[3830] ARRL 160 N1LN M/S HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: N1LN
Operator(s): W0UCE, N3ND, N1LN
Station: N1LN

Class: M/S HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 38

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1648  Sections = 79  Countries = 52  Total Score = 492,298

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Before the start of the contest Jack, Dan and I were having the usual discussion
about goal setting.  Of course our standard is always to score as high as
possible, but we also like some type of target to track against.  We agreed on
a goal and waited for the starting gun.  When the gun sounded we were ready. 
Jack was holding a frequency for us, the clock hit the top of the hour and the
fun began.  Two hour shifts were decided on as we would stay awake and alert,
there would be plenty of sleep time and each of us would have the opportunity
for some of the better and, not quite so good, operating times.

Jack started on 1.823 and we were still there 16 hours later.  There were a few
attempts by fellow contesters to move in with us, or actually on top of us, but
for the most part the frequency stayed ours.  You got to love those K3s!  We
had other very strong stations just a few hz. away, but we all enjoyed high
rates and, at that time, NO KEY CLICKS from the 'not yet a K3 owner' community.
 The first six hours gave us a false sence of satisfaction about reaching our
goal as the hourly rates never dropped below 100 and there were many 10 minute
rates above 200.  Our Q count stayed above last years total and our goal count
for the first 8 of those 16 hours, but then started to slowly slip behind both
targets.  As this was the first time the newly installed phased verticals were
used in a contest I started to question if they were working, if conditions
were as good as they sounded or if overall participation could be down. 
Whatever the cause, out Q count had dropped behind 2009 and never would be
recaptured.  Additionally, by the end of the first night we only had 53 five
point Qs in the log.  Do you think it would have helped if one of us would have
changed the vertical direction from a NW heading to NE?  That 53 count was well
below last year and, based on what we would add Saturday night, our overall 5
point Q count and resulting score was going to be down.  The log did include 79
of the 80 sections and unfortunately missed out as one of the lucky 50 to be in
VE8EV's log.  NT missed again!

On a side note, whatever happened to sending QRL and actually listening for the
response?  Whatever happended to just listening to determine if a frequency is
open?  Yes, this is contesting, but come on!  Perhaps these actions are
acceptable if, before calling CQ on the frequency in question, the person
trying to move in also uses that frequency for amp tuning??  Ok, done now -
time to get back on topic...

Saturday afternoon at 19:00 UTC we got back on the air, moved up the band to
1.842 and started to switch the verticals between NE and NW in an attempt to
gain back some of the lost 5 point Q count.  For about 3 hours, from 2300 UTC
to 0200 UTC the log shows about half of the Qs were 5 pointers.  That was
great, but it did not continue at that pace.  Again we were able to hold that
frequency for almost 12 hours and only lost it because we jumped off for a
mult. The frequency had been taken when we returned and we decided not to tune
our amp or start calling CQ on top of the new owner!

OK, time to stop the contest soapbox stuff and enjoy some food.  What would a
contest weekend be that Chef Archie attends (aka Jack, W0UCE)without the
culinary report?  On Saturday night we were once again we were treated to one
of his marvels, specifically Frogmore Stew.  No, this is not a bunch of frogs
dropped in some sort of bowl, but a mixture of shrimp, andouille sausage, new
potatoes, corn on the cob and just the right amounts of spices and seasoning. 
If you have never had it, check it out on the web.  As I was operating during
the cooking time, it was quite a challenge to concentrate on CW with that
outstanding aroma drifting into the shack from the kitchen, but eventually it
was time to eat.  This was another major success in the growing list of
culinary successes for Archie.

Now back to contesting - 

The rest of the contest was much as we expected.  Some running, some search and
pounce, some cluster chasing, finding lost of incorrect postings, and LOTS of
just wishing we could find someone we had not yet worked.  The conclusion about
the verticals is that YES, they are working, but still need some additional
tuning.  Sunday afternoon I took them off-line so the reconstruction has
already started.  They should be back on-line well before CQWW-160 and ready
for another test.  In the end our Qs were down by 121, our mults were up by 2
and our overall score dropped by 37,000 points.  Even with the lower Q count we
were optimistic that our country mults would be much higher.  However there were
many South, Central and North America countries worked in 2009 that were not
heard or worked in 2010.  Hopefully we can find them in CQWW-160 due to
increased participation as a result of the more open rules format.

Thanks to everyone for working us.  Thanks for the repeats.  A BIG thanks to
Jack and Dan for making the weekend so much fun.  And an even BIGGER thanks to
my wife, Laurie - N1YXU, for co-hosting another multi-op event.

And finally, congratulations to the BIG multi-op stations for reporting some
really outstanding scores.

73, Bruce (N1LN)


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