ARRL 160-Meter Contest Score

[JFSINGER at delphi.com]

K0OD
QTH: St Louis, MO
Rig: TS850, AL-1200
Antenna: 3/8 wave 80-M inv L apex 16 meters with base loading for 160


   I had no intention of operating this contest. I hadn't read the rules
and didn't even know the section abbreviations. But I wanted to try out the
new AL-1200, my first amp capable of 160 operation. I was hooked on the
contest when my first CQ created a pileup of callers.
   Used my 80-meter 3/8 wave inverted L with an added loading coil. My tuner
hated it! After 15 minutes or so of running, the tuner became quite hot. I
was therefore forced to spend a lot of time S&Ping with great results:
worked every USA mult except KL7. ND and NE were real toughies, even from
Missouri. Only worked one each. Also got VE1-VE7. A thrill for a 160-M
beginner was to have J77J and YV1OB answer my CQ's.
     It seems a lot of high power stations merely CQ all weekend. Rare mults
like KH6CC and K0HA had no pileups. PY0FF had a small pileup.
                           S  C  O  R  E   
 QSO'S: 675;  DX: 5;  Sections: 73;  Total Mults: 78;  Total Score: 106,470
 
                          E X C U S E S
     Missed first 5 1/2 hours of contest. Totally unprepared, so much so
that I turned on rig around 1700Z Sunday to do some daytime contesting. Real
contests end at 2400Z.
                                        Jeff K0OD