TBDC Soapbox built 1-16-2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA1K Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 42 160 QSOs as a tribute to Stew Perry, W1BB (SK), who got so many of us excited about this wonderful band. Also submitting separate log for mobile operation. 73/Jon AA1K ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA1K/M Class: Multi-Op LP Total Score = 54 Mobile operation, not to be confused with AA1K single-op fixed station entry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AB2E Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 950 OK, first time I spent more than 1 hour in this contest. Lots of fun, but once I hit about 200Qs, it seemed that I ran out of stations to work. The last 2 hours (0700-0900GMT) fell to about 15/hour so I went to bed. Hoped to make 1000 points at that point but fell short. Maybe the added points for QRP stations will put me over 1000, we'll see. Lots of fun to have quite a number of EU stations come back to me. Best DX - 17 points RA4LW at 5142 miles (and 2 other 17 pointers - UW2M, and UU7J in that order). Couple of KH6 stations for 16 points each were next. 73 Darrell AB2E ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AE4O Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 281 Ten-Tec Eagle @ 85W to makeshift vertical wire (shorted loop + 2 radial). Thanks for the QSOs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AJ1E Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 172 Just had limited time for this one. Conditions seemed much better than for ARRL 160 last week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AL9A Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 227 Very part time effort. Neighborhood Christmas party Sat. night followed by high winds that required the crank up tower be lowered which cost me my strongest 160M antenna. Such is life! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: CE1/K7CA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 6,054 I started hearing PJ2T about an hour before sunset and decided since there is only about 10 hours of darkness here in summer that I wouldn't have a problem with the 14 hour time limit by trying to work Jeff. He came right back for my first qso of the night. About 10 minutes later, I was hearing FM5CD quite well and called several times during the next hour with no luck. I managed to get KV4FZ's attention about a half hour before sunset so he must be hearing better than previous years. I remember when Herb would start calling on my run frequency and would be 20 over 9 but must not have been able to hear my plea of QRL. I finally got P40TA's attention about a half hour after sunset for the 3rd qso of the night. Shortly after that the US stations finally started hearing me. 160m conditions sure change. During the CQWW all of my EU qso's came on my 75 deg beverage and were not audible on my north broadside/endfire array. This time not one was heard on the 75 degree bev but all on the broadside/endfire array. The direct path is about 45 degrees. Someday I'll figure out how to put up a 45 degree RX antenna on the property. Geomagnetic activity was much higher during the CQWW. I think the southern hemisphere has better conditions during high geomagnetic activity. Two years ago the band stayed open 45 minutes past sunrise and I managed 45 JA qso's that year. This year the band died exactly at sunrise and I could only scrape together 32 JA qso's. Those are very important as each one is about 35 points. Just about everyone is far away from here so it's nice to be able to give many stations their longest qso. That makes it worth fighting all the summer static. Signal levels were generally down but also my summertime QRN level wasn't as bad as other years. Rig is a K3 using diversity RX with 340 deg beverage and north broadside/endfire RX array, a 42 ft toploaded vertical with 45 1/4 wave radials, and a Ten-Tec Titan amp with 2 x 3CX800 tubes. In the States, that amp would easily put out 2 KW but here there are several blocks of houses and business on the same distribution transformer and with line voltage drop I'm luck to get out 1 KW. Hope to see you all in the CQ160 contest next year. 73, Al CE1/K7CA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: DL6FBL Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 3,068 My first operating window was from 1615-1909z. In this time frame I worked 174 QSOs. 10 points or more were only received from RD0A, RC9O, UA0OD, RU9I, and RO9O. I also heard RA0FU, but he didn't hear me. After a small 30 minutes offtime I started my second operating window from 1940-0639z. I worked JH4UYB at 1943z, but the QSO took about 3 minutes. I had to repeat my callsign many times, before it was correct. Yet he was loud, and this made me feel a bit uneasy. Right at 2000z VY2ZM called in for the first and early W/VE, and I regained my self-confidence.. :-) I also felt good, when JH2FXK, JA2PJC, JA7FUJ, JQ2VVH, JA3FYC, JA1JRK, JA7BME, JA4LXY, JA5BZL, JR3NZC, and JH3PRR called in during the next two hours. Nice surprises were also the calls from 5H3EE (2024z) and ST2AR (2306z). I missed to work VK, if there were any... The first Stateside station was W1XX at 2139z, quickly followed by W1FV, K2UF, W1UE, N3RD and NN3L within just a few minutes. Then unfortunately propagation dropped dramatically. In the current picture at http://www.n3kl.org/sun/images/noaa_xrays.gif you can see nicely that hefty X-Ray disturbances started at that time. Not only did the disturbances destroy most of the signal strength on the path (almost EVERY W/VE station was coming in at our station noise level) - but on top you could hear the disturbances very well: in the peaks there was an extra S3 noise floor on the Beverages, which made listening a real torture. http://www.dxsummit.fi shows some historical cluster spots from W/VE stations declaring me "deaf". That really hurts, especially when you know that you were using one of the most efficient RX antenna systems in EU... :-( Bottom line: I was really looking forward to the W/VE opening, but it was a real struggle and a hard fight to get all those 141 W/VE QSOs complete... States worked in the W5/6/7/0 area: 1xAR, 3xAZ, 1xCO, 2xIA, 2xMN, 1xMO, 2xMT, 1xNE, 3xNM, 1xSD, 8xTX, 1xUT. Other DX worked: FM5BH, FM5CD, KV4FZ, PJ2T, P40TA, HI3TEJ, and the longest distance contact with CE1/K7CA (FG41, 0441z) for 11683 km and 24 points. At the same time as the Stew Perry Contest there was also the 9A (Croatia) contest. It was no problem for me to send my report as 599 +serialnumber +JO31 to give them credit for the 9A contest, too. I got quite some similar replies, which went easily, but there were also some "hardliners" who simple *REFUSED* to send their grid additionally. Sorry for them. They missed their 9A contest QSO, too... My last contact was with DL6GBL. It took me a while to understand that he was really DL6GBL, and he was calling me (DL6FBL). Imagine someone on your frequency just sending a callsign which is is 99% yours. Why would someone just send your own "busted" callsign??? After we sorted things out and made contact, I decided that I have enough now and called it a day - ten minutes before the 14 operating hours were full... :-) 73 Ben DL6FBL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: DL6RAI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,103 Good start to the East, but weak signals from North America this time. 7 JAs, 1 HL and RA0FU in the first hours looked promising. HL2CFY.was a nice surprise at 2246z. Then N0NI got in the log very early, at 2305z - that still looked good. But in the hours to follow, signals never really came up. W2GD, a typical beacon signal for us, was always down in the noise. In the second part of the night around 04z, signals showed up from southern US, while the East Coast completely disappeared. Only 17 x US and 3 x VE this year! VY2ZM was the last station heard on the band at 0830z, 70 minutes after sunrise. Well. I guess we can't have it all - good high band and low band propagation at the same time. See you next year - Merry Xmas to All! