[3830] CQ160 SSB N4RV Single Op Assisted HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB

Call: N4RV
Operator(s): N4RV
Station: N4RV

Class: Single Op Assisted HP
QTH: VA
Operating Time (hrs): 15

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 676  State/Prov = 54  Countries = 19  Total Score = 121,910

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

This contest was a total BLAST... NOT !

Things went sour from the very start. After an hour I found I had configured
N1MM incorrectly and had to redo the log before continuing the contest..

OK, back to business but wait, now the wind starts to howl and the static from
nearby thunderstorms gets worse...

So I plod along keeping one eye on the SWR and watching as the transmit
antenna, which has dropped into the tree branches, arcs on occasion to the tree
limbs. But at least it still works.

Next, one of my two wire reversable beverages NE/SW, goes almost dead. Well I
still have the other beverage and can still hear in two directions, instead of
four.

I keep working through the static and line noise which has become worse due to
the high winds. The band seems OK until about midnight when condx seem to take
a dive. 

Along with all the above distractions, the street lights which are numerious up
and down the roadway at my QTH, begin to constaintly re-cycle, on and off.
This results in S9+20  noise burst for about 15 seconds as the light bulbs
fire. Then they stay on for a minute or so, and the cycle begins again.

OK, so this is fun remember ! Just a contest right ? Things could be worse..
Right ?

So Saturday morning I awake to find the wind still howling . But off I go into
the woods to try and repair the broken beverage. After reinstalling the wire
which has several limbs and trees across it, and getting it back up in the air,
I am certain that everything is good to go for Saturday night. WRONG !

Once the band opens Saturday, it takes only a short while to discover that
something is still not right with the beverage.. So after a couple of hours I
trek out into the woods in the dark, to see if I can locate the problem. 
Now I find that a limb had landed on the feedline and caused the connector to
be nearly pulled off the 1/2 in hardline. So, in the dark, I spend more time to
jury rig a fix for the feedline. After several trips to and fro from the woods,
I get the beverage to work. 
By this time I am not only tired, and cold, but totally frustrated.. 
So I continue for a while longer but call it a day(night), about 2:30 AM.. 

Murphy got the best of me this time, but still had the chance to work a lot of
stations and talk to a lot of good friends.

Now on to repairing the beverages for the next contest.  NEXT weekend..Ugh..
And hoping the the Power Company will finally replace the street lights.
RIGHT ! ???

Jack N4RV


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