[3830] ARRL 160 K3ZM Single Op HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: K3ZM
Operator(s): K3ZM
Station: K3ZM

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Virginia
Operating Time (hrs): 32

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1500  Sections = 78  Countries = 42  Total Score = 434,880

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

"My Favorite Things," by K3ZM

Raindrops on roses and crystal wall sconces,
Stations who come back with loud, quick responses,
Boxes from DXE tied up with strings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the storm strikes,
When there's line noise,
When my rate is sad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad.

Adequate guy runs that yield the right leverage,
Hearing the A6 on my Northeast Beverage,
Quieter static that wintertime brings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the storm strikes,
When there's line noise,
When my rate is sad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad.

DX who answer my CQ's all evening,
Working a lot of five-point Europeans,
Quiet locations where whip-poor-wills sing,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the storm strikes,
When there's line noise,
When my rate is sad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad.

Girls in white dresses who send dots and dashes,
Working the JA between static crashes,
High-powered rotors that turn on their rings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the storm strikes,
When there's line noise,
When my rate is sad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad.

Old fashioned classrooms with hand-painted wallsigns,
Fast-running DX who tell us their callsigns,
Fresh cups of coffee the XYL brings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the storm strikes,
When there's line noise,
When my rate is sad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad.


The first several minutes of the contest foreshadowed the final result.  Hardly
any EU stations were answering me.  I thought I might have picked a poison
frequency in EU, but then I realized that I was not able to hear even the
well-equipped G3 and DL stations, and the frequency was clear on my side. 
There is a magic tunnel that provides propagation from this location to EU that
others do not enjoy, but the tunnel was closed for sure on Friday evening.  The
sunset opening provided hardly any EU contacts.  So, I pointed my antenna for
the next several hours across the great states of the red, white and blue and
tried to compile a good collection of NA contacts.  Conditions were very quiet,
as they were on Saturday evening as well.  NA was coming in nicely, affording a
host of contacts from across the continent.  But I still was not getting
answers from many non-EU countries and my multiplier count was dismal.

I hoped that conditions would turn in time for the EU sunrise, but this did not
come to pass.  Propagation seemed literally disturbed.  I ended Friday night
with only 53 EU's in the log, a stunning and disappointing result.  This
compares with 300 in 2009 and 202 in 2010.  I had managed 960 QSO's and 76
sections but only had 26 countries.  I was deep in a hole.

As I awoke on Saturday, I fantasized about some of the great comebacks.  I
thought of the New York Yankees coming back from about 14 games behind to tie
the Red Sox in 1979.  I recalled watching (in person, with brother George)
Harvard score 16 points within the final 43 seconds of the game to tie Yale. 
So, as I prepared lunch Saturday, I put on my DX Engineering cap and turned it
sideways.  It was time for a rally!

Conditions returned mostly to normal on Saturday evening.  It was amazingly
quiet.  With the 250 hz filter on, the S meter on the K3 either showed nothing
or registered S1 for much of the evening.  The sunset opening provided a nice
assortment of EU contacts, but I felt I really needed something bigger to get
back in the ballgame.  More plentiful contacts from across the US and Canada
throughout the evening.  Then a good and very sustained opening to EU that
started a few hours before their median sunrise.  But still I ended up with a
total of only 203 EU QSO's, versus 433 in 2009 and 366 in 2010.  I think the
propagation was there but the volume of EU stations was not.

Somehow on Saturday evening I ended up immediately below VY2ZM.  "Great, I
thought."  Well, maybe not such a bad thing, actually.  Since this is not
"their" contest, some EU's unknowingly send a serial number with their
exchange.  At this point in the contest, a few of them sent me number 002. 
Gee, I wonder who was 001?  Perhaps I got some hand-me-downs.

Worked a few KH6 (thanks, guys!), a couple KL7 and a VK (cheers!) but no JA. 
It is funny how we line up between 1810 and 1825 like seagulls, hoping to have
our antennas fed by the JA's.  But this seagull never tasted a morsel.

My final QSO count appears to be about 200 below where it should be.  I have
not seen any other results.  I wonder if the low country total also reflects
fewer multipliers on the band this year.  It was fun trying to come back from
so far behind, but there was too much to make up and Saturday evening was
simply ordinary (though very quiet).

I will just have to look forward to the next Topband contest.  Maybe the magic
tunnel will be open!  If not, I will try to remember a few of my favorite
things.

73,

Peter   K3ZM


Special thanks to Rod, George and the helpful technicians at DX Engineering who
generously help me debug problems spawned by lightning, hurricanes, and the
generally hostile environment offered by this QTH.


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