Hello all,
What more can I say? It wasn't a total bust, but surely not what I
had prepared for, anticipated, and worked two long nights to obtain. OH
WELL!!!!
I always compete against myself, using the previous year's score as
the yardstick. After 6 years of learning and progressing in the Low Power
category, I felt I was ready to tread the deep, crowded waters of High
Power. The results
truly do not give me a good measuring device, as the band conditions were
the limiting factor. Here is the score, and comparison with 1997.
YEAR POWER HOURS Qs S&P DX POINTS
____________________________________________________________________________
____
1998 1500 Watts 28 759 54 9 106,029
1997 100 Watts 23.5 822 55 13 128,180
The station was essentially unchanged from 1997. I added a couple of
single wire Beverages to fill in certain azimuths, and the amplifier. This
is the lineup here at Virden, New Mexico, in the Gila River Valley of SW
New Mexico.
Transceiver:-------------Yaesu FT-980
Amplifier:---------------Home Brew 4CX1500A
Transmit antenna:--------Full size 1/4 wavelength groundplane with the
base 67' above ground.
Receiving antennas:------Five, 2 wire Beverages & five, 1 wire
Beverages
12 total azimuths. Shortest = 2
wavelengths &
longest = 4 wavelengths.
Logging equipment:-------486 DX66 running NA 10.25
____________________________________________________________________________
____
I should have known that this year would be different. Hasn't the
El Nino effect been felt by everyone, everywhere? The leftovers (high
winds, cold air & a little bit of rain) from the storm that dumped on
Southern California blew through this area on Wednesday. Two of the
Beverages were broken by the winds and three others had some portions blown
off their supports. These were repaired on Thursday evening and Friday
morning.
After the Beverage repair I ate lunch and laid down for a 1 hour
siesta.
Up at 2100; took a shower; and made two gallons of Kool Aid to keep the
whistle wet over the long haul. Turned the Amp on to warm up at 2145 and
started listening across the band. Nothing heard. Remember, this is a bit
over three hours before sunset out here in cactus country.
2100 and I hit the F1 key, having settled on 1.850 for a run
frequency. Picked up three AZ stations in the first ten minutes. OK.
Then Murphy's helpers started on me. 1st the logging program locked up
giving me some wierd message. Control/Alt/Delete; Reboot, and it takes
off. About 2 CQs later the Amp doesn't key. Fiddled with the keying lines
and other common things and couldn't find anything wrong. Still not
working. Said a few words about it's ancestry and it started working.
Amazing.
2118 and CQing right along. Oh boy!! TX audio has gone away.
Been fine for 5 years; why go bad now. Found bad junction in a connector.
Whew!! Perhaps Murphy has had his turn and will go bother someone else.
2120 and I slide down to .825 to work N0KOV in Kansas. I had heard
him since the start of the contest and he would be the last station I heard
Sunday morning at quitting time. WY, CO, NV, CA, NM, ID, TX, SD, & UT all
call in during the next hour and I am well on my way.
After three hours I am a bit behind the '97 Low Power rate and the
band isn't opening up to the east very well. Then I get NE, WA, XE, OR,
OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, ME, MO, ON, FL, AB, MS MN, TI, GA, & IL, all in the
space of 20 Qs. NOW WE'RE COOKING!!!
By 0400 I have 46 Mults and over 200 Qs. The band sounds great and
they're going in the log at a rate of 2-3 per minute at times. 0400-0500
turns out to be the best hour by far. 92 Qs for the hour and none of the
signals are difficult to copy. I check last year's log and I am 1.5 hours
AHEAD of that rate. POWER does make a difference, I say.
The 0500 hour was good at 74. Then it went you know where in a
hand basket. The QRN started with a vengeance about 0600. It did not
matter which antenna I used to receive. All were equally poor. Listening
East I couldn't hear the weaker stations and couldn't hear most California
stations to the West. Listen West, and I was hearing nothing from the
East. TEXAS stations were difficult copy. Folks, that is BAD!!
