[3830] ARRLDX CW C6AKQ M/S HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: C6AKQ
Operator(s): K4PG K7RE KD4GLY N4BP
Station: C6AKQ

Class: M/S HP
QTH: Bahamas
Operating Time (hrs): 47

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  380    53
   80:  803    56
   40: 1321    58
   20: 1351    58
   15: 1154    57
   10:   71    24
-------------------
Total: 5080   306  Total Score = 4,663,440

Club: Florida Contest Group

Comments:

This year we decided to try something different instead of our usual single-band
low-band entries on 40/80/160.  Long ago, we found that our 40M dipole worked
well on 15M, and our 80M dipole worked well on 10M.  To further improve
performance on 10 and 15, last year we replaced two runs of RG-58 coax with
RG-213 on the 80M dipole and LMR-400 on the 40M dipole.  This should have
considerably reduced the losses on those two bands (as well as the WARC bands)
due to the relatively high SWR.  We also put up a 20M dipole at 60ft, so we now
had the antennas we needed for a Multi-Single.  With just wire antennas and
relatively low power, we knew we couldn't compete with the big boys, but did
feel we could make a respectable showing.

Murphy did do a number on us though, but we still met and even exceeded our
expectations.  The computer setup gave us the most grief.  Both our radio
control and WinKey gave us intermittant problems - and when they did, it was
necessary to reboot the computer.  We finally decided to go without radio
control and only got caught logging the wrong band once briefly.  And this
after completely swapping out computers fairly early in the contest.  Even
before the contest started, one of our switching supplies died.  We had brought
a spare, but soon after we put it in service it also gave up the ghost.  We were
running two stations non-contest so this would have put one station out of
comission.  BUT..  In a junk pile behind one of the racks, we found a slightly
battered Astron 32A linear supply.  After checking its output voltage - a
miracle it worked at all - we put it in service on the K3 and also used it
throughout the contest.  One other problem that was really our downfall was our
performance on 10M.  The first time we attempted running on 10M, almost
immediately the smell of smoke poured from the AL-811H amp.  I should have
known better than to even try the amp on 10M since burning parasitic
suppressors is a common problem with this amp.  Without the amp though, we
could not get any kind of a run going.  Finally, Sunday morning we rushed to
put up a 10M dipole using a 50ft run of RG-8X that we had left behind on a
previous trip.  With 100W to that dipole up about 45 feet, we were able to pick
up a few more mults.

The owner of the Ifill Tower had a water leak at Grafton Court that ran him a
$1100 water bill two months in a row.  On Sunday afternoon of the contest, he
finally located it in a closet about five feet from our operating position. 
The split 50 cent PVC elbow was under the concrete slab, so it took a while
with a pickaxe to get to it.  Brian and Kevin heard the noise all the way from
the condo, came out to investigate, and saw me sitting straight up in the op
chair working stations while the jack was hitting the concrete.  They chuckled
and left.  They didn't realize how effectively the Sony noise canceling headset
eliminated the noise, nor how well I had learned to deal with noise having
struggled with power line noise for years!

A lot of time was wasted messing about with computers, but we did have some
great runs of well over 200/hour at times.  We had hoped to make between
4000-5000 QSO's, and so were very pleased to top 5000.  The multiplier suffered
due to our lack of time spent on 10M, but we felt that it wasn't too shabby a
showing for 600W and wire antennas.


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