[3830] ARRL 160 AC0DS Single Op LP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: AC0DS
Operator(s): AC0DS
Station: AC0DS

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: CO
Operating Time (hrs): 27

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 729  Sections = 73  Countries = 4  Total Score = 113,421

Club: Grand Mesa Contesters of Colorado

Comments:

A good contest here this year, both in terms of preparation and the operating
experience.  HOA restrictions and my miniscule property prohibit any permanent
antennas, so designing a stealth solution for each contest is part of the
process (and fun) for me.  

I’ve used a small inverted L the past couple of years and this year tried to
improve it.  As luck would have it, the week before the contest here was cold
and snowy which didn’t make the outside work terribly enjoyable.  But I put
down a much more extensive but modest radial system consisting of 16 on-ground
radials.  Shortest was about 20 ft and the longest 70 ft.  Since last year
I’ve acquired a 40 ft SpiderBeam mast so used this as the main support and
the previous 30 ft Jackite pole as the support for the end of the horizontal
segment.  I was able to stretch the horizontal distance by 10 ft or so by using
the visual shelter of a tree at the corner of the property and also took
advantage of the extra 10 ft of the vertical section.  Ended up with 40 ft
vertical and somewhat less than 80 ft of horizontal, with the far end at 30 ft.
 Used AWG 14 for the vertical part and stealth black AWG 26 copperweld for the
horizontal piece to minimize wind load and visual impact.  The plan was to
measure the impedance at the base and design an L network as in years past. 
But the measurement indicated a resonance tantalizingly close to the upper end
of 160 meters.  So I tacked on an additional 7 feet downward from the far end
(inverted U) and, miracle-of-miracles, found the resonance to be at 1.835 with
1.8 to 1 SWR.    At this point I felt that the stars might be aligned for my
lowly (literally) inverted L.  To minimize the impact to the neighbors I put
this up at sunset each evening and took it down at dawn.  Could do either in
less than 10 minutes.  

Could probably have gotten away with no tuner at all, but did use the internal
tuner in my K3 to tweak things at the upper and lower ends of the CW segment. 
Can’t say I missed going outside a couple times a night to fuss with the L
network.

On a whim I put up a rudimentary 3 meter diameter fixed orientation receiving
loop on Friday afternoon.  This turned out to be useful.  It received 90% of
the stations that the inverted L did and was much easier on the ears.

Had a great time during the contest, and good results for my modest station,
more than doubling my previous best score.  All that tramping around in the
snow the previous few days was worth it.  

Didn’t even hear much DX Friday night, and only worked Mexico.  Picked up ZF,
P40 and 5K0 Saturday, which isn’t impressive but helped the score some. 
Sections missed were RI (still keeping me from 160 WAS), DE, AK, PR, NL, NT and
MB.

The highlights for me were:

Friday night:  Had a single 4 hour run on 1.844 with 236 Qs.  Peak rates of
over 180/hr).  Nothing special for a big station, but a new experience for me!

Sunday morning, 3:30 AM:  Was in a sleep-deprived stupor CQing into the vacuum
of a band with no new stations when what to my wondering ears should appear
than the melodious 600 Hz tone of WC7S offering up the still missing WY
multiplier!  Thank you Dale!!  That got the adrenalin started up again for
awhile.

So it was a good weekend here.  A reasonable score and no phone calls from
neighbors.  Thanks to everyone for all the Qs, especially the GMCC folks who
sent their greetings.  I apologize that I may have messed up on a couple of
your names, but I know who you really are  ;>)    

Hope to see you all in the Stew and CQ tests.

                         …. Craig AC0DS   Longmont, CO


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