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: E77DX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,805 poor condx, not many JA�'s, weak signals from east coast, but at least some condx to west coast. Best DX 5H3EE, and longest one K9RX from AZ 100064km! thanks for QSOs and happy holidays! 73s de E77DX Braco ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: EA2LU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 965 Hi All, After some years, I taken the desicion to work the "Stew Perry" within a week, then, I used a simple setup:Only small RX shielded loop (not time to lying Beverages)my venerable FT1000D and on TX side 500W from small PA feeding my "lossy" shunt feed tower (perhaps the worst part of the installation), all thogether was not the best recipe for big numbers, but it was very funny to heard old friends, and work some DX too, mainly UA9s and NA east coast big guns. My best DX was k9RX into DM41 for a 9.000Km distance. Unfortunately weather was not very cooperative and time to time I had a very high noise due rain and snow storms, that prevented me hearing anything due S9+30db noise level. I want to thank all those called me for your patience and sorry all those I was unable to copy. Also Thanks to BARC for keep this interesting contest live and growing. I wish all you and yours Merry Christmas and Happy new Year 2012! See you next year. 73 Jorge EA2LU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: FM5CD Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 3,936 ELECRAFT K3 + Alpha 27m vertical 2 short beverages (90m) Win-Test ver 4.9.1 1 hour sleep in the middle of the night No VK, no ZL, no JA 73, Michel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: GM4AFF Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 576 Much poorer conditions compared to previous two years. Thanks for all the QSOs. Elecraft K3 to a vertical or dipole. Beverages (NW and SE) and Ewes (NE and SW) on rx. 73 Stewart GM4AFF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: HG8L Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 1,585 Thanks to the many nice QSOs! ODX: CE1/K7CA 73, Bela/HA8BE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: I2WIJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 786 ODX: N5UL 8976 Km I really hoped for better conditions. 73 and Very Happy New Year to everybody. Bob, I2WIJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: IV3PRK Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,289 Despite my wrong rest periods, the score is about 50% better than the last year thanks to 25 QSO's with Japan (19/20 points each). Once again conditions have been not the same to the West and the second half of the night was a pain. K3ZM complained for not been heard as QRP (funny reading Peter, great humor!), but I managed to work only two stations in the Eastern USA..., something better with Midwest, though quite spotty from Minnesota to New Mexico. Unfortunately the wonderful conditions of the 1997 event, when the band had been open all the night with the West Coast, did never occur again, as shown in my 15 years Stew Perry graph on this page: http://www.iv3prk.it/stew-perry-contest.htm Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Topband friends Luis IV3PRK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: JA1XMS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 430 This was my second time following 2009 to join the contest. By continent QSO's: 2009 2011 AS 4 5 JA 2 3 OC 1 0 W 7 2 EU 3 13 Total 17 23 Score summary: year C P GRID RAW DUPE BUST QSO PTS GRD CALL-BEST DX-KM QRP 2009 S L .... 17 0 0 17 408 16 N7XM 8494 0 2011 S L .... 23 0 0 23 430 23 OK2 8985 0 It's nice to have such power bonus based upon the other party. And I'm happy to give x2 point to the stations I worked who patiently picked up my callsign and grid, thanks. Rig TS-590 100W Ant Tweak Inverted Vee 35mH http://www.ki.nu/~makoto/diary/attach/2009/160m-inv.jpeg Morse K1EL WinkeyUSB Logger N1MM Logger The by continent and hour breakdown: 2011-12-17 1 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ AS 3 1 1 5 EU 2 1 2 3 2 3 13 JA 0 NA 2 2 --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ sub 7 2 2 4 2 3 20 2011-12-18 1 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ AS 0 5 EU 0 13 JA 1 2 3 3 NA 0 2 --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ sub 1 2 3 23 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0AV Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 219 K3 into 40 meter beam. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0PK Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,617 Conditions not as good as last year. Activity seemed down as well. Still lots of fun! Thanks to all who pulled my little signal from the noise. Station: FT-2000 @ 5w, 95' Top-loaded vertical, Short Bev. & CF Zepp RX ants. 73 & Happy Holidays! Paul, K0PK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1LT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,501 The Stew Perry W1BB Topband Distance Challenge is my favorite contest. There should be a 2 day version of this contest, but I don't think we can squeeze another contest into the calendar. Maybe Congress can move New Year's Day later by a week so the TBDC can always fit between Christmas and New Year's Day. The power line noise that appeared just before the ARRL 160 contest has been fixed. I used an MFJ-852 to isolate the noise to a single power pole about 1500 feet from element 2 of the phased array (the other elements are all slightly further away). The power company fixed it within 3 business days of my call. I spent quite a bit of time talking to the power company noise guy about the cost versus benefit of fixing noise problems. According to him, the only benefit the power company gets is better customer relations. He reports that most noise complaints come from hams, and that they are not always successful in fixing problems. I'm hoping to maintain a good rapport with this guy so I can get other noise problems fixed in the future. After his crew finished swapping out a "combo" lightning arrester and service disconnect switch, he came by the property for a quick tour of the antenna systems. Both instances of the Northwest noise (a near one and a distant one) both stayed away until sunrise. Along with the lack of thunderstorms, the band was very quiet with just a bit of static after midnight. Since hunting through all of the receive antennas after each CQ is such a chore, I added a 2nd beam and receiver to the phased