levels were essentially the same from the full
size TX antenna and the YCCC receive array - the bleed-through
in the rig's internal TR relay isn't good enough. So, I needed to
increase the levels from the YCCC array. So, Thursday afternoon
I ordered a preamp from DXEngineering. It got here Friday at
3pm. I installed it in the Yaesu position (better RX) and had
dinner. After dinner, I noticed that the SWR was really high on
that rig. Spent the minutes up to the beginning of the contest
trying to figure out what happened. Started the contest with one
radio, while trouble shooting in my mind (and getting up many
times from the chair to inspect things). I especially inspected every
connector in the vicinity of the new preamp. Found a pair of
connectors (DB25 type) that seemed a little loose - reseated them
and now had NO radios working. Have spent the past hour plus
trying to get even one radio going. No luck. Looked like I would
end the contest with exactly 73 QSOs.
I know that I should never have added the preamp at the last
minute, but it seemed so simple. I still don't know what I disturbed.
I believe that my last-minute-before-the-contest check of the
tower antenna cabinet because of the high SWR problem
disturbed something unrelated to my in-shack problem related
to the loose DB25 connectors which connect the band decoders.
About 0400 I discovered I could use the tribanders on the second
tower. This tower is relatively new and thus the antenna switching
is not part of the basic SO2R package.
I made a few QSOs on 20 and went to bed thinking about how
to enable some more antennas after daylight broke.
All of my antenna switching is done in a cabinet at the base of
my main tower, about 300 feet from my shack. The cabinet looks
like a rat's nest of wiring. In fact, many times over the past
twenty years I have removed nests of baby mice from the cabinet.
In those years, most of the hundreds of screws on the terminal
strips have corroded from mice urine and baby mice have used many
of the connecting wires for teething strips. Somewhere in that
mess undoubtedly lies the immediate cause of my problem.
This is a job requiring days of warm weather, which is not in
the forecast. So, I elected to perform a radical emergency
procedure: <quadrupal bypass surgery>. Since I could not run
any new reliable control cables, I needed to use the existing
coax switches at the base of the tower to re-route some
essential coaxes. Unfortunately, many of the necessary connections
are inside the cabinet, while the repurposed coax relays were
outside the cabinet. I used every spare jumper cable I could
lay my hands on to run between the existing connections inside
the cabinet out to the relays and back to the mating connections
inside the cabinet. Amazingly, I got it right the first time.
I ended up with at least one antenna for each band. The ICOM
7610 ended up with the fixed direction tribanders and the 80 meter
4 square. The Yaesu FT5000 ended up with the 40 and 160 meter
antennas and the 20 meter yagis. The 10 and 15 meter monobanders
were unable to be connected, and the extra firepower was missed
on those bands. But, I was on the air!
It was a shame to miss what I understand were outstanding low
band conditions the first night and Saturday mornings early
opening. It's probably like deciding to run the last 24 hours
in Sweepstakes - you can have a lot of fun but can never make
up for those who just got on at the beginning.
I think I will leave things this way until summertime, and then
rebuild the entire switching infrastructure. But, I am still
on the air, and looking forward to the next contest. What more
can you ask after a <quadrupal bypass>?
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|