ARRL 160-Meter Contest - 2019
Call: NI6W
Operator(s): N6AN W4EF
Station: W4EF
Class: M/S HP
QTH: LAX
Operating Time (hrs): 27
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 853 Sections = 82 Countries = 28 Total Score = 217,690
Club: Southern California Contest Club
Comments:
Rig: Elecraft K3S + Alpha 87A
Tx Antenna: 55ft Top Loaded Vertical with 50+ radials.
Rx Antenna: Tx antenna + 20ft top-loaded vertical + MFJ-1026 Noise Canceller
After operating 4 major contests remotely from a hotel room in Toronto with a
bad wi-fi connection, I was really looking forward to sitting in front of a real
radio with a real VFO knob that didn’t have noticeable control/response
latency. Knowing my lack of stamina for keeping my butt in the chair for long
periods of time, I invited David N6AN up to help with the chair warming.
I made a few contacts early on Friday evening while getting things setup and
waiting for David to arrive. Since David could only operate the first night, I
let him take over as soon as he arrived. He hit the band running and did some
impressive heavy lifting. At about 4 AM local time on Saturday David needed a
break and I gave it a go. I think at that point David had worked something like
505 QSOs, 18 DXCC, and all but 4 ARRL sections. I plopped myself on 1824 and got
a decent run of JA stations. Somewhere along the line RL3A called in, which was
a really nice surprise. We finished the first night with 625 QSOs in the log
(including 41 JA’s).
Saturday night was a grind as David had worked out the band pretty thoroughly
the night before. EA7KW was loud, but I think this was “spotlight”
propagation. Similarly, I heard YL2SM calling CQ underneath a US station, but I
couldn't get his attention. LA3MHA was very loud for a time, but I couldn't get
his attention, either. Our last US section was WTX who called in early on
Saturday evening. That left only VE5 and NT.
As we approached European sunrise, conditions seemed pretty mediocre with no
good propagation to western Europe. I was starting to resign myself to a very
long night with poor conditions. All was not lost, however. Around 0900 UTC
conditions to Asia seemed to explode. DS2JJV, in particular, had a remarkably
strong signal.
I planted myself on 1823 and stayed there until ~1145 UTC. Despite the quality
of the opening, I was only able to work 8 more JA stations (bringing our weekend
total to 50) and a handful of other Asian stations. VE5SF showed up shortly
thereafter as “fresh meat” and generated quite a pileup. That was the last
ARRL section we worked (I understand a number of stations worked all 83 ARRL
sections, so clearly there was an NT running around that we never connected
with).
Aside from the TX antenna, the only RX antenna we had to work with was a single
20ft top loaded vertical (what remains of an RX 4 square which fell victim to
"varmints" chewing through the Dacron guy ropes). We used this RX
vertical in conjunction with an MFJ-1026 noise canceller and the TX antenna.
Given the rather diffuse ambient noise environment around my QTH, in most cases
the noise canceller provided little or no SNR improvement. However, with single
noise sources, like the fairly narrow bandwidth switch-mode birdie that drifts
slowly across my receiver passband occasionally, it works wonders. It also made
quick work of the fishnet beacon that would transmit on 1823 every few minutes
while I was trying to run people. I am sure this enabled several QSOs that would
have otherwise been impossible.
I did bring up all the parts of an Array Solutions SALA-30 shared-apex loop
array, but I only got as far as unloading them from the truck. Maybe next year I
actually get this installed so our RX situation will be a little better.
From the looks of the log I managed to stay awake until around 1325 UTC, at
which point I dozed off while sitting in the operating chair. Around 1400 UTC I
woke up. I was still in a bit of a fog and thought I was hallucinating when I
heard RA4LW CQing with a signal so loud I thought it couldn't possibly be real.
He came back with one call like he was right down the street. I don't think I
have ever heard an eastern European signal that loud near our sunrise. Amazing!
I also heard RV9CX calling CQ with a very respectable signal. I need zone 17 on
160, so I called him with W4EF a few times. He heard me and came very close to
getting my full call, but his signal started fading and we never completed a
QSO. By this time RA4LW had also faded significantly, but just to illustrate the
strength of the opening, he still had a respectable Q5 signal (normally when he
is spotted by folks like N6TR, N7UA, or VE6WZ, I can’t even hear him). In any
case, I can't help but wonder whether or not I slept through the best part of
this opening and just caught the tail end.
The contest was great fun. Thanks to all for the QSOs, especially the DX
participants who add an extra level of excitement to what is already a really
fun event.
73, Mike W4EF
DX Multipliers worked (28):
5W, C6, CM, D4, EA, F, G, GW, HI, HL, J3, JA, JT, LU, OH, OK, PJ2, S5, SM, TI,
UA, UA0, UR, V3, VP9, XE, YV, ZF
DX Multipliers heard but not worked (6):
HA, YL2, LA3, TO9, HC2, BY
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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