[3830] ARRL 160 W0YK Single Op HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: W0YK
Operator(s): W0YK
Station: W0YK

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: SCV
Operating Time (hrs): 13

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 608  Sections = 74  Countries = 7  Total Score = 107,730

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

A funny thing happened on the way to the contest.  I was doing some tower work
late Friday afternoon, actually after the contest had started.  But, as it was
still daylight here in California I wasn't in a big hurry.  On my way down I
got the great idea to "improve" one leg of the 160 meter antenna.  It had
gotten loose from its tie down in last winter's winds and the end was tangled
in the trees about 50' up.  I figured I'd just pull it out.  Well, the wire
broke with 2/3s of it staying in the trees ... my only 160 meter antenna!  What
a clever way to take yourself off the air.  By then it was dark and 38 degrees. 
So I bagged Friday night and got some sleep.  Put a temporary fix on the antenna
Saturday in the rain/hail/sleet/snow and operated Saturday night.  Yet another
reason why it is wiser to do antenna work well ahead of the contest, or at
least leave a working antenna alone after the contest has started.

The "half-contest" was almost uneventful.  I failed to get many of the DX mults
and fell six short on the domestic mults.  Early Sunday morning I inadvertently
moved out of the JA window, so missed a bunch of those 5-pointers.  Then, as I
was struggling to stay awake around 15Z with a 30/hour rate, UA3AGW calls in on
long path, every bit as loud as the JAs.  Boy, did that wake me up.  One such
contact was worth losing a night's sleep.  Unfortunately, no other Europeans,
but I sure was looking for them after that QSO.  Only two QSOs of any kind in
the last 20 minutes, both CA.

73,
Ed - W0YK


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