[3830] ARRLDX CW KV4FZ SOSB/160 QRP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: KV4FZ
Operator(s): KV4FZ
Station: KV4FZ

Class: SOSB/160 QRP
QTH: 
Operating Time (hrs): 12

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  312    52
   80:           
   40:           
   20:           
   15:           
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  312    52  Total Score = 48,672

Club: Virgin IslandsI Contest Club

Comments:

With KP2MM using the station here on all bands I decided to try 160 QRP with the
backup radio to avoid IX to his operation as the same tower that was supporting
his HF antennas I was using as a shunt fed antenna on 160.

Years ago in 2005 a KP4 got an incredible 160 QRP score of over 60k and I just
wanted to see if it was possible for me to even approach that result. It was an
impossible mission even with excellent conditions.  Put yourself in the position
of calling CQ TEST for hours with no pile ups and some times a Q rate of 1 per
hour.My worst Q rate was calling CQ for two hours without a single reply. (Is
there an award for that?) S&P was not working for me either as stations
believed to have good ears just could not hear me.  I called K0RF and K5GO for
1/2 and hour and never made it into their logs.  Perhaps their 4-Squares and
Beverages were listening in the wrong direction, but it was hopeless and
frustrating. It appears I was making parts of the East Coast and a few even to
the west coast but it was a struggle. When KP2MM switched to 160 my TX antenna
toggled over to him.  But he worked over 200 stations in less than an a few
hours (about 1 per night) and wasn't on 160 that much.  There were 4 other
KP2's active on 160 so my contact was not needed, it appears.

Lesson learned:  QRP in contests on 160 is not for the faint at heart and
definitely not for me. However I still would like to know what KP4KE was using
for a TX antenna in 2005 to be louder than Pedro, NP4A over here on 160! (He
won't tell me.)

Rig ICOM 746 Pro
TX Antenna 85 foot shunt feed tower with 30 foot stinger on top.  Lost most of
my top loading since recently installing a 3 element with 18 foot boom and quad
and insulated elements. (It really outperforms by previous A4s modified on a
24'boom.)
RX Antenna  750 foot Beverages N, NW, and West
Rig Expert Interface
N1MM Logger
Since my Icom Radios don't have external RX antennas for the Beverage Bank and
my DXE RTR-1 was on the IC-7410, I used and MFJ-1026 Noise Canceller to couple
in the RX Beverages into the noise antenna port as a substitute means to allow
the Beverage Bank to reach the receiver. 
Band Pass filter was by KD9SV and this is one thing that really allowed me to
hear well despite 1.5 KW being pumped into other TX antennas used by KP2MM
nearby.


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