array receiver system. The 2nd beam can be directed independently of the main beam, as long as both are in the same half of the azimuth (east or west). The signal searching tactic this year was this: 2 east directions on the phased array receiver and 2 west directions on the K3 in diversity mode. Note that the phased array receiver is inherently diversity mode. After each CQ, I would listen for about 2 seconds east, then through the audio switches to the K3 and listen fore about 2 seconds to the west. Nevertheless, there are still blind spots in this arrangement, so if your signal is not strong enough to overcome a null, I won't hear you. Some day I must finish the "signal searching" software that I started a couple of years ago and then abandoned. Conditions were unusual. Propagation to the east was very spotty and generally weak. Both UU7J and UW2M came right back easily when called, yet I could only solicit a K1? from RL3A and LY7M. Propagation to the west seemed good, but maybe that was an illusion because normally propagation to the west from here is obscured by power line noise. I made a few more contacts and points that last year, but last year the noise problems were much worse. Here is an interesting table: raw raw points cooked cooked points ratio year QSOs score per QSO QSOs score per QSO 2005 491 2033 4.14 483 2439 5.05 1.22 2006 604 2224 3.68 didn't submit log in time 2007 691 3712 5.37 669 4293 6.42 1.19 2008 633 3328 5.26 617 3895 6.31 1.20 2009 761 4006 5.26 737 4871 6.61 1.26 2010 642 2477 3.86 623 2931 4.70 1.22 2011 656 2501 3.81 Note that the "scored" points per QSO includes the multiplier for working low power and QRP stations and removes the points attributed to busted calls. Nevertheless, the final score is just about 20% greater than the raw score. Worked 259 grids and 62 DX contacts: CE, DL (9), E7, EA, EI, F (4), FM (2), G (6), GW (2), HA (2), HI, HP, I, KH (3), KL (2), KV (2), LY, OH (4), OK (3), OM, ON, P4, PA (2), PJ2, S5, SM (3), UA, UR (2), XE, and YL. FN20 was the most popular grid. I only worked one other instance of my grid, EM89. Equipment: K3, ETO-91B (thanks Jeff), 65 foot "T" with 75 radials, 6 2-wire center-fed Beverages, 4 element broadside array of 2 element end-fire arrays steerable via software radio (see Dec. 2009 QEX), and Writelog. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1TN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 281 I have little experience on 160 Meters so can't judge conditions, but they treated me well for the 90 minutes I was on. Worked 11 Europeans plus FM, CE, PJ2, KV4, and KH6 between 0500 and 0630. Got back on at sunrise, 1300, looked for Alaska, which would complete my 6BWAS from here in one year, but no dice. Called an XE who for the life of him could not copy my grid number, so I quit. Same problem I had in the 10 Meter Contest; I don't know how many XEs I called on CW who just came back CQing away. And I know I was loud on that band. "EN55" is a PITA on CW. Some of the EU needed repeats and every one hung in until we got it right; thanks guys. 11 EU contacts is probably about as many as I have previously worked in my whole life on 160. I can remember (1970s) when you could be very competitive in an all-band DX contest without even having a rig for 160. This weekend I used the same pitiful excuse for an antenna that I used in the ARRL 160 Meter Contest: 110-foot horizontal wire, 35 feet above ground, split and fed in the center with twin lead, twin lead twisted together at ground level. That is, a random wire antenna. Two elevated 1/4 wave radials. 1:1 balun to MFJ 998 auto tuner by a kitchen window. 100 feet of coax from the radio room. If the weather holds (it's cold here but no snow) I could make the antenna longer and add two more temporary radials for the CQ 160 Meter Contest. I know it would help. Elecraft K3, 350-watt amp, NA software. What's with this CE1/K7CA guy, anyway? This season I called him three times, the first time with even less of an antenna than I have up now, and he came right back three times. I figure either 1) He has great ears, or 2) He has planted a remote receiver in my back yard. I looked around and didn't find any mysterious black boxes out there so the answer must be 1). As always, log on LotW. Jim Cain At The K1TN Superstation Northern Wisconsin -- EN55 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2PO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,846 Thanks to the Gentlemen (and Gentlewomen) of 160m for welcoming this newbie to the mysteries of topband. I put up my first 160m antenna a few weeks ago - an inverted-L with an apex at 45', so I could make a bona fide effort in the contest. ( Last year, in contrast, I did 30 minutes of SP with a 40-10m multiband vertical.) The contest got off to a good start, with two JAs, two KH6s, and a UA0, in the first 45 minutes - fb for 100 watts and a piece of wire. Saturday afternoon I got back on later than I should (novice mistake...), and found the band crowded with signals. After the east coasters gave up on Europe, I managed to get a run of 10-12 point QSOs in the log, and ultimately succeeded in also working PJ2T, KV4FZ, FM5CD and CE1/K7CA (the latter for 30 points). Eventually, of course, the rational folks went to bed, and I was left CQing with a lonely chorus of similarly daft insomniacs. At 0800z my rate was 10/hr. Then it fell to 5/hr. Starting at 1000z it bumped up to 6 (!), before dropping to 3 for the 1100z hour. I know I dozed a couple times through the night- startled into wakefulness by a rare response to my CQ. What kept me going, of course, was anticipation of our west coast sunrise propagation to Asia, which I'd heard local topbanders talk about. My hopes were fulfilled in the 1200z hour, when my CQs netted 8 JAs in the first 30 minutes. But then the propagation seemed to collapse: I made 14 QSOs in the final 150 minutes of the contest - none further than Illinois. Despite the disappointing finish, it was a fun time. Thanks to all for the good ears. See you next year! 73, Bill, K2PO near Portland, Oregon TS-850, inverted-L, 250' E-W beverage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2QO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,725 Picking a category to play in was tough. I did not want to go against the local killer buzz saw operators, K2ZR and N2CU, who were likely to be in QRP, so I used my new-to-me KAT100 for the K2 and ran 100W to a single wire antenna. That wire is a 130' vertical with its feedpoint 7' off the ground. Four radials complete the arrangement. It seems to work FB! As a rabid VHF rover, I really enjoy the grid square exchange. The distance scoring and multiplier for working QRP and LP stations is very cool too. 73, Mark K2QO FN03ra ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2SX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 688 I guess if you get good condx on 10M, you have to give up something and that seemed to be 160M condx. Was EU on vacation? Nice to get two KH6s for 16 points each. Would have been nice to have more West Coast QSOs but maybe they went on vacation with EU. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2TTT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 596 A head cold and 160 are not a good mix. Sorry for the repeats. