ARRL 160 Soapbox built 1-29-2007 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: 7X0RY Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 8 Horrible local QRM 599+30dB!!! CUAGN in OKDX RTTY.... 73!!! Frantisek ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA1K Class: M/S HP Total Score = 356,700 Congrats to W2GD, NO2R and W4MYA and no doubt some others. .... Maybe next year I'll bring in another op or two and get serious about this one in multiop, since there's no "assisted" category :-) ....only 15 Europeans the first night and a total of 56 for the weekend, less than half of a year ago. Two JA the first morning and UA9CLB calling in at 2313z the second night made for some excitement. But the promising early opening to Eu the second night quickly fizzled. No runs of Europeans, only a few short spurts ..... Worked all states but needed KP4, VE4 and VY1/VE8 for section sweep. ... Heavy QRN the first few hours from storm kept the rate down....only one hour above 100 .... and noise from neighbor's new Plasma TV caused loud garbage across the band. The joy of 160. Station details and QSL info at www.aa1k.us. QSO AND RATE BREAKDOWNS UTC 160 rate total --------------------- 22Z 82 82 82 23Z 83 83 165 00Z 103 103 268 01Z 95 95 363 02Z 94 94 457 03Z 79 79 536 04Z 86 86 622 05Z 48 48 670 06Z 30 30 700 07Z 42 42 742 08Z 58 58 800 09Z 27 27 827 10Z 27 27 854 11Z 52 52 906 12Z 31 31 937 13Z 13 13 950 14Z 0 0 950 15Z 0 0 950 16Z 0 0 950 17Z 0 0 950 18Z 0 0 950 19Z 1 1 951 20Z 0 0 951 21Z 14 14 965 22Z 39 39 1004 23Z 53 53 1057 00Z 36 36 1093 01Z 43 43 1136 02Z 38 38 1174 03Z 49 49 1223 04Z 52 52 1275 05Z 25 25 1300 06Z 40 40 1340 07Z 7 7 1347 08Z 6 6 1353 09Z 19 19 1372 10Z 16 16 1388 11Z 15 15 1403 12Z 25 25 1428 13Z 3 3 1431 14Z 0 0 1431 15Z 0 0 1431 --------------------- tot 1431 ---- 1431 QSO POINTS BREAKDOWN UTC 160 rate total ------------------------ 22Z 164 164 164 23Z 166 166 330 00Z 215 215 545 01Z 202 202 747 02Z 197 197 944 03Z 167 167 1111 04Z 175 175 1286 05Z 99 99 1385 06Z 69 69 1454 07Z 93 93 1547 08Z 119 119 1666 09Z 54 54 1720 10Z 60 60 1780 11Z 107 107 1887 12Z 62 62 1949 13Z 26 26 1975 14Z 0 0 1975 15Z 0 0 1975 16Z 0 0 1975 17Z 0 0 1975 18Z 0 0 1975 19Z 2 2 1977 20Z 0 0 1977 21Z 31 31 2008 22Z 108 108 2116 23Z 169 169 2285 00Z 87 87 2372 01Z 89 89 2461 02Z 79 79 2540 03Z 110 110 2650 04Z 107 107 2757 05Z 53 53 2810 06Z 83 83 2893 07Z 14 14 2907 08Z 12 12 2919 09Z 38 38 2957 10Z 32 32 2989 11Z 30 30 3019 12Z 50 50 3069 13Z 6 6 3075 14Z 0 0 3075 15Z 0 0 3075 ------------------------ tot 3075 ----- 3075 2 point QSOs: 1360 5 point QSOs: 71 MULTIPLIER BREAKDOWN station: AA1K UTC 160 rate total --------------------- 22Z 31 31 31 23Z 9 9 40 00Z 7 7 47 01Z 14 14 61 02Z 6 6 67 03Z 12 12 79 04Z 3 3 82 05Z 2 2 84 06Z 3 3 87 07Z 3 3 90 08Z 2 2 92 09Z 0 0 92 10Z 3 3 95 11Z 0 0 95 12Z 1 1 96 13Z 0 0 96 14Z 0 0 96 15Z 0 0 96 16Z 0 0 96 17Z 0 0 96 18Z 0 0 96 19Z 0 0 96 20Z 0 0 96 21Z 1 1 97 22Z 7 7 104 23Z 3 3 107 00Z 3 3 110 01Z 0 0 110 02Z 1 1 111 03Z 2 2 113 04Z 1 1 114 05Z 1 1 115 06Z 1 1 116 07Z 0 0 116 08Z 0 0 116 09Z 0 0 116 10Z 0 0 116 11Z 0 0 116 12Z 0 0 116 13Z 0 0 116 14Z 0 0 116 15Z 0 0 116 --------------------- tot 116 ---- 116 QSO BREAKDOWN BY CONTINENT station: AA1K ALL ----------------------------------- N America: 1365 1365 (95%) (100%) S America: 3 3 (0%) (100%) Europe: 56 56 (3%) (100%) Africa: 1 1 (0%) (100%) Asia: 3 3 (0%) (100%) Oceania: 3 3 (0%) (100%) ----------------------------------- QSOS PER MULTIPLIER BREAKDOWN station: AA1K Mult QSOs CT 33 EMA 40 ME 16 NH 32 RI 8 VT 12 WMA 8 ENY 34 NLI 14 NNJ 40 NNY 2 SNJ 16 WNY 32 DE 6 EPA 58 MDC 39 WPA 14 AL 26 GA 35 KY 11 NC 39 NFL 22 SC 17 SFL 9 TN 45 VA 60 WCF 9 AR 13 LA 9 MS 7 NM 4 NTX 20 OK 11 STX 21 WTX 2 EB 8 LAX 4 ORG 8 SB 2 SCV 15 SDG 2 SF 4 SJV 7 SV 12 AZ 15 EWA 5 ID 3 MT 7 NV 5 OR 13 UT 7 WWA 24 WY 2 MI 66 OH 95 WV 18 IL 54 IN 35 WI 29 CO 19 IA 13 KS 7 MN 47 MO 19 NE 4 ND 1 SD 8 NL 1 MAR 7 QC 7 ON 40 MB -- SK 2 AB 4 BC 11 NWT -- PAC 3 AK 1 PR -- VI 1 1A -- 1S -- 3A -- 3B6 -- 3B8 -- 3B9 -- 3C -- 3C0 -- 3D2 -- 3D2/c -- 3D2/r -- 3DA -- 3V -- 3W -- 3X -- 3Y/b -- 3Y/p -- 4J -- 4L -- 4S -- 4U1I -- 4U1U -- 4W -- 4X -- 5A -- 5B -- 5H -- 5N -- 5R -- 5T -- 5U -- 5V -- 5W -- 5X -- 5Z -- 6W -- 6Y -- 7O -- 7P -- 7Q -- 7X -- 8P -- 8Q -- 8R -- 9A 1 9G -- 9H -- 9J -- 9K -- 9L -- 9M2 -- 9M6 -- 9N -- 9Q -- 9U -- 9V -- 9X -- 9Y -- A2 -- A3 -- A4 -- A5 -- A6 -- A7 -- A9 -- AP -- BS7 -- BV -- BV9P -- BY -- C2 -- C3 -- C5 -- C6 1 C9 -- CE -- CE0X -- CE0Y -- CE0Z -- CE9 -- CM 1 CN -- CP -- CT 1 CT3 -- CU -- CX -- CY0 -- CY9 -- D2 -- D4 -- D6 -- DL 15 DU -- E3 -- E4 -- EA -- EA6 1 EA8 1 EA9 -- EI -- EK -- EL -- EP -- ER -- ES 1 ET -- EU -- EX -- EY -- EZ -- F 3 FG -- FH -- FJ -- FK -- FK/c -- FM -- FO -- FO/a -- FO/c -- FO/m -- FP -- FR -- FR/g -- FR/j -- FR/t -- FT5W -- FT5X -- FT5Z -- FW -- FY -- G 3 GD -- GI 1 GJ 1 GM 1 GU -- GW -- H4 -- H40 -- HA -- HB -- HB0 -- HC -- HC8 -- HH -- HI 1 HK -- HK0/a 1 HK0/m -- HL -- HM -- HP 1 HR -- HS -- HV -- HZ -- I 4 IS -- J2 -- J3 -- J5 -- J6 -- J7 -- J8 -- JA 2 JD/m -- JD/o -- JT -- JW -- JX -- JY -- KG4 -- KH5K -- KH7K -- KH8/s -- KP1 -- KP5 -- LA 1 LU -- LX -- LY 1 LZ -- OA -- OD -- OE -- OH 1 OH0 -- OJ0 -- OK 4 OM 1 ON 1 OX -- OY -- OZ -- P2 -- P4 1 PA 1 PJ2 1 PJ7 -- PY 1 PY0F -- PY0S -- PY0T -- PZ -- R1FJ -- R1MV -- S0 -- S2 -- S5 2 S7 -- S9 -- SM 2 SP 2 ST -- SU -- SV 1 SV/a -- SV5 -- SV9 -- T2 -- T30 -- T31 -- T32 -- T33 -- T5 -- T7 -- T8 -- T9 -- TA -- TF -- TG -- TI -- TI9 -- TJ -- TK -- TL -- TN -- TR -- TT -- TU -- TY -- TZ -- UA 3 UA2 -- UA9 1 UK -- UN 1 UR 3 V2 -- V3 -- V4 -- V5 -- V6 -- V7 -- V8 -- VK -- VK0H -- VK0M -- VK9C -- VK9L -- VK9M -- VK9N -- VK9W -- VK9X -- VP2E -- VP2M -- VP2V -- VP5 -- VP6 -- VP6/d -- VP8 -- VP8/g -- VP8/h -- VP8/o -- VP8/s -- VP9 -- VQ9 -- VR -- VU -- VU4 -- VU7 -- XE 1 XF4 -- XT -- XU -- XW -- XX9 -- XZ -- YA -- YB -- YI -- YJ -- YK -- YL -- YN -- YO -- YS -- YU 1 YV -- YV0 -- Z2 -- Z3 -- Z7 -- ZA -- ZB -- ZC4 -- ZD7 -- ZD8 -- ZD9 -- ZF 1 ZK1/n -- ZK1/s -- ZK2 -- ZK3 -- ZL -- ZL7 -- ZL8 -- ZL9 -- ZP -- ZS -- ZS8 -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA4LR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 41,608 Antennas: Shunt-fed 15m tower w/ tribander Half-size single K9AY loop pointed north Equipment: Elecraft K2/100 w/ KAT100 running 90 watts Comments: I was planning to put about 10 hours in this contest, about six on Friday night, and four more on Saturday. First sat down at the rig just after 0000z to find that the antenna had high SWR! I had just checked it the night before, and it was fine. Fourty minutes later, I determined that a 150 pF silver mica cap had shorted. I had thought this was a 1 kV unit, but actually it was 100 V. I replaced it with a 160 pF 4 kV disc ceramic. I could tune the antenna with the antenna analyser, but it was intermittently showing high SWR. About this point, I got really frustrated. I had the same sort of problem last year that cost me the second night of the contest. I walked out of the shack and upstairs to watch some TV. After a while, I decided that the problem must be in the windings of the toroid of the matching network. This toroid is two stacked T200-2 cores wound with 44 turns of 16 gauge enameled wire. Evidentially, the turns must have rubbed against each other through heating and cooling cycles being outside and worn through the insulation. Later, I went back outside and took off the matching network assembly. I unwound the toroid and re-wound 45 turns of 20 gauge insulated wire. Sure, the Q would be slightly affected by the smaller diameter wire, but maybe it wouldn't arc. Inspecting the wire I unwound, I could not find the definitive point of prior arcing. Putting this all back together and mounting it on the tower, I was pleased to quicking find the matching point again. Back inside at 0345z, I found a clear frequency and proceeded to CQ for the next hour. This is the part I like best about the 160m contest -- running stations at 60+ / hr. Thought I would call it a night around 0500z, but the stations kept calling so I didn't pull the plug until 0635z. After 0600z, I had one weird moment. A strong station came back to my CQ, signing M0AIH. I thought that couldn't be right, so I asked for it again. M0AIH. I thought, no way, this has to be W0AIH, he's so strong. So I send him my report and he comes back with 599 , which my brain thought might be WI. I correct the call and send W0AIH TU, and he comes back with "EU". At this point, I ignore my brain and change the callsign back. It baffled me for the next ten minutes how he could be so strong from the UK. Then it occurred to me that 0600z is around dawn in that part of the world. Ah! I was having so much fun running that I probably didn't S & P enough. Only DX was HI3A and the M0. Hopefully, I'll be able to get on for the Stew Perry, now that my matching network is working once again. I list the half-size K9AY loop in my equipment, but I never found a case where it was actually useful. All the signals I tried it with were louder on the transmitting antenna. It's probably too short to be effective on 160m. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA5VU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 720 TS-570S(G) to an Inverted-L. I am a RTTY operator but it was fun to make some 160 CW QSO's. Talk about red-faced my first contact was with K5TR using the wrong antenna (Ringo Ranger 2-meter) and power at 5 watts. I sent my call and he came right back to me - K5TR has good ears. HiHi ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA9DY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 18,800 First time on 160meters. Was a last minute inspiration to try this contest. Had a blast with a simple 140' longwire. Set up the antenna just minutes in the dark and cold before our big snow storm started. Got a foot of snow by the start of the contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AB1DR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 43,155 ARRL160 Score Summary Sheet Start Date : 2006-12-01 CallSign Used : AB1DR Operator(s) : AB1DR Band : 160M Power : HIGH Mode : CW Default Exchange : NH Gridsquare : FN42LU Name : Ann Byers Address : 8 Bartlett Street City/State/Zip : Newton NH 03858 Country : USA ARRL Section : NH Club/Team : YCCC Software: N1MM Logger V6.10.3 Band QSOs Pts Sec 1.8 329 685 63 Total 329 685 63 Score : 43,155 Rig : Antennas : Soapbox : Thanks for everyone's patience!!!! This is my first log I've ever submitted for a BIG contest and for YCCC...hopefully the first of many. 73 de Ann, AB1DR I have observed all competition rules as well as all regulations established for amateur radio in my country. My report is correct and true to the best of my knowledge. I agree to be bound by the decisions of the Contest Committee. Date : 2006-12-03 Signature : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AC0W Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 75,107 I'm sure many who called thought this guy had no ears as I was getting out better than what I could hear. I could hear many stations calling but could not pull then out of the noise. A postage stamp size lot with no receive antenna coupled with S9 noise makes for a difficult time. Thanks to all that called and hung in there with me and my apologies to those that did call and we couldn't make the connection. Hopefully next year I will have something that will help me hear you and get you in the log. 73 Bill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AC4JI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,608 Average to good band conditions. Good participation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AC5AA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,310 With just a little HV2V and 500w output, it made for short distance QSO's. 160m is fun - some day I need to put up an inverted L or something larger than the vertical. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AC6DD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 145,992 Equipment: Radio: FT1000MP (Two of them, but not SO2R) Amplifiers: (Two of them, but not SO2R) ACOM2000A (first night – Buzzzzzzzzzzz), Intech Com1000B (second night) TX antenna: Inverted L, 50 feet vertical, no radials. RX antenna: same as above This was again a portable operation, the shack being a utility trailer on the Pacific Ocean. You guys sitting at your warm home shacks don’t know what you are missing. The antennas have been in place for a while, so all I had to do was drive up with my trailer, hook a few cables up and presto, I am on the air. Now, I know the contest starts at 22:00. From what I was told the ARRL had to help the East Coast stations somehow, so they equalized our West Coast advantage by giving them a bit more darkness time. Fair enough. To help out a bit, I decided to start at 02:30. I should be honest here, since I lost a minute or two, stemming from the fact my radio didn’t have any output. No problem, been there before, I have a second radio on hand. So I switch radios and check for power. Well, the amp shuts down from an arc fault. The coax to the vertical turns out to be shorted at the connector (it was fine last weekend). Ha, big deal Murphy, I have more coax, much more. Bring it on! The DX engineering 4 square active receive array is dead (Ok, I knew that from last weekend) and I have to listen on the vertical. No big deal, just a little noisier. After a while you don’t even hear the 500kV lines anymore. From what I read here some folks on the East Coast are already calling it quits by the time I start. I S&P for an hour. Conditions are poor, and not much DX. When I finally start calling CQ, people tell me I have a buzz. How do they know? I have to confess that I did have a few beers (Yes, I know all top contesters say it is a no-no, but I am not a top contester, so I figured it is OK). It must be all these video cameras on you tube or something. For the rest of the evening I drink Coke. Well, it turns out it is not me with a buzz, but the amplifier. The Bulgarian marvel is breaking down again. I am amazed; the signal reports I get are all 597, not even one 8 or a 6. The RST scale is perfectly calibrated. Someone even asked me to shut down. Ha, I understand it now; it is a conspiracy from the competition to get me to quit. No way, I keep going. VY2ZM checked in both evenings, first night S3, second night a S5. Missed some stations from Asia in the morning, which I just could not make out. Did not contact VK or ZL, which are usually good copy from here. The next evening I get a new amp hooked up. It is a solid-state job, so it didn’t cover the band like the Bulgarian. My vertical has a 30 KHz 1.5 SWR bandwidth, and the new amp couldn’t move around much. I start off high on the band for a while, than go out and add two feet of wire to the antenna, and move low for the rest of the night. How about that DX window? I asked a few stations to move out, and most are happy to do it. More information for the masses is needed here. During one instance a CQing KH8 popped out behind a West Coast station when he moved out. It was a rough weekend. It was brutal with just the vertical, and I will not do it again. Anyhow, this was my best score in the ARRL test, probably due to improved participation. Missed: NNy, Mb, Nl, Nt, Pr, Worked: C6, HI, HK0/A, HP, HL, JA, JT, KV4, P4, PJ2, UA9, XE, ZF 73, Niko - AC6DD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD4EB Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 167,992 Had fun, although did not do as well as last year. Not sure if it was because of conditions, or perhaps participation was down. Decided to shoot for 1000 QSOs, which turned out to be more difficult than expected. Ended up on Sunday morning CQing for what seemed forever, getting hourly rates in the single digits for the last 2 hours. K3LR, you made my day at 15:08, I could finally QRT with peace of mind HI! Missed PR, WY, AK, MB, and NWT sections. Was logged into W1VE's Live Amateur Radio Contest Scores. It was really cool to be able to watch my progress as compared to others in real time. It definitely is a motivational tool. With N1MM, it only took a few mouse click to get setup. Now looking forward to Stew-Perry! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD5VJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 21,696 Highlight of the Contest was working Ireland on my "T" Vertical using the same antenna for reception. Thanks again to all who gave me a contact Thanks to the FREE N1MM Logger Application group for a great application that actually keys my radio using WINXP with no additional hardware needed. 73 fer nw es gud DX, QSL VIA: BUR, LotW, e-QSL Bob AD5VJ(AAR6VM) Old calls: WY5L/KH3-KE5CTY-N5IET http://www.ad5vj.com/ Member: CTDXCC, NTCC, STXDXCC FISTS: # 12637, SKCC# 2369 10X# 37210, FP#-1141 SMIRK#-5177, RARS #-149 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD6ZJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 22,220 As this was my first serious attempt at a 160M only contest I took Friday off to be rested and ready for the night. I woke up at sunset and proceeded to the shack but could not find a single station to work. Decided to visit with the XYL for awhile and await the band opening. Returning to the shack at 9:30PM I could now copy a few stations but was unable to work them. About 15 minutes later I realized I was on the dummy load! Switching to my 1/8 wave vertical did the trick and had no trouble making my 100 QSO goal the first night... I had to revise my goal for the second night. I am real pleased with how 100 Watts could get the job done. I could work most of what I could copy but several mults had no copy on me. Had a tough time getting to the North East only picking up ENY and EPA and MDC in all of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd areas. I lack radials to the NE and it was evident but nothing can be done about that. Bottom line - I had a great time and look forward to the next one! AD6ZJ, Loren ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD8P Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 251,180 This was my personal best I am sure. But then again I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. I almost gave up and went home at the start. Horrible noise. I am sure there will be a "few" busted calls there. I decided earlier in the week to go single op with no packet. Just like the good-old-days. 90% of the time I spent calling CQ. Very little S&P. On Friday I was called by 2 or 3 Europeans but that changed considerably on Saturday. Just about all the DX were those who called me. At my age sleep is something good so I went home around 4AM local both nights and didn't stick around to see if I could manage any VK/ZL or JA opening. I never heard a station I couldn't work. But I was heard by a few I didn't work. I agree with another writer that there are a bunch of QRP operators on top band or antennas in the basements. My apology if you were one of the several who called and I was unable to pull you out of the noise. I missed AK, MB, NWT, and PR. Maybe a trip to MB is in order sometime. That would be fun. My thanks to Hud for the hospitality even though he was in Philly for the weekend. He certainly has a very fine station. Soapbox items: What ever happened to QRL? at least once before pounding a CQ? It must have happened to me 20 times and I know I wasn't weak in too many places. 2. If you are running packet and you leave a frequency for 15-20 seconds to work a spot and I come along and do my customary QRL? 3 times with no response, where do you get the thinking you still own the frequency? 3. Lots of tuner-uppers. 4. Few klix. 5. Less than normal dupes. 6. My longest running and most favorite contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AI2N Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 8,000 No 160M antenna right now; grafted some loaded extensions onto my 40/80 trap dipole just to get on. Worked lousy; I'll cut them off today and hopefully get real before CQWW 160. I did put up some additional rx antennas (two pennants, a 1/2-size switchable flag) to augment my shielded loop. They work great. It's amazing how clearly I can hear distant stations that can't hear me. As usual, thanks to all who dug me outta the noise. 73, Redd, AI2N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AL4T Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 14,161 I came home from a field exercise for a few hours and saw on the N1MM Reflector someone had trouble setting up for this contest. I opened N1MM, set up, and clicked on the rules for the contest... and found out it was going on right then! This was 2200 local, Saturday. I tuned up my 80M fan sloper and answered a couple of CQ's... and I was off! I burned up my amp in SSCW a few weeks ago and haven't fixed it yet, so I did all S&P and had some of the best rates I've had - 120/hr for a minute, 72/hr for 10 minutes, 54/best hour. This was my first foray into 160M, other than a half-dozen Q's in CQWWCW, but I have been working on low band antennas and hope to do a bunch more. I've got a K9AY hanging in the front yard, my sloper and my still-incomplete FS 80M vert in the back. Thanks for the Q's and CU in the 'tests, 73, Brad AL4T Sergeant First Class, Infantry 82d Airborne Division ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: C6AQQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 85,698 Tough contest with LP and only a trapped dipole at 80' on the roof of the hotel overlooking the beach! Had only about 25KHz usable bandwidth. Heard many that I couldn't raise; noise level was often much higher than the previous weekend (CQWWCW). I guess I wasn't real loud; a few times I was stepped on in the "DX Window" by US stations calling CQ...(you know who you are!)...was called by some very strong signals, especially from UT, but missed AK, ID, and WY for WAS, and surprisingly missed WTX and MB of the sections within 2000 miles...was pleasantly surprised to work KH6 during a "run"--thanks! Got home today, temp at 35F is about 50 degrees lower than C6A! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: CF3JNO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 20,244 It became obvious very early in the contest that I should not have used the CF3 prefix for this contest as it confused many of the stations that I worked. I had to resend many times before they got it, and again when I gave my section as Ontario. It was also obvious that many people use partial call checklists because there is only one --3JNO in the list. Some people insisted that I was VA3JNO regardless of how many times I sent CF3JNO. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: DF2PY Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 3,100 Cndx were poor across the Atlantic for both nights. Only the best equipped stations had their signals travel across to Europe. There was no volume of US-stations to be worked from central EU like was the case last year.The TX array was useless most of the time for rcving, used two 800 ft bevs (WNW & NNW )instead.This contest is nevertheless big fun to participate in from EU, although it takes considerable effort to play from this side of the big pond. 73 and gd dx everybody ! de wolf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: DL8LAS Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 960 Bad propagation on topband last weekend. Only 30 Qsos with the big stations. Hope to hear you next yera with better conditions! Andy DL8LAS www.dl8las.de Station: IC 756 Pro II ACOM 2000A V160 HD 27m Vertical REC ANT: EWE 300 degrees AMA7 3,40m magnetic loop low dipole 2x 26m Software: wintest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: DQ4W Class: M/S HP Total Score = 616 W2GD and CG3EJ were the loudest and easiest to work from here. CQing was hopeless, nobody came back on our CQs, unfortunately. This was completely different one week before in CQWW CW. In general we could hear a lot more stations than we could work... Had fun anyway. 73 de DQ4W. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: ES5Q Class: M/S HP Total Score = 9,216 Decided to test the new full size 4 Square antenna in this contest and hoped for propagation similar to CQWW CW. It was not even close to that. First night was very difficult with just 33 QSOs. It was very difficult to catch attention of NA stations. We heard hundreds of them but very few came back, ACOM200A and 4 Square was not enough:) First one to finally send ? and react at 23.33 UTC was K4LTA. The second night was much better and we got spotted several times and guys coming back to CQ. We got all K1, K3 and K8 mults. Missed NNY fro K2, AL and SFL from K4. Got CO, IA and SD from K0. W0SD was our last QSO ast 02.23 on Sunday after having called him throughout the contest. One before last was AA0RS who came to our CQ and gave us CO. KV0Q whom we also called all the contest for hours and hours never came back! No K5, K6, K7 or K9 worked although heard many of them. Worked VA5DX who was the only station on the band first morning for quite a while, what a strange propagation. Second morning heard W7IZL but he did not copy us. Hoped to get some LP QSOs or KL7 but no sign of any signals LP whatsoever. The new antenna works great. 42m high heavy duty verticals are made by Juha OH1JT and Pekka OH2HE from Finnish Antenna. They are heavily tapered from 13 aluminium tube sections, the lowest one 138mm in diameter. Verticals are guyed from 3 heights to 3 directions and matching is done with Comtek ACB-160. I intend to put 64 1/4 wl radials to each ground mounted vertical, currently only 8 radials per each are in place. Will post some pictures also later. Beverages are almost not any more needed with this antenna. 73 Tonno ES5TV ES5Q All bands - All modes QSOs (with dupes) - By time ! Hr ! ! ----------------- ! 00 ! ! ! 01 ! ! ! 02 ! ! ! 03 ! ! ! 04 ! ! ! 05 ! ! ! 06 ! ! ! 07 ! ! ! 08 ! ! ! 09 ! ! ! 10 ! ! ! 11 ! ! ! 12 ! ! ! 13 ! ! ! 14 ! ! ! 15 ! ! ! 16 ! ! ! 17 ! ! ! 18 ! ! ! 19 ! ! ! 20 ! ! ! 21 ! ! ! 22 ! ! ! 23 ! 4 ! ! 00 ! 17 ! ! 01 ! 9 ! ! 02 ! 1 ! ! 03 ! ! ! 04 ! 1 ! ! 05 ! 1 ! ! 06 ! ! ! 07 ! ! ! 08 ! ! ! 09 ! ! ! 10 ! ! ! 11 ! ! ! 12 ! ! ! 13 ! ! ! 14 ! ! ! 15 ! ! ! 16 ! ! ! 17 ! ! ! 18 ! ! ! 19 ! ! ! 20 ! ! ! 21 ! 12 ! ! 22 ! 37 ! ! 23 ! 29 ! ! 00 ! 17 ! ! 01 ! 2 ! ! 02 ! 1 ! ! 03 ! ! ! 04 ! ! ! 05 ! ! ! 06 ! ! ! 07 ! ! ! 08 ! ! ! 09 ! ! ! 10 ! ! ! 11 ! ! ! 12 ! ! ! 13 ! ! ! 14 ! ! ! 15 ! ! ! 16 ! ! ! 17 ! ! ! 18 ! ! ! 19 ! ! ! 20 ! ! ! 21 ! ! ! 22 ! ! ! 23 ! ! ----------------- ! ! 131 ! Powered by Win-Test 3.6.2 http://www.win-test.