[3830] ARRL 160 K4RO Single Op HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: K4RO
Operator(s): K4RO
Station: K4RO

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: TN
Operating Time (hrs): 23

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1326  Sections = 79  Countries = 27  Total Score = 293,514

Club: Tennessee Contest Group

Comments:

What a blast. I've never operated this one seriously because of its
proximity to CQWW CW, but I may just have to think about this next year.
I can see why the ARRL 160 is a favorite among many.  I only wish that
I had prepared better. I was scrambling like crazy at the beginning.
I thought the contest started at 0000z, and I had the wrong contest 
loaded in my logger. States that were complete sections logged fine; 
others didn't. What a mess. I finally got it straightened out.

The only section missed was VE4 (we miss you Derrick.) It was a huge 
thrill to complete contacts with KL7J and VY1JA. J hung in there with 
me like a champ to complete a difficult QSO. These are the moments I
live for in contesting. I really thought I might make the sweep, but 
it was not meant to be. Has anyone done it since K5NA?

DX conditions were better on Friday night. I should have searched more
on Friday, and my mult count suffered. I hear NO EU heard Saturday night.
After non-stop S&P weekends in SS and CQWW, I was ready to just run, run,
RUN. The first 6 hours were fantastic. I should have operated another 
7 hours. I'm sure 300,000 would have been attainable. My score won't 
be in the top ten this year, though it would have been #6 last year. 
Hopefully this will be a new Tennessee record. Raw QSOs were something 
like 1390. There were a LOT of dupes.

IC-781 and AL-1200.  Sloping wire vertical with ONE elevated radial.
(Yeah, I know...)  Beverages: 570ft NE/SW, 195ft NW/SE, 310ft North,  
for five directions total.  The Beverages worked really well. I used 
them 99% of the time. Weak call signs in the "wrong" district took extra 
time to find the right antenna. I'd be straining hard to copy a "6" on 
a west antenna, only to finally determine he was in Florida. In cases 
like this, I wish folks would use a portable identifier.  

At one point, it seemed like every other contact was from MN or MDC.
It sounds like MWA and PVRC were out in force. So was the TCG! 
Thanks to everyone for the QSOs.

73

-Kirk  K4RO


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