[3830] ARRL 160 AD8P(@W8FT) M/S HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: AD8P
Operator(s): AD8P, N8ET
Station: W8FT

Class: M/S HP
QTH: Ohio
Operating Time (hrs): 35

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1011  Sections = 77  Countries = 17  Total Score = 198,810

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

Congrats to K8XXX and the crew for an excellent score. They boot stomped our
butts.

This contest is one I have participated in longer than any other and it still
provides the thrill of weak signal activity I love. Recent transmitting antenna
changes at W8FT were encouraging. In addition to the shunt fed 90’ tower, we
added an inverted vee at 150’. We tried 4 new pennant receiving antennas but the
results were disappointing. It just seemed to not work well. There is a bunch of
nearby towers and I suspect therein lies the problem. I have 5 pennants at home
that work very well so I know it isn’t the antenna per-se. Conditions on the
second night were far better for us than on the first night. Several “left
coasters” were in the log the first night as well as 3 or 4 Europeans.  I heard
fewer Europeans on Friday than Saturday. On Saturday I actually had a mini run
of Europeans and worked about 20 in a row. The band just opened up and there
they were all calling me. What a pleasant surprise. Not one called me on Friday
but I was called by a VK3. We managed to miss KL7, Northwest Terr, and Sask. for
the domestic mults. 

The new Orion is an outstanding radio but I needed more time before the contest
learning how to run it. A contest is not the place to learn how to run an Orion
properly. Once I get over the learning curve I am sure results will improve.
There were some logging issues that we need to address which added to the
frustration level. 

Finally, I agree with some of the other comments I have read. I would like to
see the ARRL change the format of the contest and make DX to DX contacts count
for something. It will bring out more DX stations. I realize there are a lot of
contests now, but we could add another contest with that basic format.


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