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K2ZR Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,185 Rig: K2 Ant: 160M Inverted L, 160 Inverted V, EF Wire 425' & CF Wire 660' Logger: N1MM Thanks to all who hung in there to have a QSO with me. Happy Holidays, Dick, K2ZR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3FIV Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 370 After last year's surprise award of the plaque for "Best Soapbox Write-up" arrived just before this year's Stew Perry, you know I had to get back on the air. Many thanks much to John, K3TN, for sponsoring that award - which even a 100W-and-a-wire station could win! The strategy worked to get me back on the air this year, even with just 100W and a too-short dipole. So, I dove into doing the preparatory work. Sharpened pencils. Check. Paper pad. Check. Dictionary and thesaurus. Check. Oh yeah, radio... Yep, antenna is still up and rig still seems to get 160 RF to go somewhere. I'm good to go. Hmmm, it's only 3:30 in the afternoon, with the sun still shining through the shack windows. Oh well, I'll just set things up on 160 and come back later. Wait -- there's a signal on 160! It's N7NG in WY. Got a 700+ mile Q for my first contact, in broad daylight even. Yep, I'm on 160. After dark, things got better. Without a big antenna, I don't expect much, but I managed to work almost everyone I could hear, with PJ2T being the best DX to the east, and several HI stations to the west. Even did a little running after there was no one left to work, with lots of unanswered CQs. Biggest surprise was VY2ZM answering my CQ. Only worked a few other east coast stations. In this part of CA, we haven't had any significant rain for almost 2 months, so the ground is pretty dry. That didn't seem good for my antenna compared to last year. Lots of problems getting the remote tuner to settle down, and had to retune after moving only 10 KHz or so. When I couldn't get it to tune at all, I grabbed a flashlight and went out in the woods to see what was going on -- and scared away the deer at the antenna base. Guess you can't use a deertenna on 160. All in all, a nice relaxed contest. There could be more activity though (or maybe I just can't hear it). I like the scoring for a DX contest which is actually based on Distance. Why don't other "DX" contests do that too...? 73, /Jack de K3FIV Point Arena, CA Rig: Flex-3000, 100W Ant: 135' OCF dipole (sometimes configured as a Carolina Windom) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3IE Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 676 Always enjoy The Stew. Activity seemed lower this year - used Skimmer to find some new countries but none were captured. I did catch myself listening in vain to all the JA's coming back to K7GP's cq's Sunday morning - oh well. Tnx for the Q's - Hunter K3IE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3TN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 350 I left the amplifier off, for limited operating time figured that would maximize points. Too late, I actually read the rules - I think I maximized the points for the people I worked, not for me! Conditions were not great for the three times I could get on - EU was not very loud when I did hear any. My only >10 pointer was CE1/K7CA who has great ears. I did manage to work a few west coast stations and usual "beacons" from the Caribbean. N0NI wins my award for the biggest booming-est signal on the band. Every year the SP reminds me how much fun grid squares are for the exchance - and how *little* I miss RST as part of the exchange... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3WA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 310 Just one hour to give out some Qs and test antenna. The Qs went well, nice strong signals, old friends, reasonable rate. The antenna not so well. After the first 30 minutes of running with something breaking down during each transmission. More stuff to play with. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3ZM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 2,136 "The Ghosts of QRP" Last night, I had a strange and haunting dream. I had gone to a party that was populated by many of our usual comrades. Ordinarily, I dress up quite proudly for these affairs, but on this evening I was dressed very plainly. It was early in the evening, but several of my friends from the other side of the lake were already there, conversing with other guests. I approached one of them and tried to get his attention. He completely ignored me. Eventually, I began to wonder if he could even see me. I was confused by this, and began to look for another of my friends from the other side of the water. "Ah," I said to myself. There's Tur. I'll go talk with him. "Hey, Tur! It's Peter, K3ZM." He didn't acknowledge me. "Tur - what's up? It's K3ZM." No response. Worse still, it was as though I was invisible. I spotted Luis across the room. Thank goodness! He will recognize me, of course. K3ZM: Luis, what's up? It's Peter, K3ZM. Luis: nothing K3ZM: Hey, it's Peter. K3ZM K3ZM K3ZM! Luis: huh? I wondered what on Earth was happening. This was really unsettling. I felt like a ghost. It was still early in the party and at that moment I heard DL6FBL nearby. He was dressed quite prominently and stood out among the other guests. I went over and said hello to him. At first, he was unsure of my identity but eventually he held out his hand and said, "Hello, Peter." But our handshake was somehow unsatisfying and the exchange left me still feeling a bit insecure. I helped myself to some hors d'oeuvres and walked around a bit. Then I noticed G4AMT across the room. "Hey, how's it going? It's Peter, K3ZM." He replied immediately, "Hello, Peter," and his handshake was firm, warm and dry. "That's more like it," I said to myself. But then I approached several other friends and, one by one, they acted as though I was not even there. After several disturbing episodes like this, I decided to try congregating with folks who live more in my neighborhood. Some of them acted strangely, as well, but at least they seemed to recognize me. After a while, my older brother came by to say hello. But he also seemed different - nothing like his usual self. He wished me luck and vanished as quickly as he had come. Wow. What a strange party. I did not know what to think. I wanted to chat with some more of the regulars, so I found a tall, round, stand-up table in a corner of the room where there were no other conversations taking place. I began waving my hands in the air, trying to attract some other guests for a conversation. I decided to offer an incentive: "Hey, come over and talk to me! I'm K3ZM. I can provide you with four free hors d'oeuvres if you join me at my table for a moment." My incentive plan worked for a while, but eventually interest in the free hors d'oeuvres faded and I was back to trolling the party for interesting conversation. Ahah! There's good old Herb behind the bar pouring drinks. You can always count on Herb to be here! I walked over and requested a drink, but some guy from Indiana sneaked ahead of me. I frowned in annoyance as Herb handed him his drink. Herb and his neighbors always serve me first. Always. Without fail. I shrugged my shoulders and started to request my drink, but some other guy muscled in ahead of me again. This is ridiculous! These guys don't seem to understand the program. I always get my drink first at this bar. Finally, it was my turn. I was actually relieved when Herb said, "Hello, Peter. What will you have?" "Rum punch," I said. "And you had better make it a double." Much later in the evening, as the glow from the rum punch faded, I noticed one of Lloyd's neighbors. They live in a multi-family dwelling not far from his location. "Aloha, dudes! It's Peter, K3ZM." Nothing. I tried again. Finally, "K3ZM K3ZM K3ZM!" No recognition. They did not realize that I was there. Eventually, the party faded into a blur as the guests thinned out and it got very late. It was a most unsatisfying evening. I began to lose track of where I was. . . I awoke in front of my radio confused and disoriented. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I must have fallen asleep at the key. The sun was rising over the Bay. The bad dream was beginning to fade. I reached down to the little black knob at the bottom of my radio and turned it clockwise until the screen read the usual 37W. I then turned to my left and hit the rocker switch on the 91B. The wait light glowed red. The Earth was beginning to turn properly on its axis again. I poured a hot cup of coffee and started to feel normal. Then I decided to compose myself by re-reading the current issue of CQ. Thank heaven it was all just a dream. 73, Peter K3ZM Congratulations and many thanks to: DL6FBL G4AMT OL1A SM2CEW CE1/K7CA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,016 FT1000MP, Alpha 78, 1 KW, "T" vertical. Conditions OK for this hemisphere and Hawaii, but only two signals heard from EU (G4AMT and DL6FBL) and no DX QSOs outside this hemisphere and Hawaii. Thanks for all QSOs. Happy Holidays and New Year to all. 73, John, K4BAI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4FTO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 268 New home brew 30' base loaded with limited radials performed well-superior to previously used 160 center fed attic long wire. Best dx-Aruba, P.R. & AZ. No west coast USA or Euro stations heard. Limited op time Saturday evening. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4IQJ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 549 S&P only; KW to inverted L + various K9AY loop arrays for RX. Very noisy conditions hr. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5AF Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 320 A great test of the K2AV counterpoise. I think the consensus is that conditions were better for ARRL than for this Stew. With that assumption, I would say that the FCP equals or exceeds my 11 50' radials in the yard with a similar Inverted L. Europe neither heard nor worked, but I missed the prime time around their sunrise. For some reason, I usually have some difficulty working Herb, KV4FZ, but not this time, worked on the first call. Overall, I believe that the FCP is a very viable and stealth-friendly, XYL-friendly, and easily deployable alternative to a ground radial system. It was very easy to get up and running, just needed to keep it a few inches from my fence, otherwise it becomes sensitive to the rain when the fence gets waterlogged. Guy, K2AV, has been very helpful with any questions. I'll tweak it some more before CQ160 and will give a more detailed report then. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5MR Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,201 Fun contest. I really like the scoring rules for this one. It was nice to get on the air for a few hours and work a lot of familiar calls. The band was very quiet here. Average EU opening and not much activity heard from other parts of the globe during the time I was on. I hope to be able to put in more hours next time. Thanks to K5RX for the use of his FB top band station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5OAI Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 320 Fun time, gave out as many Q's as I could worked maybe 1/3 of what I could hear Sadly K7RAT and PJ2T were 2 of the ones that got away, good signals here but no cpi on me best was W7EW in Salem Or. CN84 @ 2405km CN84lv to DM81sk 306 mpw using 5 output power 5098 mpw using the actual ERP :-( (5w = 300mw ERP) Hi-Q 6/160 @ 20' 16 radials ea 13' long and the winners were: 2011-12-18 0016 N0TT 599 EM29 2011-12-18 0019 N5OT 599 EM16 2011-12-18 0022 KZ5D 599 EL49 2011-12-18 0028 KU5B 599 EM10 2011-12-18 0029 K0HA 599 EN10 2011-12-18 0053 W6IZT 599 EM74 2011-12-18 0056 WD5R 599 EM45 2011-12-18 0124 KO7X 599 DN71 2011-12-18 0127 N5RZ 599 DM91 2011-12-18 0133 K9CT 599 EN50 2011-12-18 0147 K5MR 599 EM13 2011-12-18 0156 N7DD 599 DM42 2011-12-18 0229 K6LL 599 DM22 2011-12-18 0254 N0NI 599 EN21 2011-12-18 0305 N5UL 599 DM82 2011-12-18 0327 W0BH 599 EM18 2011-12-18 0405 N5IA 599 DM52 2011-12-18 0504 K1LT 599 EM89 2011-12-18 0523 K9NW 599 EN71 2011-12-18 0612 KE2VB 599 DM41 2011-12-18 1031 W7EW 599 CN84 2011-12-18 1038 K7NJ 599 DM37 2011-12-18 1043 W5DR 599 EM45 2011-12-18 1116 W0IZL 599 EN01 2011-12-18 1120 N1LN 599 FM05 2011-12-18 1135 K9IG 599 EM69 2011-12-18 1232 N7GP 599 DM52 2011-12-18 1236 W7RH 599 DM35 2011-12-18 1242 K5SM 599 EM03 2011-12-18 1301 W0DLE 599 DM79 tnx to all for the greatest TB contest of all! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6CSL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 104 Very disappointing. Conditions didn't seem to be as good as last year and participation didn't appear as good. However looking at last years record, last year I made 32 QSO's and a score of 106. However my best has been 2008 when I made 31 Q's and a score of 130, punctuated with higher point contacts, 1 each, with KL7, KH6, and JA. Of course I can't really expect much running 100W to 40M antennas(1/8th wave on 160M) I did try an experiment this time. I reduced my power to 80W so I could load 3 of my 4 "invisible" antennas. I did find that my new end fed wire made a couple of contacts that I couldn't hear on my Delta Loop. I think over-all however I would have done better running my full 100W to just the Delta Loop. Changing antennas may have been a distraction. So with that and thanking the KB'ers for many of my contacts, my XYL, Patti and I wish you all a safe and merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Bert, K6CSL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7BG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,716 Worked all the DX I could hear with 100w from the IC-765. Ran a while and then went down the band and found PJ2T, FM5CD, KV4FZ, CE1/K7CA, RA0FU, several KH6 and KL7s. Surprised at how quickly I got through. I guess the pileups had been worked down. Didn't get up for the JA openings. Just got on for 3 hours late Saturday night. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all, Matt--K7BG IC-765 @ 100w 1/4 wave sloper from 80 feet of heavily loaded 45G. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7IA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 545 Shunt fed tower temporary lashup failed early in the event with sudden increase in SWR. However both the vee antenna and the shunt feed were selectable on the remote coax switch, so I could compare received signals. The shunt feed was the winner, hands down, as rcvd signals were stronger by ear and by 2-3 S-units. All but about five Qs were worked with the vee, which garnered some nice DX (new for me on this band): F5IN, OL1A, E77DX, DL6FBL, G4AMT. I'm looking forward to making the shunt feed permanent before the CQ 160! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7RAT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,748 Activity seemed good. Only managed one European QSO with G4AMT. Heard RL3A pretty well - but never could even get a ? out of him. OL1A was also heard and that was it for Europe. Worked VK6GX the first morning and VK6HD heard me the second morning. Also heard HS0ZEE the first morning, but don't think he was in the contest. Worked 30 JAs - which is a sign the activity in this contest from Japan is improving. Had to take the wife to the doctor just before sunset - so I perhaps missed s few good hours. Stayed up all night to try and make up for it. Thanks for the QSOs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7RL Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,424 Conditions seemed fairly good, although not as good as previous years. Heard and worked a few EU stations including: E77DX, OL1A, UU7J, and G4AMT - great ears! Heard RA4LW, S59ZZ and RL3A with very good signals, but never got their attention, despite many repeated attempts through several QSB cycles. I assumed they were listening in some other direction, although I heard other U.S. stations calling without any reply. Managed to find other EU stations calling CQ, but their signals were marginal and never returned after the initial QSB dip. Didn't stick around for the JA/South Pacific hours, so I did sacrifice some points there. I agree with others that participation seemed lacking. Happy Holidays to all and thank you for the Qs! 73 de Mitch, K7RL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7SS Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 507 A nice genteel event at the end of the 2011 contest season... Nothing like QRP on top band to settle the nerves....after 2 CQ world-wides, 2 ARRL sweepstakes, and an ARRL 10m and JIDX in the last 8 weekends. Some very fine antennae out there.. The GREAT-EARS BLUE RIBBONS go to KH6LC and KH7X to the west, K9CT to the east, KU5B to the southeast, and WL7E to the north. Circle of workable stations generally was UT/CO to East, VE7 to the North, the Bay Area to the South, and KH6 to the West. Many calls to AZ, Southern CA, W9s W5s unanswered. KUDOS to those that can actually hear and work 5w stations calling them, and I believe this is one of those rare contests that actually REWARDS the COPYING station for being able to log a QRP station!.... well done, rule-writers ! great idea.... we all know that the hard work is being done on the RX side of the QSO. Always a treat working nearby W7DRA, who was running 3 watts, with vintage gear. Its possible I might get 2nd place in West Seattle. Let the log checking begin ...:-) Thanks to the Boring Amateur Radio Club for a fine gentlemanly radio evening. tu Tree. 73 and here's hoping we can all gather again next December, on one of the longest nights of the year, in the annual TBDC. Happy and healthy 2012 to all. Danny K7SS ic756proII, inv L. 1.5 radials. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7XC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 160 Less than stellar conditions coupled with low activity levels makes for a very slow event. Add to that being under the weather and the score is anecdotal at best. Managed to snag RA0, KL7, & KH6 At The Contest Start. Never heard any W1's/Caribbean's... QSL 100% VIA LOTW! 73s and Merry Xmas from DM09! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8FC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,046 Conditions from here were not the best, at least for me. No Asia in the log and the farthest west from this qth was KH6. The highest point value for me was a 17 from UU7J. Thank you Andy for hanging in there. Signals were arriving from different angles throughout the evening. Some of it made me think that the switching for the rx antennas was faulty. :-). Having separate directional rx antennas are great for chasing dx in a low noise environment but stink when you are trying to work a contest. Having good RDF is not a plus when someone is calling you from the opposite direction. My apologies to all that I had to ask to repeat until I found you. Euro stations were surprisingly strong in daylight/dusk hours here before I started up. I could hear them extremely well but it was one way communications for many hours before I started to get across the pond as it were. The late morning hours really drag on with low qso return. By this time you have scoured the band and are looking at diminishing returns. High coffee consumption time. Thanks for the points. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8GT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 358 Limited to an 80M inverted vee with apex at 60 feet for this Stew. Surprisingly, it worked quite well for domestic QSOs, but heard very few DX, PJ2T and CE1/K7CA, only. Too weak for me to have a chance. As usual, I didn't want to misst the fun, so used what I had. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8IA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 258 In the time I was on, I experienced some of the worst 160 contest cndx I've ever heard. Hope it picks up later for you diehards. I'll use the remainder of this evening to do some rx diversity testing on both my K3 and Orion II, and playing with the new Orion/Orion II firmware load which now has a really great APF. CU in CQWW 160. 73, Bob K8IA Arizona Outlaws Contest Club ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MM Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 538 I had a xmas party to go to so I didn't get on the air until 11:30PM local time and missed a lot of prime time operating. DX worked... CE,DL,FM,G,KH6,KP2,OM,P4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,420 A laid back effort of SO1R2C - that's a second computer with which I alternated between F1 on the first computer and PageDown on the second as I read the Sunday news. G4AMT the only EU worked, heard but no qsos with S59ZZ and DL6FBL. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! 73 - Jim K8MR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9CT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,785 I had some fun but the QSB killed some good qsos. Left me hanging more than once with NIL. Heard EU at SS but condx not favorable until EU SR. Worked JA8ISU at 0650 and thought this would be a good night to JA. Wrong....No Asia at all after that. 57 qsos greater than 6 point value. Radio was K3 run in diversity most of the time. I used the HiZ 8 Array for rx with the tx antenna. TX antenna was 1/4 wave vertical. Alpha 87A with MKII and N1MM logger. Good to work cw and good friends. Thanks for the qsos and best wishes for the holidays. 