[3830] CQ160 SSB N2CEI Multi-Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB

Call: N2CEI
Operator(s): STEVE,N2CEI AND  SANDRA,K4SME
Station: N2CEI

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: EM80kh             
Operating Time (hrs): ?

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 773  State/Prov = 55  Countries = 34  Total Score = 195,088

Club: Florida Weak Signal Society

Comments:

That was Brutal!  BUTâ€"first off, we (Sandra and I) are very sorry for those
that called and were not worked, those that were asked for endless repeats, and
those that we may have TX’ed on while looking for a clear spot.  As I said, it
was BRUTAL!   The front that set up from the Gulf of Mexico and ran through the
southeast spent the whole weekend “training” storms directly overhead or
just to our Northwest to Northeast. Bad enough that the lightning kept us from
starting on time (35 mins. late!), the static crashes the rest of the night
were relentless! ANDâ€"if that wasn’t enough, some sort of “Rain Static”
would come and go throughout the Friday night /Sat morning operation time. I do
not understand what or where this rain static came from but can attest that the
harder it rained, the louder it got!  It was the worst on the vertical ant but
was still a nuisance on the dipole, the BOG and the standard Beverage ants no
matter where they were pointing. 
	The RF gains of all our RX antennas through our switching matrix (for two
rigs) are set to just tickle the S meters on a quiet afternoon in a narrow CW
pass band. When the storms were quiet enough (S 5-6 in 1.8khz pass band) we
could operate. Yea, I know, Welcome to SSB Top band! But when the static
crashes were a steady stream and the rain static pulsed up our S-meters above S
9, we stopped CQ’ing  and S & P’ed looking for the “Big Stations” we
have not worked. Well, we ran out of those real fast at 20/9 noise levels!
AND-- disconected and reconnected Antennas countless times hence teh "?"  in Op
Time!  There were times when the noise just stopped (it could be heard dying
down like an auto ignition) and we could hear again but then spent time looking
for a clear spot to CQ in. Spent most of the night with 10-15 min. periods on,
10-15 min. periods off or just tuning around and not working anyone. We could
tell the Band conditions outside of our little micro region were pretty good
because when we found some DX , we could work it if we were fast enough. So, we
finished the night with a dismal 335 Q’s and we were both really beat up and
questioning if we had fun or not! Last year we were at 500 Q’s half way
through.  
	Well the next night, we had a good start but had to shut down from 00:23 to
01:42 because of a lightning storm that went directly over head. Butâ€"after
that storm, there was no more Rain Static!  We just had to deal with the Static
crashes and the resulting AGC pumping of the receivers. I mostly operated
without the AGC for the rest of the night taking the audio hit in the head
phones when the loud ones called as we tried to catch up! We wound up with 75
less QSO’s than last year but had a better multiplier count and many more 10
point QSO’s than last year so as a result, a better score.  SO--- it was
worth it!  Did missed WAS this year by not working ND and KL7 
	Now, though we are a neophyte’s to the 160M band, I know Rain Static when I
hear it but have always associated with gain antennas. Can anyone explain it or
know how to tame it on 160M?  In the VHF world, it’s only on the Top Yagi, so
you deal with it by using other antennas. But this stuff was on everything!  
E-mail  us if you can help! 

’73, Sandra and Steve


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