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: F5IN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 4,650 very very poor conditions and i think that US stations are not interessed by DX contact I call severals stations with good reports here and never answers... only with US/VE.... Powered by Win-Test 3.6.1 http://www.win-test.com http://perso.wanadoo.fr/f5in ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: F6CWN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 24,252 My friend Jeff F6CWN had a frenzied idea. So, that was the start ... He wanted to try a new kind of Beverage array, a triple wire feeded in the same way of the 3 vertical array described in John ON4UN's Low Band DXing book. QTH is north from Rouen in northern Normandy. It is a real killer antenna for F/B ratio. Eastern Europe stations received over s9 on transmitting antenna were totally faded out or barely audible. At first try (read one hour before start of the contest ...) we thought the Beverage feed system was broken since the band was totally quiet! Fortunately, a G station was heared when sweeping the band, with a nice S/N ratio ! You can have a look at the "zeekretweepon(tm)" http://f6fgz.free.fr/ARRL_160_2006/zeekretweepon.jpg Transmitting antenna was a 19m shunt fed tower. We tried a kite antenna but we only managed to partially bend the 15m beam that was right into the flying path, you know Murphy ... Conditions seemed to be poor on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, lot of deaf due to WX. Answers rating were ranging from NIL or ? to "SRI QRN" at best ... However, 40 Q's were in the log at the end of the first night after lot of struggling against QRN for W/VE ;) Second night was much better with the first night quota logged in an hour. Log was closed with 258 Q's without west coast, only UT as far west. I was SO since Jeff just wanted to learn this new band for him. He just listened and enjoyed ! He wants to improve the system so see you next year :) -- 73 Gérard F6FGZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: IK1YDB Class: M/S HP Total Score = 5,846 Propagation during the contest was very bad! My EWE rx ant work very well, but many USA stations don't heard me. My Station info: IC 756 pro III ACOM 2000A tx ant Delta loop@31m. rx ant 4 switchable EWE see on http://digilander.libero.it/ik1ydb/ 73 hope to work some of you in the CQWW 160! Flavio IK1YDB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: IQ2CJ Class: M/S HP Total Score = 4,088 Very poor conditions.... Hundreds of US call-sign passed by PCL but only few of them audible from us. Contest started well with a loud and fast W2GD qso and a 40 minutes call to a NO2R loud CQ test. I suppose RX noise for them. QSO logged in! After this band got worst and worst and only an S5 signal (into beverage) from W4AN must be noted. Many of you heard weak all nite and even the grey line dind't help that much! Second nite almost same except for a lovely and constant signal from CG3EJ. Tnx for the calls and sorry if missed any of you! ANT system: 27 meters vertical elevated radials + 200 meters beverage (for CQWW160 I'll stack 2 of them) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0BJ Class: M/S LP Total Score = 41,724 As usual Skywarn Recognition Day at WX0GLD meant no Friday night operation and pre-fatigue for Saturday. I'd hoped to have K0FW cover Friday but he was on family sick patrol so the multiop entry amounted to me + OH2AQ. I was expecting good condx due to low flux/D layer absorption. But armchair copy of JA was NOT really anticipated! Too bad my greyline op was quite limited due to prepping for church choir, and was done without spotting as I couldn't get OH2AQ to come up right then. Bottom line -- lotsa fun, and worth the multi classification to spot for friends/acquaintances/DX. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0DD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 31,212 They tell me I have awaken from a 15 year coma. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0EU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 53,900 Pretty good conditions, especially the second night. Only had time for a few short operating sessions. Beverage to the East worked like crap the first night. Found out that a friend of my son's had pulled it down Friday evening and broke it. Turned a 290 foot terminated beverage into a 150 foot unterminated! Even with the beverage on the second night, I still had problems copying some callers through the line noise (Thank you, Xcel energy and your wonderful line noise repair crews...you do have some, don't you?). Heard some partial calls of 1- and 2- land stations, but just couldn't pull them through. Always a great chance to say hello to old friends like K9AY, W0UO, and also work a bunch of GMCCers: K0UK, W0ETT, WT9Q, KO7X, and others. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0HW Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 22,500 Well I tried it in the QRP class this year in the 160 Meter ARRL Contest and I probably will try it again based on this years success. I feel that a lot better score could be reached with higher antennas. My plan sometime is to try a 5/8 wave vertical hung from my 9’ delta wing kite. My only problem would be the steady wind to keep the kite in the air for the night hours. I have 40 acres here at this QTH so I will be trying the kite vertical at some point but it may be for Field Day instead. My apology to KO9S who sent me a report and had to wonder what happened when I didn't come back after he sent his report. My computer died with loss of rig control and I tried to go to the straight key and it just didn't work out with my weak QRP signal and no logger. About 17 hours of time spent in the QRP Power Level with low antennas on 160 is about all I could handle for the weekend. I appreciate all those stations that pulled out my signal. I felt good that I did as well as it seems. My antennas were a double bazooka inverted V at about 45' high in the middle and 16' on one end and 25' on the other end. A temporary inverted L from the ground to about 45' then level for the rest of the 135'. This inverted L started with a ground rod and 9 133' radials at the base and was expanded to 11 radials on Saturday morning. It was about 15 degrees out so I quit adding them. I had planned about 17 radials. I felt like to two added radials helped the second night, as I was able to work a few stations that didn't copy me the first night. Some time on Saturday night I lost one of the ropes holding the inverted L in the air and it partially came down. I thought something had happened, as the double bazooka seemed better. I did make most of the QSOs on the inverted L with about 30 on the bazooka toward the end of the contest. My rate averaged at about 1 QSO per 4 1/3 minute and about 14 QSO per hour. 13 QSOs the 1st hour 11 QSOs the 2nd hour 22 QSOs the 3rd hour 21 QSOs the 4th hour 20 QSOs the 5th hour 14 QSOs the 6th hour 18 QSOs the 7th hour 15 QSOs the 8th hour I slept for a few hours early Saturday morning and then made 3 QSOs on Saturday morning with the 1st QSO at 1320Z and the 3rd QSO at 1346Z. I then started the contest in the evening again at 2256Z. 8 QSOs the 9th hour 7 QSOs the 10th hour 9 QSOs the 11th hour 6 QSOs the 12th hour 4 QSOs the 13th hour 16 QSOs the 14th hour 10 QSOs the 15th hour 14 QSOs the 16th hour 12 QSOs the 17th hour My greatest thanks to all those stations I made contact with and to all those stations that tried to copy me but we never made the contact. I was unable to get any of the DX to copy my signal but I did try with two of the XE stations in the DX window. For the last few contests I have been posting my scores via the live scores using the "Live Score Poster by W1VE Version 1.0.3" but it would not work for me for this contest. It kept saying "Could not connect with Writelog. Is it running?" It worked great on all the other contests. 73 and see you on the next contest. Jim K0HW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0IO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 123,760 Lots of fun. RX loops saved many QSOs. Had to ask VY2ZM for a fill on his section -- my mind temporarily went blanker than it normally is! Missed AK, Yukon, PR, VE4 and NNY. Hope to work you all on 10, Stew Perry, and the North American Meteor Scatter Contest on Dec 18th K0IO, Operating 160 on and off since 1963 Iowa: W0DRE, Connecticut: W1GNC, Back to Iowa: K0IO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0RC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 103,056 I had a great time trading top position on the W1VE Scoreboard (within our class) with WB8JUI all weekend. The competition definately keeps my focus on the radio! I would call it a photo finish and we will need to wait for the official results from ARRL after the logs have been processed. 73 de Bob - K0RC in MN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0SF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 174,080 A big thanks to Steve K0SF for allowing me to sit in again this year at his great station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0TO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 87,828 Once again in the ARRL 160 Contest the State of Maine eluded me or I would have managed WAS. Oh well, wait til next year. Non-optimal band conditions for both nights with brief fantastic propagation followed by extensive dismal propagation. The northeastern tier of sections (VO,VE1,VE2,ME,RI,CT,VT, etc) was not heard at all during the first night. Still, it was sort of fun -- some of the time. The K9AY double loops worked excellently for RX. I heard a lot of courteous operating including checking to see if frequencies were in use. The propagation changes made it seem to some, I am sure, that people had just jumped on 'their' frquency and started CQing. In fact both stations had been there and suddenly they heard each other when the propagation improved. Tod, K0TO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0TT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 112,728 I would rate band conditions as good. No static crashes! Only occasional power line noise which would build up, then fade away over 10 or 20 minutes. I listen on the transmitting antenna, a top loaded T-vertical about 70 ft tall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0TV Class: M/S HP Total Score = 220,481 This last week I was in NJ/NYC helping my mother move until Friday morning and I had to drive back from NY on Friday. I got back just a few hours before the start of the contest and had time to get the station ready. I also brought back lots of cold cuts, knishes, rye bread, pickles, and cheesecake from one of the best delicatessens in NYC. At least we were going to eat well. There was a storm front coming through just at the beginning of the contest. The static crashes and noise made hearing anything very difficult. Sorry for all those who called we couldn't hear. Copy was close to impossible. I hope you called in again later. We started having problems with one of the rigs a few hours in and our transmitter was cutting out. I finally traced it down to another Orion failure (sorry Ten-Tec). We lost almost everything Friday night after about 0700 because of this problem. I thought I had solved it during the day on Saturday only to have the failure return just after we started operating on Saturday evening. I decided to switch off to another rig for the duration of the contest. We had no further equipment problems. The contest was a lot of fun and we all had a great time. Congratulations to the top stations and we're looking forward to the CQWW 160 contest in January. MVP this time was N1IW who kept a great run rate Friday night. 73, Jerry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0UK Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 82,575 BAND CONDITIONS WERE GREAT FOR THIS STATION WITH OUT RECEIVING ANTENNAS. BEST DX WAS TO JA AT ABOUT 1300 TO 1400 Z. WORKED ALL THAT I HEARD AND A GREAT RUN FRIDAY NIGHT. JUST GETTING TOO OLD FOR THE ALL NIGHTERS. WORKED LOADS OF GMCC,ER AND FRIENDS. GMCC'ER : KEN W0ETT CALLED IN WITH A FB SIGNAL, KV0Q BILL HAD THE STRONGEST SIGNAL AND I BET BILL MADE 1K Q'S,K0FX DON WAS PROWLING THE BAND, BOB KJ0G DOING IT FROM DOWN THE ROAD, WT9Q BOB WAS ALSO STRONG AND GOING STRONG. N0KQ BILL CAME IN, K0EU RANDY WAS WORKING THE BANDS ALSO, KI0II RON WAS ON. HOPE ALL IS WELL RON WE MISS YOU!. ART K6XT CAME THRU LOUD AND CLEAR. HERE IN GJ,CO WA0RSX CARSON GOT ON AND A NEW TOWER AND ANTENNA IS COMING SOON FROM CARSON OUT ON THE REDLANS.... FRIENDS OF GMCC THAT WERE ON,K0KE ERIC WAS IN THERE FROM PARKER, N2IC STEVE IN NM, K0RF CHUCK, ALAN K0AV, AND A POT LOG OF CO STATIONS. STILL NO RECEIVING ANTENNA. THE XYL TOLD ME TO STOP COMPLAINING AND GET SOMETHING UP. DONT WHINE GET'ER DONE SON..FAMOUS WORDS. SORRY FOR NOT COPYING ALL THE ONE THAT WERE JUST TOO WEAK HERE BUT NO YES NO NOISE PTL. GREAT CONDITIONS AND GREAT OPERATORS. IF I HAD KEY CLICK SORRY WILL GET THAT FIXED TOO. PTL GOD BLESS HERE IS THE LIST OF STATIONS I WORKED THAT SENT CO AS A SECTIION, BOB SHERWOOD NC0B, BILL KX0B, CRAIG AC0DS, KEN W0ETT, JOHN WORMA, ERIC K0KE, BILL KV0Q, TOM W0GG, ART KRXT, LARRY K0RS, GLEN W0IJR, ALAN K0AV, RON KI0II, BOB WT9Q, RANDY K0EU, CHUCK K0RF, DAN N0TK, WX7G DAVE, K0FX DON, K0YW BOB, WA0RSX CARSON, KJ0G BOB, NN7A ART, W0KU LARRY. THANKS GUYS HOPE I GOT THE SECTION CORRECT.. SEE YOU NEXT ON 10MTRS. PTL GOD BLESS, BILL K0UK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1EP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 90,597 Summer like temps on Friday made for a very noisy band. A line of severe thunderstorms and rain was passing through Friday night, bringing more seasonable weather. For most of Friday night, the noise level was elevated and there were constant static crashes. A normally easy signal to copy required fills, as the crashes would always be timed with the section report. Saturday night was much quieter, but I think activity for the casual op was down. I found it difficult to work far western sections, but then again, I never heard a NNY station on. Where was K2NNY? Some sections were only heard in passing, like NE or WY, but others, like many of the CA sections were never heard at all. I did hear and work a little of Europe, but looking at some of the other reports, I think that there was much more on than I heard! There were big pileups on some of the Carib stations (no PR station heard either), but after a while that settled down and one call got the mult. Thanks for the Qs and sorry about all the fills needed on Friday night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1GU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 137,381 Great opening run then downhill from there. Plagued with line noise to west and never got back into it. C U in Stew Perry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1LT Class: M/S HP Total Score = 338,550 This year I operated the "single op assisted" category, or whatever is the closest ARRL approximation (multi-op, I guess). My goal was to make as many points as possible and to demonstrate my station's effectiveness, despite the operator. I missed you, Jeff. K8ND was QRV from PJ2T. Jeff usually operates the late night/early morning hours when we multi-op, as we have done nearly every year this contest has existed. Conditions seemed inverted from the normal ARRL 160 pattern. Usually US sunset is a relatively weak time for EU DX, and the time before EU sunrise is the best time. This year, the opposite seemed true. However, the first few hours of the contest were plagued by severe QRN from a very strong cold front traversing the country. The storm system blew down half of the elements of my phased array project, but fortunately (?), the phased array is not yet ready for use. I can appreciate WB8JUI's frustration with antennas that come down immediately before you want to use them. The second evening sunset presented a very quiet band, and I enjoyed a small run of EU stations, although I had to resort to ESP in a few instances. Jeff never needs ESP, which is another reason I missed his company. No matter how much effort I expend on receiving antennas, I can never hear well enough. To S50U: sorry that we have a hard time hearing Europe. I love to work DX between oodles of W4s, but when the band is busiest, any pause to listen for very weak signals inevitably results in numerous "?"s and "QRL?"s on top of the weak signals. So the listening period tends to be short. Also, it is hard to find the right receiving antenna before the caller stops calling. I have 15 receive antennas, and I can't hear anything. Please accept my apology, but don't stop calling. Station: IC765, K8ND's ETO 91B (great amplifier, thanks Jeff!), NA software. Transmit antenna is a 65 foot "Tee" top vertical, and 15 assorted Beverages between 500 and 1000 feet. BTW, the longest Beverage points at Europe, and it hears more noise that any other antenna. Murphy rules. Where were the PRs? Also missed MB and NWT. WAS in 13 hours. DX: 8P, 9A, C6, DL, EA8, ES, F, G, GI, GM, HI, HK0, HP1, I, LY, OH, OK, OM, ON, OZ, P40, PA, PJ2, PY, S5, SM, SP, UA, UR, VP2V, XE, YU, YV, and ZF2. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1PQS Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 43,092 Band was very short both nights. Signals beyond about 600 miles in any direction were all weak. I kept taking 2 hour time outs in hope for improvement. Finally gave up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1PX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 128,650 Part time effort. Missed SDG, SJV and ND for CONUS sections. Thanks to everyone for the Q's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1VW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 159,220 When you start at 0313 you will be down on your score. Missed : PR AK SDG ID MB NT Best call in was ZL6QH Thanks to everyone . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1ZZI Class: M/S HP Total Score = 232,370 This was my first 160m contest. All the activity was amazing. I couldn't believe it. Thanks to everyone for your contacts and your patience. Calls from Europe, KH6ZM and other DX stations was an unexpected fun surprise! It was all great fun! Thanks to all. 73, Ralph - K1ZZI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2ONP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 39,788 Small limited effort, further limited by thunderstorms and power outages. Lots of fun, though! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2PS Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 19,026 Just wanted to give out a few points, but the rates were awesome. Maybe next time I'll give a full effort. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2RD Class: M/S HP Total Score = 13,916 Carolina Windom 160 up 40 feet. Put it up 3 hours before the contest started. Nice to have an antenna on the band from California. Amazed to work east coast and some DX. Thanks to all for good ears. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2TA Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 4,350 K2 @ 5W to dipole at 30 ft. for 1 hour = Low score! But fun while it lasted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2ZR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 56,100 Rig: IC-765 @ 100 Watts Antennas: CF Wire 650' Long -- EF Wire 450' Long -- 160M Inverted Vee Dipole Conditions good both nights although the band was longer late Saturday evening early Sunday morning. Never heard PAC, PR, AK nor a number of 6 and 7 sections. Dealt with winds gusting up to 60 MPH for the 1st 24 hours of the contest. Fortunately, all antennas survived. As always, the ARRL 160M Contest is lots of fun with many good operators! 73, Dick, K2ZR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3AU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 37,510 Part-time effort as family events allowed. Always a challenge with 100W and my compact Lazy-U antenna Great camaraderie on Top Band! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3STX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 45,018 Where were all the Europeans!! I did not hear a single one. Maybe conditions weren't great (I'm new at 160); it was tough making QSOs with the West coast. CU in the CQ 160 M contest. paul TS-850S, AL-811 amp, N1MM logger, 160 M inverted L with 8 radials (no receive antenna) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3SWZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 68,894 Happy to work ES5Q for a new country on 160 meters. Contest started with terrible static crashes. Very bad storms blew through the area just at start time. I was very pleased on how well the "Short Beverage" and the "Rotatable Delta Loop" worked on receive! Lots of big signals on the band. I hope I was one of them.... Always a fun contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3TD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,092 IC-756ProII Shortened Inverted L, 35' tall and 75' long, fed with an SG-230 Smartuner (stealth!) N1MM Logger Checkout of new microKEYER interface installed Friday evening. It worked great once I got everything configured properly. Next time maybe I'll check out new hardware before the contest starts! First CW test in many years, Op rusty but had fun! 73, Tad, K3TD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3WW Class: M/S HP Total Score = 265,000 Incredible storm noise the first few hours, then quieted down and I managed to average 100/hr for the first 6 or 7 hours. Europe sporadic and fairly weak. Nap, got up early and had 2 PAC stations call in just missing ND and VE4 and VY1. FAmily stuff all day Saturday, got home and back on around 6 local time. Some louder Europeans, and lots in the noise, Too tired, went to bed by midnight, Alarm went off, decided I had my 1000 plus Q's went back to sleep. All in all Europe sounded down to me and west coast up. Im considering true Multi Op with a real guest op, and full time in one of these things. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 19,890 FT1000MP, AL811H, 500 watts output, 88' center-fed zepp with feedline tied together and fed throug MFJ tuner as if it were a random wire. No radials. Regular 160 meter antennas are down. This one didn't work very well, but did enable me to give out a few points, work 4 Caribbean stations, and a few on the west coast with very good ears. Hope to see you all in the Stew Perry TBDC from W8JI. I will probably use the SECC Club call, W4AN. 73, John, K4BAI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4EA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 68,964 Concert performances made this a very part time effort. As usual, not much DX in this contest. Neal, K4EA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4EU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 63,360 Thanks for the Q's. 73....//Steve K4EU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4IE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 23,688 Another hit and miss effort. Terrible noise at this QTH just in the DX Window. Had fun anyway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4NO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 57,868 Did some quick antenna work around 0345 in 32 degree Wx to get on the first night. First QSO at 0414, got sleepy at 0707Z and called it a night. Back on for another 2 hours Saturday night and quit after loosing two different frequency fights. Had I been serious about this one, that wouldn't have been the case. Greg K4NO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4RO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 104,000 I don't know about sections vs countries - numbers are approximate. Managed a small number of EU (S5, F, DL, YU) but DX seemed way down compared to CQWW a few weeks ago. It was nice to hear the W4AN call warming up the airwaves. An excellent showing by the TCG, and it sounded like MWA was out in force again also. The 157 hour was a whole lot of fun! Now if one could only maintain that kind of rate without an international plane ticket, contesting would be even more popular than frisbee golf. :-) 2006-12-02 0041Z - 4.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 240 per hour by K4RO 2006-12-02 0142Z - 3.2 per minute (10 minute(s)), 192 per hour by K4RO 2006-12-02 0147Z - 2.6 per minute (60 minute(s)), 157 per hour by K4RO 73 -Kirk K4RO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4TD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 181,815 This is my first-ever entry into the ARRL 160M contest...what a blast!!! I have been tinkering with a new 160M 1/4-wave vertical for a couple of weeks and wanted to use this contest to give it a shakedown. I knew from experimentation with the vertical that I would need some RX antenna capability so I spent Thursday installing two K9AY loops for the contest. I woke up Friday morning excited about using the vertical/loops in the contest later that afternoon. That excitement lasted right up to the point that I detected the reflector of my 2-elment 80M yagi laying on the ground in the back yard, courtesy of the weather front that moved through this weekend. On the bright side, the 90 foot element managed to fall 185 feet to the ground without scraping any of the phillystrand guys or damaging any elements on any of the other seven yagi antennas on the tower below it... It landed about 60 feet from the base of the tower and about 15 feet shy of the K9AY loops... From a rate perspective, the first night was much better than the second night. When I shut down the first night, I had around 700 Q's and 70 mults. I had hopes that the second night would be as good as the first night because the WX affecting other parts of the country the first night would have calmed down. That may well have been the case, but I didn't benefit from it... I have 4 or 5 deer who are full-time residents on my property. Apparently they didn't approve of my installation of the K9AY loops and took it upon themselves to try and re-engineer the loops on Saturday night. Having heard so well on the loops on Friday night, I was curious why I couldn't hear as well on Saturday night. I received my answer Sunday when I found the results of the "assistance" I received from my wildlife friends. My apologies to those stations that I had so much trouble hearing or that answered my CQ without a response from me. I worked all the DX that I managed to hear (C6, F, GI, HI HK0/a, HP, I, P4, PJ2, XE, YV and ZF), and only missed the following sections: ND, PR, AK, WY, MB, NL and NWT. I am already looking forward to this contest next year. 73, Rick K4TD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4UJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 57,580 Soapbox : I got a single direction receive loop working 20 minutes before contest started, thanks to N4GG. The noise level went crazy the second night, however, that would become the least of the worries, I missed about 4 hours of prime time operating when our main water line broke! The WinTest software with WinKey is a great combo. Great job guys. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4WX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,610 Had fun in my first CW contest and also my first time ever on 160! I did not plan on entering, but I tried to load up the G5RV with a tuner after hearing an AZ station above the ten over noise level. I was amazed that the tuner found a match, and astounded that my signal made it to AZ! Played around for almost four hours until the wife woke up at sunrise and scolded me for not having come to bed. Rig: Omni VI+ at 90 watts Ant: 80 Meter G5RV up 30ft with MFJ-993 auto tuner ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4XU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 88,550 Couldn't start until almost 10PM local time, 06z, Friday night but was able to hold a frequency right away and kept up a good rate until I pooped out about 1030Z. Got a good start the second night and thought for a while I might make a sweep. Especially after VO1HP and VY2ZM called me in succession! Activity seemed down a bit from last year. There was not as much Caribean DX available as usual. KV4FZ, PJ2T, XE, HK0, and several JAs were all the DX I could find. However, I did not get up for the dawn patrol either morning. Conditions had a lot of slow QSB. A station would answer my CQ - loud and easily copied - and when it came time to get his exchange, he'd be in the mud. With patience, waiting for the QSB tide to rise again, the QSO completed. "Mud" here is relative. There is a S-7 broadband pulsing noise covering the lower end of 160m here that has two notches in it - classic pulsed envelope stuff - where I can be productive if there is a spot there to wiggle into and call CQ. I need to make a directive antenna, at least one with a good null, that I can hook to the IC703 and wander the property lines in search of its source. The deer have torn down all of my receiving antennas. One of the Bambis got tangled in a pennant made with #18 copperweld and froze to death. Martha Stewart, the local Sierra Club and the ASPCA were a little unhappy.... Gear: Radio: Ten-Tec Omni 6+ and Home-brew kW (actually Alpha 86 serial # -1) Antenna: inverted L, spaced ~2' from the tower up to 68' and ~60' sloping down from there at 45 deg. Fed against 12 radials, three elevated quarter wave and the rest on the ground, varing from 130 down to 60' depending on distance to property line. The lot is 300' x 175', within the city limits of Bend, and surrounded by moderate density residential subdiviions. Thanks for the QSOs, see y'all in Stew Perry. Dick ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5BG Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 253,080 This is a great contest and the great participation from all is what makes it great. Thanks to all for calling and I am sorry to those that waited while I fumbled for the right beverage switch before hearing you or missing you altogether. Missed PR, VI, AK, NL, MB, NT and does anyone live in NNY? DX worked C6, DL, EA6, F, G, GJ, HI, HK0/A, HP, I, JA, OM, P4, PA, PJ2, S5, SM, V7, XE, YU, YV and ZL Observations: 1. Really hard to leave a run frequency to look for mults when the band is so crowded. 