73, Craig K9CT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9IG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,503 I had intended to put more of an effort into this but I had some RX antenna issues that took some time to trouble-shoot at the start. The K9AY array seemed a bit deaf, and then got REALLY deaf. Trying to listen on the big vertical or a dipole was just way too fatiguing for me, so I had to get the array working. Thinking that it was something inside, I ended up taking most of the low band receiving hardware apart in the shack, swapping cables, by-passing control boxes to no avail. About 11pm I got out the headlamps and flashlight for some inspection of hardware outside thinking that deer had maybe walked through the array leaving it in a pile - it was still standing. Back in the shack, I took a GMRS radio, and locked it on transmit and set it in front of the speaker, taking another GMRS radio with an earpiece outside, so that I could hear the receive on the HF radio in the shack. I traced the hardline and coax of the array. I have a junction box about 150 ft from the house and looked at connectors/cable, started to move things around and I heard the receive come back to life via the GMRS radio. I had a cable just below the entry into the junction box chewed, breaking the braid on the coax, moving it around "made" the connection so I could hear again. Varmints are a pain. It was about 12:30am by this time, taking a major amount of fun out of the night. I was hoping for at least 500 Q's but it was not in the cards. I got some EU, head the JA but didn't work him. I did have fun, even with the hassle of critters eating cable. Happy Holidays to all! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9MMS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,264 Radio: K3 TX: Inverted L (recently added 24 more radials) and Marconi sloper (3/8 wave). RX: Assorted short antennas including new Hi-Z 2-3 triangular array. Logging: Win-Test CQ and S&P QSOs split at about 50% each mode. Score is estimated: Win-Test indicated 843 points. Multiplied by 1.5 for LP yields 1264. K7RAT / Bert to figure out what it really is -- I don't know. :) This effort was a struggle -- rather high noise levels, most DX heard was down near the noise floor ; also dealing with a head cold and being tired. Wasted too much time tuning for DX -- not much heard -- EU DX was better during the days before the contest. Unexpectedly, grayline sunrise for EU did not provide much improvement. Activity dropped way down by 0300CST / 0900Z, so called it quits to get needed sleep. Did not have the energy to get back on for my sunrise. DX worked (in QSO order): PJ2T, KV4FZ, HI3TEJ, FM5CD, CE1/K7CA, OL1A, DL6FBL, KH6LC, G3BJ, PA5KT, KH7X, KH7Y, and XE2S. Many grids worked - not counted yet. Came close to working all 50 states. Never heard KL7, and (per a quick view of grids-worked map in Win-Test) it looks like I probably missed perhaps 3 to 6 states. Never heard VE1, VO1, VE5, or VY1 / VE8. As always, any contest on Top Band is fun, but lower noise levels and more DX heard would be better. :) Thanks for the QSOs. Thanks to the BARC and K7RAT/Bert / N6TR/Tree for a great contest format. Merry Christmas and all the best for 2012 and beyond. 73, Gary ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9NW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,782 Nothing spectacular to report. Thought that maybe with the A/K setting at 0 for a long time there might be an uptick in condx.....bzzt. Activity seemed down. I suppose with the general decline in Topband condx compared to years past this could be expected. But others seem to have found plenty of stations to work so I don't know....maybe I just need to hear more of 'em. I bagged it around 0620z after going seven minutes between two QSOs and then another seven until the next one. Got back on around 1030z but found no sunrise enhancement in condx nor activity. DX: Only 19 EU. 3 SA. 3 NA. 1 OC (KH6) No JA. No VK/ZL. 24 DXCC 202 Grids I wish stations to the east ("east" being relative) would consider QSYing out of the 1810-1825 JA window in the morning when it's no longer viable for them to work JA, making room for those to the west that still have that opportunity. At least in this contest, there's more than ample room for post-sunrise CQing above 1825. Just a thought. Til then it's tighten up the passband and squeeze in somewhere. Wishing y'all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 73, Mike K9NW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9YC Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 962 I'm sure I worked some low power and QRP guys, so the final score will be higher. NO3M, running QRP, made it out here from near Pittsburgh, and a couple of my TN buddies sounded like they were LP. DX was RA0, three JAs, KV4FZ, PJ2T, P40TA, KH2/N2NL, and FM5CD. I gave up early -- as much as I love the format of the Stew, it just doesn't have the critical mass needed to make it fun. I hit it for the first 40 minutes in the morning to work what was left of the AS opening, then a couple of hours after dark, and quit around 8 pm when it slowed to a crawl. Went back out the the shack just before midnight, ran for about an hour, and it had again slowed to a crawl, and I quit around 1 am. All this event needs is a LOT more participation, but it needs it very badly. Just before the contest began, I discovered that the DXE Beverage preamp had died, so I had to patch around it. Discovered that the K3 has more than enough gain to run without it. Also discovered that there's no schematic in the DXE user manual. Ditto for their other Beverage products. No excuse for that, especially at the prices they're charging, and I'm pissed. On the positive side, the transistors have visible 2N numbers. 73, Jim K9YC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KB8U Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,152 No DX worked this time. Had fun anyway! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KE3X Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 312 Just a few hours testing my 160-meter Inverted-L in advance of CQ 160 contest, in which DC is a multiplier. I used a wrist rocket last month to raise the height to about 60 feet, and it seems to work fine. Even has a small run of stations for 20-minutes running Low Power, so conditions must have been good. Ken ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KG7H Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,999 Couldn't make that last QSO to break 2000!! I am sure someone I worked was LP or QRP so that should bump me up a bit. Best DX was VK6GX at 9462 miles for a 31 pointer. Many JAs this year. The CE1 and RA0 were also good catches. Some Carribean's but no Europe for me this year. I look at Europe through the magentic north pole - much absorbtion. 73 de Craig KG7H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KH6LC Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 2,419 With signal levels down and noisy conditions it was a long night. Thanks to all for your help and patience. Season's Greetings...Mele Kalikimaka 73 & Aloha, Lloyd, Curt & Ken ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KH7Y Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 780 Much QSB and QRN from storms to the west of us. Best DX CE1/K7CA 33points and FM5CD 3o points. VY2ZM and K9CT were very strong here on Saturday night. Thanks for QSO's Aloha, Fred ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KN4Y Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 286 Got on for awhile and enjoyed the nice signals. My butt got sore so I ceased operation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KQ0C Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 198 Just an hour or so of tuning the band S&P. My CW isn't good enough to call CQ. I did get PJ2T, FM5CD and CE1/K7CA. I had no noise, I just didn, thear that many stations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KS4L Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 137 Elecraft K3/100 feeding 80m inverted vee. