[3830] CQWW CW K1TTT M/M HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: K1TTT
Operator(s): K1TTT, K1TWF, K1MK, KB2WJY, N1IW, NB1B, NF1D, WO1N AND LU1CKY (THE DOG)
Station: K1TTT

Class: M/M HP
QTH: WMA
Operating Time (hrs): 48

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  311    18       81
   80:  866    29      111
   40: 1021    34      123
   20: 1864    38      140
   15: 1086    28      117
   10:  181    22       74
------------------------------
Total: 5329   169      646  Total Score = 11,852,545

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Operators: K1TTT, K1TWF, K1MK, KB2WJY, N1IW, NB1B, NF1D, WO1N and LU1CKY (the
dog)

Equipment: Check out Dave's website www.k1ttt.net

Soapbox by WO1N : 

 We all extend our deepest appreciation to Dave for the use of his great
station. For K1TWF and myself, this is our 10th running at Dave's station for
this contest. Nearly a full Solar Cycle. Every year brings new and unusual band
behavior. This year was the type you dream about (almost, could have used a bit
more of 10M).

 We expected 40M behavior to be similar to last year when the MUF goes crashing
through 7 MHz and 40M because a pile of frustration. Last year it got to us
(well, me, since I opened it). We were ready for it this year and didn't let it
throw off our pace. Our only 40M disappointment was a failure on the 180' 40M
antenna in middle of Sat. night/Sun. morning. We initially suspected the KB1H
guys sent a crew up in the middle of the night to steal it, but at first light
saw it was still at the top of the tower ;-). This hurt our country total as we
struggled a bit in the pileups to work those juicy Sunday morning Asian mults on
the 4 Square. 

 Attempting to break a pile up at an output power of 15W didn't help either. In
the thrash to diagnose the problem we backed off power and once we decided the
issue was not in the shack Dave turned the station back over to me. I hadn't
noticed the Daiwa cross needle meter was in the 20W position. I dutifully set
the output to an indicated 15 on the scale. That would be 15W on a 20W max
scale. Dave walks over after 15 minutes or so of me try to work a JT1 and
points that little fact out. Aarrghh! I was a bit frustrated with myself at
that point so I walked outside to get a breath of fresh air and swear at the
birds for a minute. I composed myself, sat down and tuned up the band a bit.
Hmmm, I catch the tail end of a call "XRO"...9M6XRO. I throw my call in and
work him first call on the 4Sq with about 1300W out. Sweet! I spot him and then
sat there for 3.2 seconds to hear the world descend on him in full force. I'm
sure he was cursing me for that...

 A quick trip to the top of the tower and Dave had the top beam percolating
again. I guess the ring rotor got hungry and ate the coax....

 The low band conditions were stellar. I did stints on 160, 80 and 40. I barely
had to use the beverages the bands were so quiet. Dennis, NB1B opened 80M and
ripped off 300 or 400 Q's in the first 3 hours. We ended the first night with
88 countries on 80. I looked back over the data on Dave's site for the past 11
years and our 111 countries on 80M were the highest ever from Dave's station in
this contest.

 Speaking of NB1B, this was his first stint with us. Talk about taking us to
school! He kicked butt racking up an impressive Q count. 

 I had two opportunities to open bands. The first morning on 20M which I
unfortunately had to turn over to NB1B. You know the drill...bounce around the
band throw your call at the really loud stations and they CQ in your face.
Finally, the first Eu contact was at 1107Z with the DR1A guys (they were
loud!). Picked off a few more loud Eu stations, settled in at 14012.7 at 1125Z
and we ran there until late in our afternoon. From nothing to wide open in the
span of probably 10 minutes. I really was hoping Dennis would oversleep or
something but he was hovering over me right at the scheduled start of his shift
at 1200Z (darn!).

 The second opportunity was opening 40M on Sunday afternoon. It didn't open
quite as dramatically as 20, but the process is pretty much similar. I got
bumped off of one frequency early on, settled into another squeezed pretty
tightly by an S51 below me and then, after a short while, one of the IR4 guys
above me. The IR4 guys were a bit unfair settling within the passband of my 250
Hz filter and ignoring my requests to QSY. In an awesome sequence I'll never
forget, I slid up above them and two OK stations, who I will forever be
indebted to, followed me. I worked them in quick succession, at which point the
IR4 guys slid up on top of me again. I then slid back down to my original
frequency and we all lived happily ever after. I managed a 98 hour at that
point!

 We ran with a lean crew this year, to everyone's enjoyment. We were either
operating or sleeping. No distractions, lots of focus on the contest. We could
support perhaps one or two more ops in the peak sunspot years, but for the
bottom of the cycle, if you have some night rats (like me), 8 ops for 6 radios
seemed like the right number.

 CU in 160M from K0TV,
 Ken
 WO1N


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