2. Still some clicking rigs out there. 3. A fun time with lots of familiar and lots of new calls. Hope to CU in the next one. Best wishes for a happy holiday to you and yours. Bob ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5KA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 45,290 Poor condx to the west. Line noise on this end after a record snowfall. Hope that goes away after the melt. 73, Ken K5KA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5NA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 313,038 This was the 33rd time I have entered the ARRL 160M Contest. I always go into this contest with one simple goal, to make the top ten. Sometimes I do (2004), and sometimes I don't (2005). I think I might have made it this year, but you can never be sure. Conditions seemed very unsettled and the QSB was as severe as I have ever heard it. You might copy a callsign on the first try prefectly clear and then spend 5 minutes trying to get the exchange. Thanks for the many who stuck with me until I copied them correctly. I missed the sections of PR, NL, MB, and NT. This is the fewest section mults that I have worked in quite a while for this contest. The European stations were in and out and I missed a lot of them. The QSB, QRM, and being this far west of the east coast means it just isn't that easy to work Europe. I managed 26 DX multipliers but only 11 of them were from Europe. I had put up a new NW beverage for this contest and it worked very well allowing me to work 39 JAs and a UA0. Most of these Asian stations were worked just after sunrise here on both mornings. Once again I had a terrific time in this, the 37th ARRL 160M Contest. I am already thinking of ways to improve for the 38th. 73, Richard - K5NA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5TR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 203,667 Congratulations to K5NA, K5BG and several others that have some really great scores from this part of the world. The band did not seem to be that great overall but it was pretty quiet most of the weekend for me. I decided to get on and play around in the ARRL 160 contest. I have never done this contest very seriously so this was kinda new to me. One the main reasons to do it was to find out how my antennas were working or not working on this band. The short answer is that while I have a decent signal I am at least 10 DB down from K5NA. I guess I have some work to do if I want to close that gap. I also found out that the antenna I have been using as my only 160 antenna here is at least 20 db down on receive (and I would guess similar on transmit) to the sloping vertical I put up a few months ago. I think I know what I will be doing in the short term for fixing that - I am not so sure if I am willing to do a lot of work get get up to the K5NA signal levels since I seem to hold my own on this band in the various multi band contests I play in each year. Lots of numbers: Callsign Used : K5TR Operator : K5TR Category : SOHP BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Mults Countries ______________________________________________________________ 160CW 1178 1130 2341 75 12 ______________________________________________________________ Totals 1178 1130 2341 75 12 Final Score = 203,667 points. Station: http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr/blanco/k5tr_station.html 160 - 1/4 wave sloping vertical - 1/4 wave inverted L (80' vertical) some radials - NE, NW, SE, SW beverages ~500' long 160 80 40 20 15 10 30 17 12 ALL --- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --- USA calls = 1055 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1055 VE calls = 44 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 N.A. calls = 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 S.A. calls = 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Euro calls = 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Afrc calls = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Asia calls = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 JA calls = 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Ocen calls = 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Total calls = 1130 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1130 HR 160 HR TOT CUM TOTAL SCORE -- ----- ------ --------- ----- 22 37/16 37/16 37/16 0.00M 23 71/15 71/15 108/31 0.01M 0 76/12 76/12 184/43 0.02M 1 82/9 82/9 266/52 0.03M 2 81/3 81/3 347/55 0.04M 3 67/8 67/8 414/63 0.05M 4 72/7 72/7 486/70 0.07M 5 53/4 53/4 539/74 0.08M 6 42/0 42/0 581/74 0.09M 7 27/2 27/2 608/76 0.09M 8 27/1 27/1 635/77 0.10M 9 35/2 35/2 670/79 0.11M 10 16/2 16/2 686/81 0.11M 11 28/1 28/1 714/82 0.12M 12 17/1 17/1 731/83 0.12M 13 17/1 17/1 748/84 0.13M 14 1/0 1/0 749/84 0.13M 15 --- 749/84 0.13M 16 --- 749/84 0.13M 17 --- --- 749/84 0.13M 18 --- --- 749/84 0.13M 19 --- --- 749/84 0.13M 20 --- --- 749/84 0.13M 21 --- --- 749/84 0.13M 22 --- --- 749/84 0.13M 23 13/1 13/1 762/85 0.13M 0 41/1 41/1 803/86 0.14M 1 36/0 36/0 839/86 0.15M 2 42/0 42/0 881/86 0.16M 3 54/0 54/0 935/86 0.17M 4 39/0 39/0 974/86 0.17M 5 33/0 33/0 1007/86 0.18M 6 17/0 17/0 1024/86 0.18M 7 21/0 21/0 1045/86 0.18M 8 22/1 22/1 1067/87 0.19M 9 14/0 14/0 1081/87 0.19M 10 12/0 12/0 1093/87 0.20M 11 12/0 12/0 1105/87 0.20M 12 10/0 10/0 1115/87 0.20M 13 9/0 9/0 1124/87 0.20M 14 3/0 3/0 1127/87 0.20M 15 3/0 3/0 1130/87 0.20M D1 108/31 108/31 D2 1022/56 1022/56 TO 1130/87 1130/87 1. Oh 58 2. STx 53 3. Mn 49 4. Il 44 5. Tn 44 6. Co 35 7. Va 34 8. Mi 32 9. NTx 31 10. In 29 11. Ga 27 12. Az 27 13. WWa 27 14. Al 26 15. Nc 24 16. NFl 23 17. Mo 23 18. Wi 21 19. On 21 20. Mdc 19 21. Sv 19 22. Ia 18 23. Ep 17 24. Ks 16 25. Scv 16 26. Ok 15 27. ENy 15 28. WNy 15 29. Or 14 30. Ar 13 31. Sc 13 32. Ct 13 33. La 12 34. Nm 12 35. Em 12 36. NNj 12 37. WcF 11 38. Nh 11 39. Org 11 40. JA 11 41. Ms 9 42. Ky 9 43. SFl 9 44. SNj 9 45. Wv 9 46. Sd 8 47. Bc 8 48. WMa 8 49. Ut 8 50. WPa 7 51. Mt 7 52. Sjv 7 53. WTx 6 54. Me 6 55. Eb 6 56. Vt 6 57. Sdg 6 58. Sf 6 59. Nv 6 60. Lax 6 61. Sb 5 62. Ab 5 63. Ew 4 64. NLi 4 65. Sk 3 66. Ne 3 67. Qc 3 68. Wy 3 69. Pac 3 70. DL 3 71. YU 3 72. Mar 3 73. De 3 74. XE 2 75. Nd 2 76. YV 1 77. HK0/A 1 78. Id 1 79. HI 1 80. Ri 1 81. PJ2 1 82. V7 1 83. ZL 1 84. C6 1 85. Ak 1 86. P4 1 87. Nl 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5ZD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 59,598 Only operated a few hours Saturday night. Conditions to Europe and West Coast were poor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6JEB Class: M/S LP Total Score = 1,620 Very nice contest. I was only able operate a few hours in between home improvement projects. Saturday my antenna had gone out of tune and even the tuner was of no use. Will work on an antenna that won't wimp out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6LRN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 23,541 Wkd XE, PJ2 & JA. Thanks to all for Qs...CU in 10 M 'test ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6MM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 23,826 My best 160M effort and it was all Search & Pounce. Had fun using my "No Excuses" 30 ft. PVC Vertical, helically wound with 1/2 wavelength of 4-conductor wire + 6 ground radials (www.k6mm.com). Squeezed out 57 sections, including several on the Other Coast. Thanks for the Qs, and 73, John, K6MM. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6NR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 109,142 Great contest as always, conditions seemed pretty good stateside, not much DX. The JAs were very strong Saturday morning, but I didnt realize that until I started calling CQ and heard the response. Sunday morning JA signals seemed weeker and I didn't work many more, except right at my sunrise. I worked a total of 43 over the weekend. I was very pleased to hear and work GI0KOW Saturday night at about 1130pm my time. He wasn't very strong, but he was there. The only Eu I heard. JT1C called me Saturday morning, he was very strong. I started working the contest remotely using my TS480 and SGC 500watt amp. I decided to drive out to the station (80miles away) and work the rest locally with my IC756 Pro II and AL-1200. The extra 700 or so watts helped, and there is nothing like having a keyer paddle at your finger tips rather than a computer keyboard. Thanks for all of the QSOs. My antenna is a 45' high inverted L over 66 1/8 wave radials; my station is located at 3300' in the California High Desert near Victorville. Dana, K6NR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6NV Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 30,432 With my limited antennas, I had a great time. Friday night from here was great, I was able to hold a run frequency, felt that I was loud and actually had a sustained run rate of around 60/hour for 2 hours. Ran about 200 q's Friday. Sat night felt like I had worked everybody, was a workout to find fresh q's. On both evenings I was generating a pileup at times. Have to do something for a better receive antenna, I could tell lots of folks calling me, but they were so weak it was mush and I could not pull them out. Felt good to get most people I called on the first call while S&Ping. Very few contacts east of the Rockies. Last night, though I was surprised with MDC and DE. I am also fighting a S 7-9 noise level here (powerline related) which dosen't help, but I am figuring out how to hear through it. Lineup: FT-1000MP AL-80b, 900-1kw most of the time 125' slopper off the 60' tower running in a southely direction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6OWL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,108 A few hours over the weekend using the mighty Isotron in the city. For the second year in a row, the mast toppled in mid-contest. I thought propagation had gone crummy so went out to lower the push-up for the night and found the antenna on the back lawn. Nevertheless, some stations were able to complete contacts with me! Amazing. 73, Mark K6OWL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6VVA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 14,720 A little bit of fun in short spurts. Condx were much better Sat. Night. Umh, WriteLog does NOT count Countries so I'm guessin at 5. Tnx for the Q's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6XT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 27,755 Ants: 80M ground plane; 160 DP@10ft rx only ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7BG Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 157,836 Had a sort of disjointed weekend that ended up affording me more operating time than I expected. I got on at the start on Friday and played for an hour or so and then was away for about 3 hours during prime time, at my daughter's basketball scrimmage. I came home and was on for all but an hour or two up until 1000z. I took some breaks to be a nurse and check on my wife who (Saturday was her birthday) had come down with some sort of stomach ailment or flu that has been going around up here. I went to bed at 1000z Saturday and slept through til 1400z, so I guess I missed the JA opening. Since my wife was still feeling a bit less than optimum we watched Poseiden Adventure last night instead of our original plans to be out for her b-day celebration Saturday night. Before and after the movie I was on most of the time till about 0800z. I went to bed at 0800 and set the alarm for 1200z so I wouldn't sleep through the JA opening. It paid off with a couple dozen JAs this morning including a UA0 thrown in. I ended with 890 Qs and 84 mults. Missed NT, NNY, NL, VE4, PR. Worked HI3, P4, ZF, JA, UA0, PJ2, XE and was happy to be called by JW5NM and I think that's it. No receive antennas here. I just tweek the old 765 until it thinks it has DSP. IC-765 driving Drake L-7 with old 3-500s to a quarter wave sloper coming off the heavily loaded tower (6 yagis) at 80 feet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7OX Class: M/S HP Total Score = 139,072 On Wed I came down with a horrible head cold and was not planning to get on except to look for any new countries. My wife, (KE7AJ) pointed out I would not be able to sleep anyway with all the coughing and hacking so might as well get on. Both nights around 2AM quit and tried to grab a couple hours of sleep and get back up around 5AM for Pacific DX. Other then KH6, JA's and a lone UA0 nothing heard in the Pacific should have just sleep in. I had 49 states the first night and early the second night found W1OP in RI to give me WAS during the contest. I then was thinking maybe a Sweep would be possible but it was not to be. I missed 5 sections, NNY PR VE4 NT and NL. I heard VO1HP on the second night but could not break through the midwest/eastcost signals to grab Frank for the tough NL section. As far as the other 4 sections I never heard one. Conditions as far as noise etc seem to be OK but there still were a lot of clicks and birdies form other stations. Thanks for the Q's and Happy Holidays. Any "Top Banders" in the "Big Apple" ? I am leaving for NYC for ten days to spend the Holidays. 73 Gary ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7RL Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 162,792 Quite a month in Western Washington - floods, damaging wind, heavy snow, severe cold, power outages, and a new all-time precipitation record (15+ inches of rain). And that was just November! So if WWA was a bit more scarce than usual, you know why. The latest round of wild weather brought over a foot of wet snow to Camano Island that downed trees and branches. We lost power for four days and I wasn’t sure it would be on in time for the contest. Lesson learned: Buy a bigger generator! Missed NNY, PR, NT, and NL. Funny, I worked all over New York, but somehow missed NNY. The first night was productive, but conditions seemed better the second night with louder signals. Was pleasantly surprised to be called by R1FJT, P40TA, V73RY, and UA0DC, including all of the FB JA ops. I still find it amazing that a hunk of wire hanging from the trees can produce 912 Qs on 160m. Just need to work on a better receiving antenna now. Happy Holidays to all and thanks for the Qs! 73 de Mitch, K7RL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7TJR Class: M/S HP Total Score = 145,725 Activity seemed a little down this year or we were a little older? Was very happy to hear yv5 pj2 c6 zf2 ps7 hp1 ua0 v73 kl7 kv4 vy2 p40 xe kh6 and hi3. I heard vo1 but could not get his attention. Worked 54 Ja stations as well, way down from the 124 in CQ 160. Missed NL NLI NNY NT PR MB.I picked up RI at the very last moments of the contest. I think my 14 different Rx antennas slowed us down a little in the early a.m. hours. I have a permanent groove worn in the switch panel from rotating the selector knob. I am now experimenting with diversity Rx on the Orion and I think that might be the answer to our multi-directional problem. K7ZUM could only be here for one day so I flew it alone night 2. I had the internet cluster on but found it to be no use at all. I found all the dx I could work just by making s/p runs up and down the band. The only exception was a post I saw from zl6qh of my signal early in the morn when the rx antennas were still focused on the US. I later looked for him but no luck. I could hear some really weak stations calling from the pacific but just could not make them out. Hmm perhaps time for position 15 on the Rx antenna switch hi hi. Great contest and thanks to all except the guy that blatantly stole my frequency by sliding right down on top and I was using a 200 Hz window. He never even hiccuped except when I sent LID zero beat. Allready looking for the next 160 event.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7XC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 55,870 The Best I Have Ever Done In The 160M Contest! I guess The 175' Long Inv L Up 37' Is Working Pretty Well. Power Line Noise Came On At 4AM Sunday Making It Impossible To Continue. Used Both A IC-746 And A Omni-D, Each At 100W Out. Worked 48 states in less than 12 hours, Missing Only ME and RI! Cool Stuff!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8AJS Class: M/S HP Total Score = 81,178 The band was noisier than earlier in the week; DX was hard to hear. I got a few, certainly nothing to write home about. By Saturday night the spots were about worthless; I would go after a new call only to find out that someone who spotted the station blew the call and it was really someone I had already worked. If some of these operators have logs that look as bad as their spots, they'll be losing a lot of points when the logs are checked. Rig: FT-1000MP + ALS-600 amp Ant: Helically-wound vertical, 204-foot inverted vee Software: WriteLog 10.58e ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8BL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 119,151 Friday night had bad QRN from storms passing through. Saturday was much quieter, but propagation to DX still poor. Had some good runs when I found those rare open spots, but they didn't last too long when the crowd squeezed in. It's quite amazing how many stations can operate in less than 80 KHz!!! Am really pleased with the Inverted L Bazooka (from NJ3T web site) with deep ground rod and 4 radials (one elevated) and alligator clips to neighbor's 200' long chainlink fence!! Missed ID, ND, NL, MB, AB, NT, PR, PAC & AK. Heard ID, AB and KH6, but couldn't break through pileups. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8CC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 246,136 Second time operating this contest. First time was last year as guest-op at W8MJ. Thanks to Ken and Dave for encouraging me to do this one solo again ... Friday began at 5:00am for school, as usual. I may need to look into taking Friday off if I pursue this trend of operating this contest as single-op. Last year, early Saturday morning my mind and body took over for my ambition and demanded that I sleep IMMEDIATELY. So I laid down from 10Z-11Z and was back in the chair before sunrise. This year I was able to postpone this unfortunate force of nature until Sunday, but it was about the same scenario and about the same time. In spite of the MAJOR QRN from the storms, compounded with having to use the TX antenna for a while, the early rates turned out OK. The first eight hours were 76, 86, 86, 90, 88, 91, 87, and 73. However, Friday night I worked *no* Europe ... and not for want of trying! It just didn't seem to be there. I went to bed Saturday morning with 935 QSOs and a score well ahead of last year. Saturday night I was rested, showered, and ready ... but only worked DL, ES, F, G, GI, and I. What? That's it?!? I worked some Carribbean stuff (missed PR) and out west I worked a few KH6's, but no VK/ZL, JA, AK, NT, or anything exotic ... very disappointing. With more QSOs, but less mults, I ended up with a score that is only slightly higher than my score from last year, even after a stronger start. Domestically, I missed AK, MB, NT, and PR. As usual, I learned a lot: - after noise-blanker modification, an FT-1000D can be a decent receiver - sometimes black goes to red and red goes to black - your amplifier will become untouchable after the blower bearings seize (tip: keep adding muffin fans until it stops glowing orange) - individual "coffee bags" (like tea bags) seem to have a finite shelf life - there are less "CLICKY" stations now that you 'MP users are fixing the darn things, making the unmodified ones ever-the-more irritating!! Station: NA software FD-1000D (modified) 140' shunt-fed tower 500' Beverages NE, NW, SE (broken), SW one apparently indestructable ViewStar PT-2500A (2x3-500Z) 73! Don Chisholm K8BB Go Mad River! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8FH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 206,210 IC-756 PRO2 ¼ wave vertical full wave loop @70’ 4 square receiving array NA logging software lots of iced tea a couple NoDoz one dozen donuts I was afraid when I got home from work on Friday that my vertical would be a pile of aluminum debris on the ground due to the 60 MPH winds that blew in on Friday, but all was well. The noise level Friday night on the transmit antennas was S9+, the addition of a receiving array 1000’ back in the woods over the summer away from all power lines and such really made a great difference. Nearly all of the contacts were on the vertical, only made a couple on the loop. Stayed awake both nights this year, the last couple years I passed out during the second night. Didn’t work much DX and missed ND and AK as well as several Canadian sec’s. It was a fun contest, thanks to all for the Q’s. 73 Fred ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8GU Class: M/S HP Total Score = 188,877 Equipment: FT-1000MP mark V TS-930S (2) Homebrew 1.5 kW amps 100-ft shunt-fed tower NE/SW unterminated beverage NW/SE unterminated beverage Soapbox: We are somewhat dismayed to report that Murphy is alive and well in IL. We had a pretty good first night, ending with 900/75/7 and one broken amp. After the second amp gave-up early on Saturday night, we called it quits. This year, we connected my TS-930 as a "spotting radio"; although, we didn't use it too much. It was interesting, though, to park the '930 on the run frequency and compare what you could hear on the two radios, even though they were sharing the same RX antenna. There were many times that one radio could hear far better than the other; but, this condition would reverse itself (randomly) from QSO to QSO. Interesting. Well, we didn't do as well as last year and Lynn has two amps to repair. But, I think I can say we had a good time. (Paraphrasing N9RV, it's hard to complain about a contest that provides you with 100+ hours.) Thanks for all of the QSOs and repeats! Thanks also to Lynn and Donita for letting Zack and me crash in their basement and play with antennas and amps we can't install at home. 73, --Ethan, K8GU, for the team. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8IA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,476 Orion II (100w), 78' vertical, K9AY Rx Loops. Been a bit ill this week, so just a token showing to make 100 q's and then quit. Mission accomplished. CU All in Stew Perry! 73, Bob K8IA Arizona USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8IR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 67,536 I got spoiled by last year's conditions. This year was not nearly as good, at least in the evening. Things got rolling about 0400 on Friday night, and had a great run over nearly two hours, then went to bed. Got up about 1100, and conditions were still good until 1400. Saturday afternoon was very tough, and the band didn't start to really open up until 0300. This weekend would not have been possible without the help of my new MFJ-1026 noise canceller. I've had some bad power line noise all season, and after being shut down on 160 and 80 last week in the CQWW, I figured I needed something, and ordered the unit last Monday. I was extremely pleased with the results. Using an R-8 vertical as the noise pickup, I was able to bring an S7 (in the 250Hz bandwidth) noise down below the other noise, so the power line became a non-factor. Lacking a receive antenna, I still can't hear well, but at least I could hear enough to warrant running. The only problem occured at about 0345 Saturday in the midst of a slow but steady run. I was at the low end of the band, with a 2.5 SWR, and suddenly the relay in the 1026 stopped pulling in. The manual warns against running before the tuner into a higher SWR. I worked a few more through the suddenly S7 again noise, and headed to bed way earlier than I should have, given the band was sounding pretty good. Got up Sunday morning, and discovered the 1026 worked FB with 75 watts into the 2.5 SWR, and was fine at 100 watts into a reasonable SWR, so I was back in business. Even worked KH6. I kept CQing to the end, just to make sure the unit was going to hold up, and it performed flawlessly to 1600. I equaled last year hourly rate of 2 for the final two hours. Thanks to all who called me. And apologies to those who I couldn't pull out or even hear. And thanks for those who dug me out of their noise. I'll be back for the Stew. 73 Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8LN Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 21,777 Operating QRP wasn't as bad as I thought. Yes I did miss some mults and it makes you wonder how a station can be 20-30 over calling CQ and they don't hear you. You learn to just say oh well and move on. Then there are thoses who are just above the noise and they hear, go figure. Operated SP only, hour or so on, watch some TV and do it again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 69,200 Saturday night/Sunday morning only. Not much time tuning, so only DX was HI3A and C6AQQ. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9AY Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 253,092 Had a fun time, but the RX antenna farm wasn't up to pulling out weak DX from the noise! TX: Inv-L RX: K9AY Loop, 3 Beverages 73, Gary K9AY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9CT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 210,290 First time and really enjoyed it. WAS (ND was last at 1307Z Saturday AM) in 16 hours and 7 minutes! We just had a record snowfall for 12/1 and the QRN at the beginning was fierce. Band became quiet but the conditions to the west were not as good as hoped. Midwest and East stations were of good strength. Lots of stations in a few Khz! Run frequencies were hard to come by! Thanks for the Q's! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9DX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 343,000 If low sunspots = good top band conditions, then there is sometning wrong. The first day was a total wipe-out to Europe and the second day was almost as bad. It was great that there were so many state-side stations swarming like a beehive to take up the slack. Thanks to everyone. John ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9GY Class: M/S QRP Total Score = 2,420 Never thought I would be in this contest. Was supposed to fly to AZ to visit my Dad this weekend but a winter storm ended that plan. Also ended up with an unplanned day off from work due to the storm. The worst area hit was in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Just a lot of rain and some light dusting of snow here in the southern suburbs. Was sitting in the shack at 22z on Friday and thought geez I might try to string up a longwire and give the contest a shot. Wow, amazing what a compromise antenna and QRP can do. Lots of good antennas and ops on the other end for sure. I thought that would be cool to enter as SO-QRP but then remembered that I used packet (mainly to spot stuff). Most of the QSOs were Friday night/Sat morning...by the time Sat night rolled around I was fairly wiped out. FT-817 at 5 watts approx 60' longwire at approx 25' high (horizontal) Sections worked: 2) NNJ 3) DE, WPA, EPA 4) KY, NC, TN, VA 5) AR, NTX 8) MI, OH 9) IL, IN, WI 0) IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, SD VE) ON Happy Holidays & Best of health to all, Eric ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9MU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 15,962 I tried running but it never produced much results. An invetered L and 100 wiskeys just doesn't cut it. Lots of frustration from "CQ's in the face" but I did manage to bag HK0GU for a new one. 73, Justin K9MU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9NW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 30,256 Nothing like a quick rate fix! 73, Mike K9NW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KB7Q Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 164,738 Last year I discover what an excellent 160 meter location the mountain cabin really is. The terrain drops off 1,500' in the first quarter-mile in a semi-circle from east to west. This year I drove up prepared for a maximum effort; more seat time, more radials, better coax, and a full 150 watts. It all seemed to pay off. We had light winds all weekend, so the 7' balloon holding the 1/4 wave vertical stayed out of the trees (mostly) and straight up. Conditions seemed fine with very little QSB and very quiet. I worked 700 folks and all 50 States Friday night which made for quite a slog Saturday to find 285 others to get into the log. Playing hide and seek with the JA's while trying to squeeze into the 1810 - 1825 Khz windows each morning was a test of the K-2's receiver and everybody's patience - everybody seemed to space out about 300 Hz and ask and respect QRL, but some folks are still sporting key-clicks after all this time. DX worked: 10 JA's, HI6A, P40AT, C6AQQ, XE2S, PJ2T. I was amazed at the number of dupes! One gentleman worked me seven times! I should bundle up his QSL cards and send 'em. I worked 'em all and let the log checking software sort 'em out. We are having fun! Time for bed. Best, Gene, KB7Q ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KC4HW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,457 Well I did not have much to play with here in Fadette, AL. Just a dipole about 25' at the center and ends about 8', mostly boardside North and South. Ran low power. No receiving antennas! Really did not take a lot of time to play, was working on the Rohn25 tower. My station played pretty much like I thought it would, in that I could hear many high power stations, but they could not hear me. Also the CW contest speed exceed my abilility by a good bit most of the time. I mostly tune the band looking for stronger signals and code speed that I could copy. Well I missed the target 100 QSOs for the ACG challenge, but next year, hope to be much more capable. