[3830] ARRL 160 K8CC M/S HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: K8CC
Operator(s): K8CC, W8MJ
Station: K8CC

Class: M/S HP
QTH: MI
Operating Time (hrs): 27

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1498  Sections = 77  Countries = 34  Total Score = 351,337

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

Rig: 2 x FT-1000D, Viewstar PT-2500A amp (pr. 3-500Z)
Ant: 140' shunt fed tower, perpendicular pair of K9AY receiving loops

Great contest this year.  W8MJ and I sort of decided to multi-op this one
seriously at the last minute after the fun we had on 160M during CQWW CW.  The
noise level was relatively low during the weekend and conditions were decent.

This was the second outing for the K9AY loops which we erected immediately
prior to CQWW CW the previous weekend.  The loops served us well, and while
they are certainly no match for good beverages, they consistently exhibited
useful directivity.  While the F/B on our loopa is not particularly impressive,
whenever it was aimed at a station, that station got louder.

We were particularly disappointed with the poor operating tactics exhibited by
certain participants this year.  The unfortunate reality in ARRL 160 (and CQ
160 as well) is that success is largely dependent on constantly being able to
call CQ, which means getting (and holding) a run frequency.  We settled in
before the contest on an empty 1828.3 and never left it until after sunrise
Saturday morning.  We did the same thing the second day, settling in on an
empty 1828.4 well before activity picked Saturday evening, and not vacating it
until our amplifier blew up Sunday morning around 0830Z.  In both cases we
"acquired" a run frequency without any complaints from anyone, and with our
setup, we were loud enough to be able to hold our spot all night.

Still, that did not stop certain people from parking less than 200 Hz away and
calling CQ for extended periods, and they refused to QSY when told the QRG was
QRL.  All of these stations had good signals, so I'm sure that we were loud at
their QTH too.  We're using FT-1000Ds with roofing filters, cascaded 500 and
250 Hz IF filters, and Timewave DSP filters, so we could make their signal go
away.  However, the resulting narrow bandwidth would take out many of the
stations we're trying to work.  One station in Arizona came on our frequency
and sent "call?", to which I replied "K8CC TEST" and when I let up the
!^%$^@%$^ was calling CQ on my frequency and would not go away!

I'm sorry but there is simply no excuse for this kind of behavior.  Neither
W8MJ nor I are "QRM weenies" but another loud station CQing less than 200 Hz
away may as well have been zero beat.  We recognize that the band is crowded
and competition for run frequencies is fierce during the contest.  Still, Ken
and I tried to operate in the most courteous manner possible by not intruding
on anyone and this is the thanks we get.  You'd think these people would cut
some slack to the callsign of the guy who's going to check their logs (just
kidding).

I'm not going to name calls here, but I have a very good memory and the next
time I hear these lids running a frequency, I'm going to give serious thought
to returning the favor.  I hate doing that because it makes me a lid too, but
apparently this is all these jerks understand.

Dave/K8CC


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