[CCF] CQ160 CW OH4AB(@OH4MFA) Multi-Op HP

[Jukka Tarvainen]

                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW

Call: OH4AB
Operator(s): OH4KBC, OH4KLU, OH4KZM, OH4MFA
Station: OH4MFA

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: KP32
Operating Time (hrs): 40

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 970  State/Prov = 28  Countries = 66  Total Score = 506,460

Club: Contest Club Finland

Comments:

SOAPBOX: We participate in CQ 160 meters again this year with OH4AB team in
SOAPBOX: multi-op category from OH4MFA/OH4KZM station. We are sure happy we
SOAPBOX: did. Great conditions, even here above 62nd latitude. Lot of NA
SOAPBOX: for us, Asia was a bit disappointment, mostly EU in our log
SOAPBOX: naturally. Normally we have only few NA contacts, this year we get
SOAPBOX: 26 multipliers! We didn't listen radio during daylight hours, so
SOAPBOX: we can't tell, if we could have heard DX in broad daylight. We did
SOAPBOX: some antenna work for couple of weekends before contest. Repaired
SOAPBOX: and re-arranged Beverage antennas, fixed half wave dipole and
SOAPBOX: tuned parasitic vertical array elements. We used K2/100 on running
SOAPBOX: station with amplifier and FT-920 on spotting station. N1MM was
SOAPBOX: used on both and they were networked with WLAN. Receive antenna
SOAPBOX: was split to both rigs and a relay was installed to protect
SOAPBOX: Yaesu's front-end. Main station had control of antenna directions.
SOAPBOX: This setup was quite effective while searching and pouncing. Other
SOAPBOX: radio was spotting stations in N1MM bandmap and TX operator could
SOAPBOX: just jump from spot to spot. No, we didn't have any DX cluster
SOAPBOX: connected to our PC's. Occasionally we checked text-TV version of
SOAPBOX: DX Summit, but it was not very useful. When running, it was quite
SOAPBOX: slow to find new stations on the RX radio, but it still helped to
SOAPBOX: get some multipliers and new stations in log when running station
SOAPBOX: jump to get another QSO with other VFO. Funniest moment for us
SOAPBOX: happened during saturday morning sunrise, while operator decided
SOAPBOX: to check how stations come in with our 10 meters high dipole
SOAPBOX: antenna. Click of antenna switch and silence...damn, we were using
SOAPBOX: cloud warmer for several hours. It was accidentally left on-line
SOAPBOX: when operator was changed around 3 Z. No wonder it seemed to be
SOAPBOX: hard to get DX in log. But we worked also VP9 with this dipole!
SOAPBOX: When switched back to parasitic vertical array it was like one call
SOAPBOX: and DX was in log. And it was already daylight. This incident gave
SOAPBOX: us lot of laughs and happy moments later on during contest.
SOAPBOX: Ofcourse we could have made much more contacts with better antenna.
SOAPBOX: But we will remember this for long time and will check what antenna
SOAPBOX: we are using. We did improve our club's record from last year by
SOAPBOX: over 30%. So it could be long time until we break it again, maybe
SOAPBOX: never. But we will try anyway. Thank you for contacts and we hope
SOAPBOX: to see you later on the Topband!
SOAPBOX:
SOAPBOX: 73 GL
SOAPBOX: OH4AB contest team
SOAPBOX:
SOAPBOX:
SOAPBOX: Operators: OH4KBC, OH4KLU, OH4KZM and OH4MFA
SOAPBOX: Rigs: Elecraft K2/100, Yaesu FT-920
SOAPBOX: Amp: Commander HF-2500
SOAPBOX: Software: N1MM Logger, Home planet for showing grayline
SOAPBOX: TX-antennas: Parasitic vertical array, dipole 10 m high
SOAPBOX: RX-antennas: 2 x two-wire beverages 180 m long
SOAPBOX:              1 Beverage 250 m long
SOAPBOX: Other: coffee + other beverages, sauna, snacks etc
SOAPBOX: Station info: personal.inet.fi/surf/oh4mfa/topband.htm