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KD2MX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 17,664 Conditions were horrendous at contest start-time. Spring-like temperatures in the 70s here in NJ and an approaching squall line created ear-numbing noise. I had planned to operate qrp but when I could barely make a qso with CT, I decided that qrp might be an exercise in great frustration this weekend. After listening a few minutes, I went to dinner and came back later in the evening when the noise had died down a bit. This is my second season on 160m. I had good success last year running mostly qrp, which I was forced into by rfi problems. I still managed to work 37 states using just a longwire. I put up a ~600' loop this fall and it solved my rfi trouble. No longer does the microwave go berserk when I run full power (100w). I had a tougher time this weekend working west of the Mississippi with 100w than I did last year with 5w. Conditions on Saturday night were better than Friday but still noisy, and most stations were pretty weak. I did manage a few new states though, but it wasn't easy. I only worked a hour here and there, grabbing a couple hours sleep, then getting in some early morning work before catching some more sleep. Not great for the qso total but there's less competition at 3am and you don't get too screwed up. Nothing too exciting to report. I was hoping for AK...lots of luck right? I was spoiled last weeked in the CQWW when I worked NH6 on one call on 160. That was a thrill, even though I felt like I was cheating running 100w. With that, I figured WAS on 160 is possible with low-power and a simple wire antenna. The strangest thing this weekend was hearing W6WA here at about 0830 at S9 calling CQ and he not hearing not only me, but anybody else for that matter. Maybe he fell asleep at the wheel with the cq machine running. Here's hoping for better condx for Stu Pery and CQ160. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KE9I Class: M/S HP Total Score = 266,352 If it weren't for the dupes we would have had no one to work after about 09z on the second day. Not much dx heard let alone worked but fun as usual. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KH6/KU1CW Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 4,375 Well, looks like plan worked this time. I have started contest back in Missouri as KU1CW and after 10 hours/950 QSO's into it-packed up, jumped on the plane and chased the sun on my way to Maui(KH6). Unpacked, hooked everything together, under cover of darkness hanged 130FT of wire on the palm tree and went into contest, second day of it as KH6/KU1CW. 95% of the people I've called did not hear me and the rest was slightly confused. Contest is over now and hotel security noticed antenna (hazard), so there are no antenna and I'm ready to work and have some fun (Golf), when I can. Some notes: AC6DD was the best TX/RX from US West W4AN(W8JI) is the best from anywhere with W4MYA right behind. WS4Y and K9CT were the best TX/RX from the Midwest. A lot of 'Big Guns' are quite unbalanced in link budgeting-I had them 59+ and have tried to connect for 15-20min with no luck at all... Had a surprising KH8Q QSO-and have heard him few times after, hope to work him from MO later. Thanks everyone and 73. Alex KH6/KU1CW (for a week...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KL7RA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 34,398 Never got Northeast of WPA and missed all the multiplier rich New England secs. Short openings to the rest of the Eastern seaboard with really only a handful of stations worked. Called many loud stations Southeast of me early in the evening with no luck but could work very weaK Stations in other directions. Second night I was hearing the lower 48 early before 0200z but never could get anyone's attention until after 0600z and trust me I tired. It wasn't till 1100z before I could really call CQ with any results. After putting up with 20dB+ over static crashes from storms in the Pacific during the WW CW I ran a new beverage pointed at W1's. Running 500 feet of coax down a steep hill I ended up flat on my face in the snow after rolling for 30 feet. This had to be a good sign as I'm sure the antenna will work great. No W1/2 prop to try it however. 73, Rich KL7RA North Kenai, Alaska. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KN4Y Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,500 Short run before trip, sure wish I had had a 160-meter mobile antenna. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KN6RO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 22,857 First time in this test. My 193 QSO's brings my all time total on 160 to about 200 QSO's. I put up an Inverted-L just to be able to get on the air, and I'm glad I did. Still working on my CW skills, and I appreciate all that worked with me to get the Qs. Needless to say, All S&P. Yaesu FT-1000MP, Kenwood TL-922, Inverted-L at 60 feet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KO7X Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 59,400 Missed NL, NLI, NNY, NWT, PAC, PR, VI and VT. HI3A was my only DX QSO. The only DX (off the continent) heard was a KH6 that I never worked. As usual, this was very much a part time effort. Wyoming was one of the last sections in the log thanks to my QRP neighbor Dale, WC7S. Never heard another Wyoming station. No surprise, although last year W7SE ran up a big score. CU all on 10 meters next weekend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KR2Q Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 25,704 Last year I said how much fun this contest is. Not this year....just one long slog (and not that long either). Had trouble staying away (well, actually, I didn't stay awake). Terrible atmospheric noise first night until storm "passed" (NNJ was tornado watch area!), then nobody heard me. Went to bed. Second night better (locally), but nothing of any signal strength west of the Mississippi. Heard KH6 this morning at sunrise, but "no way" qrp. Didn't even try. Called CQ 2,175 times on day 2; some return rate. Looking at my results last years, wow. This year was a big disappointment. Elecraft K2 and 1/2 wave wire with center at 50' and ends at six feet. Stew better be better than this! de Doug KR2Q ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT0R Class: M/S HP Total Score = 92,112 I just got on a bit Friday night and some Saturday night. I just had a hard time getting going on Friday. I worked late and crashed by 10:00 pm Got on Sunday and had a good time. Thought I had NNY but, my post caught the mistake and was NLI oh well. Not much dx only 2 PJ2 and KV4....Like many others missed AK,NT,NL,PR,MB,NNY. Yes many weak stations.. I always wonder what is that guy using for a antenna. I had good time. Always fun to hear old friends on and some new ones. See you all in the next one. Vry 73 Dave KT0R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT4Q Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 5,092 HAd a little time at night to execute a few calls. Rig: Yaesu FT-100MP MV Ant: Carolina Windom 160 73 de Steve, KT4Q ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU1CW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 166,496 That was part one of the contest-from continental US (MO) and day two was continued as KH6/KU1CW from Maui. Don't know if ARRL would allow that-they stripped me of two all time W0 records CW and SSB on 80M last year for the ARRL DX, since I was working K0LW SO160M and KU1CW SO80M. Was 4 records, but they left only 160M standing and 80M as check log. Was a pretty good tempo from MO and RX testing of the 'Big Gun's'-interesting experience. Thanks everyone for calling and trying to copy. 73. Alex KU1CW. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU8E Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 58,156 Icom 756PRO - 100 Watts - Inverted L Guess I need to improve the antenna - Inverted L - about 40 ft vertical. I never felt like my signal was that strong although I was able to run stations when I CQ'ed. Frustrating to hear so many loud W6/W7's - some 20 dB over - and have them CQ in your face. KH6ZM was about S9 at Sunday morning at sunrise but he couldn't hear me. Heard but did not work - EB,EWA,LAX,NV,PAC,SDG,SF,SJV,UT,WTX. Worked only 1 EU and heard one other. Carribean is a chip shot from here and most DX was from down there.. Jeff KU8E ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KV0Q Class: M/S HP Total Score = 271,476 Very noisy conditions made it difficult all weekend. Bill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KV1J Class: M/S LP Total Score = 5,082 Put up a temporary beverage but found the band quiet without it. Did not arrive in Maine until 7PM Saturday so short effort. 73, Eric KV1J and Matthew W1MAT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KV8Q Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 6,660 Didn't have much time to play in this one. Not much for an antenna either. Maybe next year, this gets a bit higher on the priority list. Glad to give 90 stations an extra Q. Rig = TenTec Jupiter Antenna = 102' G5RV @ 45' (yeah, I know. It's only have size for 160) Software = N1MM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: LA6YEA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,848 Laid back operation, due to bad condx. A S/P contest. Spent some hours on to give out some mults, but went to bed 0400 Saturday and 0500 Sunday local time. In between listening I did some "Morserunner virtual contesting" hi hi.... Understand the noise level was a big problem in most of NA. I gave up calling many stations, that I had a quite nice copy on: W7IZL, NQ0V, K9DX among many others..... Some came very well through though: NO2R, N6ZO, W4MYA, VA5DX, N0NI, CG3EJ, K0TV, W3BGN, N4PN, AA4V, K1TTT.....GOOD EARS GUYS !!! Heard a few EU stations in there, and UU7J. They were not to busy either, and I heard most of takers they had. One exception GI0KOW wkd many I had no chance copy here...Most signals came in on my south west beverage (skewed path), due to the f.... active magnetic field that makes direct path useless. Condx came on and off very quickly here, but only once my cq calls gave a small run...Well, hoping for some better condx soon. S/P is fun, but a good run is better !! Setup here: IC-756PROIII, Commander HF-2500, Titanex V160S 27m vertical, 2 dual wire beverage 1000ft covering NW/SE and SW/NE directions. Cu in the next one, with my own call or LA3Z/LN3Z. Paul - LA6YEA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: LY2IJ Class: M/S HP Total Score = 9,520 A and K indexes were low, so I decided to go the station to test new 2 x 310 m Beverage to USA - path was skewed during all CQWW CW, to try to catch A22 on TB and VU7 on 80, to try to work last 4 states for WAS and to do a little contesting. First QSO was with VY2ZM at 2121 UTC, followed with W2GD a minute latter, then I found A22/JA4ATV on 1812 - #201 for me, made few JA QSOs on their SR, tried to get through to VU7 on 80 - no luck. Back to 160 - east coast loud and good ears - 12 QSO per 25 mins, then back to 80 for VU7 - 20 mins and I am in log for all band new one. Next 2 1/2 run hours with 20 min S&P stop gave me 119 QSOs - rate was really good with 3-4 stations calling, not easy to copy under heavy QSB. Band suddennly closed at 0140. Added just few extra QSOs with very weak signals during next 2 hours and I gave up waiting for morning opening - I left station 3 hours before Sunrise, but from the others comments I see I missed nothing. Results are reached, new antenna shined, very impressive run, but I still need LA, KS, ID and HI - band closed before their evening basically. Most active sections - VA- 17, NC - 14, EPA - 13, CT -8. QSO/Sec+Dx by hour and band Hour 160 Total Cumm OffTime D1-2100Z 2/2 2/2 2/2 33 D1-2200Z 12/9 12/9 14/11 20 D1-2300Z 40/11 40/11 54/22 D2-0000Z 51/7 51/7 105/29 D2-0100Z 28/4 28/4 133/33 18 D2-0200Z 1/1 1/1 134/34 60 D2-0300Z 2/1 2/1 136/35 Thanks, 73 Arunas / LY2ij ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0FP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 146,172 The second night was definately better than the first. My Q count is low the first night and I never recovered. Both 2004 and 2005 had better Q counts with more mults. But this beats my 2003 score by a good margin. 49 States again. Where the heck is Alaska when you need it? Some of the missing mults were a shock too. What's up with nobody in NNY or SDG? Missed PR and NL & NWT in RAC. They call it sweepstakes with a twist of DX. I call it great fun. There must be a bunch of stations running bed springs for antennas. Or else the transmitters are powered by the Energizer Bunny. There are more ESP QSOs in the log this year than normal. At least, that's the way it seems. The station antenna has S7 noise. And my beverage occassionally has S3 noise that comes and goes. Forgive me if I was working you and it felt like you had a brain dead moron on the other end. It was the buzz box inthe neighborhood. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0IJ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 64,313 Threw up full size inverted V--35' high, but 60% only about 10', and it worked great. Lots of fun ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0KK Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 4,959 After CQ WW SSB, SS CW, SS SSB, CQWW CW 2.5 hours was a push if I wanted to continue to have a family! HI HI Some year I hope to do this one QRP and full time. Some YEAR! Kirk N0KK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0KQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,781 Low noise here for 160m. The inverted L up only 45' seemed to work pretty well on low power. I was only able to work 2 hours but it was fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0NI Class: M/S HP Total Score = 322,047 hmmm. if we could only turn say every 50 dupes into a new multiplier somehow. The dupes don't really bother me, it tells me the station is loud, and keeps me busy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0OCT Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 9,216 Field Day in December. We still don't have power. It's 19 degrees F outside. Had enough battery power to run QRP, and my aerials weren't knocked down. Used a kludged together radio that had contacts twisted together by hand. Operated by Coleman lantern and hand logging. I learned several things: Some times the weak ones come back. A rig with no AGC allows you to monitor the swings of propagation. W0JPL a stone's throw away will take your head off if you have no AGC. I can maintain the house at a balmy 51 deg with no furnace. Carbon Monoxide doesn't give as nice a buzz as, say, a nice merlot. 73 and thanks for listening. Jim N0OCT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0XB Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 170,724 Thanks to all. My personal best in this 'test. Soapbox stuff: Wish more guys would learn to zero beat a cw signal. Lots of tuner-uppers it seems as well. Good attendance this year, lots of strong signals which is always good on 160. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0YY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 61,056 Rig: FT-1000MP Inverted-L with raised radials Write Log 10.55D Just a few hours to play. Probably missed some easy mults, but wanted to do a bit of run and S&P. Nice run on Friday night/Saturday morning and some S&P on Saturday night. No Europeans heard. Caribbean's were strong! PJ2T was a rock - was there all the time as a beacon. C6AQQ was up and down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1EU Class: M/S HP Total Score = 132,153 Limited 8-hour effort. Missed PR, AK, MB, NWT. Thanks for the q's and apologies to those I couldn't pull out. Equipment: Orion/Acom 2000A, inv L, 580ft Beverages NE, NW, SW, SE 73, Barry N1EU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1IX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 80,988 Great contest!! Really exciting to be called by DX on 160. I never heard the west coast. It was a real chore to work EWA and NV. I had to work Saturday so I slept Friday night and missed the best few hours of the contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1UR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 50,344 This was supposed to be a serious effort. Instead, a number of things came up during the weekend that prevented it. The first 3 hours saw strong thunderstorms approaching and then going right over head. The first 2 hours were really bas static crashes (even on the beverages) ans then I had to QRT for an hour due to the storm. The line voltages were fluctuating and I ended up blowing the FT-990's power supply (oh well, off to the shop with that). Also lost a box controller on my 15M stack match due to nearby lightning. When I was on, I was surprised how little EU or DX in general was heard. Also, the West Coast seemed very hard to work from here. A few nice hours of runs though and it was fun while I was on. 73 Ed N1UR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2CU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 35,030 Knowing I couldn't put in a full effort (still recovering from CQWW at W2FU) I decided to put in two hours as "fresh meat" Saturday night. WOW! I felt like I was on a rare DXpedition the rate got so high. Meter hit 240/hr. Conditions seemed punk with some stations sounding like aurora. My apologies to a couple of stations I just couldn't pull out of the noise. No EU heard in that short time and only DX was P40TA that called in. CU in the Stew and CQ160. FT1000MP, Drake L7, Inverted L @ 46', K9AY loops, N1MM logger. 73, Tom N2CU <>< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2FF Class: M/S LP Total Score = 6,798 I used packet so I was M/S. Bummer, no asssited SO category! Too bad I don't have a 160 meter antenna. I used the venter conductor of my 80 meter dipole as a long wire. I had great fun until Sunday morning just as I was about to quit when I ran into RFI getting into my keying line. Perhaps next yar I will have a REAL 160 meter antenna. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2MRI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,250 Club is "Hudson Valley Contesters and DXers" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2NT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 55,131 Since my 4 square of inv L's is broken, I got on with the inverted vee to give out a few points. My inverted vee has never been a great DX antenns, but I was amazed the second night just after sunset by a mini pile up of Russian stations, and then a solid 579 call from UA9CLB! Nice job by the CLB crew for a great antenna setup. Glad I caught what seems to be the only decent opening of the contest. 73, Andy N2NT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2WN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 171,160 Rig : Elecraft K2/100 Antennas : ~48' wire Tee vertical (used it for Rx most of the weekend) 295' coax beverage (helped keep the QRN tolerable, but not the best Rx antenna on the Top Band, great for 80) Soapbox : Well Friday started off much worse than the Friday before CQ WW DX CW. I really feel for the folks in the mid West. We had gale force winds. Lost my 83' vertical around 7:30 AM, snapped the puppy clear in half, and it was working so nicely... What to do??? Dipole? load the 44' of it that was left? Nahhh, build a Tee from scratch. 48' tall 150' across the top, close enough, throw a couple radials out... tunes too low, throw a couple caps in, looks good now, narrow, but as one would expect. Will it play? Film at 1600Z... OK, 15 minutes before the show starts, I blow a fuse. Of course, I don't have a spare here, it's an hour drive back home...but scrounge around and find one that will work, if I keep the power under 100 watts, so 85 it is, and away we go. The contest starts and so does the QRN. The big cold front that whacked the mid-west rolls thru. First two hours or more are hard hearing, even on the Rx antenna. It passes and all is nice and quiet finally! My rate picks up and the multipliers are rolling in. Managed to work ALL 50 the first 15 hours. No joy on a sweep, missing include: PR, MB, NWT (I never heard them) and SDG and NL (heard both in S&P mode). Funny last year it was LAX missing, plenty of them this year. Great participation, plenty of states well represented including the tougher ones. Nice to have LA and MS back in force... DX was pretty good, although thought it was better last year for some reason. UU7J was really loud, and had good ears. DX Folks who called me included: CT1JLZ. KH6ZM and XE2KK. As usual there were some I couldn't pull out. This was partially due to the fact if you were quiet too long, the frequency was considered vacant! Tough when you pack everyone into such a small spectrum. More QSOs, one less multiplier this year, increased my score around 20K, depending on how the checking goes. Thanks for the intense weekend. See ya in the Stew. Cheers, Julius n2wn Sect Total N2WN 13 13 AB 2 2 AK 1 1 AL 24 24 AR 8 8 AZ 10 10 BC 7 7 CO 12 12 CT 13 13 DE 3 3 EB 2 2 EMA 20 20 ENY 20 20 EPA 30 30 EWA 3 3 GA 27 27 IA 13 13 ID 3 3 IL 41 41 IN 26 26 KS 9 9 KY 8 8 LA 9 9 LAX 2 2 MAR 2 2 MDC 33 33 ME 5 5 MI 32 32 MN 50 50 MO 17 17 MS 8 8 MT 4 4 NC 27 27 ND 2 2 NE 4 4 NFL 15 15 NH 14 14 NLI 10 10 NM 4 4 NNJ 17 17 NNY 1 1 NTX 14 14 NV 5 5 OH 70 70 OK 11 11 ON 27 27 OR 6 6 ORG 3 3 PAC 1 1 QC 3 3 RI 3 3 SB 1 1 SC 8 8 SCV 3 3 SD 5 5 SF 3 3 SFL 11 11 SJV 4 4 SK 2 2 SNJ 10 10 STX 27 27 SV 5 5 TN 37 37 UT 3 3 VA 38 38 VI 1 1 VT 6 6 WCF 8 8 WI 22 22 WMA 6 6 WNY 20 20 WPA 11 11 WTX 2 2 WV 12 12 WWA 12 12 WY 2 2 Total 953 953 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3GJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 35,728 Equipment: IC-761 100w, Inv L with 12 radials I was only able to put in a few hours this year. Best DX was N6DZ, NK7U, and W7DX to the west and P40TA & PJ2T to the south. Didn't hear any Eu sigs during the small amount of time I was on, so I didn't log anything from Eu. 73 Tnx for the QSO's Gd DX, George N3GJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3NR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 75,040 Missed last year's contest with downed antenna; and I was really bummed to have to sit on the sidelines! Wasn't able to get it back up until Christmas time. That antenna lost it's radial in August! Of course, the remaining main element fell apart when I tried to repair it! So the week of Thanksgiving I devoted one day to putting the 160 vertical back up. It's basically an inverted U with two elevated radials. I'm happy with the performance! This was my best QSO count ever, and just missed my best score ever by about 3 mults! Hopefully mother nature will be nice this year and allow me to keep the inverted U up thru next year's contest! Thanks for all the Q's! 73 de Nick N3NR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3ST Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 179,744 Missed 10 US/VE Sections (ND,PR,PAC,SB,SDG,AK,WY,MB,NL,& NWT) 12 DX Countries 16 hrs operating time Conditions Friday early evening were terrible. QRN from passing storm made copy very hard. Fortunately it quieted down later. West coast was coming in great late Friday night. Had some really good rates going. I really enjoyed this contest. Station: Icom 756Pro2 Drake L7 1/4 wave vertical Inverted V - apex at 160ft 2 Beverages (East / West) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3ZA Class: M/S HP Total Score = 13,944 First night stormy - no operation. Second night only. About 6 hours total time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4BAA Class: M/S LP Total Score = 63,672 Contitions NOTHING like they were for CQWWCW...but FUN FUN FUN... Mother in town this weekend (What was I thinking??)...and Son's birthday to boot......Will plan better next time!! HI HI See you next weekend in the 10M contest (with amp ON!!!) Jose - N4BAA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4EK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,626 Missed Friday night as my wife thought we needed a short overnight trip to Cedar Key to unwind. so we rode the harley up on friday and came back saturday. i got on about 2230 z for a while before the florida-arkanas game and then during half-time. after the the game i decided i was to tired to stay up. must have been all them oysters from friday night, or was it all the 807's used to wash them down ?? 73, ed N4EK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4GG Class: M/S HP Total Score = 112,631 Noise sure came up the second night. Worked this in between chores and prior committments. FT-1000MP+Inrad, Acom2000A, 20M Lazy-H with feeders shorted fed against radials, K9AY loop, Writelog. GG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4JF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,310 MADE A FEW CONTACTS TO HELP THE ACG...OUR LOCAL ARC " W4CUE " CELEBRATED ITS 80TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A SPECIAL EVENT STATION THIS WEEKEND. WE OPERATED THREE STATIONS AND MADE 500 CONTACTS. TX TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED. 73s JERRY N4JF STATION COORDINATOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4KG Class: M/S HP Total Score = 107,610 ARRL 160M Contest N4KG SOSB(A) HP aka M/S HP Just playing around to maximize mults (w/packet). Started out S&P Low Power, used AMP for some DX and Runs. Icom 746 and 746PRO plus B&W PT2500 1KW Amp Antennas: Inverted L to East, Elevated GP to West. Beverages NOT connected (no RX antenna port on 746's) Missed NNY ND VE4(hrd) VE8 KL7 KP4 Does anybody really live in NNY? North Dakota seems about as populated as NNY. DX: C6AQQ F6CWN GI0KOW HI3A HK0GU HP1/DJ7AA (KH6ZM) LY2IJ OM3GI P40TA PJ2T YV5MBX ZF2AH Heard EA8AK with a never ending pileup of continuous callers. Highlights: S&P ratemeter hit 83 97 94 107 117 RUN ratemeter hit over 100 many times including peak rate of 169 Sunday Morning at 1100Z ! Body said GO TO BED at 0450Z Sunday. Woke up for bathroom break at 0900, checked band and logged another 190 Q's between 0907 and 1248Z Sunday. Unbelievable! Hope nobody missed ALABAMA this time around :-) Newly formed Alabama Contest Group (ACG)was out in force! de Tom N4KG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4NW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 112,902 The lack of any significant DX was a disappointment. Only a week before this contest some multi-multis during the CQ WW DX CW worked DXCC in one weekend - where was all the DX this week? Although my score was triple last year’s - significant key-click QRM caused by nearby station was extremely frustrating. The key-clicks - which rendered the entire 160 band unusable, for more than four (4) hours of prime operating time! While one can expect QRM during contests, QRM from a station due to improperly tuned or maintained equipment is inexcusable. The problem of 160m CW generated key-clicks is well documented for the Yaesu FT-1000, as well as detailed instructions for correction of the problem. However, listening to this particular station’s on the air off frequency clicks resulting in significantly audible QRM more than 25kHz from the primary frequency! