[3830] TBDC N2IC Multi-Op HP

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                    Stew Perry Topband Challenge

Call: N2IC
Operator(s): N5FO N2IC
Station: N2IC

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: New Mexico
Operating Time (hrs): 14

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 407  Total Score = 1,987

Club: 

Comments:

First of all, my condolences to those in Texas who experienced the weather
conditions first hand, with loss of life and property. Our frustration with
storm QRN pursuing our hobby pales in comparison.

Frankly, I'm not a big 160 meter fan. I simply don't have the hardware to play
with the big dogs, or the patience to invest large amounts of time for very few
QSO's.

Many thanks to Sam, N5FO, for joining me in the Stew Perry. The multi-op
category in the Stew has this "interesting" rule about skimmer use -
You can only use CW skimmers that are within 100 km of the transmitter
location. With that in mind, Sam set up his KX3 with CW Skimmer at his QTH,
about 60 km from my QTH. He connected only a NE beverage to the KX3. It worked
very, very well for a no-cost CW skimmer setup.

My QTH is not good for low-band receive antennas. It's a rocky hilltop, with
steep dropoff in most directions. The NE beverage initially falls off at a 40%
slope for 300 feet, then drops off a vertical cliff for 300 more feet. The E
and SE beverages are only 300 feet, and have the same 40% slope. This means
lots of QRN pickup from undesired directions. Only the NW beverage has a gentle
downhill slope. When the band is quiet, they hear pretty well. With the big
storms only a few hundred miles NE and E, only the NW beverage was reasonably
quiet.

With the big storm nearby, I knew this was going to be a rough night. I was
ready to open a bottle of wine at 01Z, but Sam urged me on ! There's no denying
it was a tough night. For 90% of the contest, we both listened simultaneously to
our run frequency, each of us pulling out pieces of calls and grid squares. I
apologize to the many stations that we simply could not pull through for a
successful QSO.

We did have some high points. Jorge, CW5W was the first DX worked. Amazingly
strong on the SE beverage, but still had to work at getting Jorge's grid
through the QRN. 9A1A popped into Sam's CW skimmer at 0315Z, and was barely
hearable, but no QSO. Not a trace of any other Europeans. Worked 16 JA's,
beginning with JA3YBK at 0738Z - very early. VK3IO was a good QSO, but we
apologize to VK4KW for not being able to pull out his grid square. No beverage
in that direction ! Worked 3 very strong KH6's.

We'll be hoping for a quieter band next year !

73,
Steve


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