[3830] ARRL 10: ZL6QH SOP/CW/HP + story

[Wilbert Knol]

                         ARRL 10 METER CONTEST -- 1999
    
    
          Call: ZL6QH (ZL2BSJ op)      Country:  New Zealand
                                       Category: Single Operator
                                                 (CW, HP)
    
          MODE      QSO    QSO PTS  STATES  COUNTRIES
    
    
           CW     1492     5968       55       64
          SSB        0        0        0        0
          -----------------------------------------
    
          Totals  1492     5968       55       64  =   710,192
    
    
    
    All reports sent were 59(9), unless otherwise noted.
    
    QSL: bureau, or direct via ZL2AOH 
    (Ralph Sutton, 12C / 186 The Terrace, Wellington, New 
    Zealand)
    
    Equipment Description: FT1000MP, AL811 amp.
    
    Venue: Quartz Hill, a former Radio NZ receiving station.
    
    Vee beams (unterminated, 80 m legs, @ 20): USA, USA (lp), 
    Eu/JA, Eu (lp), VK/Asia
    Rhombic (80 m sides, @ 20 m):  reversible Eu/JA sp, Eu (lp)
    Vertical (@ 8 m)
    
    Club Affiliation: Wellington Amateur Radio Club Inc.


Comment: I would say the propagation gurus were right...by 
the end of the contest the band really took off. An amazing 
experience: a solid wall of Stateside signals pouring in. The 
CB-ers and other FM interlopers must have been wondering what 
had hit them, he he! 

At the close of the contest the Vancouver beacon (25W) was 10 
over 9 on my spotting vertical. I could still hear it on a 
coax patch lead!

On both nights I had good openings into Eu. The first night a 
pipeline into SP when SP3HLM/QRP was worked running 5 W. Very 
good signals out of OH land and other Scandinavian ctys, with 
the distinct echo of multipathing.

Things got a bit quiet during the middle of the contest, when 
it seemed I had worked JA and North America completely dry. I 
turned the CQ machine on and got so bored I started reading 
the Contest Rules (General, Under 30 MHz and ARRL 10 m....) 
as the run rate dropped to 20/hr and multipliers became worth 
50 minutes.

Luckily some light entertainment was provided by the Vintage 
Radio Club, who turned up at Quartz Hill to plug their 
classic homebrew radios into the antenna switchboard.

Unfortunately for them I had already grabbed most of the 
useful wire beams, but that didn't stop them from hooking 
into a spare Marconi, strung in parallel to a Vee I was 
transmitting into...

Just as well the little crystal set didn't have any active 
semiconductors...every time my CQ machine fired up, it had a 
hernia. I have never seen so much noise and key clicks come 
out of a crystal set! I took pity on it and pointed to JA for 
a while...the cat's whisker might have fused.

The Vintage Radio guys got their revenge however: with a sly 
grin somebody pulled out a beautifully crafted regenerative 
set, and that was the end of ZL6QH for a while. The downtime 
was spent checking out the Vintage Radio barbequeue, so it 
wasn't all wasted.

The Vintage Radio ladies must have though I was about to 
expire at the paddles, because they left me some really nice 
homemade pies that tasted pretty good compared to the frozen 
supermarket ones I had brought with me.

For a while it looked like I was going to be stuck below the 
500k mark, but on the last morning the band picked up, and it 
turned out there were still lots of W's I hadn't worked.

Nevertheless, DC and SD got away (does anybody actually live 
in DC?) as did a 3rd of the VE provinces (places like PEI and 
NF etc) The VEs I did work had great signals.

Thanks to the ARRL for organising a great contest...hope to 
see you next year.

Wilbert, ZL2BSJ.









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