[3830] ARRL 160 VY2ZM(K1ZM) Single Op HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: VY2ZM
Operator(s): K1ZM
Station: VY2ZM

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: MAR
Operating Time (hrs): 35

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1042  Sections = 63  Countries = 41  Total Score = 299,728

Club: 

Comments:

First, congratulations to AA1K/K9DX/W4MYA and N4PN for making some very
impressive scores this past weekend - those guys really set the pace this time
out...

At first blush, if anyone looks at this score my numbers &  thinks K1ZM "blew
this one off" - well, that's not at all true.  I worked my tail off in this
contest, and everything in the station worked like it is supposed to - and I
simply "got beat" by better operators and prevailing conditions - no excuses
here.....!

Over the years, I think it is fair to say that in MOST years, being closer to
Europe in this contest is a distinct ADVANTAGE - but that is not always so. 
There are times when condx on Topband will favor other regions not closer to
Europe and this weekend was surely one of them, IMHO.

Being closer to EU NORMALLY IS a distinct advantage (as long as you can still
work out into the Western USA and Pacific Northwest regions with relative ease),
but when you happen to catch a weekend with condx like this weekend on 160M -
all bets are off.  There are other 160M operators around (who share equal
experience and operating skills) - and if given even a slight edge in
propagation, they will surely rise to the occasion.  This was one of those
weekends - at least as I assess what I observed from 46.5N//62.5W.

The VY2 report:

The contest started well - down a bit from year's past - but still hovering
around 100 for the first hour.

Somewhere mid-way during the second hour, with a rate of about 30/hr - it became
obvious that "this was not gonna be a good weekend at the ZM ranch" - HI.

Hours 23Z-04Z were far lower than usual, perhaps only two around 60/hr and the
others 40/hr or less.  I think I made 6 qso's in the 09 hour and maybe 0 qso's
in the 10 hour.

Basically, it seemed like the prop ended at an RF wall somewhere around the
Mississippt River.  The first night I heard only two W6's - NI6T who was
pee-weak but Garry has GREAT EARS and got me on the first call.  N6RO was 579
and clearly the biggest signal I heard all weekend from the left coast and I got
him with one or two calls as well.

The only W7's worked the first night were two in AZ and perhaps one in Idaho.

Basically, I heard 3 W6's on Friday night (and worked them all) and perhaps 4
W7's - of whom I worked three.

I never heard any other Calif sections the first night nor any Pacific NW
stations at all - and forget VE4/VE5/VE6/VE7 - it didn't exist!

Sat night was about the same - although there was a brief 20 minute segment from
1105z-1130z on Sunday morning wherein I managed to hear a very few 6's and 7's..
I think I worked W7SE in WYO with ease, and one ID and one Southerly W6 in SDG I
think it was.

I remember calling about 7 other mults during this brief period but no one else
could hear me - I recall calling K7OX/WA7LT/W7AWA/N7XM and an EWA station - all
these folks were water weak and in and out of the noise - so it is quite
understandable why they could not hear me calling from way out in Maritime
Canada.

Anyway, I still had fun and will try again in the next one....these kinds of
condx, while humbling (it's what 160M DOES to you!!) - just make you look
forward even more to the next one.

I have always said that on any given weekend, 160M can provide propagation
anomalies that will level the playing field - this was one of those weekends.

One final note - I do recall that AT TIMES, Europe was louder than most signals
coming out of the USA.  That's pretty wierd to experience.  In fact, for several
hours on Sat night, all I was working were Eu stationsbut at a reduced rate of
about 20-25 per hour!  It would indeed be nice if ARRL allowed Dx participation
in a manner that adds incentive for more DX stations to participate in this
contest. They surely make up a LARGE share of my contacts every year in this
contest -  especially being so far North and East.  I counted around 250 EU
qso's in my log this weekend - which compares to something like 500 in prior
years.  So even EU was down.  I note that AA1K worked nearly 200 EU stations
from DEL - that's almost unheard of during an ARRL 160M contest - FB and
congrats to Jon.  Reports I read said he was really LOUD in EU this past
weekend....

Like I said, it was an interesting contest to operate in - kinda like someone
turned off my amp and Rx and forget to tell me about it - HI.

See you in the next one and thanks to all who called.  I hope not too many
called me whom I couldn't hear -  if that happened, I apologize - but it surely
would have been possible under this weekend's condx.

73 JEFF

VY2ZM

K1ZM at aol.com


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