[3830] ARRL 160 VE6TL Single Op HP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: VE6TL
Operator(s): VE6TL
Station: VE6TL

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Calgary
Operating Time (hrs): 11.5

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 377  Sections = 55  Countries = 3  Total Score = 50,719

Club: ALBERTA CLIPPERS

Comments:

I turned the rig on late Friday night on 80m and didn't hear anyone.  So I
switched to 160m and it was goin' on!  I then checked the Contest Calendar and
jumped in.  The condx seemed better than I've heard in a long time and this was
the perfect time to test out my new and improved shunt-fed tower with about 250W
from my FL-7000 amp.  I had never run more than 100W on 160m before (as I had
blown a cap and finally was able to replace it with a higher voltage one).  On
this particular night we were having a major snow storm with winds gusting up
to 80 km/hr (50 mph), which meant that it was hard to tune up as my gamma match
cable was being blown around quite a bit.  I also had static from all the
blowing snow and high winds.  Still, I had a great time and made a few runs.  

On Saturday evening, the condx weren't quite as good and seemed more typical of
160m.  My noise was averaging S9 as I need to put up some sort of receiving loop
for 160m.  Around 12:30AM (local) I decided that it would be better to get a few
hours of sleep and wake up at 5AM to see if there were any new stations on.  My
plan worked well enough as I was able to work a couple stations in Hawaii and a
couple in North Dakota.  The only DX station I worked was HC8GR as I didn't hear
anything else.  I did hear the guys working JAs on Sunday morning but I couldn't
hear the JAs.  

I enjoyed the contest a lot as my amp held out (on RTTY setting as it got too
hot on full power setting) and with the snow storm, there wasn't much else to
do.  Sorry to all those who tried to contact me but I just couldn't hear as my
noise level was very high.  I've got plans to build a loop, which should help a
lot.  Also, my Timewave DSP 599zx helped me pull a lot of signals through.

73,

Jerry VE6TL (AKA VE6CNU)

Rig:  FT-1000MP
Amp:  FL-7000
Ant:  Shunt-fed 40' tower with TH6 on top
DSP:  Timewave 599zx
Softwaer:  N1MM


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