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4OGW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 110,925 Only was able to put in a few hours each on friday & saturday. 73, Tor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4OX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 115,587 Antenna: Inverted L with too few radials, but it seems to work ok Rig: Kenwood TS-830S Amp: Ameritron AL-572 I wasn't feeling well due to a sinus infection, so I decided on a casual effort. On Friday night, I'd operate an hour and then take an hour or so off. I should have operated 12 hours on Friday night and not at all on Saturday as the rate meter took a plunge on Saturday. I did manage a couple of 100 plus hours on Friday night. As K7RL posted earlier, it is amazing what can be worked with a few pieces of wire. See ya'll in TBDC and CQ 160. 73, Jay N4OX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4PN Class: M/S HP Total Score = 264,195 Using packet this time I more than doubled my score from last year by a bunch....with 17 more countries and 1 more section. Using just an inverted vee for both receiving and transmitting makes it interesting. I have a 50,000 watt AM station (WMAC) two blocks from my home that switches over at sunset to directional antennas (5 of em) and 10,000 watts..I'm ok at night but it came on yesterday morning (Saturday) about 30 minutes before sunrise with the increased power and wiped me out. I did not work Rich, KL7RA for my 50th state because of that. It was nice being called by almost every European that I worked. Thanks to GI0KOW (really strong), OM3GI, LA6YEA, ES5Q (thought I would never get his call and I'm sure he was thinking the same), IQ2CJ, OK1CW with a good signal, YT0A, also strong, UW2M, DJ0MDR, S50U very strong and ditto on figuring out who he was....thanks to all who held on until I could get the call...also LY2IJ, RA4LW, SV3RF big signal as always and OZ7YY.... Another world from my station as compared to last weekend operating from W8JI but still a lot of fun and with all of the stations in the US and Canada it didn't leave much free time during the night hours. N4RJ, the all-time chief smoker of equipment, would have been proud of me when my Ameritron ATR-30 tuner went up in smoke on Saturday morning. First equipment failure here in a long time so no complaints. 'Til the next one, 73, Paul, N4PN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4VA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 19,708 IC706MKIIG @ 100 watts + 130' sloper, top at 68 ft. 73, Larry Vogt, N4VA - Springfield, VA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4XD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 212,751 Fun contest, as always! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4YDU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 21,840 I planned to operate a lot the first night, but I wimped out because of all the static. I went to dinner instead. Antenna: Inverted L, 600 foot beverage, four-square vertical receive array Rig: Ten Tec OMNI V Amp: Ameritron AL811 Happy Holidays, Nate/N4YDU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4YQ Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 4,712 Man this was fun. Put an Inverted L up, its the first resonant antenna I've ever had on 160. Plugged it into the FT-817 and went for it. I missed the first night of the contest, and fell asleep during prime QRP time last night/this morning so I missed my goal of 100 QRP Q's on 160, but I learned alot about this contest. Will be back with a plan next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5KF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,518 Very part-time due to family. First 160 contest with new antenna. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5OE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 52,122 Yet another great year for the ARRL160 contest. Thanks to all for the qso's and paitence for the ones that I simply could not hear that well, especially those in the 6 land. Conditions seemed pretty good from hear this year, little to no noise on the band. Some day I will get to operate the entire contest and maybe by then I will have a decent antenna up as well. I had a total of about 7 hours spent "on and off" primarily Sunday morning calling CQ about 70% of the time. FT-920 packed in InRad Shunt fed 57' tower and a TA-33 for top loading and 12x120' ground radials :) 1 RX Beverage North East Heard 3 JA's on Sunday morning during the contest calling CQ, they all were easy copy but I never could get them to hear me with only 100 watts output. I heard several EU's also but they were weak, so after my experiance with the JA's earlier I did not dally long on them. I simply could not beleive I did not log one XE? Guess we were just not on at the same time or something, this should have been a "gimmie" from Texas :) Have a Great Christmas and a wonderful '07 N5OE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5OT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 168,756 Operated 6-midnight both nights, and one hour Saturday morning before heading home. Mostly CQ, almost no S&P. Worked some countries in the DX window but that's about all. This contest is always fun from N5OT. I will be looking for some Oklahoma (and myabe south Kansas) 160 enthusiasts who want to come play in January for the CQWW 160 contest. Email me if you're interested: n5ot@n5ot.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6GK Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 13,818 What fun! Enjoyed contest more than ever before even though could not operate many hours and was using a low dipole (35 feet at center, 4 feet at end--warming up the earthworms) shooting most of my signal straight up. I simply must get up a better transmit antenna. My first contest using the Ten Tec Orion II--it is incredible in getting rid of ajacent channel QRM...it was like I was the only person on the band, shooting fish in a barrel! Was thrilled to work PJ2T, my best 160 meter DX to date! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6KB Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 27,846 Conditions seemed fair on Friday and somewhat poor on Saturday. I have done better in past years from this QTH. I did not have a separate receive antenna functioning this time. Nevertheless, based on the scores I have seen posted so far (which does not include KH6ZM) and the few KH6 stations I heard on the air, I stand a good chance of being amongst the top three scores for Hawaii. KH6ZM was the strongest and most consistently on the air KH6 station that I heard. On one or two occasions I was able to QSO stations the were apparently not hearing KH6ZM, Maybe those three radials I just added made the difference, or maybe I was lucky enough to be transmitting right in the other station's narrow filter when ZM was not so lucky. I don't hold out much hope that I'll see my score in print (hard copy) in QST though. My chances (or any Pacific Section station's chances) of being in the top five in any category in the WHOLE WEST COAST REGION are pretty small. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6MW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 12,878 Antenna 80m Inv V with peak at 30' and with temporary 160m extensions at 5'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6RK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 96,301 States: 49 ARRL Sections: 71 DX: C6 HI HP JA (25 QSO's) JT PJ2 UA0 XE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6RO Class: M/S HP Total Score = 98,480 Did not do my normal 25+ hour marathon due to many conflicts/priorities. Did get packet running reliably, and checked out the beverages which had not been used for a coupla years (The TX 4 Square hears quite well, unless there's precip. static). The NE bev. worked fine, the reversible E-W didn't. Am ordering new system components from DXE for two reversibles. Operated in spurts, three hours Friday nite, one hour at sunrise Saturday (10 JA's), the rest Sat. nite, mostly not in prime time for US nor JA. Got all New England and eastern provinces mults, but missed AR, ND, VE4, NNY, PR, NWT. Band was quiet both nights, but prop. seemed better Friday. No sign of, nor spots from EU that I could hear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 17,160 Had a fun time Friday night, working a lot of stations. Saturday night I had a tough time finding new stations to work. Either propagation was masking them or there just wasn't a lot of new blood Saturday night. My new top-wire-loaded vertical seems to have worked well, and my 40m dipole was a surprise performer on receive. Actually quieter than my two receiving loops. I put a 4:1 balun on the balanced feeder, then a 160m bandpass filter and a preamp. Great receiving antenna, apparently. I'll use it again in the CQ 160. Thanks to all for your patience in digging out my QRP signal. I'll be looking for you all on 10m this coming weekend. 73, Bob N6WG The Little Station with Attitude ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6XI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 28,672 Very quiet band conditions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7GP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 203,136 This one is fairly LOOONG. Another good one has come and gone. Thanks for ALL the contacts. This one was a bit different. I couldn't get a team together (This station has multi-oped this contest the past 4 years) so I did a single op. Murphy not only visited, but he came to stay starting last Wednesday as I began the prep for the station. Basically the W7MCO station does not get used from the end of the CQ 160 SSB in February until the ARRL 160, so there is plenty to get ready after 9 months of neglect. The Javelinas (Pecary, or a type of wild hog; see http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/desbiome/javelina.htm) like to chew the Beverage wires at the sloping terminations together with the RG-59 jumpers from the transformer boxes to the hardline so there was a bunch of them to repair. There was more damage than I anticipated. The 17 position remote antenna switches had a number of relays that had to be replaced. Then Murphy made one controller totally fail and I couldn't get the spare to work. I wound up with a Bev selector on the run MP only. The hunt MP was connected to the 2 WL EU Bev only. The venerable 91b Alpha of XZ1N and XZ0A fame had not been turned on since February. When the MP showed infinite VSWR into the amp I suspected a relay. Sure enough, the little soldered-in DIP relay on the input board was BO. No time to order one from Alpha so the backup Model 89 was installed on the operating desk. Now I had power!!!!! The twin MP's and the Alpha then worked flawlessly through the entire contest. The contest starting time here is two hours before sunset so those two hours are relatively slow. Just picking up Q's from the few locals, out to 500 miles or so, who also start at the bell. Then came the killer. At 2330Z a tremendous electric line noise appeared. It was S-8 while listening in the AM mode on the VK3 Beverage. The noise affected ALL RX antennas. It did NOT go away; staying the whole night and in effect covering at least 2 levels of signals. The ZERO hour Z was the best with 85 Q's and a whole bunch of Section mults. Then it was 12 hours of asking for repeats and pushing F7 for ..--.. The highlight of the 1st night of operation was having a LOUD JT1CO call in through the noise level. The first night ended with 609 - 81 - 101,574 and WAS in 15 hrs, 41 mins. The last five in order were: 46 -- RI -- N1QME at 0527 47 -- LA -- K5MQ at 0552 48 -- WY -- W7SE at 0915 49 -- AK -- KL7RA at 1033, and 50 -- ND -- N0UD at 1341. THANKS!!!!! to all these FB operators for calling my station. I have accomplished the 160 Meter WAS in shorter time as a multi-op but this is a record for me as a single op. N7GP multi-op 160 Meter WAS times. 2005 -- AK at 0547 for WAS in 7 hours and 47 minutes. A record????????? 2004 -- RI at 1129 for WAS in 13 hours and 29 minutes. No NT for a sweep. 2003 -- Missed AK as no stations were active. NT only other Sec not worked. 2002 -- AK at 1054 for WAS in 12 hours and 54 minutes. I then traveled to my home and slept for a bit over five hours. I woke up with only one thing on my mind: Find the noise source and get rid of it!!! I started tracing the noise with the AM radio in the Suburban. It was so loud that it was difficult for the ears to discern any level differences. I finally narrowed it down to something in the vicinity of a dairy about 2 miles from the RX antenna site (the VK3 Beverage was right on, direction wise!) I could not locate the culprit in an hour of visibly looking for the source and listening for the arc (I was sure I could hear a source which was creating a noise of the magnitude I was hearing on the vehicle AM radio). No luck!!! Not finding it, I knew I had to somehow mitigate the affect of the noise on the RX antenna system. I had two, single wire Bevs, 1 WL to JA and 2 WL to EU located about 2,000 feet beyond (farther from the noise source) the regular Beverage field. I went to the site, repaired some Javelina damage to them, and connected both antennas through a signal combiner to a single feedline going to the collection/switching location. At the feedline connection and switching location I substituted this combo feed for a little used 200 degree Bev. I also connected a signal split of the combo to the feedline going to the 2nd radio in the shack. The signal levels from the Bev combo are somewhat lower than the regular Bevs at they are close to the ground (2 Ft. AGL) and nearly double the feedline (4,500' total). BUT, they saved the 2nd night. I could still hear the noise source but the SNR was about 6 dB better than the best of the regular Bevs. Listening almost exclusively on the combo, I managed 423 additional Q's, 11 more mults including a sprinkling of EU, a mini JA run just before sunup, had UA0DC call in with a great signal, and a final score of a bit over 200K. Overall conditions were better than last year (2005) but not as good as 2004. So much for lower sunspot numbers. The unworked Sections is the most for me in a number of years. I never heard PR, NT, VE4, and NNY, and did not spend enough time trying the NL station. From other reports I have read, there were a couple of Carib area stations I should have found. I also did not spend enough time trying the YV5. The slow CW did not allow me enough time to leave the run frequency unattended, hi, hi!!! On the bright side, DUPES were down significantly. ?????? I packed it in at 1400 as the sun came up and went home to sleep a couple of hours before heading out for Sunday church obligations. Now for a bit of summary for those who like numbers. This is how it finalized out here in the desert Southwest of the US of A. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From these numbers, you can see that working W & VE stations is the mainstay of the point totals. 2 point QSOs: 984 5 point QSOs: 48 ----------------------------- N America: 988 988 S America: 2 2 Europe: 5 5 Asia: 33 33 Oceania: 4 4 ----------------------------------- And the list below shows where they came from according to the multiplier. Once again the great ops in the Golden State of California provided the greatest percentage of the total contacts. Thanks guys for the 123 Q's which is 12% of my total. The Lone Star State of Texas contributed 65 Q's (6.3% of the total) while the Ohio Buckeyes and the great ops in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (Minnesota) each checked into my log with 45 Q's. Those 4 states combined made up more than 1/4 (26.9%) of the N7GP total. Other hotbeds of Q contribution were PA-32, VA-29 and TN-29. Below is the list where you can find YOUR contribution to the total if you were not among the heavy hitters listed above. The DX list is below the Section totals. QSOS PER MULTIPLIER BREAKDOWN Station: N7GP Contest: ARRL 160 Meter Contest Mult QSOs CT 14 EMA 14 ME 4 NH 13 RI 3 VT 10 WMA 6 ENY 17 NLI 2 NNJ 13 SNJ 9 WNY 12 DE 2 EPA 26 MDC 19 WPA 6 AL 18 GA 21 KY 5 NC 16 NFL 10 SC 7 SFL 6 TN 29 VA 29 WCF 3 AR 7 LA 7 MS 8 NM 11 NTX 21 OK 13 STX 39 WTX 5 EB 11 LAX 12 ORG 22 SB 7 SCV 24 SDG 8 SF 8 SJV 10 SV 21 AZ 29 EWA 4 ID 6 MT 7 NV 9 OR 19 UT 10 WWA 38 WY 3 MI 29 OH 45 WV 10 IL 33 IN 23 WI 23 CO 35 IA 11 KS 9 MN 45 MO 12 NE 4 ND 2 SD 8 MAR 3 QC 3 ON 17 SK 3 AB 7 BC 10 PAC 4 AK 1 VI 1 ------------------ C6 1 CT 1 CU 1 G 1 GI 1 HI 1 I 1 JA 31 JT 1 OK 1 P4 1 PJ2 1 PY 1 UA9 1 V7 1 XE 2 ZF 1 ------------------- So what does all this mean? Just that the challenge of 160 Meters is something I enjoy tremendously and I am glad there are so many other FB operators who also have the disease. 73 for now, and I'll be listening to work ALL of you in the Stew Perry Distance Challenge, 11th Edition, in 4 weeks. Milt, N5IA, op at N7GP for this one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7IR Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 55,224 This was the second highest score in this contest for me. The DX conditions were very good the first day and OK the second; lots of QSB and QRN both days at times. The bad weather on the east coast must have kept a lot of casual operators off the band because the usual cluster pileups on the DX stations were manageable the first night. Not so the second night when I was shut-out on all of the audible Carribean DX. For the first time in a ARRL 160 contest I was called by three JA stations during my Saturday morning run around sunrise. Propagation in and around the Pacific was very good that morning with KH6 and KL7 stations also very workable with QRP. Sunday morning was different and no additional DX was worked. Another fun 160 meter contest! EQ: Elecraft K2 TX antenna: Shunt-fed, top-loaded 22meter tower RX antenna: K9AY loop array Thanks for the QSOs. Looking forward to next year. 73 Gary, N7IR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7ZG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 23,313 This was a casual effort and my first participation in ARRL 160. Hung in long enough to put 200 in the log. Ran 100W into a half sloper that I put up new for this season. The sloper was used on receive. Thank goodness for the K2's DSP and attenuator. All seems to work OK. Worked quite a few stations on the east coast. The best DX was PJ2T, KL7, and KH6. Heard KV4FZ but didn't work him. 73 - Guy, N7ZG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8IE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 18,768 Another fun 160M contest! 72, 73 Dan, N8IE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8TR Class: M/S HP Total Score = 100,204 All S&P. Missed PR,MB,NWT,ND,and NNY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA5Q Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 20,178 Not as much effort as last year, way too many other obligations at this time of year. Enjoy the time I did put in. Maybe more activity next year! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NB1B Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 34,596 FT1000MP, AL1500 (kept at 500W out so as not to arc tuner), and 160M dipole at 30ft. DX worked: PJ2, C6, GI, and HI. Did hear a few other Europeans, but they didn't hear me. In the limited time I had, first night was very noisy, heard a number of left coasters but they couldn't hear me. Second night was better, did manage to work AC6DD, NT6K, several K7s and VE7s, but several loud W6's still couldn't hear me. Such is the life with a dipole at 30ft. Great fun, and thanks for the Q's! Dennis NB1B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NE9U Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 111,825 Well, my original plan for this contest was to fly a balloon out on my frozen lake in Sawyer County. However, this cold weather hit about a week too late and I still had open water. Plan B: I got home from work Thursday night and put up an inverted L in the dark and 10 degree weather. The vertical portion goes about 45 feet up the side of my tower and then slopes downward for about 80 feet to height of 20 feet. I layed 7 130 foot radials on the ground and through my woods that surrounds my house. I hope the neighbors didn't see me with my miners hat light snaking radials under bushes and around trees Thursday night! Anyway, the antenna seemed to play well. I could almost work anything I could hear (I really needed a RX antenna...noise was a minimum s9, but cranked in the attenuator and played with the IF filter and notch filters and seemed to peak up a lot of weak stuff). The only guys who constantly CQ'd in my face seemed to be the W6's. I was amazed at the weak guys I would call that heard me first try...I was used to my old 80 meter loop antenna I have used past two years where no one could hear me! I was even able to run much of the time which I hadn't suspected I'd be able to do. I'm sure there were a layer of guys I couldn't hear without a good RX antenna, but all in all I was happy with the new antenna (it may have to stay!) (The radial wire came from W0AIH...maybe there was some of Paul's 160 magic in them!) I'm hoping to fly the balloon in the CQ 160 contest later this winter...there should be ice by then! Missed AK, MB, NL, NNY, NT, and PR. Only DX was PJ2, KV4, and KH6 Top ten sections: 1. Mn 59 2. Oh 51 3. Il 46 4. Tn 35 5. Mi 34 6. Wi 31 7. Va 28 8. Ep 25 9. In 24 10. On 23 Scott NE9U Team/Club : Minnesota Wireless Assn (Team Nort) BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Mults Countries ______________________________________________________________ 160CW 768 744 1491 74 1 ______________________________________________________________ Totals 768 744 1491 74 1 Final Score = 111825 points. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NF4A Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,512 Tied my 80 meter antenna's coax shield and inner conductor together and ran it to the tuner just to see if it would work. I was really surprised. Thanks to all who had to put up with my weak signal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NG7Z Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 25,449 This was the first time I've entered a Topband contest. Just this fall, I put up an inverted L for this band and laid out a few radials. Also ran a 500 foot wire low to the ground directly south as a receiving antenna since the noise was very high when receiving on the inverted L. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of activity but disappointed that I couldn't be heard very well east of the Rockies. But I don't think this is such a bad score for a first time effort despite 9.5 hours of butt time. CQ'ing did produce a few nice runs but most of it was S&P. Thanks for the Q's and see you in the Ste Perry. Maybe by then I'll have a better transmitting and receiving setup. 73 Paul NG7Z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NK7U Class: M/S HP Total Score = 168,904 Very tough contest from the West coast as usual. Couldn't hear past the midwest most to contest, looked like they were having some major storms back there. Only a few short openings to the east coast, most of them on Friday night and just a couple of quick openings to JA. Finally got two bi-directional beverages up this fall and they really made a difference with all the noise. DX Engineering and Tom, W8JI, are to be congratulated on their Reversible Beverage System. Very easy to put up and worked very well. I have to admit that I was very sceptical when I first saw these at Dayton a couple of years ago. Using the 450 ohm twin lead works alot better than I thought it would. Thanks again to all the ops who took their time to work us through all the noise. See you in the next contest. 73 Joe NK7U ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN3Q Class: M/S HP Total Score = 195,455 NN3Q + packet, a semi serious effort but still slept during some of AM and missed our sunrise times. This is a fun event. We had low noise levels but only a few spurts of EU stations to work, too bad.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN3W Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 17,292 Decided to do this one from home. Got up onto ladder at 0100z to swap out feeder on the 80 meter quad. Pulled balun off and replaced it with a direct coax feed connecter. Its a real cloud burner!!! I can hear all the way to the left coast, but only K5NA and a couple others west of the Mississippi could hear me. Actually ran stations up high that were close in. That was fun. Happy holidays All! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN7ZZ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 113,523 Things were going great until the Alpha 89 shut down around 0700 the first night. Was much tougher going barefoot the rest of the way. Missed NNY, NWT, NL, RI, PR, MB and KH6. Hope to CU all on ten meters next week.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NO2R Class: M/S HP Total Score = 366,610 I still have a headache from trying to pull callsign's out of the static crashes at the start of the contest due to a massive storm that besieged K2NG's.House power dipped a few times,almost pulled the plug but we somehow managed to get thru it without any loss of equipment.We did have a couple of beverages snap but were quickly repaired.Had a few scattered openings to Europe but nothing sustained this year.Too bad this contest wasn't last weekend when 160 was wide open.It would have been a lot less painful.I apologize to the West Coast for not being able to hear them the first night from some kind of RFI to the west of us.Two huge thrill's thou,first UA9CLB calling in at 23:00Z,and then 7Z1SJ at 02:00Z both on Saturday night.Tnx to all who kept hanging in until we got their call.BTW,in my opinion the key click radios seem to be going the way of the DoDo bird.Band was packed wall to wall thruout but signals seemed a lot cleaner than past contests.A big tnx to Noah for letting me operate from his qth and pitching in behind the paddle.Congrats to the W2GD team,a great score during these marginal conditions. Peter,NO2R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NS3T Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 51,088 Didn't do this one very seriously - just tried to get on and call CQ at various times in between sleep, baby duty and football...so I made no real effort to chase mults or DX. My DX stations were P40TA, PJ2T, C6AQQ and HI3A. Only heard the HP1 otherwise and the pileup was too big. Of the 22 ARRL/RAC sections that I missed, I only heard one of them - K0HA in Nebraska, but it was breakfast time and my daughter was yanking on my headphones cord. I must say I was distressed by the number of ops who tried to muscle their way into my CQ frequencies. I may not be real LOUD, but I had answers to my CQ's from Washington to Florida and California to Maine, so I know I'm getting out. But the ops who sit down 100 Hz away and start calling CQ seem to be getting more numerous (maybe better filters?) I will single out W0JPL, who decided that my frequency should be his on Sunday morning. I was more than happy to move 100 Hz up and down to protect my turf. I'm not going to win this contest, but I'm not going to be pushed around either. 