[3830] CQ160 CW K1LT Multi-Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW

Call: K1LT
Operator(s): WB8JUI, K1LT
Station: K1LT

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 32

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1329  State/Prov = 58  Countries = 52  Total Score = 536,140

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

Although I am typing this report, the contest is not yet finished.
The opportunity exists to make another 10-20 QSOs during the last hour
or two, depending on participation, and whether or not the power comes
back on.

WB8JUI came down from lands north to multi-op with me, which hasn't
been done here since 2010.  I hope he recovers from the shock of
having to manipulate 2 keyboards in order to make QSOs.

Two weeks ago I had an open weekend, so I was thinking about what to
"improve" in preparation for this test.  Building or acquiring new
equipment is almost always the most fun way to improve the station,
but getting rid of the intermittent "northwest noise" would have the
greatest effect.

Previously, I had declared that the "northwest noise" came from the
southeast.  Further investigation seems to suggest that there are 2
separate noise sources that have roughly the same effect prior to the
deployment of the second phased vertical array, which makes
distinguishing the noises possible.  The true "northwest noise" seems
to come from a bearing of about 300 degrees from here.  Also, the
"northwest noise" appears to be very temperature sensitive, and gets
stronger as the temperature get lower.  The past week has been quite
cold as 21st century winters go around here.

So, to combine the fun of new equipment with the goal of mitigating
power line noise, I bought a KX3 to use as a portable receiver for
noise hunting.  Thus far, I've been using the car radio on 1700 kHz
for general searching and an MFJ aircraft band receiver for pole to
pole investigations.  But I need some gear for the range in between.
I also obtained a small ultrasonic receiver, which has yet to prove to
be useful.

The weekend prior to the contest was consumed by another event, but I
had a chance to drive around a bit and found that there is a
considerable amount of noise coming from several power lines, both
transmission and distribution that cross near an awkward intersection.
The intersection is hazardous because the north-south road runs the
gradient of a steep hill and intersects the approximately east-west
road that follows a contour of the hill.  The distribution lines
follow both roads and intersect at the road intersection, while the
transmission line crosses both distribution lines at an angle, about
1000 feet to the southwest.

The first night was mostly normal, once the we got past the very slow
start.  Both contest participation and station owner performance was
less than expected.  I had a cold virus, which seemed to be at its
worst on Thursday, and I had a short fever episode which greatly
depressed my motivation, which was further depressed by the relatively
low activity at the very beginning of the contest.  Even at the
busiest time, the band was never "full" on Friday night.

Once Rick arrived, we could trade off operating and "supporting" and
we kept the rate up reasonably well all night.  Furthermore, we were
able to run a few Europeans, although not like the great years 2009
and 2010.  The noise covered signals from 300 degrees although the new
2x2 broadside/end-fire array could see 330 degrees (KL7 and JA) pretty
well.  Nevertheless, we didn't hear any JA or KL7 or even VE7.  On the
other hand, Rick worked the ZL that I demanded of him while I snoozed.

The second night was also mostly normal but the European run was
pretty good.  We had a 71 QSOs during the 05Z hour and 51 QSO during
the 06Z hour with relatively few ESP level signals, although the
multiplier count was not like years past (I've been badly spoiled by
those 2 good years).  However, the northwest noise was very intense,
to the point that 330 degrees and even 270 degrees were obliterated.

Since we were active in the multi-op class, we used the spotting
network to fullest advantage (like shooting fish in a barrel, and I
can now finally understand what everybody is complaining about in
terms of busted spots).  That means despite the noise, I think we
worked nearly every W6 and W7 available.  We didn't work VE7 until
after the Europeans were done, and later VA7MM was quite a struggle to
copy (thanks for your persistence!).  I chased KL7RA all over but was
never able to hear him, not even a hint of a signal.

Other than using two pairs of ears to decode ESP level signals, we
didn't try any other multi-op tactics (like run versus mult radios).

Just prior to typing this report, I was eating my lunch (Rick had
already departed) and scanning 3830 when the power went off.  Since it
was exactly noon, I assumed the power company was doing some emergency
maintenance.  However, after 15 minutes the power was still off.  The
power company outage website shows a pushpin at the location of my
local substation, which is about half a mile southeast of the noisy
intersection I described above.  The pushpin says "2995 customers
affected" which suggests to me that the substation is off-line.
However, the noise is still there on the radio, exactly as before.  I
threw the now marvelous KX3 into the car and ran my simple search
pattern, and the noisy locations are the same as before the outage.
My conclusion is that the noise emanates from the transmission line,
but is coupled into the distribution lines and re-radiated.  Of
course, the noise I hear from my station may be directly radiated by
the transmission line, but I don't know that yet.

Since the power is still off, I am now wondering if I will be able to
finish the contest.  I can drag out the generator and hook it in to
the house wiring, but I've never tried running the amp on the
generator.  It might not be worth risking the tube filaments for a
dozen 2 point contacts.  Gasp!  Low power???

Breaking news: the power came back after 2.7 hours and the final hour
netted 21 additional 2-point QSOs.

DX worked: 3V, 4O, 6Y, 9A (3), C6, CE, CT (3), DL (53), E7 (2), EA
(9), EI (4), EU (4), F (7), FM (2), G (22), GM (3), HA (9), HC, HI, HK
(5), I (9), J7, KH6 (3), KP2 (2), LA, LX, LY (8), LZ (2), OE (2), OH
(2), OK (14), OM (6), ON (2), OZ (2), P4, PA (5), PJ2, PY, S5 (10), SM
(3), SP (12), SV (2), UA (4), UR (16), V3, VP8/h, XE (4), YL, YO (5),
YU (7), ZF, and ZL.  Saw realistic spots for EA9, ES, GI, OH0, and T7
but heard none of them.

Contact breakdown: 2-point: 1007, 5-point: 72, and 10-point: 250.  No
surprise multiplier this year, unless Rick was surprised by the ZL.

Equipment: K3, ETO 91B (thanks PJ2/K8ND!); 65 foot "Tee" over 70 (and
counting, down) 125' radials; Beverages every 30 degrees (actually,
2-wire Beverages every 60 degrees); 4 broadside x 2 end-fire phased
array 900' wide; 2 broadside x 2 end-fire phased array 300' wide;
Writelog; new computers (a deluxe pain to make work).

Running yearly comparison:

    Year  QSOs  States  DX  Hour  Raw score  Ops
    2013  1329    58    58   32    536,140    2
    2012  1297    59    47   30    396,016    1
    2011  1471    59    67   30    670,320    1
    2010  1559    58    75   39    776,587    2
    2009  1416    59    71   30    757,510    1
    2008  1350    58    64   38    553,758    2
    2007  1063    58    68   32    422,100    1
    2006   764    58    47   26    260,505    1

Thanks, Rick!


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