[3830] CQWW CW K1LT SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 37
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  115    15       49
   80:  304    23       69
   40:  230    25       76
   20:  274    26       79
   15:  520    25       92
   10:  592    28      102
------------------------------
Total: 2035   142      467  Total Score = 3,484,089

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

I couldn't decide before the contest whether to go for another single
band 160 meter entry or just go all out for the highest all-band
score.  So I decided to prepare for both.  Since my 7-year-old was
away for the long weekend, I could spend two days making station
improvements.  Fun!

If I was to operate a lot on 160, I would still want to chase new
countries on 80 for N-band DXCC (N is currently 6).  This goal would
require SO2R and more antennas.  I dug the SB220 out of storage and
fixed it up for modern 220-volt wiring.  I added an 80-meter
inverted-V.  I built another audio switch box.  I was still debugging
hum problems when the contest started, but some additional grounding
wires fixed most of the hum.  I ran 2 instances of Writelog and did
"manual interlocking".

If 10 meters continued to propagate well, I might spend a lot of time
on that band during the day.  Since I have a little 3 element yagi, I
hung that antenna about halfway up the tower pointed at the Caribbean.
It took several trips up the tower to get the SWR just right.  I also
had to add another Transco relay to the mass of relays and wires at
the antenna panel in the basement.  I manufactured another "switch
panel" for the shack so I could switch 10 meter antennas on-the-fly.

Last minute station modifications made me 8 minutes late to start.
I'm sure that delay cost me a certificate :-)  I spent the first 2
hours S&P on 160 and 80 simultaneously.  The SB-220 is a lot noisier
than I remembered, even through headphones.  I made 8 contacts on the
2nd radio before switching the primary radio to 80.  For the rest of
the evening I worked 80, 40 and 160 in rotation.  First S&P sweep of
40 netted 90 QSOs in 90 minutes.  Took a 3 hour "nap" at 0800Z.

Got back on at 1100Z and worked new mults on 160, 80, and 40;
including my first ever JA and UA0 on 80.  Spent too much time
listening to JA3YBK on 160 at my sunrise, but he never got strong
enough to work.  I think if I had another phased array aimed at Japan,
the extra 3-4 db would have done the trick.  Next year!  I took
another 45 minute nap.

At 1350Z I went straight to 10 meters.  10 hours later I had 500 QSOs
and 101 countries, with brief excursions to 15 and 20 meters for
multiplier fixes.

For the second night, I chose an all-out all-band effort over the
160-meter single band effort.  I chose a goal of more than 2 million
points and 2000 QSOs, both of which would be new personal bests.  I
spent a lot of time CQing on 80, which I have never done before.  V5
was a surprise multiplier.  Kept an eye on the 160 waterfall display
for pile-ups and interesting faint lines, but found few new
multipliers.  One 160 pile-up did appear around 0640Z but I could not
hear the target.  I'm guessing the east coast could hear something in
Africa that wasn't propagating to the Midwest but I can't find any
corroborating spots in the DX-Summit history (after the contest).
Took another 3 hour "nap" at 0730Z.

Got back on at 1030Z.  Chased more multipliers on 80 and 40.  CQing on
160 got me 3 Ks and 1 VE.  At 1200Z took another 45 minute nap.

Ga-ck!  45 minute nap actually took 2 and a half hours!  At 1445Z went
straight to 15 meters.  4 hours later I had 400 QSOs.  Then I went to
20 meters and got 150 QSOs in a little over an hour.  JY was a
surprise multiplier.  Now I was well past 2 million, and 2000 QSOs
seemed within reach.  I also had more multipliers on 40 than on 20,
which suggested that 20 might supply some fun hunting.  On the other
hand JA runs on 15 beckoned.  Since the 2000 QSO goal had not yet been
met, I went to 15.  I alternated S&P and running, since both gave
about the same rate.  One of these years a need to put up a 15 meter
mono-band antenna (or at least a tribander really high).

I finished the contest on 20 chasing multipliers and managed to squeak
by the 40 meter multiplier count so that the multiplier distribution
is fairly linear from 160 to 10.  That is strangely appealing although
a bell-shaped curve would also be nicely appealing.

The end result was meeting the goals and a slew of ideas for further
station improvements.  Thanks for all the QSOs and especially all the
contest DXpeditions.  The amount of travel you guys do for this
contest just amazes me.

Equipment: K3, IC-765, SB-220, ETO 91B (thanks K8ND for the eternal
loan), 160: 65 foot "Tee" & 60 radials; 80: "cage" around the "Tee"
plus antenna tuner which needs returned for nearly every contact,
inverted-V at 50 feet; 40: full sized ground mounted vertical, 20-10:
Cushcraft X7 up 62 feet; and 12 Beverages and a phased array.


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