73 Jamie NS3T Kenwood TS-2000 inverted L up 55 feet and over 80 feet (If you haven't tried one of these antennas, do IT!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NX9T Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 7,770 Only 2 hours this time around...but still had a very nice time while tuning up and down the band a couple of times. Great to hear so many folks on! 73, jeff NX9T www.qsl.net/nx9t Merry Christmas! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: P40TA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 87,840 Arrived in Aruba with a case of stomach flu after a very bumpy flight from San Francisco to Miami. Not a good combination. QRN from the bad WX to the North made conditions difficult the first night. Conditions improved the second night but not nearly as good as 2005. Thanks to Andy, AE6Y/P49Y and John, W6LD/P40L for use of the superb station which consisted of: ICOM IC-756Pro II, ALPHA 87A, Inv Vee at 70 ft and three fantistic Beverages. You have to see the Beverage layout in the jungle behind the cottage to appreciate the effort made by Andy and John. Look for P40K in ARRL 10 Meter 9-10 December. Ken, K6TA/P40TA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: PJ2T Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 182,490 Station: Radio: FT-1000MP Mark V Field Amp: Ten Tec Titan III TX Antenna: Inv-L (~60 feet vertical, rest sloping up to 90 feet) RX Antenna: USA Beverage (750 feet) Flag (USA East Coast) Flag (USA West Coast) Europe Beverage (1000 feet) RX Antenna Switching: K9AY RAS-8x2 This was the second time I've tried the ARRL 160 Contest from the Signal Point Station, PJ2T, sticking around after the PJ2T CQWW CW Contest operation. You have to really like 160 meters to operate from 12 degrees North of the equator! Noise is a constant, and the only thing standing between a tolerable weekend and a bust is the movement of storm fronts. I have a relative measure I use to evaluate how the noise is at any given time. I listen on the inv-L, and note the S-meter. For the week before the contest, it was about S9 with crashes to +30 dB, pretty much normal for Curacao at night. On both nights of the contest, the S-meter was about S7 - S8 with crashes to +20 dB, a big difference and a good sign! The signal was loud enough to hold a run frequency, and except for some rude louts who settled 50 Hz from me and started their own CQs (ignoring my "QRL" statements), I was staying pretty much in one place. People got more rude on the second night. Roughly 40% of the QSOs went like this: Me: "CQ PJ2T" Caller: "K8A " Me: "K8A? 599" Caller " 8AJ 599 " Me: "K8AJ? CL?" Caller: "K8A 8AJS BK" Me: "K8AJS?" Caller "R R R R R" Me: "SEC? CAller: "OH OH BK" Me: "K8AJS TU PJ2T" By the end of the first night, I had surpassed the South American record that I set in two nights in 2003, and thought that ZF2NT's 2002 DX World Record in this contest (150,176-993-76) was within reach. First night rates were excellent, with two hours at 98, one at 90, one at 84, and one at 77! One bad point. On the second night, I was plagued early by a very strong opening to Europe for a few hours around 0000Z! I heard what I thought was a weak W4, and was cycling among the receive antennas to see if I could copy him on any of them. I hit the Europe Beverage button, and up popped VERY strong UU4 and G4 stations! They were not alone. At any other time, I would have loved working such an opening, but as I was chasing a personal goal in the ARRL 160 Meter Contest, I announced "No EU" and switched the RX antennas back to my target audience. The Europeans and other DX kept calling, and I was chasing nothing but phantom W1, W2, W3, VE3, etc. stations, and the rate failed to build. Frankly, I lost my cool and told off one particular unfortunate DL in no uncertain terms. For that, I apologize! I cooled off after about 15 minutes, and just ignored the DX callers as best I could. I see from reviewing the spots that some European posters noted that I wanted no EU, and that may have reduced the number of callers. The Europe opening faded after 2-3 hours. RATES: Hour 160 Total Cumm D1-2200Z 17/11 17/11 17/11 D1-2300Z 69/22 69/22 86/33 D2-0000Z 98/16 98/16 184/49 D2-0100Z 84/10 84/10 268/59 D2-0200Z 78/9 78/9 346/68 D2-0300Z 98/2 98/2 444/70 D2-0400Z 90/2 90/2 534/72 D2-0500Z 77/1 77/1 611/73 D2-0600Z 47/1 47/1 658/74 D2-0700Z 46/1 46/1 704/75 D2-0800Z 34/0 34/0 738/75 D2-0900Z 37/0 37/0 775/75 D2-1000Z 31/1 31/1 806/76 D2-2200Z 20/0 20/0 826/76 D2-2300Z 28/0 28/0 854/76 D3-0000Z 32/0 32/0 886/76 D3-0100Z 40/0 40/0 926/76 D3-0200Z 34/0 34/0 960/76 D3-0300Z 41/0 41/0 1001/76 D3-0400Z 41/1 41/1 1042/77 D3-0500Z 44/0 44/0 1086/77 D3-0600Z 27/0 27/0 1113/77 D3-0700Z 26/0 26/0 1139/77 D3-0800Z 21/0 21/0 1160/77 D3-0900Z 7/0 7/0 1167/77 D3-1000Z 15/0 15/0 1182/77 D3-1100Z 3/0 3/0 1185/77 Total: 1185/77 The last QSO of the contest was made at 1125Z wih an Ohio station, a full 43 minutes after the cruel Caribbean sun had made a full appearance! Thanks to Geoff W0CG/PJ2DX and his two non-Ham friends Fred and Lynda, who agreed to share the Signal Point house with me for the week following CQWW CW and who kept me fed during the week! Also, to Jim W8WTS and his XYL Jan, who along with the others helped to re-point the Flag antennas from their CQWW directions to USA bearings. And, as always thanks to the other 18 members of the Caribbean Contesting Consortium, for their support in the building and maintenance of the PJ2T station! And finally, thanks to all who called and either worked me or went away disappointed! I hope to see all of you (plus all those spurned DX stations) during the CQWW 160 CW Contest, when I will be back at Signal Point and listening hard through the noise! 73, Jeff K8ND ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: S50U Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 918 DX should count 20 points or more !!! Very frustrating that even big guns stations making no attention to EU's when calling them for a long time with no response. Anyway few NTX were logged with usually good RX equipped stations. Win-Test logger was used for the very first time and everything works great. You should try it from http://www.win-test.com/ After 1h 23m S&P only went back to bad. CUL, Dan S50U http://s50u.s50e.si ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3DF Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 8,512 Just messing around! As usual, it's a jungle out there when you run QRP! Doug VA3DF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3DX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 76,140 Missed NNY ORG WTX NL MB YT PR AK Heard LAX SDG and AB but no qsos.... Very QRN friday night.... some points for CCO .... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3EC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 22,512 Used a receiving loop and Alpha Delta Sloper. I re-build the loop and it works much better now. Only a few hours. I could work almost everyone I heard. Good fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3NR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 17,388 [Mk-Vfield, Inverted-L 30'vert x 105'horiz] 73, Chris VA3NR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3RKM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 2,024 K2, 5W, 1/4-wave wire at 15 ft. Thanks for the contacts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 22,197 Conditions here not as good as they were on Friday night last year. Mults down by 14. This year, I found Saturday night a lot better to the east than Friday night was, but still not too good. Score and Q count also way down from last year. Didn't have the inverted-L as high as it usually is, so the vertical section was pulled to the side in a vertical "<" to keep the lower portion off the ground. The performance hit was noticeable. December-06 ARRL 160M 225 48 22,197 December-05 ARRL 160M 323 62 40,052 December-04 ARRL 160M 231 62 28,644 Not easy to keep a frequency with 100W and a few hijackers who obviously have way more transmitter than receiver. Packed it in before midnight Saturday. It was a blast while it lasted, though. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE1OP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,564 40-50 watts into a flat-top 40 metre dipole at 40 feet, grudgingly tuned by the Mark V's internal tuner...My LDG AT-1000 Auto tuner wouldn't touch it...Those who heard me obviously have decent RX antennas because I wasn't putting out much of a signal...My ERP was likely close to 4-5 watts...I think Iowa was the farthest station worked..!!...I could hear many stations that didn't hear a peep out of me...Lots of "?" and "AGN"...Now I know why I never enter the QRP category of contests...hi Oh well, fun anyway...One of these years I'll finish the Inverted-L here on the floor and have a semi-decent antenna... Thanks for the patience of those who managed to hear me... 73, Scott VE1OP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE2FU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,346 RIG: IC-756PROIII, 100W ; Antenna tuner + D3W cushcraft dipole (30m 17m 12m) ! Could work only the S9+ stations ! 73’ Phil VE2FU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE2TZT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 207,844 8 long hours of qrn at beginning, poor propagation, nearly no europeans first night and not realy better next one. Short opening only at sunset. Even W6 had very weak signals. Had found this contest very boring, difficult to keep oneself awake at 20 qso/h during the end of the night. As usual thanks to those who called me or insisted to be copied..., they where lights in the smog... Hope to see you next time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3CRU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,822 As a H + P contester, I found many gaps in frequencies, so fewer to pounce on for qso's. Friday night, a few hours into the contest I saw the LED's on my Palstar AT1KD tuner wandering wildly back and forth from low swr to perhaps 2.7 swr and red lights. Turns out it was extremely windy outside and the top 20' of mast for the new sloper bent over 45 degrees, allowing the 60' vertical wire to trail on the ground 10' when the wind died down. Backed off on power when it could not be corrected. Found the problem Saturday and made essential repairs. I heard sections I could not work Friday that were not heard the rest of the contest. Lacking time for this contest, my qso count is just over half of last year's total of 249, but the multi's remained the same. First time dx heard and worked. The sloper has a base coil and only 3 radials thus far, so lots of room for improvements. Thanks to all for a fun contest. Looking forward to next year. 73, Bill VE3CRU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3FH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 22,750 Thanks for all the QSOs. No Europe this time but eight new states and one new country even though I slept through most of the second night. N1MM Logger V6.10.16 TS-940S Dipole (low, very low) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3JAQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 48,681 Was not able to spend much time. Friends and family party Friday early evening and most of Saturday. Fun contest just the same ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3KF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 44,336 It is a part time job. Condx was bad and a lot of QRN. 73, Alex VE3KF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3MGY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 86,975 Condx on Friday night were so bad here with QRN constantly between 58 and 20/9 that when I turned the rig off Saturday morning I had the exact same number of QSO's, States/ Provinces, and DXCC that I had had last year at the exact same time when I was running QRP!! Not exactly the score I wanted after the first night but Saturday night the QRN went back to normal, S2, on the Vertical so I stayed there most of the night and found condx much better. Had to shutdown early on Sunday to go diving [ temp was 38F which blew out the cobwebs! ] so I missed a few hours of operating. My best score ever, but also the first time running more than 5 watts. 73 Brian VE3MGY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3NE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 107,448 No RX ant this time. Heard only two EU with weak signals. Contest started rough with high noise level but settled down later. Condx were lot better last year. It seemed stations heard me good with my 100W and random dipole. VP2VD called me and a bunch of VE7 stations. CU on 10m. 73 Lali VE3NE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3OSZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 100,804 Had a bad start to the contest. We had freezing rain on Friday which coated my inverted L wire with ice, seriously de-tuning it. As a result I could only operate in the range 1800 to 1815 for the first few hours. After about 8 hours the ice fell off and normal operation became possible again. For the first few hours there was heavy QRN. Throughout the first night there was generally high static, perhaps caused by ice on the power lines. Propagation on Friday night was not good. I heard nothing from Europe. Saturday night was better and I had a few EU QSOs. GI0KOW had the best EU signal. But conditions were much worse than during the 2005 contest. After hearing nothing from WA or BC during the first night some good signals from that region finally arrived on Saturday night. Hoping that conditions will be much better for the Stew Perry event later this month. Station: Drake TR7 - 100 watts Home brew tuner Antennas: inverted L, one Beverage, one pennant TR Log ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3RCN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,530 Friday...160m is nice and quiet...no QRN....ahhhh CRAP, I havent put up the 160m loop yet. I have been so busy working, I forgot about it, I have been quite happy with the 50 foot tower and tribander at the new QTH. So, Saturday is spent stringing up the 14 guage wire through low tree branches around the whole city sized lot. Snotty nosed neighbour kids want to know what I am up to. Whats with all the antennas lately? Who am I? Am like a spy or something? Well kids, thats a big TV antenna....cause I have a big screen TV in the house. Whats the long wire in the trees for then? Ahhh...thats for the Christmas lights that I will be stringing up. Hey mister, howcome you are going to have Christmas lights in your back yard too? I bet you are going to put sheets on it so we cant see what you are doing. Why dont you put up a bigger fence? (Hmmm, good idea). Anyway, the 160m loop was only quickly strung up as a temporary measure. I will endeavour to get it up higher later. I found that the computer monitor gives a lot of hash noise. I wonder if one of those new flat screen LCD ones would be better? Comments? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE6EX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 33,984 Greetings: Only a parttimer, cuz' of mommy having the flu and dreadful intown S9+++QRN. It always appeared/sounded like the freq was always occupied by many run stns below the noise, and I was working/trying to/ their qso's. Even to WWA the path was vry poor at times and you never really knew who was working who. I had to dump lots that were iffy'; so sorry if the results were wrong. I did the best I could and on occasion just went temporarily qrx to get a grip on what was really happening. S&P seemed the only to real way to hear my call come back for a positive qso. Cheers of the season and thanks for the calls. Dan VE6EX.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE6GJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,880 Had to work all weekend, so managed a few hours at night. Poor conditions mostly. Not one W1 or W2 call area heard! Still beat my score form alst year. Running 150 Watts from TS950SDX into 132ft doublet at 40ft with 160m radials and tuner. Even many California stations were just above the noise! But did make it out to VA, SC and GA. Still, lots of fun and good test for my station. Thanks for the Q's 73 Jeff, VE6GJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE7NH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 29,820 MOST EAST COAST AND MID WEST STATIONS WEAK AS WATER HERE...AGAIN DISTRACTED BY BRITISH FOOTBALL ON THE TELLY ON SAT. AND SUN....MY VERTICAL 80 METER LOOP HAD THE VERTICAL WIRES ENTANGLED WITH TREE BRANCHES DUE TO THE STORM WE HAD, AND THE LOWER WIRE WAS NEAR THE GROUND RESTING ON SOME BRUSH....WONDER HOW MUCH RF THEY ABSORBED? COULD ONLY LOAD UP TO AROUND 50W MAX..VERY HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PUNCH THROUGH SOME W6 AND W7 NEAR CONTEST END TO GET UA0DC... ALSO PLEASED TO HAVE WORKED PJ2, KV4, KH6, KL7 AND JA CONSIDERING ANT PROBLEM.. AMAZING THE DIFFERENCE A FEW MILES IN QTH LOCATION MAKE...TAKE A LOOK AT VE7SL SCORE, WHO LIVES ABOUT 15 MILES FROM HERE....HIS SCORE TWICE MINE FOR THE SAME TIME ON THE AIR...NEVER HEARD A SINGLE ZL OR VK STATION...LOCAL NOISE NOT AS BAD AS IT USUALLY IS, MUST HAVE BEEN ALL THE SNOW ON THE POWER LINES, ETC., KEEPING THEM "COOL"... 73/DOUG VE7NH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE7SL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 67,275 Another fun contest. Condx on Saturday were much better than Friday with markedly better E-W prop and stronger signals from Carib. I'm still amazed at the number of alligators, with many S9 CQ'rs having poor rx capability and equally surprised by the S1 east coasters that come right back on the first call. Managed 47 states during the contest but back in the 80's in the city, it took five years to complete my 100W W.A.S. Love these sunspot minimums! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1HE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,020 Brutal conditions and my antenna never had a chance to boost my score. Never had a lot of time this year either with the start of Christmas Party season. Called a lot of stations but got very few replies. Had a few "agn" or "?" but they just went back to CQing when I sent me call again. I had over 100 contacts last year so this is not a good sign. Oh well, maybe next year. Thanks to all who heard me. 73 -- Paul VO1HE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1HP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 22,680 Too bad conditions bummed out for this one. Very ruff going from here. Lots of strong signals from USA but not all were workable from here ... mny calls to stong sigs went unanswered whereas many calls to very weak station got a response. Strange. Just a few Eu's in the log. Called by 7X0RY several times and gave him a reply but each time silence. Called KV4FZ for an hour when he peaked around my sunrise but never even got a "?". Anyway a few of the deserving have NL in the log. 73 Frank VO1HP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0AH Class: M/S HP Total Score = 64,950 My contest was 98% SOLP. Story and poem below. I was still dragging from the WW, going into this one, but I wanted to test the third reincarnation of my inverted L at my new SC QTH. I told myself I would operate both nights only if my Q-rate was competitive knowing that was highly unlikely with no receive antennas and an inverted L with just 37' vertical (tower section) plus 100' of wire going up to 52' at my VHF tower. At least, I now had 18 radials. By 2 PM local Saturday morning with only 332 contacts and knew a top-10 finish (always one of my goals) was impossible. I went to bed. I got up gefore sunrise and worked a few 6's and heard a pileup calling a station in my noise, maybe a JA? Ten minutes later at my sunrise I could hear KL7RA, but he didn't respond to my low power. Alaska would be my 50th state so I turned on my 500 watt AL-811 amp and was able to work him. Now I was SOHP! No motivation to continue. Back to bed. That afternoon I tried to take a nap, but CW and poetry was dancing in my head (see poem below). I started calling CQ at sundown and had a fairly good run until someone swiped my frequency, the final "straw." I went and read a book and watched TV for a few hours. When I returned I was too bonked to tune the band. I turned on the spotting and was able to find and work GI0KOW and F6CWN (great ears!) with low power as well as YV5MBX, ZF2AH, VO1HP, and a few west coasters. I was now HP M/S having worked 8 stations low power with the help of spotting. I had been feeling a sense of relief that my HF contesting season was over. I'm a part time contester who loves operating the WWs, the SSs, and the 160 test, but hurts big time from the lack of sleep. The rest of the year I operate mainly weak signal VHF (including 3 rather "tame" VHF contests) and participating in my other hobbies of hiking, running, birding, and writing poetry- all of which are incompatible with the sleepless nights of HF contesting or DXing. All my HF antennas are presently FD style. They all come down this week. My goal is better antennas for HF next fall. Here's the verse- Contesting, contesting, it's all over now. Doug's in recovery, his antennas down. His bingeing is over, his hangover's done. The S & P stopped, no running reruns. Worldwide and Sweepstakes, my favorite- top band- It's all so addictive. A grind, but so grand. But Doug's on the wagon, no more HF band. Back to the highs and the ultras I go- Six meters, two meters, nothing below, Four-thirty-two, and twelve-ninety-six, No more all-nighter adrenalin fix. Good-bye HF. I'm glad that its over, And no more bingeing until next Octoober! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0AIH Class: M/S HP Total Score = 245,430 Missed NNY, NT & PR (what is up with NNY? Not a peep all weekend) DX Worked: F, GI, JA, C6, CM, HI, HK0, HP, KP2, XE, ZF, P4, PJ2, PY We never heard much out of EU. After the first night we were sure the next day would be much better. Guess that was not the case. We were sitting pretty good in the QSO count on Saturday AM. Unfortunatly we never did see any good runs Saturday evening like we usually do. 73, John K0TG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0BH Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 148,302 Operated when I could this weekend but missed a number of graylines. Band conditions were quiet for the most part. I did beat my score from last year with five fewer mults. Missed (and didn't hear) NT, MB, NL, NNY, and WY. Enjoyed the weekend! Thanks to all who were on. CQ North Dakota .. after finally putting my contest Qs into LOTW last summer, it appears I just need ND on 10m for 6BWAS. Look for me next weekend in the ARRL 10! 73, Bob, w0bh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0EEA Class: M/S HP Total Score = 10,506 Single operator computer assisted. I made several times more CW QSOs in this one contest than I had since I moved to Colorado. It was fun, I'll have to keep it up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0ETT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 71,533 Good 160m contest and condx in this one. My best effort yet on 160 with 457 Qs and 77 mults. The IC756 Pro3 and vertical antennas are working out well. I seem to get some gain from the inverted L 65' high with two radials at 10 ft level (120' horizontal leg is aimed east) when compared to the 65' shunt fed tower/antenna combo with 45 radials which seems to have gain to the west. Would switch between the two at times and hear stations better. - Heard but missed ME and NNY as couldn't find them cqing any where. Other sections missed were: RI, AK, NL, MB, NT, and PR. Also missed wkg HP1/DJ7YAA with big s9 signal as my 100w just couldn't break the pile; when I came back 30 - 40 min. later, he had gone QRT. Wkd super ops PJ2T and KV4FZ with s9 signals as well. Glad to work some of the GMCC crew: KV0Q (LOUD, Bill! I found out what my attenuater was for...), K0UK, K0EU, K6XT, WT9Q (nice sig from Estes, Bob!), and KJ0G. Heard K0FX and W0MU working guys but didn't find them cqing. - Almost missed Wyoming...but worked WC7S (QRP?) near the end at Sunday sunrise. 73 Ken, W0ETT Parker, CO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0FLS Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 72,494 A casual effort but a lot of fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0GG Class: M/S HP Total Score = 163,658 Well, considering past performances we could have done a bit better. Band conditions were poor on the first evening with only a couple of JA's in the log. We were only able to work 9 DX stations during the entire contest. We did work all 50 states and only missed PR, NL and NT for the sweep. ( Can I say sweep in this contest ?) We had major antenna issues and extreme cold weather. We were flying a brand new blimp holding up a elevated radial quarter wave antenna. The temperature dipped to -16 below and we were having snow ( We are at 8000 feet) . The balloon was loosing helium by virtue of the cold wx and was accumulating snow and sinking. The wind was blowing all night and creating more problems. Finally in the middle of the night the balloon burst and that was the end of that antenna. We will regroup and see you all in January for the CQ 160 WW. W0GG, K8FC,K9BWI and K7TD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0MU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 14,994 Tossed up a sloping vertical from the base of my shortened 160 vertical that was destroyed by one of our horses. It got out ok but not great. It was a challenge to work a few, especially the far east coast. Finally a weekend with out the kids so radio took a back seat. Great activity. Working on better antennas for 160. The DX Eng RCV array worked great! Surprise was working K7BG in Montana at 1548Z on Saturday Morning. Also worked NV at 1542Z. FT-2000 Sloping vertical 1/4w Alpha 99 DX Eng 4sq Rcv Array ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0OR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 50,050 Was able to get on late Saturday night and early Sunday morning only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0PC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 18,128 Thanks for all The Qs. Great fun once again. Band Condx were not as good as I hoped for this time. Most of the 6 & 7 call areas sections were missing in my log. I should work portable from RI or ND next time. 73 de W0PC (Rick) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0SD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 263,173 My first ARRL 160 from Ed's great station, W0SD. Propagation outside of NA was minimal. 