I trudge on; 0600 is less than half the hour before. 0700 is the
same, 0800 is down another 30%, 0900 &1000 are 1/2 that amount. Jack,
VE1ZZ calls me and makes me feel good. It bottoms out in the 1100 hour with
SIX Qs in the log. In '97 I ran 23 during the 1100 hour with 100 Watts. 6
Qs in one primetime hour running 1.5 KW is ridiculous. I tune the band and
there is no one above 1.9. Last year it was full to 1.970. I could not
find any station calling CQ that I had not already worked. And when I
listened to stations calling the CQers, I had worked all of them also. The
autodupe really got a workout.
The rate picks up to 16 in the 1200 hour and 11 in the 1300 hour.
Nothing at all from the Pacific. I worked the four KH6s earlier, and that
was it. Dan, KL7Y, called me for the only Alaskan.
I call it a night. 61 Mults and worked all states except DE. Nver
heard them or DC either night. Q count is 50 less than '97. I make it to
bed about 1400.
Up at 2100, take a shower, check out the station, and say to
myself; "There can't be two nights in a row like last night!" I'm
optimistic and get everything ready for night two. First Q in the log at
2350. I work ten in the 0000 hour; more in broad daylight the 2nd night
than during a prime night hour the 1st night. Maybe it's picking up.
Then Murphy strikes again. A couple of stations inform me that my
audio is very raunchy. Mike audio is OK they say, so must be the digital
voice keyer. I turn on my monitor and sure enough, it sounds like RF is
getting in. That can't be because the mike audio loops through the DVK
board in the PC. HMMM. No time to take the PC apart, so it's REAL voice
CQ from here on out.
NOTE: TOOK THE PC APART AFTER THE CONTEST, BLEW OUT THE DUST AND CLEANED
THE CONTACTS ON THE BOARD AND EXPANSION SOCKET. DVK ALL OK.
Each hour increases some, with the 0400 hour reaching 54. VE2RP
and YV2IF call in for the only two mults of the 2nd night. Then like
clockwork the QRN curtain comes down. I work 33 at 0500, 19 at 0600, and 7
at 0700. Then nothing.
I decide to go to bed for 4 hours and then get up and try the
Pacific. That way I can stay awake during church meetings later in the day.
Up and going at 0500. I don't hear any Pacific stuff, nor anyone
else working any. I settle in to get what Qs I can. I finish up with 13 in
the 1200 hour, 18 in the 1300 hour, and 9 in th 1400 hour. Conditions are
quite good out to 1,500 miles. N0IJ calls me from MN at 1304. WE9A in IL
calls in at 1310, 15 minutes into daylight for me and almost 2 hours for
him. W5XX in MS calls me at 1327, a full hours after his sunrise. I check
out at 1450, still hearing N0KOV in Kansas CQing on 1.820.
THIS IS MY TOP 10 AREAS FOR Qs.
CA = 117 almost 16% Thanks guys & gals!!!
TX = 75
AZ = 64
IL = 39
CO = 30
PA = 29
OH = 28
WA = 27
NY = 25
MN = 20
OTHER NOTABLES CONSIDERING THE CONDITIONS
ME = 4
NH = 4
RI = 2
VT = 2
What an experience. I never would have predicted such an outcome.
I personally want to thank all the stations that contacted my station.
AND, an even bigger "Thank You", and my apologies, to all who tried to
contact my station and I couldn't pull you through.
For all those whom I didn't hear at all, PLEASE call next time.
I suppose this example is why I love 160 Meters so much. It is the
challenge. And the conditions can change so rapidly. Less than 39 hours
later I worked G3PQA and EI5HE on a perfectly quiet band. And 6 hours
after that both ZL7DK and N6MZ/KH9 were in the log on the 1st call. What
else can I say????
I will not be operating the ARRL DX SSB this weekend as I need to
remove my Beverage antennas from the farmer's field. He wants to plow and
get ready for the planting season. Good luck to all, es CU all in WPX,
Field Day, and next season on TOPBAND!!!!
73 de Milt, N5IA
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