[3830] CQWW SSB AA4V/VP9 M/2 LP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: AA4V/VP9
Operator(s): AA4V, N4SF
Station: AA4V/VP9

Class: M/2 LP
QTH: Hamilton Parish, Ber
Operating Time (hrs): 46

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  181     7       13
   80:  322    11       40
   40:  754    22       65
   20: 1002    22       76
   15: 1738    31       98
   10:   70    11       17
------------------------------
Total: 4067   104      309  Total Score = 3,956,127

Club: Carolina DX Association

Comments:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing
direct the other way." --Charles Dickens.

The above-mentioned passage from 'A Tale of Two Cities' accurately described my
feeling after getting of the airplane in Bermuda on the Wednesday before the
contest. When I turned on my cellphone, it started belching out message after
message saying, 'call home', call Charleston, there has been an incident,
etc.'.
I finally got Ed, W4NSC, on the phone and he informed me as gently as he could
that 4 of my friends had been killed in a plane crash that morning while taking
off from the Summerville, SC, airport. I had just had dinner with Pete, W2GJ
and
Ed, K3IXD one week before at a meeting of the Low Country Contest Club. I have
flown with Peter several times in his Aztek E (I hold a private pilot
certificate, instrument rated) and found him to be a meticulous planner and
preparer for even the most mundane flight. His beloved airplane, which he
called 'Bald Eagle Air' was always in top shape. If it wasn't, he wouldn't fly
it. Our fist trip together was to be down to the same Crooked Island, Bahamas,
location where he was headed on that fateful day. Our trip planning was
interrupted by a small mechanical problem with the auto pilot so we decided to
find another place to go. Pete had asked me to teach him about doing a
DXpedition so I quickly found a spot on French St. Martin and we flew down with
some gear as checked baggage. We had a ball and a very nice score. He was a fast
and eager learner. Although Pete was an excellent CW operator (and preferred
that mode) he did very well in the phone portion probably due to the
experiences he had with his pal, Dallas, W3PP, who had many contest operations
from 'PP in Delaware.

Pete, W2GJ, Ed, K3IXD, Randy, K4QO and Dallas, W3PP, always had a kind word for
anyone and would give their fellow amateur the shirt off their back. They will
be surely missed by their family, friends and our fraternity.

Regarding the contest, my best friend, Gaylord Gasque, N4SF, and I have been
operating contests together since the early 1970's. We had operated tha past
several years in the CQ WW Phone from Israel as 4X0V. We were both looking for
something this year that didn't involve a 14 hour airplane ride so we decided
on Bermuda, where we had operated before. We contacted the hotel where we last
stayed and they were pleased to welcome us back. Our location was about 7 miles
south of the airport on the road from St. George to Hamilton.

One of the most interesting aspects of this operation was the power limit in
VP9. We were only allowed to run 100 watts which was certainly a challenge. We
shipped 320 lbs of gear over to the island via FedEx. The major pieces included
a SteppIR 2 el yagi for 20-6, a Butternut HF9 multibander vertical (160-10) and
a Butternut HF2V for 160, 80 and 40. Additionally, we had a 40 foot mast (4
foot sections), rope, coax....you name it.

We ran a multi/2 setup using Elecraft K3 transceivers. The radios worked
FLAWLESSLY. We networked the stations with a crossover CAT5 cable and serial
cables from the laptops to the radios. I did have a set of W3NQN bandpass
filters but found that due to the low power situation, there was absolutely no
problem with inter station interference. 

The operating site was located on the western shore of Bermuda, about 100 feet
from the sea and on top of a cliff about 75 feet high. We mounted the Stepper
on a mast about 20 feet high with the yagi in the clear. Rotation was
'Armstrong method' but being able to reverse pattern was very helpful. We had
two nice sections of lawn to work with on either side of our cottage. On one
side, we erected the HF9V and used that primarily for run station #2. On the
other side of the cottage we mounted the HF2V. That antenna along with a
Stepper was used on Run #1. Under each vertical, we placed approximately 40
radials each 35 feet long. I have found that these antennas work very nicely
when you can put down wire in the near field. Grounded radials do not have to
be resonant.

Gaylord and I stayed very busy all week-end. Conditions on 15M were excellent
and was out most productive band. We were amazed (as usual) by the
performance of the Butternuts on the low bands, especially on 160. Trying to
work DX station on QRN-laden contest frequencies on SSB with 100 watts was a
real challenge. 80 and 40 were also very productive. Our stated goal was for us
to try to break the existing VP9 record for multi/2. We exceeded the record at
9:00 AM local time on Sunday and proceeded to add nearly 1.5 million points
(subject to the log checkers) to the old record.

Many thanks to all the guys who moved with us to different bands for
multipliers. Thanks to Nelson, 4S7NE for calling in with a double-mult at the
end of the test on 20M.

Operating with my friend, Gaylord, N4SF, is, as always, a pleasure. Gay is a
true gentleman, a talented operator and a joy to be around.

Finally, to the C6APR team.....may you rest in peace.


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