2 EU stations, 10 JA on Sunday morning, KH6, V73, and the Carribean stations were about it for DX. Missed PR, NT, NNY. Station: FT-1000D, Alpha 99 amp, 1/4 wave vertical, dipole at 160', beverages NE, NW, SW. Thanks to Ed and Edith for the great hospitality, and all of you for the qso's. 73, Joe W0DB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0UO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 103,016 In the early evening Saturday, found going a little tough. A quick check indicated I was only getting 50 watts out, apparently leaky diodes in my OMNI VI. This, in addition to a couple of unexpected low sugar crashes, put me out of action this year. Will see you all in the next two 160 CW contests! WØUO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1AJT/VE3 Class: M/S HP Total Score = 59,086 Antennas : 160m dipole in "C" formation @ 55 ft fed with RG-6 cable. This was my first 160m contest great for still getting things done during the day (building tower sections). My total number of QSO's on 160m was only 325 before the contest. I couldn't get EU or AF but I seldom can but I always get anything in the pacific that I hear (KH6, FO, VK, ZL), strange. Hope all had fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1ECT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 84,656 Friday: When I turned the rig on an hour before the contest I knew I was in for a rough night. The weather had been very un-seasonably warm recently and we had thunderstorms forecast for December! The QRN was fierce, a steady S8-9 and lots of S9+ crashes. When the contest started I tried calling CQ but I could only copy a few of the louder stations calling. I did a band scan and after about an hour and a half I managed to pick up 83 QSOs in 33 sections. When I saw some lightning in the distance I knew it was time to shut things down. After disconnecting all the coax and control cables I pulled the AC cable that feeds the rig/computer/etc. which brought the shack into darkness since only the shack desk lamp was turned on. I got a bit of a surprise when I walked out of the room and found the whole house was dark! Quite a coincidence, just as I unplugged the shack I had lost power to the house (which wasn't restored until 4:00 AM). Saturday: I was hoping to get above-average rates since I had worked so few stations on Friday. I started a CQ loop in the late afternoon but only managed the typical 30/hour. The noise level was very low as evening arrived, quite a change of pace. I wasn't motivated to put in a lot of hours due to my low totals from Friday so I shut things down after only nine hours. This meant I didn't stay up late enough to work much out west, only LAX and WWA. I wasn't hearing many European signals and they were quite weak, I only worked a dozen or so. Sunday: Watched football… ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2GD Class: M/S HP Total Score = 438,023 Station Location: In a salt marsh adjacent to Barnagat Bay, 20 miles north of Atlantic City, NJ, 70 miles south of NY. This is the site of former marine coast station WSC. The location features a 300 foot tall tower (previously used as a 500 khz vertical) surrounded by a minimum of 600 feet of tidal salt marsh. This is a temporary FD style station set up for 5 months each fall/winter specifically for the 160M contest season. It is also the future home of WYRS-FM. Station Equipment: Run Station: IC756ProIII, IC746 (rx only), Alpha 99 Mult Station: IC756ProII, AL1200 Antennas: 2 element sloping dipole array fed against a delta loop reflector @ 190' above the salt marsh. Array fires NE, West or Omni, and is fed with 550' of 5/8 inch heliax from tower to station building. Inverted L (62 ft. vertical) with 4 elevated tuned radials above the marsh. 2 ele 930' phased NE beveage array - 280 foot spacing 2 ele 1/4W staggered 580' West beverage array - 20 foot spacing 2 ele 1/4W staggered 580' NW beverage array - 20 foot spacing 580' unterminated beverages to the East, South, and Southwest The Story: This year's adventure in 160M contesting from the New Jersey shoreline began in November, the weekemd before CQWW CW. Six of our core Team and several members of the SJDXA converged on the site to put up the TX antennas and make repairs to the permanent beverage rx arrays. A few weeks earlier K2TW had visited the station site to take inventory of equipment and test all feedlines for loss. In a salt water environment you cannot leave anything to chance and feedlines are particularly vunerable. Our biggest problem last season was poor performance of the two ele phased NE beverage. We finally determined after testing the matching transformers that they were not properly phased and this was most likely the source of the problem. New units built by W2NO were installed and the antenna now hears exceptionally well (and a major reason for our success this past weekend). Work commitments limited to four the number of our core team who could come and help setup the morning of December 1st. But we managed to finish fine tuning the TX antennas before noon. Walking the beverages we found several trees down but nothing too difficult to repair. The weather cooperated at least for the setup period....the rain that had been forecast was not yet falling, but the wind was a sustained 30 mph with gusts over 45. Later on that day and evening the fury of mother nature in the form of a very strong appoaching cold frount would take its toll on the operation. The remainder of the beverage work involved installing some transformers and feedlines. Listening on the antennas seemed to confirm they were hearing well and there was very little line noise this time. But during the process of testing the beverage switching system, we discovered the coax jacks were incorrectly labled on the master distribution box. No telling how long (e.g. years) we had been connecting the rx antennas incorrectly. :-( The biggest challenge of the weekend again turned out to be setting up the computer network (we use 3 computers). First we came up with a dead computer (bad power supply). Fortunately W2KP was willing to go home and bring his PC over for the weekend. W2CG, W2NO and N2EA did there best to sort out things but without much success for about 2 hours. At 2100 it was time to call the experts to get the problem resolved - then and there (last year we didn't get the network up and running until Saturday afternoon). Through the assistance and direction provided during a telephone consultation with Dallas, W3PP, the N1MM network configuration problem was finally resolved, and everything was actually in working order a full 15 minutes before the bell! TNX again Dallas! Conditions both nights never approached the levels of the CQWW CW the week before. And to further complicate things, the strong storm front was moving rapidly in our direction. At the start of the contest static crashes were 20 over 9 or more, and it was extremely difficult to copy even the loudest stations. The high QRN level continued for several hours so we apologize for those who called and we just could not copy you during the storm. As others have commented signals from EU were best near sundown both days, but we saw some signal enhancement at EU sunrise the first night, but not the second night. Despite the noise we somehow managed to log 6 EU stations and 2 other 5 pointers during the first hour, 6 more EU the second hour, and another 52 five pointers through the rest of the first night (this total is down about 25% from 2005). Fortunately once the storm dissapated, the band became fairly quiet, with little atmospheric or power grid noise the remainder of the contest. Conditions to the western US seemed about normal, with all states/sections worked except KL7, VE4, VE8 and PR the first night. It was very nice to have ZL6QH answer a CQ (we missed working them in 2005). We noted KL7RA was spotted numerous times but we never heard Rich, nor did we hear any JA stations which was a major disappointment. W2OB was kind enough to operate the station during daylight hours on Saturday putting another 55 hard earned contacts in the log. Saturday night the QRN was gone but the band sounded flat from absorption. We added about another 50 EU stations but there were no sustained runs. UA9CLB called in at 2242Z for a nice surprise. We added 9 more EU mults, PR as our final section mult, and EA8, 5B4 and VP2V made it into the log as well. In general stations seemed weaker with greater QSB from all directions. Once again no JA opening at sunrise although a JA station spotted us about 10Z. W2KP kept the station on the air after local sunrise, adding another 39 contacts before the final bell. Our final score is up about 5% compared to 2005 (83 more contacts, two additional mults). We had alot of fun and hope you did too. With the ARRL 160 now behind us, we're now looking forward to the TBDC on 30 Dec. 06 and CQ160 CW on 27/28 Jan. 07. Congrats to Bob, W4MYA and Jon, AA1K for there outstanding one-man multi efforts, and to W8JI, CG3EJ, K9DX, and others for their iron man single op scores. BRAVO gentlemen! We sincerely thank the owners of WYRS-FM for allowing our continued use of this fantastic radio facility for 160M events. 73, John, W2GD (for the entire 160 TEAM) Continental Breakdown North America CW 1445 91.3 South America CW 5 0.3 Europe CW 126 8.0 Asia CW 2 0.1 Africa CW 1 0.1 Oceania CW 4 0.3 HOUR 160 HR TOT CUM TOT 22 98/34 98/34 98/34 23 85/19 85/19 183/53 0 99/12 99/12 282/65 1 104/8 104/8 386/73 2 88/9 88/9 474/82 3 91/8 91/8 565/90 4 84/3 84/3 649/93 5 61/6 61/6 710/99 6 48/5 48/5 758/104 7 35/0 35/0 793/104 8 33/3 33/3 826/107 9 25/0 25/0 851/107 10 17/1 17/1 868/108 11 31/1 31/1 899/109 12 21/0 21/0 920/109 13 15/0 15/0 935/109 14 6/0 6/0 941/109 15 11/0 11/0 952/109 16 3/0 3/0 955/109 17 . . 955/109 18 10/0 10/0 965/109 19 9/0 9/0 974/109 20 17/0 17/0 991/109 21 40/3 40/3 1031/112 22 61/3 61/3 1092/115 23 55/1 55/1 1147/116 0 35/2 35/2 1182/118 1 36/2 36/2 1218/120 2 49/1 49/1 1267/121 3 40/1 40/1 1307/122 4 33/1 33/1 1340/123 5 34/0 34/0 1374/123 6 21/0 21/0 1395/123 7 20/1 20/1 1415/124 8 15/0 15/0 1430/124 9 9/1 9/1 1439/125 10 17/0 17/0 1456/125 11 18/0 18/0 1474/125 12 16/0 16/0 1490/125 13 12/0 12/0 1502/125 14 6/0 6/0 1508/125 15 5/0 5/0 1513/125 DAY1 1031/113 . 1031/113 DAY2 482/14 . 482/14 TOT 1513/127 . 1513/127 W2GD ARRL 160 METER CONTEST Multi Multi 3 Dec 2006 1556z PRFX 160 5B 1 8P 1 9A 1 C6 1 CM 1 CT 1 DL 19 EA 1 EA6 1 EA8 1 EI 2 ES 1 F 8 G 21 GI 1 GJ 1 GM 2 GW 2 HA 2 HB 3 HI 1 HK0/a 1 HP 2 I 8 LA 1 LY 1 LZ 1 OE 1 OH 3 OK 10 OM 3 ON 4 OZ 1 P4 2 PA 2 PJ2 1 PY 1 S5 2 SM 5 SP 4 SV 1 UA 6 UA9 1 UR 5 VP2V 1 XE 1 YU 2 YV 1 ZF 1 ZL 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2TB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 40,820 Got the Inverted-L up a week before the contest, and got back on the Top-Band for the first time in 26 years! Had a blast! The antenna worked great! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2YC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 130,088 Where were ND, SDG and VE4 ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3GH Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 186,485 missed-SDG,PR,NL,MB and NWT for sweep. Lower 48 was completed by cqing! Had to look for AK and KH for WAS. Although later a KH6/ answered my cq. WAS is my goal in this event. Always fun test. Green Hornet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3TS Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 76,608 Friday was a bad start to the contest weekend. The weather front that was moving through the US and now in the Northeast was on top of my QTH and spun up a tornado 1/2 mile south of my house. It killed one person and did over $2 Million in damage. Thus the first night was very noisy and difficult with much repeating of my QRP signal. Second night was better, but I had allot of trouble with frequency stealing. Rig: Ten-Tec Orion at 5 watts Ant: 1/8 wire Tee with 70 x 70 foot long radials. It managed to stay up during the passage of the weather front. Rx Ant: SE/NW revisable 300' beverage. Not the best directions but the best that can be done along the fence line in town with help from the neighbors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3UA Class: M/S HP Total Score = 121,260 Part time effort... Decided to play this a little as an aftermath of CQ WW. Very nice and relaxing contest -- no goals, no benchmarks, no competition, just pure fun. Plus a few points for YCCC. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3UL Class: M/S HP Total Score = 47,403 Excuses: Worked the contest with an older backup rig -- no separate receive antennae and no radio computer connection (felt like the 60's again). K3DI and I put up a 160M T antenna which performed well. Now, for a nap.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4AN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 444,528 This was a great contest. Used the W4AN call in memory of Bill and the fine operator he was. Always good to see the activity level so high for this one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4BW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 7,752 This was just a casual effort for a very few hours Sat am, Sat night and Sun am but I was surprised at the level of activity. Many stations on with good signals, in spite of the high noise levels Sat night / Sun morning. This was good CW practice for me, a phone guy. I've still got a long ways to go but thanks for the Q's and glad to work many SECC guys. I really need a RX antenna as this was all worked with only my 160m inverted vee at about 60'...certainly not good for RX! Bob Wilson - W4BW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4HJ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 23,932 Thanks to all for the q's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 18,860 199 Q's, 46 mults(42 & 4) for 18860 total score. Only my second foray onto 160. It could be that I'm going to get hooked. No great rate, no cause for panic amoungst the Big Dawgs, but great fun. I really only got on to experiment on 160 and have a little fun while practicing my CW. I really enjoyed finding and working stations every 300 to 400 hz or so. S&P was a lot of fun that way. My ability to copy CW was not nearly so taxed as during Sweeps, but I still need a lot of work. I spent a lot of time 'reading the mail' on run stations on both nights, both to get an idea how well I could hear and as practice copying folks calling into the run. The good: The fourteen short radials hastily installed for the inverted-ell made a big improvement over the four I used last year. Too bad I didn't get the K9AY repaired in time--it got toasted during SSCW. It would appear that terminating resistors do not appreciate even my meager 100 watts. (yeah, go ahead, yuck it up.... :o) The ell seemed to work just fine, and most seemed to be able to hear my exchange on the first pass. CW ear is improving. Worked PJ2, P40, C6 and HI, but I was really more excited about the VE7. The bad: I didn't stay up late or get up early. Lost opportunity. Radials are a pain in the posterior. Tune the matching network BEFORE the week of the contest. I didn't hear much from 6 or 7 land. No NNY or RI on the east coast. The Ugly: The small antenna tuner with the teeny capacitors just was not up to the challenge of a hastily tuned antenna. "What's that sound....Is that ARCING?" zzt zzzzzzzzzt zzzzzzzzzzt zzt zzt zzt zzt zzzzzzzzzzzt zzzzzzzzzt zzt zzzzzzzzt ....... MOAHT(Mother of All Homebrew Tuners) to the rescue! Station: radio: FT-920 antenna: inverted-ell--60' vertical, about 90' horizontal, with fourteen elevated radials of various sizes from 20 to 37 feet long, all at about 7 feet height. 73 W4KAZ dit dit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4MYA Class: M/S HP Total Score = 401,387 Terrible noise at the beginning of the contest, but things got better as the weekend progressed. Enjoyed keeping up with Jon, AA1K until the cluster link went down. also Mark, N2QT, and Jim, WX3B. Thanks for all of the contacts and cu in the 10M contest. Take care ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4NTI Class: M/S HP Total Score = 43,724 Didn't hang as long as I should have. But conditions seemed good. Tried DX Cluster this time around, on this contest don't think it really helps much. Most spots didn't include the section of the station, so you really didn't know if you needed it or not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4QO Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 4,466 Tried some new antennas this year and didn't seem as good as last. Used a GAP vertical and a 180 foot long ZEPP at 40 feet. Last year, worked the 80M horiz loop against a 2 one hundred foot counterpoise wires. Oh well, I was sick so maybe I can blame it on that. Tnx to all who dug me out and it was many. W4QO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W5GZ Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 11,008 Wouldn't you know it....my lithium battery powered keyer croaked at 10PM the last night!! Had to run to Wally-World and purchase 2 new batteries. That shot 1.5 hra start to finish for that fiasco, and trashed many "Qs" I possibly could have made!! Next 'test, I will replace the batteries in keyer as S.O.P., no matter their age!! (After 30 years, I SHOULD have done this!) :-( gz ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W5JAW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 28,152 MKV Field, 100 watts 12 ft wire vertical, elevated Just put in a couple hours here and there, all S&P, to see how my "improved" autotuned micro-vertical would perform. Got most guys on first call, so was fairly happy with results. Only called two that couldn't hear me. One was my alma mater station, W1MX, which was the only EMA station heard. The Cambridge QRN must have been too much for my puny signal. Propagation seemed pretty weak when I was on, but still had fun. Jim, w5jaw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W5PR Class: M/S HP Total Score = 57,117 May have a few more Qs that Writelog scored as "Out of Band" due to some RF problems. I thought conditions were stinko. I heard no EU at all. Highlights were working a HK0 and a JA well after sunrise. Thanks to all who put up with my awful CW skills! Chuck ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6SC Class: M/S LP Total Score = 5,100 Used a balloon vertical again this time. Other than having it caught up in a couple of trees, it worked OK. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6SR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 30,328 Just a part-time S & P effort. Not hearing much N-S DX at all. Band was open a bit in better in the E-W direction on Sat. Nite, but Friday E-W was not good at all. Had fun but not much DX heard or worked from this QTH. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6ZF Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,184 Althouth log says 12.2 hours op time, actual working time was less than an hour. Still having issues with folks being able to copy my call correctly without me having to resend it a half dozen times. So yesterday I applied for a new call... one hopefully that will be easier for others, especially weak signal stuff, to copy. Having my Uncle's call is nice but the more I'm getting into CW contesting the greater need is to have a call that doesn't have so many dits in it and back to having a call commensurate with the area I'm actually in. We'll see. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6ZL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 18,855 FT-990 100W to 130' Inverted L Best DX was PJ2T and KH6ZM Lots of QSB, thanks to all for pulling me out of the noise. 73, Dave ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7DX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 98,496 I was fortunate to be able to use the club call, W7DX, again this year. Thanks for all of the q's in the contest. Setup this year was a little different than last year: 2005 - 135' vertical held up with a blimp + 3 RX antenna choices 2006 - 135' long inverted L, about 85' vertical + 2 RX antenna choices, using trees to hold up the L Tried to reduce the Murphy effects by cutting down on the blimp-wrangling; I lost the blimp in the trees last year. Murphy came in through the logging program and keyer.. The latest version of N1MM has issues with WinKey under certain circumstances. If you thought you were hearing 'KEYER GONE WILD!!!' well, it was, and I was hand sending QSO confirms (straight key) and CQs until I could get it restarted with the OTHER hand. This happened too many times to count. This year the band seemed more crowded, but also quieter. Think there were many times that I heard DX before there were pileups. I perceived that I was having a harder time being heard this year. Heard a couple of big stations just start up on a frequency with no ask -- at least once on top of DX. Not very gentlemanly. I was mostly diligent in trying all RX antennas after CQs. If I missed you, sorry. Would be nice to know you tried. Missed NNY, PR, SFL (Heard N4PB? but was in QSO with another station), NWT, NL. Heard but missed: HI, C6, PY7. Very happy with UA9, JA, HK*, XE, VE, P4, PJ2 - Thanks for your patience! It was flattering to have some DX call me, thanks! To any station that I worked twice -- during the contest I jot a note when I'm unsure of that my info was acknowledged, and try again when the sigs are more solid. In this contest, there were two instances when I was 80% confident, but I needed to do it again for sure. Two pictures this year: http://www.dxmap.com/2006arrl160 See you in other 160m events! Brian N9ADG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7NNN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 58,650 Rough going Friday night as noise was a constant S-9+15(20). Ant is inverted coaxial "L" to 60 ft wid 6 elevated radials. Not much heard off the east coast. Saturday was a bit better but still the constant noise until after midnight. I blame it on all the Holiday lights in the neighborhood, and fans from wood stoves (I found a difference when I turned of my pellet stove). Lessons learned: I moved all my elevated radials easterly at 11 pm which made a major improvement. DX: PJ2, UA0. Fun contest and learned a lot. 73 - Eric W7NNN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7RH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 102,418 The 2006 ARRL 160 Contest was my first full blown single op attempt in more than ten years. I was previoulsy active on Top-band with the call KG7D in Washington and Nevada. With residential property in Las Vegas at over $1-million dollars per acre my contesting and operating activites came to a halt as lot sizes or home owners associations came into play. My top Band station is located in Northern Arizona about 20 miles from Seligman and 50 miles to the Grand Canyon. After a year and a half of preparation and work the 5 element array was tucked in nicely on it's 6.5 acre corral. (Active cattle ranch) The 5 short 50 foot verticals complete with almost 18 miles of radials and several thousand feet of feedlines and control cables allow OMNI directional, East/West 4 element broadside fire and 3 elements in-line for each of the four quadrants. I might add it's also 100% solar powered with the nearest powerlines 9 miles away. There is 500ft of feedline to the control/distribution box from the backside of the old TS-570. Conditions during the contest were good but not super. I missed ND, ME and NNY for stateside sections. I can't imagine no operators in Buffalo. Afterall the Minnesota guys play hamradio all winter! The JA stations were plentiful but scattered through 12 kHz of High Power CQ machines. My apologies to the NTX station whom I captured his frequency by working the UA0 through him. The old split operation and 200 JA runs are history. Mostly mid-latitude stations. I heard a few european stations but they were very weak and not workable through the eastern seawall. It was nice to turn off the radio Sunday morning with a good effort made and a fun time for all. 73 Bob Kile, W7RH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7WHY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 8,610 This was fun, although frustrating at times. Worked this contest in between TARA RTTY operations. KInda fun to have 2 contests to operate at the same time. Doing this contest with low power is the pits. I can't imagine doing QRP from the Northwest. It amazes me how some midwest stations can copy my call the first time, and some don't even give me a ???. I had stations that were S-9 CQ-ing in my face. I need an amp for 160!! I heard W4AN about S-4 and thought, "What the heck, I'll call them." He answered me on the first call. I about fell out of my chair. Thanks for the Q's and 73 Tom W7WHY TS-450SAT barefoot + inverted 'L' N1MM Logger 6.11.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8MJ Class: M/S HP Total Score = 233,856 Decidded to do a S/O Assisted but there is really no category for that. Maybe thats something we need to petition the league for. There seems to be S/O Assisted for everything else, why not 160. Anyway my purpose was to try and get as many points for the club. Hopefully it worked out. I could see on the packet cluster that the east coast was working EU but nothing was really fitering its way through to the Midwest (Black Hole). Anyway always enjoy doing this one. Given my set up here at my QTH I pretty much max it out. Well I just realized I submitted under the wrong formatt. Sorry about that. I didn't work the AEOC contest. That's what happens when your pretty well wasted after a weekend of contesting. Now I got to catch up on some sleep. Until the next one. Ken W8MJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8MRM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 91,242 Used the Motor City Radio Club's callsign for this one. A last-minute change in the Club's Christmas Party prevented me from starting right at 2100 UTC. This was a good opportunity for me to test the loop antenna I put up two weeks ago. It sure is directional. After years of not having rotatable antennas, it took some getting used to. In many cases, it can hear things the inverted L buries in the noise. At the same time, there were many signals the inverted L could hear that the loop couldn't. Noise levels here were higher than usual, but I love trying to dig out those weak signals. QSO count was down from last year, but multipliers were up. This resulted in a slightly better score than last year. Still my favorite contest of the year. 73, Mike, N8MR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8RU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 26,169 Thanks for two enjoyable evenings. 73, Ron (W8RU). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8XY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 57,984 Great contest - personal best. Unfortunatley the office bragging rights go to N8OH due to just a few extra Q's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9AZ Class: M/S HP Total Score = 291,682 First, a massive storm blasted through Illinois Thursday evening and Friday morning, dumping loads of ice and snow, toppling trees and disrupting power in a path from St. Louis through the middle of the state. We dodged the center of that bullet, as the worst was about 60 miles west of us. When we got underway Friday evening, the general feeling was that it was going to be a great DX weekend. What a disappointment! Even though the A & K numbers looked favorable, the low frequency absorption levels seemed high and apparently choked off a lot of the expected EU DX. Friday evening just did not generate any EU DX, and even though the earlier QRN from the storm eventually dissipated leaving the band fairly quiet, the EU gray line came and went without any EU action. In fact, the west coast stations that early in the evening were loud faded down significantly. The comments of other stations in the upper Midwest about weak signals from California and no EU DX seems to confirm that we were the victims of some polar generated high absorption. Our rates were quite high and held up well into the night fed by domestic stations, and though weak, we could still pull in the west coast stations on the Beverages. When the sun came up Saturday, host Jerry WB9Z noticed something awry out in the field and upon investigating found a portion of the key NE Beverage had collapsed from the ice and wind and was on the ground and contacting the NW-SE Beverage. He had it repaired after a miserable hour or so of wind and cold in the muddy field. Though ready for Saturday night, we’ll never know if we actually missed any DX due to the loss of that antenna, Saturday evening finally resulted in some of the higher latitude DX, and though we ended with a few more contacts (+16) than last year, our DX count was off significantly at 20 less than 2005. Transmit antenna: 160' Series fed vertical with 120+ radials Receive antennas: Multiple Beverages and pennants Missed were PR/KP4 and NWT/VE8 DX worked: HC (Ecuador) HK0 (San Andres) CO (Cuba) XE (Mexico) YV (Venezuela) C6 (Bahamas) HP (Panama) ZF (Cayman Is) PJ2 (Curacao) P4 (Aruba) PY (Brazil) G (England) F (France) I (Italy) UT (Ukraine) GI (Northern Ireland) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9RE Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 168,241 Operated the first 9 hours and then about 1 hour on Satuday night. As others have said the QRN in first 2 hours really slowed things down (last year first hour was 143 this year 121). Missed NNY, NT, MB, AK and PR. HOUR 160CW TOTAL ACCUM ---- ------ ----- ----- 22 121 121 121 23 113 113 234 0 118 118 352 1 115 115 467 2 95 95 562 3 110 110 672 4 85 85 757 5 75 75 832 6 59 59 891 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA1FCN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,712 Just wanted to see how many sections I could work with as few qso as possible. It got boring after as a few hours. Hi. