[3830] CQ160 SSB K1Z(N5IA) Single Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB

Call: K1Z
Operator(s): N5IA
Station: K1TTT

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 29

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 984  State/Prov = 59  Countries = 29  Total Score = 218,240

Club: Cactus Radio Club

Comments:

When Dave, K1TTT, posted a note on the contest reflector in December inviting
operators to operate his station for the contests which were open, I noted that
the CQ 160 SSB was available.  My wife had already approved one trip for me this
winter and a proposed out of country operation for the CQ 160 CW did not
materialize.  

I sent Dave an E-mail telling him I would like to operate his station for this
contest.  He said to come on, and Priceline.com soon provided the round trip
airline tickets and rental car reservation.  

I was interested in having the experience of operating on Top Band from the USA
east coast.  I also wanted to see the layout of a Multi-Multi contesting
station.

When the announcement was made by the FCC that the deletion of the requirement
for knowledge of Morse code for US Amateur licensees would begin the same day
the contest would begin, I thought that would be a good excuse to request a
special event callsign.  Thus, the request for and assignment of K1Z to
celebrate the US President's Day holiday and the beginning of no Morse code
became a reality.

I worked a normal day on Tuesday, then drove to Phoenix to catch the "redeye"
shortly after midnight.  The flight was great and I arrived in Hartford, CT
shortly before noon on Wednesday.  Soon I was winding my way through rural CT
and MA, heading northwest towards Dave's QTH in Peru, Mass.

I arrived midafternoon and Dave conducted a quick tour of his antenna farm
while we waded through near knee deep snow.  I took a nap and then with an
explanation of the antenna switches, etc., at the 160 Meter station, I was off
for a night of learning the station and The Band.

I slept during the day Thursday and put in another all nighter to get the body
accustomed to the contest schedule.  It was very exciting to hear EU stations
calling CQ like they were locals.  A number of CW and SSB QSO's were made so I
could get a feel of how the station played, especially the difference between
the high Inverted "V" and the phased Inverted "L"s.  At morning greyline in
France I heard a couple of F stations chatting back and forth on SSB.  So that
is what it is like from here!!!

Another daytime sleep and I was ready to get going.  About 45 minutes before
starting time I picked a spot at 1.852 and called CQ with the intent of staking
a claim.  I enjoyed a number of short QSOs and received some good signal
reports.  Here we go.

At 0000Z K1Z went live in the contest.  The first four hours were unbelievable
for me.  A 158 first hour and over 100/hr for four hours is far beyond anything
attainable from the home QTH out west.  What a great start.  And then it all
went you know where when the storm front in the midwest went ballistic with
lightning strikes.  I managed just another couple hundred Qs the rest of the
night and had not heard about 1/2 dozen western states.  There was only one CA
in the log.  At EU greyline a few stations were worked for mults but there was
no semblance of a run of 10 pointers.

Night 2 was quite even the whole night.  A few more EU stations were worked to
the east and then the US west coast finally opened up.  Hawaii and VK3IO were
worked to put 2 Oceania mults in the log.  50 state WAS was completed at 1037
when KL7RA called in.  I had 941 Qs at the end of night 2.

The contest period change of a few years ago allows the east coast to have a
3rd shot at EU Sunday evening and to sweep any local stragglers into the log. 
I was able to add 43 Qs and 5 mults during this period, certainly a great
advantage in scoring vs the western time zones.  The final minutes of the
contest were exciting as the much anticipated opening to EU finally started for
my location.  The last three Qs in the K1Z log were all new mults from eastern
EU.  And then it was over.

Just a few minutes later I heard two UA4 stations and one RA4 station calling
CQ with no takers.  An hour later two PA stations and RA4LW were all calling CQ
with no takers.  I suppose it is just so common place on the east coast that EU
stations can call CQ without arrousing anyones attention in NA.

I had set a goal to make 1,000 Qs and 200K points. I fell just short on the Q
count but totaled slightly more than the goal of points.  For me it was a grand
success.  Dave's station worked flawlessly and only propagation and atmospherics
put a slight damper on the overall results.

Dave and I enjoyed a post contest debriefing and then it was off to bed for him
and time for me to pack my bags.  

The next morning found me driving through a light New England snowfall as I
headed towards the airport in Hartford.  There were no airport delays and I
made it to my home in NM shortly after midnight Tuesday morning.

So ends the saga.  Thanks to all the stations who called me and "made my day". 
And a super thank you to super host Dave Robbins, K1TTT, for the use of his
station and the opportunity for this experience.

A few more statistics.  I worked 870-2 point Qs, 80-5 pointers, and 34-10
pointers.  The Ohio Buckeyes were the #1 contributors of Qs in the K1Z log with
a total of 74.  PA was a close 2nd with 72 and NY came in 3rd with 61.  The
following states/provinces were represented by only ONE Q.  BC, DC, KL, MB, ND,
OK, PE, SK & WY.  Thanks to those stations for the much needed mults.

73, and CU all next year, de Milt, N5IA aka K1Z


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