Topband: W2BC (W2RU, opr.) ARRL 160 SO HP

[W2RU - Bud Hippisley]

W2BC (W2RU, operator) 2011 ARRL 160 Contest SO HP 

Not content with the havoc he wreaked on CQ WW CW weekend, Murphy made a return visit for the ARRL 160 Contest.  Memo to self:  Never schedule an out-of-town meeting on the Friday of a contest weekend!

On the way back from my Friday noon meeting some three hours away from the shack, my car started overheating.  Fortunately, I was able to get to a dealership "en route" before their service department closed.  UNfortunately, the detour and actual repair time cost me the first TWO hours of the contest (as well as a big dent in my wallet)!  That's probably no big deal on the left coast, but it's a major disaster here in the east because it's already dark before the start time and many of those lost contacts are never going to be regained.

When I first got on at 0000Z Saturday, there seemed to be lots of "holes" in band usage.  That turned out to be one of the symptoms of the unusual Friday night conditions, described by many previous posters.   Nonetheless, I plowed ahead, working what I could.  I had some good runs, but my long day Friday finally caught up with me, and I hit the sack at 0515Z, long before I should have.  At that point, I had only TWO W6 Sections (SV and EB) in the log!  Of course, I expect we'll find that the horrendous winds last week were a major contributor to the absence of many of the CA regulars.

I had expected to "enjoy" the much-publicized ability of the east coast to Run European contacts and multipliers, but I was sorely disappointed.  I think I worked a grand total of eight DX stations Friday night before going to bed.  Things were somewhat better Saturday night.

As others have reported, conditions gradually improved Saturday evening and early Sunday morning.  Around 0700Z I worked nine DJs and a smattering of other EU multipliers near their sunrise.  After a few hours of sleep, the usual Sunday late morning "pop", where I work every VE3 ever licensed, never materialized.  For all intents and purposes, the contest had ended BEFORE I went to sleep!  

I had hoped to do a lot better but, based on other people's reports, I'm generally OK with my results.  My best (and last) Section was Alaska, as I came across a pile-up on a very, very weak NL7Z Sunday morning while S&Ping my way up the band one last time.  When I gave up (the sun was too high in the sky) and pulled the big switch, I had missed PR, VI, NT, and, get this...San Diego! 

A couple of other "interesting" statistics:  
	# of MN stations worked:  63 !!!!! 
	# of Dupes:  43 !!!  (One station insisted on working me FOUR times — in the space of about two hours!)  (But to be fair, I also CAUSED about 10 of those dupes, as some of you will attest to.  My apologies.)

QSOs:  1081 (after dupes)
Sections:  76
Countries:  31 or 35 (see below)
Score:  somewhere between 252,841 and 262,293 
Time:  15 hours

The reason for the range of scores above is that I can't tell from the way the rules are worded whether W, VE, and USA possessions count as both Sections and Countries, or just Sections.  Note to CAC and/or ARRL Contest Branch:  The rules grammar needs to be "vetted" before next year.

Equipment:
   * K3 w/sub-receiver & 100-watt module
   * Alpha 87A
   * Shunt-fed 90-ft top-loaded tower with a few radials
   * Very short (150-250 foot) Beverages for Europe, California, and Japan
   * MacMini
   * SkookumLogger for the Mac

Note:  I live in a summer resort area.  During the winter months I have very few neighbors and a very quiet location.  Thanks in part to the punk conditions, the K3 S-meter was reading between S1 and S2 on band noise while using a 400-Hz roofing filter and DSP bandwidth — on my TRANSMIT vertical!  That was true until or unless someone with key clicks, excessive phase noise, or a hum-modulated signal settled in next to me (meaning within 1-2 kHz).  Then the S-meter was usually at S-9 or above.

We have reached the level of technical excellence on Topband that propagation, receivers, and antennas are no longer the limiting factor in our ability to work weak signals.  As Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!"  There were times both evenings when it was absolutely impossible to find a frequency that was NOT bothered by key clicks, phase noise, spurs, hum, etc., from stations on neighboring frequencies.  As a group of supposedly proficient amateurs, we should be ASHAMED that we have not done more to rectify this situation.  ("Oh, heavens no, Bud....rectification will only make it worse!")  More about this later, when I've calmed down somewhat.

Bud, W2RU
Operator, W2BC