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA2MNO Class: M/S HP Total Score = 96,748 Friday night started off much better than I thought it would. My QSO run rates were excellent and multipliers were going quite well. Late Friday night I was able to work PJ2T, C6AQQ and HI3A. When I quite Saturday morning I had 416 Q's and had expectations of making 800 total Q's when the contest was over. Last year I had approximately 348 total Q's for the contest so it was looking up for 800 Q's this year. I tried getting a run going Saturday evening around 1630 local but nothing of real value happened. So, Saturday night/Sunday morning was a mixed bag of S&P and running. Friday night/Saturday morning run rates were on average 60+ while Saturday night/Sunday morning were averagering 30+. For whatever reason my noise level was much higher Saturday night which didn't help. Thanks to Mike/WG0G my amp was back in service which definitely helped. I missed NNY (unbelievable), PR, PAC, AK, NL, MB and NT for a total of 73 sections and 3 DX. It's amazing what you can do with a little wire (Inverted-L) strung through the trees on 160M. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA4DOU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 64,500 Rig: Omni VI+ @ 100 watts output Antenna: Inverted vee up 170 ft. oriented N/S I put the antenna up Friday afternoon and finished right at dark (2230Z). Murphy visited and I was unable to make a repair until Saturday morning around sunrise. Lost the first night completely. Started operating about sunset Saturday night with hope of making up for lost time. Last year my antenna was an inverted vee up 47 ft. I made 525 qso's in 72 multipliers and operated 19 hours, 24 mins. with a score of 76,536. I had a better rate and 3 more multipliers than last year but still fell short 110 qso's and about 12,000 points. It was great fun and did work a new one(Estonia). Thanks for all the qso's. Still looking for KL7 for my 50th state. Looking forward to next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA4PGM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 145,976 Overslept both nights! Decided to do LP this year, the start had horrible noise from storms that quickly moved out and the bands improved throughout the weekend. Most of the Qs are RUN maybe a little to much missing some mults that were on the band I never heard. Although they were lots of good mults call in that I might been a struggle to work later ;) Missed NNY (wrked all your neighbors), WY (missed KO7X), PR, LAX, PAC, AK, MB, NL, NWT. DX worked: C6, F, GI, HI, KV4, LY, P4, PJ2, VP9, YV, ZF. Next time I try Red Bull! Thanks everyone who joined in to make CQ160 a success!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA4TT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 42,107 S&Ped the band about 4 times and hung it up. See ya'll in the Stew------- 73, WA4TT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA6BOB Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 10,672 Severe winds, many brown outs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WB8JUI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 102,144 I had big plans to improve upon on my last year's score. I buried radials and had the inverted L up and tested well before the contest. The best laid plans... Mother Nature and Murphy teamed up this year and did a multi-op job on me. We had quite a bit of rain and very high winds Friday, gusting in excess of 60 MPH. Needless to say, the inverted L was on the ground when I got home from work at 2245Z Friday evening. I braved the winds and freezing temperatures to do the best job I could to get the antenna back up. The best was only about 8 feet off the ground! AAARRRRGGH! The winds died down enough by Saturday morning to allow me get the inverted L back up to the 50 foot level. I missed out on a lot of DX and multipliers that I only heard Friday evening. This was my first contest using the W1VE live contest scoring. It was interesting watching and chasing K0RC. I finally ran out of band conditions at around 1400Z Sunday and had to throw in the towel. I ended up beating last year's score by 142 Qsos and 21,000 points. Sure could have used those missed multipliers from Friday evening. Thanks to all for the QSOs. See you all next weekend on 10 meters and later this month in the Stew Perry. 73 - Rick WB8JUI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WD5R Class: M/S HP Total Score = 206,908 Sometimes having a hand full of beverage switches may not be so good. I'm sure ZL6QH was thinking about going for coffee before I finally found an antenna that would bring him out of the noise. I made the choice of using the 'spot net' before the contest. Had it set up for viewing. Never used it once for the 'section count'. Used it two or three times for a 'country" . However, I believe it's kinda like being pregnant. I either used it or I didn 't. One nice thing about being old. I am apt to forget the hard times I had in the contest by the time Stew Perry comes around. Run frequency is kinda like some middle east countries today. Some dispute about who has ownership and who is sliding down. WE record the contest and register it at the county court house in case there is ever any doubt about why I didn't give it up. I bet the ZL's, JA's, KH6's and the KL7's don't have any idea as to how much fun they put in the contest for us. Marlene and I thought about selling our farm and relocating our 160 meter contest station up in 'nny' or 'RI'. 'RI' showed up before we got the plan off the ground. And when we looked closly we decided we could not afford enough room in the 'nny' area to put up a 10 meter dipole. So we look forward to Stew Perry from the 'Arkansas Chicken Farm" Doug, n5ect 2nd in command at wd5r ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WE9V Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 76,072 Played 2 hrs Friday, 3 on Saturday. Gotta love the rate in this contest, including a 142 clock hour on Sunday. Sorry to those calling I didn't hear. I have S7 line noise and no room for a beverage. Chad WE9V http://www.we9v.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WJ9B Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 152,279 73, Will, wj9b, dit dit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WK4Y Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 16,104 Unable to put but 2 hours in this time. Thanks for the contacts. 73, Roy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WO4O Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 135,128 One of my goals was to finish reading the 500+ pages of a thought-provoking book I began last year during this game. Apparently, I'm a slow reader and thinker because I didn't finish the book this time either; however, it did help to keep me entertained during the periods of slow on-air activity. Did you know it's difficult to copy callers while munching down on cashews? While I mainly CQed, I did S&P up and down the band 3-4 times and heard NNY, SDG, SF but failed to work them. Never heard AK, PAC, MB, ND, NL, NT and VI. Therefore, WAS was missed in this game by 3 states. Exceeded my 2005 Q total but worked fewer Mults (Sections and Countries) this year. Fun, none-the-less. TU fer Qs w/ my Low Power signal! 73 RiC http://www.qrz.com/callsign/Wo4o Attend the Tennessee QSO Party: http://www.tnqp.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WS4Y Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 170,524 Just shy of last years total. Made it without one case of tight jaw although once a station did come down on my run freq calling CQ on top of me. Needing to make a quick trip down the hall I left it on RPT and made my run leaving him to fight it out with my machine. Returned to find intruder gone and a needed call waiting HI HI! Sure nice to hear so many cw stations on this band. Think more of us should use this band and mode during non contest times to get to know each other better. Be happy to exchange QSLs with anyone needing KS. Thanks to all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WT8C Class: M/S HP Total Score = 16,640 Did S & P for time on the air. However, had lots of internet connection problems so got very few spots only at start of test. Lots of fun and will spend more time next year. Proves need for better antenna's but hard to do with only a 1/4 acre city lot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WW9R Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 31,350 Had a great time once again. CW contesting is the best! See you all in the next one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WY3X Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 14,916 Was nice. I moved the G5RV on Saturday afternoon to a different location and what a difference it made Saturday night. We're antenna restricted in our neighborhood and since I'm on the HOA board, I got permission to put the antenna in the common area trees for the winter. When I heard PJ2T and VY2ZM and both heard me, that was a first ever since I started operating 160 meters last winter. I didn't hear anything west of Oklahoma though. Looking forward to Stew Perry now. Scott - WY3X N1MM Logger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: XE1KK Class: M/S HP Total Score = 4,392 Less than 3 hours of operation due to social activities with the family both nights. The band was quiet and work some new calls on top band. 73 de Ramon, XE1KK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: ZL6QH Class: M/S HP Total Score = 420 No Eu heard at local sunset on the first night. It was fairly obvious that the band was noisy in NA...I tuned around calling people - mostly without success - and then spotting them, just to have something to do. I could often hear W working W (both ends of the QSO) and copy both exchanges first time, but, occasionally, it didn't seem that easy for the participants themselves. It was fun calling WD5R and K9DX, both ops didn't CQ straight back at me and I had hopeful visions of antenna-matrices being switched around...sure enough...some more persistent calling...and the QSO was suddenly in the can with surprising ease. Well done, both. The plan was to stay up for East Coast sunrise, but I couldn't keep it awake after a pleasant day in the sun rebuilding storm-ravaged 20 m yagis with Brian ZL1AZE and Bob ZL2CA. I kept nodding off at the key, and at 22:45 went QRT. Got up at Sunday 5 AM loc. to look for Eu and JA at local sunrise, but NIL heard. Didn't make it back to the station the second (and last) night. The only DX heard outside NA: PJ2T. 'Best ears' award: K5BG in NTX, worked 30 minutes before local S/S on the first night...one call, no repeats. FB. Wkd: AR CO CT GA IL LA MO NTX OK PAC SD SNJ STX SV Gear used: FT1000MP + amplifier Antennas: Full-size dipole sloping off a 40 m tower (pointing at NA) and a 20 m tall top-loaded 'Tee' vertical with elevated radials and an earth mat. The sloper was clearly the better antenna. Most people seemed to appreciate the QSO, 160 m really is a gentleman's band. 73/cuagn Wilbert, ZL2BSJ (Single op, packet assisted) Index of Calls Call: 7X0RY Class: Single Op HP Call: AA1K Class: M/S HP Call: AA3B Class: M/S HP Call: AA4LR Class: Single Op LP Call: AA4V Class: M/S HP Call: AA5VU Class: Single Op LP Call: AA9DY Class: Single Op LP Call: AB1DR Class: Single Op HP Call: AC0W Class: Single Op LP Call: AC4JI Class: Single Op LP Call: AC5AA Class: Single Op HP Call: AC6DD Class: Single Op HP Call: AD4EB Class: Single Op HP Call: AD5VJ Class: Single Op LP Call: AD6WL Class: Single Op LP Call: AD6ZJ Class: Single Op LP Call: AD8J Class: Single Op LP Call: AD8P Class: Single Op HP Call: AI2N Class: Single Op LP Call: AJ1M Class: Single Op LP Call: AL4T Class: Single Op LP Call: C6AQQ Class: Single Op LP Call: CF3JNO Class: Single Op LP Call: CG3EJ Class: Single Op HP Call: DF2PY Class: Single Op HP Call: DL8LAS Class: Single Op HP Call: DQ4W Class: M/S HP Call: ES5Q Class: M/S HP Call: F5IN Class: Single Op HP Call: F6CWN Class: Single Op HP Call: HI3A Class: Single Op LP Call: IK1YDB Class: M/S HP Call: IQ2CJ Class: M/S HP Call: K0BJ Class: M/S LP Call: K0DD Class: Single Op LP Call: K0EU Class: Single Op HP Call: K0HW Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0IO Class: Single Op HP Call: K0JJR Class: Single Op HP Call: K0KX Class: Single Op HP Call: K0RC Class: Single Op LP Call: K0SF Class: Single Op LP Call: K0TO Class: Single Op HP Call: K0TT Class: Single Op LP Call: K0TV Class: M/S HP Call: K0UK Class: Single Op HP Call: K1BV Class: Single Op LP Call: K1EP Class: Single Op LP Call: K1GU Class: Single Op HP Call: K1LT Class: M/S HP Call: K1PQS Class: Single Op HP Call: K1PX Class: Single Op LP Call: K1TN Class: Single Op LP Call: K1TTT Class: M/S HP Call: K1VW Class: Single Op HP Call: K1ZZI Class: M/S HP Call: K2ONP Class: Single Op HP Call: K2PS Class: Single Op HP Call: K2QMF Class: M/S HP Call: K2RD Class: M/S HP Call: K2TA Class: Single Op QRP Call: K2UF Class: Single Op LP Call: K2XA Class: Single Op HP Call: K2ZR Class: Single Op LP Call: K3AU Class: Single Op LP Call: K3IU Class: Single Op LP Call: K3OO Class: M/S HP Call: K3STX Class: Single Op HP Call: K3SWZ Class: Single Op LP Call: K3TD Class: Single Op LP Call: K3WI Class: Single Op LP Call: K3WW Class: M/S HP Call: K3ZM Class: Single Op HP Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op HP Call: K4EA Class: Single Op HP Call: K4EU Class: Single Op HP Call: K4HAL Class: Single Op LP Call: K4IE Class: Single Op LP Call: K4IU Class: M/S HP Call: K4KO Class: M/S HP Call: K4NO Class: Single Op HP Call: K4RO Class: Single Op HP Call: K4TD Class: Single Op HP Call: K4UJ Class: Single Op LP Call: K4WW Class: Single Op LP Call: K4WX Class: Single Op LP Call: K4XU Class: Single Op HP Call: K5BG Class: Single Op HP Call: K5KA Class: Single Op LP Call: K5KG Class: Single Op HP Call: K5NA Class: Single Op HP Call: K5NZ Class: Single Op HP Call: K5TR Class: Single Op HP Call: K5ZD Class: Single Op HP Call: K6JEB Class: M/S LP Call: K6LRN Class: Single Op HP Call: K6MM Class: Single Op LP Call: K6NR Class: Single Op HP Call: K6NV Class: Single Op HP Call: K6OWL Class: Single Op LP Call: K6RB Class: Single Op HP Call: K6VVA Class: Single Op HP Call: K6XT Class: Single Op LP Call: K7BG Class: Single Op HP Call: K7CMZ Class: Single Op LP Call: K7OX Class: M/S HP Call: K7RL Class: Single Op HP Call: K7TJR Class: M/S HP Call: K7XC Class: Single Op LP Call: K8AJS Class: M/S HP Call: K8BL Class: Single Op LP Call: K8CC Class: Single Op HP Call: K8FH Class: Single Op LP Call: K8GT Class: Single Op LP Call: K8GU Class: M/S HP Call: K8IA Class: Single Op LP Call: K8IR Class: Single Op LP Call: K8LN Class: Single Op QRP Call: K8MN Class: Single Op HP Call: K8MR Class: Single Op HP Call: K8NVR Class: Single Op LP Call: K8ZIZ Class: Single Op LP Call: K8ZT Class: Single Op QRP Call: K9AY Class: Single Op HP Call: K9CT Class: Single Op HP Call: K9DU Class: Single Op HP Call: K9DX Class: Single Op HP Call: K9GY Class: M/S QRP Call: K9MMS Class: Single Op LP Call: K9MU Class: Single Op LP Call: K9NW Class: Single Op HP Call: KA1DWX Class: Single Op HP Call: KA1VMG Class: Single Op LP Call: KA2D Class: M/S HP Call: KA7U Class: Single Op LP Call: KB7Q Class: Single Op LP Call: KC4HW Class: Single Op LP Call: KD2MX Class: Single Op LP Call: KE9I Class: M/S HP Call: KH6/KU1CW Class: Single Op QRP Call: KI0F Class: Single Op LP Call: KJ6RA Class: Single Op LP Call: KK8I Class: Single Op LP Call: KL7RA Class: Single Op HP Call: KM9M Class: M/S LP Call: KN0V Class: Single Op LP Call: KN4Y Class: Single Op LP Call: KN5H Class: Single Op HP Call: KN6RO Class: Single Op HP Call: KO7X Class: Single Op LP Call: KR2Q Class: Single Op QRP Call: KS0T Class: Single Op LP Call: KT0R Class: M/S HP Call: KT4Q Class: Single Op LP Call: KU1CW Class: Single Op HP Call: KU8E Class: Single Op LP Call: KV0Q Class: M/S HP Call: KV1J Class: M/S LP Call: KV8Q Class: Single Op LP Call: KZ1M Class: M/S HP Call: LA6YEA Class: Single Op HP Call: LY2IJ Class: M/S HP Call: N0BUI Class: Single Op LP Call: N0FP Class: Single Op LP Call: N0IJ Class: Single Op HP Call: N0IM Class: Single Op LP Call: N0KK Class: Single Op QRP Call: N0KQ Class: Single Op LP Call: N0NI Class: M/S HP Call: N0OCT Class: Single Op QRP Call: N0XB Class: Single Op HP Call: N0YY Class: Single Op LP Call: N1EU Class: M/S HP Call: N1GKI Class: Single Op HP Call: N1IX Class: Single Op LP Call: N1QME Class: Single Op LP Call: N1UR Class: Single Op LP Call: N2BZP Class: M/S HP Call: N2CU Class: Single Op HP Call: N2ED Class: Single Op HP Call: N2FF Class: M/S LP Call: N2MRI Class: Single Op LP Call: N2NT Class: Single Op HP Call: N2SQW Class: Single Op LP Call: N2WN Class: Single Op LP Call: N3BB Class: M/S HP Call: N3GJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N3KN Class: Single Op HP Call: N3KS Class: Single Op HP Call: N3MX Class: M/S HP Call: N3NR Class: Single Op HP Call: N3ST Class: Single Op HP Call: N3ZA Class: M/S HP Call: N4BAA Class: M/S LP Call: N4DD Class: Single Op HP Call: N4DW Class: M/S HP Call: N4EK Class: Single Op LP Call: N4GG Class: M/S HP Call: N4JF Class: Single Op LP Call: N4KG Class: M/S HP Call: N4NTO Class: Single Op LP Call: N4NW Class: Single Op HP Call: N4OGW Class: Single Op HP Call: N4OX Class: Single Op HP Call: N4PN Class: M/S HP Call: N4VA Class: Single Op LP Call: N4XD Class: Single Op HP Call: N4YDU Class: Single Op HP Call: N4YQ Class: Single Op QRP Call: N4ZZ Class: Single Op HP Call: N5AN Class: Single Op LP Call: N5KF Class: Single Op LP Call: N5OE Class: Single Op LP Call: N5OT Class: Single Op HP Call: N5UL Class: Single Op HP Call: N6DZ Class: M/S HP Call: N6GK Class: Single Op HP Call: N6KB Class: Single Op HP Call: N6KI Class: M/S HP Call: N6MW Class: Single Op LP Call: N6NF Class: Single Op LP Call: N6RK Class: Single Op LP Call: N6RO Class: M/S HP Call: N6TV Class: Single Op HP Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Call: N6XI Class: Single Op HP Call: N7BF Class: Single Op HP Call: N7GP Class: Single Op HP Call: N7IR Class: Single Op QRP Call: N7XY Class: Single Op LP Call: N7ZG Class: Single Op LP Call: N8IE Class: Single Op LP Call: N8TR Class: M/S HP Call: NA2M Class: Single Op HP Call: NA5Q Class: Single Op LP Call: NB1B Class: Single Op HP Call: NE9U Class: Single Op LP Call: NF4A Class: Single Op LP Call: NG7Z Class: Single Op LP Call: NH6P Class: Single Op HP Call: NI7T Class: Single Op HP Call: NJ1F Class: M/S HP Call: NK7U Class: M/S HP Call: NN3Q Class: M/S HP Call: NN3W Class: Single Op LP Call: NN7ZZ Class: Single Op HP Call: NO2R Class: M/S HP Call: NS3T Class: Single Op LP Call: NS9I Class: Single Op HP Call: NT6X Class: M/S HP Call: NX9T Class: Single Op HP Call: OK1CW Class: Single Op HP Call: P40TA Class: Single Op HP Call: PJ2T Class: Single Op HP Call: S50U Class: Single Op HP Call: UA0DC Class: Single Op HP Call: UA9CLB Class: Single Op HP Call: VA2SG Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3DF Class: Single Op QRP Call: VA3DX Class: Single Op HP Call: VA3EC Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3GGF Class: M/S LP Call: VA3NR Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3RKM Class: Single Op QRP Call: VA3YP Class: Single Op LP Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op LP Call: VE1OP Class: Single Op LP Call: VE2FU Class: Single Op LP Call: VE2OJ Class: M/S LP Call: VE2TZT Class: Single Op HP Call: VE3CRU Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3DZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3EY Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3FH Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3JAQ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3KF Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3MGY Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3NE Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3OSZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3RCN Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3XD Class: Single Op LP Call: VE5UF Class: Single Op LP Call: VE6EX Class: Single Op LP Call: VE6GJ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE7NH Class: Single Op LP Call: VE7SL Class: Single Op LP Call: VE7SQ Class: Single Op LP Call: VO1HE Class: Single Op LP Call: VO1HP Class: Single Op HP Call: VO1TA Class: Single Op LP Call: W0AH Class: M/S HP Call: W0AIH Class: M/S HP Call: W0BH Class: Single Op HP Call: W0EEA Class: M/S HP Call: W0ETT Class: Single Op LP Call: W0FLS Class: Single Op HP Call: W0GG Class: M/S HP Call: W0HW Class: Single Op HP Call: W0LM Class: Single Op LP Call: W0MU Class: Single Op HP Call: W0OR Class: Single Op HP Call: W0PC Class: Single Op LP Call: W0SD Class: Single Op HP Call: W0UO Class: Single Op LP Call: W0ZQ Class: Single Op LP Call: W1AJT/VE3 Class: M/S HP Call: W1BYH Class: Single Op LP Call: W1CEK Class: Single Op QRP Call: W1CSM Class: Single Op HP Call: W1EBI Class: M/S HP Call: W1ECT Class: Single Op HP Call: W1MK Class: Single Op LP Call: W1TO Class: Single Op HP Call: W2GD Class: M/S HP Call: W2GDJ Class: Single Op LP Call: W2IRT Class: M/S HP Call: W2JU Class: Single Op LP Call: W2NO Class: M/S HP Call: W2OO Class: Single Op HP Call: W2TB Class: Single Op LP Call: W2YC Class: Single Op HP Call: W3BP Class: Single Op HP Call: W3CP Class: Single Op LP Call: W3GH Class: Single Op HP Call: W3MF Class: Single Op HP Call: W3SO Class: Single Op HP Call: W3TS Class: Single Op QRP Call: W3UA Class: M/S HP Call: W3UL Class: M/S HP Call: W4AA Class: Single Op LP Call: W4AN Class: Single Op HP Call: W4BW Class: Single Op LP Call: W4HJ Class: Single Op HP Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Call: W4MYA Class: M/S HP Call: W4NTI Class: M/S HP Call: W4NZ Class: Single Op HP Call: W4QO Class: Single Op QRP Call: W5GZ Class: Single Op QRP Call: W5JAW Class: Single Op LP Call: W5PR Class: M/S HP Call: W5TM Class: M/S HP Call: W6ISO Class: Single Op LP Call: W6OAT Class: M/S LP Call: W6SC Class: M/S LP Call: W6SR Class: Single Op HP Call: W6ZF Class: Single Op HP Call: W6ZL Class: Single Op LP Call: W7DX Class: Single Op LP Call: W7GKF Class: Single Op HP Call: W7NNN Class: Single Op HP Call: W7RH Class: Single Op LP Call: W7WHY Class: Single Op LP Call: W8MJ Class: M/S HP Call: W8MRM Class: Single Op LP Call: W8RU Class: Single Op LP Call: W8XY Class: Single Op LP Call: W9AZ Class: M/S HP Call: W9RE Class: Single Op HP Call: W9RM Class: Single Op LP Call: WA1FCN Class: Single Op LP Call: WA2JQK Class: Single Op LP Call: WA2MNO Class: M/S HP Call: WA4DOU Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4OSD Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4PGM Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4TT Class: Single Op HP Call: WA6BOB Class: Single Op HP Call: WB2ABD Class: Single Op LP Call: WB4MSG Class: Single Op LP Call: WB8JUI Class: Single Op LP Call: WD5R Class: M/S HP Call: WE9N Class: Single Op HP Call: WE9V Class: Single Op HP Call: WI9WI Class: Single Op HP Call: WJ9B Class: Single Op HP Call: WK4Y Class: Single Op HP Call: WO4O Class: Single Op LP Call: WR0DK Class: Single Op LP Call: WS4Y Class: Single Op HP Call: WT8C Class: M/S HP Call: WT9U Class: Single Op LP Call: WW9R Class: Single Op HP Call: WX3B Class: M/S HP Call: WY3X Class: Single Op LP Call: XE1KK Class: M/S HP Call: ZL6QH Class: M/S HP Index of Calls organized by Class Class: M/S HP Call: AA1K Call: AA3B Call: AA4V Call: DQ4W Call: ES5Q Call: IK1YDB Call: IQ2CJ Call: K0TV Call: K1LT Call: K1TTT Call: K1ZZI Call: K2QMF Call: K2RD Call: K3OO Call: K3WW Call: K4IU Call: K4KO Call: K7OX Call: K7TJR Call: K8AJS Call: K8GU Call: KA2D Call: KE9I Call: KT0R Call: KV0Q Call: KZ1M Call: LY2IJ Call: N0NI Call: N1EU Call: N2BZP Call: N3BB Call: N3MX Call: N3ZA Call: N4DW Call: N4GG Call: N4KG Call: N4PN Call: N6DZ Call: N6KI Call: N6RO Call: N8TR Call: NJ1F Call: NK7U Call: NN3Q Call: NO2R Call: NT6X Call: W0AH Call: W0AIH Call: W0EEA Call: W0GG Call: W1AJT/VE3 Call: W1EBI Call: W2GD Call: W2IRT Call: W2NO Call: W3UA Call: W3UL Call: W4MYA Call: W4NTI Call: W5PR Call: W5TM Call: W8MJ Call: W9AZ Call: WA2MNO Call: WD5R Call: WT8C Call: WX3B Call: XE1KK Call: ZL6QH Class: M/S LP Call: K0BJ Call: K6JEB Call: KM9M Call: KV1J Call: N2FF Call: N4BAA Call: VA3GGF Call: VE2OJ Call: W6OAT Call: W6SC Class: M/S QRP Call: K9GY Class: Single Op HP Call: 7X0RY Call: AB1DR Call: AC5AA Call: AC6DD Call: AD4EB Call: AD8P Call: CG3EJ Call: DF2PY Call: DL8LAS Call: F5IN Call: F6CWN Call: K0EU Call: K0IO Call: K0JJR Call: K0KX Call: K0TO Call: K0UK Call: K1GU Call: K1PQS Call: K1VW Call: K2ONP Call: K2PS Call: K2XA Call: K3STX Call: K3ZM Call: K4BAI Call: K4EA Call: K4EU Call: K4NO Call: K4RO Call: K4TD Call: K4XU Call: K5BG Call: K5KG Call: K5NA Call: K5NZ Call: K5TR Call: K5ZD Call: K6LRN Call: K6NR Call: K6NV Call: K6RB Call: K6VVA Call: K7BG Call: K7RL Call: K8CC Call: K8MN Call: K8MR Call: K9AY Call: K9CT Call: K9DU Call: K9DX Call: K9NW Call: KA1DWX Call: KL7RA Call: KN5H Call: KN6RO Call: KU1CW Call: LA6YEA Call: N0IJ Call: N0XB Call: N1GKI Call: N2CU Call: N2ED Call: N2NT Call: N3KN Call: N3KS Call: N3NR Call: N3ST Call: N4DD Call: N4NW Call: N4OGW Call: N4OX Call: N4XD Call: N4YDU Call: N4ZZ Call: N5OT Call: N5UL Call: N6GK Call: N6KB Call: N6TV Call: N6XI Call: N7BF Call: N7GP Call: NA2M Call: NB1B Call: NH6P Call: NI7T Call: NN7ZZ Call: NS9I Call: NX9T Call: OK1CW Call: P40TA Call: PJ2T Call: S50U Call: UA0DC Call: UA9CLB Call: VA3DX Call: VE2TZT Call: VO1HP Call: W0BH Call: W0FLS Call: W0HW Call: W0MU Call: W0OR Call: W0SD Call: W1CSM Call: W1ECT Call: W1TO Call: W2OO Call: W2YC Call: W3BP Call: W3GH Call: W3MF Call: W3SO Call: W4AN Call: W4HJ Call: W4NZ Call: W6SR Call: W6ZF Call: W7GKF Call: W7NNN Call: W9RE Call: WA4TT Call: WA6BOB Call: WE9N Call: WE9V Call: WI9WI Call: WJ9B Call: WK4Y Call: WS4Y Call: WW9R Class: Single Op LP Call: AA4LR Call: AA5VU Call: AA9DY Call: AC0W Call: AC4JI Call: AD5VJ Call: AD6WL Call: AD6ZJ Call: AD8J Call: AI2N Call: AJ1M Call: AL4T Call: C6AQQ Call: CF3JNO Call: HI3A Call: K0DD Call: K0RC Call: K0SF Call: K0TT Call: K1BV Call: K1EP Call: K1PX Call: K1TN Call: K2UF Call: K2ZR Call: K3AU Call: K3IU Call: K3SWZ Call: K3TD Call: K3WI Call: K4HAL Call: K4IE Call: K4UJ Call: K4WW Call: K4WX Call: K5KA Call: K6MM Call: K6OWL Call: K6XT Call: K7CMZ Call: K7XC Call: K8BL Call: K8FH Call: K8GT Call: K8IA Call: K8IR Call: K8NVR Call: K8ZIZ Call: K9MMS Call: K9MU Call: KA1VMG Call: KA7U Call: KB7Q Call: KC4HW Call: KD2MX Call: KI0F Call: KJ6RA Call: KK8I Call: KN0V Call: KN4Y Call: KO7X Call: KS0T Call: KT4Q Call: KU8E Call: KV8Q Call: N0BUI Call: N0FP Call: N0IM Call: N0KQ Call: N0YY Call: N1IX Call: N1QME Call: N1UR Call: N2MRI Call: N2SQW Call: N2WN Call: N3GJ Call: N4EK Call: N4JF Call: N4NTO Call: N4VA Call: N5AN Call: N5KF Call: N5OE Call: N6MW Call: N6NF Call: N6RK Call: N7XY Call: N7ZG Call: N8IE Call: NA5Q Call: NE9U Call: NF4A Call: NG7Z Call: NN3W Call: NS3T Call: VA2SG Call: VA3EC Call: VA3NR Call: VA3YP Call: VA7ST Call: VE1OP Call: VE2FU Call: VE3CRU Call: VE3DZ Call: VE3EY Call: VE3FH Call: VE3JAQ Call: VE3KF Call: VE3MGY Call: VE3NE Call: VE3OSZ Call: VE3RCN Call: VE3XD Call: VE5UF Call: VE6EX Call: VE6GJ Call: VE7NH Call: VE7SL Call: VE7SQ Call: VO1HE Call: VO1TA Call: W0ETT Call: W0LM Call: W0PC Call: W0UO Call: W0ZQ Call: W1BYH Call: W1MK Call: W2GDJ Call: W2JU Call: W2TB Call: W3CP Call: W4AA Call: W4BW Call: W4KAZ Call: W5JAW Call: W6ISO Call: W6ZL Call: W7DX Call: W7RH Call: W7WHY Call: W8MRM Call: W8RU Call: W8XY Call: W9RM Call: WA1FCN Call: WA2JQK Call: WA4DOU Call: WA4OSD Call: WA4PGM Call: WB2ABD Call: WB4MSG Call: WB8JUI Call: WO4O Call: WR0DK Call: WT9U Call: WY3X Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0HW Call: K2TA Call: K8LN Call: K8ZT Call: KH6/KU1CW Call: KR2Q Call: N0KK Call: N0OCT Call: N4YQ Call: N6WG Call: N7IR Call: VA3DF Call: VA3RKM Call: W1CEK Call: W3TS Call: W4QO Call: W5GZ