[3830] CQ160 CW K1DG(@N1LI) Single Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW

Call: K1DG
Operator(s): K1DG
Station: N1LI

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Maine
Operating Time (hrs): 29.25

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1543  State/Prov = 57  Countries = 63  Total Score = 901,560

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

“Are you going up to Maine for the contest?”
“That’s my plan.”
“Didn’t you have a tough time last year in this one? As I recall, the best
part of it was the writeup you posted. And what about the December
contest…you didn’t even operate the whole time as I recall.”
“True, but I’m rested and I have a hunch conditions will be better than
last year.” I didn't really have a hunch, but it seemed like a good excuse. 
“You realize that it’s only 6 degrees out, and the windchill is like a
millions below zero, right? You still want to go? Why don’t you stay home and
operate from here?”
“Yeah, I know it’s cold, but I’ll be indoors and I'll have heat. Trust
me, operating from here is not the same as operating from there. Besides,
you’re going to be tied up Friday and Saturday at the women’s retreat. You
won’t miss me.”
“Just be careful…especially if you have to fix anything outside.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…see you Sunday night.”

One of my island neighbors was on the 10 AM boat with me. She asked why I would
want to go out to the island in this freezing weather. “Long story, but it’s
a ham radio thing going on this weekend.” Her polite response didn’t hide
her obvious opinion that I was out of my mind.

It was pretty cold as I stepped off the ferry. When I got to the house, I set
about the task of inspecting things and getting ready. Hmmm…the contractors
hadn’t gotten around to their work, so the radios were still covered with the
plastic sheet I had put on them in December to protect them from plaster dust. I
uncovered them for the weekend. Outside, I noticed the NE element of the
transmit antenna was drooping, and the bottom 10 feet or so were lying on the
ground. One support rope was broken and the wire was draped over a few smaller
trees. No climbing in this cold, so I just pulled the bottom of the wire out to
get it off the ground. I hoped that would be sufficient.

The NE/SW two-wire Beverage seemed OK, and I found the wire from last year’s
unsuccessful NW/SE Beverage experiment under the snow. I decided to hook it up
as a single-wire BOG, aimed at KL7RA.

Got everything ready by about 2 PM and laid down for a nap for a couple of
hours.

Contest started off OK…mostly Ws in the log for the first couple of hours.
Then the NE/SW Beverage went deaf. This would be bad if it didn't come back to
life. I decided to take the time to fix it, and tracked it down to a corroded F
connector at the feedpoint. I almost did not need the flashlight with the full
moon illuminating the woods. It was cold, but with no wind it was quiet and
calm. It did not portend the coming mayhem on the band.

Back in the chair, the Beverage was working again, and I was getting some
callers from Europe. I noticed that there was almost zero QRN. A few minor
issues with line noise came and went, but the band was very quiet. At 0300
things really started to heat up, and the rate meter went through the roof.
Some signals were way over s9. Last year, I worked only a handful of DX the
first night. This was reminiscent of the 2009 contest.

They kept coming. And coming. When the last Gs, Fs, and EAs finally dropped
out, it was back to running Ws. The states piled up, but when the sun came up I
was still missing VE4, 5, and 7, and ND. Score at “halftime” was about 450k,
compared to about 160k last year.

I got back on in the 2100 hour,. Things started off slowly, behind last’
year’s rate, and never really picked up until the 03 hour. In between, the
most frustrating episode of the contest occurred. Around 0000z, I heard EY8MM
start CQing about 200 Hz below me, perfect copy, no QSB. I slid down and
called, but he just CQed in my face. After a few minutes, VE1ZZ showed up,
called once, and got through. I guess the extra 500 miles was too much. I
called a few more times with no success, then gave up. I figured I’d check
back every few minutes and catch a QSB peak, but it never happened. Just like
the first night, at 0300 the switch was thrown and at one point the pileup was
like something from 20 meters. Another night with zero QRN, so I could hear
even the weakest callers. I turned up the keyer and let it fly. In the middle
of it all, ZS6EZ called in with a nice signal, louder than usual. Ten minutes
later, ZS4TX almost knocked my headphones off thundering in at s9+. Then ‘EZ
called in again, around s9, just to tell me I was loud. 

When Europe finally reached full sunlight, it was the usual 25 Q/hour slog to
our sunrise. I tuned all over the band on the second VFO looking for the
missing states to no avail. A few NA and SA multipliers called in, as well as
KH6, ZL, and a VE7. Tuning the band I found KH7X with a huge zero-beat packet
pileup… tuned up 100Hz, cranked the keyer up to 35 wpm and Mike pulled me
through on one call. And with dawn breaking, ND called in for the missing
state. Slept a few hours, watched the second half of the Celtics game on TV,
then caught the afternoon boat back to Portland and drove home.

Heard, but not worked in addition to EY8MM: someone working 4U1ITU, EA(EU (who
started CQing just above me then disappeared. Always amazed at 3830 reports
from the guys I never heard…A6, Z3, HZ, RI1, VE4, another ND, and more. 

IC781, AL1200. 2-element phased vertical wire array for transmit. 500-foot
two-wire reversible NE/SW Beverage, 250-foot BOG aimed at KL7RA (who I never
heard).

Congrats to Peter the Zen Master, Dennis, and Jon on terrific scores and great
multipliers. Same time next year.


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