[3830] CQ160 CW NA5NM Multi-Op HP
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Tue Jan 31 01:52:01 EST 2006
CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW
Call: NA5NM
Operator(s): N2IC, N5IA, WA6CDR, W7MCO
Station: NA5NM
Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: NM
Operating Time (hrs): 31
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1265 State/Prov = 60 Countries = 38 Total Score = 379,358
Club:
Comments:
What a great time on TopBand!!!!
A lot of improvements were made to the station this year, including replacing
all the pack rat and javelina eaten RG-59 Beverage feeder cables with new 1/2"
CATV hardline. A total of 4,000+ feet reduced feedline losses a bit and made
the checking of lines before every contest a thing of the past.
Strategic RX feedline grounding and choke coils measureably reduced the effect
of the run TX RF on the mult RX capability. The addition of a 3rd position for
RX only was effective in finding additional stations who had not been worked.
Filtered packet information displayed in the Announcement window in NA. This
was the 1st time this op aid had been used at this station and this operator
found the feature to be extremely useful.
And then we put a modern twist on an old western tradition: we brought in not
one, but two hired guns. What a pleasure it was to see two real pros at work
simultaneously. The capabilities of N2IC and WA6CDR are what really put the
icing on the cake for this party.
Let's get to the nitty-gritty of the statistics. Just what did this station and
group of ops from the farthest southwest corner of the LARGE Zone 4 area
accomplish to produce the best score ever from this part of the country?
For the first time ever a 100+ hour was achieved due to Steve's superlative
operating skills.
With the countdown to WAS in less than 12 hours standing at 44 the final ones
went into the log like this. DE @ 0650, KL @ 0706, ME @ 0851, ND @ 0938, NE @
1030 and then at 1145 a not-so-lonely RI station put the cap on that goal.
The first night a few EU stations were heard but only ON4UN responded to
repeated calls. The South Pacific was quiet with ZL6QH the single entry from
that part of the world. A low level JA opening was spread over 5 hours with a
continuous sprinkling of weak but readable signals. UA0FZ provided the only
other mult from the west.
But the conditions across the good ol' USA and our neighbor to the north were
superb. The first night ended with more than 800 Q's in the log and 80 mults.
That folks, is a great night's worth of work.
Night two was also good. At western EU sunrise we finally go enough of a
reprieve from the aurora oval to allow a dozen or so mults to make it into the
log.
It was at that time the only negative item of the whole contest occurred. This
operator had noted that the DX window had been very well respected during 1.5
nights of operation. But just at the time that the window really was producing
for us, a few stations apparently decided all that quiet spectrum needed some
LOUD local CQ's.
It has to start somewhere folks and I might as well be the goat to tell it like
it was. The last 30 minutes that the terminator was moving across the British
Isles the following listed stations CQed and CQed and CQed inside the DX window
with the only answers to their CQs being requests from other stations for them
to vacate the window.
I respect their "right" to operate how, where and when they desire, but to
deliberately choose to use the Contest Rules specified window as their private
CQing field when there was a multitude of space just outside the window, as well
as up and down the band, is directly in opposition to the spirit of the contest
and the rules.
To the operators who were signing the callsigns of AA4NN, W4UAT, N2WN, K0XI,
N6MA, KS7X, and K6VVA I personally thank you for getting on the air and helping
this contest to be the best one on the bands. Five of you are in the NA5NM log,
and I thank you for those Q's. However, at the same time I personally ask you
to be more thoughtful next year. Please help all of us keep the DX Window
intact for its intended purpose.
The contest ended for us at sunup Sunday morning and the last hour provided some
excitement. BY and KH2 were worked. Finally a couple of VK's provided that
mult. And we thought that a first ever Thailand entry would be a first ever
prize to finish with. But the true 569 signal from HS0ZDJ was not enough of a
path to overcome the RX noise on his end. For 15 monutes he CQed with multiple
dozens of stations calling; all of which went unanswered.
At this time I would like to insert the comment from Steve, N2IC, regarding the
rules change a few years ago which provides the eastern half of the country with
a 3rd shot at a EU opening. "The change in the start/end time of this contest
was a real benefit to the east coast, without any commensurate benefit for us."
I also have to ask: "Why?"
And finally my pet peeve. We log all duplicate call ins. But this year it
became ridiculous. Dupes at 96 were only two shy of the Mults; 98. I truly
don't know what to attribute this phenomena to, but that number is more than 7%
of our total 1,361 Qs.
What are the rest of you getting? Is it just our attractive personalities? Is
it our superb CW sending? We do know that packet has some of the blame. One
mis-post of our callsign caused an innundation by those packet watchers
searching for "New Meat". Check it out folks! Make sure of the call of the
station you are calling BEFORE you call. Thanks.
Now, for those who have stuck around long enough to get this far, and for those
that have asked me for an in depth insight of the NA5NM stats, here they are.
First, the state, province and country Q totals. California has not
relinquished its dominance of the "Most Q's in our log from one multiplier
area". With the improved conditions, the superb JA operators provided the 2nd
most "Qs per mult".
Among the states; Texas what happened? You slipped from a perenial 2nd all the
way to 4th. Washington state has taken over # 2 for this year. And the
Buckeyes weighed in at # 3. Thanks to all of you, and everyone!!!!!!!!
Mult QSOs
CT 16
MA 17
ME 5
NH 16
RI 4
VT 5
NJ 30
NY 46
DC 1
DE 5
MD 20
PA 45
AL 20
FL 24
GA 18
KY 9
NC 23
SC 7
TN 27
VA 43
AR 14
LA 8
MS 9
NM 15
OK 13
TX 53
CA 161
AZ 33
ID 5
MT 7
NV 10
OR 21
UT 16
WA 62
WY 5
MI 43
OH 56
WV 13
IL 34
IN 18
WI 22
CO 28
IA 10
KS 8
MN 42
MO 22
NE 6
ND 2
SD 4
NS 2
QC 6
ON 27
MB 2
SK 3
AB 15
BC 17
NWT --
NB 2
YT --
PEI 1
NF 3
LB 1
BY 1
C6 1
CM 2
CT 3
CT3 1
CU 1
DL 3
EA 1
EA6 1
EA8 1
EI 1
F 1
G 3
GD 1
GM 1
GW 1
HI 1
JA 91
KG4 1
KH2 1
KH6 9
KL 3
KP2 3
KP4 1
OK 1
ON 3
PA 2
PJ2 1
PY 1
UA9 5
V2 1
V3 1
V5 1
VK 2
VP9 1
XE 6
ZF 1
ZL 2
These are the continent statistics.
N America: 1133 1133 (90%)
S America: 2 2 (0%)
Europe: 23 23 (2%)
Africa: 3 3 (0%)
Asia: 91 91 (7%)
Oceania: 13 13 (1%)
And the all important points/Q. The JA boys really help our score.
2 point QSOs: 1038
5 point QSOs: 95
10 point QSOs: 132
73 all, thanks for the Q's, apologies to those we didn't copy (very few this
year), and let's make it even better next year.
Milt, N5IA, one of the ops at NA5NM
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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