[3830] ARRL 160 K5NA Single Op HP

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                    ARRL 160-Meter Contest

Call: K5NA
Operator(s): K5NA
Station: K5NA

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: STX
Operating Time (hrs): 34

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1357  Sections = 78  Countries = 27  Total Score = 316,785

Club: Central Texas DX and Contest Club

Comments:

The ARRL 160M Contest has always been my favorite contest. This year is the 42th
running of it and it is my 37th year to participate. If anyone has been in more
of them, let me know.

As usual, my only goal is to try and make the single-op top ten.

With CQWW CW the week before and many appointments/commitments for the week, my
beverages were not in the best shape. I managed to get a couple of them working
well but the rest were just so-so. But they were all better to use than
listening on the transmitting antenna.

This year the conditions were poor and there was a fast QSB on most signals. It
took a couple of tries to get the complete exchange on most weak signals.
Central Texas had rainstorms all weekend (We really needed the rain) that made
the band noisy.

There was a moderate European opening the first night at their sunrise and I
picked up a few European multipliers. I knew many were calling, but they were
weak and blending together with diverse QSB that effected them all.

About 0800Z the first night, the thunderstorms in the distance began to make
the band extra noisy. This made it a struggle to work anyone and the band
stayed noisy until after sunrise. I worked a few JAs but heard many more
calling me that I couldn't hear enough of their calls to identify them. It
sounded like a very good JA opening but I only worked about 14 JAs. Nothing
else in that direction was heard or worked. 

The second night had slightly worse conditions than the first. The opening to
Europe wasn't as good as the first night and I heard no JAs at my sunrise.

I think overall activity was down. I recall last year that it was hard to find
an open space all the way up to 1870 kHz. But this year, the crowd thinned out
about 1840 kHz. It may not have been that way everywhere, but that's how it
sounded here.

But still, I am glad I did it.

73, Richard - K5NA


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