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU5B Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 3,185 Last minute operation as I'd just finished with classes for the semester on Thursday. I got really bored on Saturday and drove up to the station arriving around 3pm. Thank goodness all of 160 still worked. First full-time effort in the Stew and it was lots of fun. NX5M was pretty tired from a busy week of fixing stuff around the station so he crashed around 0630z. I stayed in until the 14 hours was over. I restrained myself from waking him up after I worked the first JA at 0700z. The new antenna is still working wonders. Heck, all the RX antennas worked the whole time; must be a record. Lots of EU and lots of JA saved my score at the end; thanks for coming out. Hope everyone has a nice holiday season. Colin KU5B and Bob NX5M ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU8E Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,145 FT-1000MP 100 watts - Inverted L (about 6o ft vertical) with 4 - 130 ft long elevated radials Best DX - KH6LC and KH7X - 22 points CE1/K7CA - 21 points All had very good signals when I worked them. Pretty cool to get thru running 100 watts. CE1/K7CA , PJ2T, P40TA and KV4FZ all had loud signals for many hours. Heard nothing at all from Europe. Many west coast stations had good signals but most of them CQed in the face of the stations out east calling them. I had better luck getting thru later on around 7-8 Z when that's all that was left on the band. Not sure if N1MM is calculating my score correctly - if it adds the low power multiplier. Happy Holidays and best wishes in 2012 to all my contesting friends. Jeff KU8E ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KV4FZ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 3,533 As always the Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challenge is the greatest. The fact that you are driven to scrape out of the noise even the weakest USA station, since they could be QRP and worth as much as an European, makes this a true "challenge" for all participants. I wanted at least 500 contacts as my goal but even though the calls seemed constant, while spending most of the contest on 1822Khz, I probably would have done better with some S&P. However, the few times I did S&P I only ran across stations already worked. It seems that more stations in the TBDC are looking for the higher pointer or the new one and unlike the ARRL affair over a week ago you don't have an endless hoard of CQ machines every 100hz across the band. I was able to get 60 Euros and some 20 pointers that way (assuming all were HP) but as soon as K6SRZ broke through from the west coast I realized that because of my easterly distance from the U.S. Continent at 64.7 deg. WL that my west coast US contacts gained me nearly as much as Western EU ones. My N/E and N/W beverage selection, which is on a 12 position passive TV station old Dynair video monitor switch, was in constant use, on the weakest of signals to get them into the log. This push button panel is right above the CW paddle but requires significant finger pressure to change RX antennas compared to the paddle. Fortunately my left hand did most of the function keys for CW. During the contest I realized my IC-746 Pro was on the operating table unused since I was on the new IC-7410 and how easy it would have been to setup a dual RX audio configuration for simultaneous US West Coast and Europe with proper level controls. I could have also used this on two of the EU Beverages(N, NNE, NE, E)to deal with QSB and pattern shifting that often occurs during a single hour. Let me interject as often as I can that the TBDC (The Stew) really makes it as thrilling to work west coast USA as working Europeans. No other contest gives this kind of fairness to stations located 3000 miles apart on the other side of the fruited plain separated by two mountain ranges. In short the TBDC is "King". Or as Forrest Gump was often quoted..its "like a box of chocolates...you never know what your gonna git." The most unusual moment was when Merv K9FD/KH6 was amazing breaking through on my N/W Beverage and when I switched to my 900 foot West Beverage he was as strong as most West Coast U.S. Stations if not a bit stronger. Set up: Icom IC-7410 Drake L-7 TX Ant 85 foot top loaded Rohn 45 30 Radials, on #12 THHN ground most over 100' RX Antennas 600' single wire Beverages, Four 2 wire Reversible (2 DX-Eng and 2 KD9SV with WD-1A wire) DX-Eng RTR-1 TX-RX control for Icom Radio allowing RX on separate bank via 12 position switch. (And finally) Large restaurant dispenser of Rep. Dom coffee which kept me working till sunrise after having to work all day Saturday till sunset. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KX7L Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 360 As usual, thanks to all the great ears out there that pulled in my 5 watts. What a difference a quiet location and good receiving antenna makes. At one point I stuggled unsuccessfully to make a "6 point" QSO, then tuned down the band and made an 18 pointer on the first call. Not sure if it was activity, or conditions, but just couldn't match what I did back in 2009. Still, lots of fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KY5R Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 479 Was in it fer the long hual prop........oh well another day. Fri nite fair cndx to EU from EM64 NW AL. Sat nite stinko! As N4KG says "no two nights are the same on 160!" Glad I have Vert 4sq RX array wrkg this year. "if you can hr um u can wrk um" rang true for most of the EU I hrd. Got up after sunrise so no JA etc. Had wrkd JA and HL during the week. Oh well just glad Stew campaigned to get the band where it is today. TNX OM. Best of the Holidays to all from NA (North Alabama), Tim, Ky5R Orion II , Acom 1K , K7TJR vert 4sq RX , T-config top load vert 80 radials TX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: LZ2DF Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 742 Good ConDX this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: LZ9R Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,140 TS850SAT , Inv.L Condx were promising at the beginning with some over 10 pts contacts with Asia.Allmost fell off chair when UA0OD answer to my CQ.Then it start- rain,rain and more rain, with QRN peaking s9+30.Take a break, hoping for good prop. to west,but condx just dissapeared.Only audible signal from US was W2GD. PJ2T was peaking to 559 for some 15 minutes,but couldn't get through. 73 and Happy holidays de Nasko,LZ9R CU in ARRL RUP if the weather stay good. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: MM0LID Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 501 Bands Not Too Favourable Up This Way, Heard So Much More But Couldnt Break Through With 5W Fun While Active. Thanks For The Q's 73 And Merry Christmas And HNY De Scott MM0LID ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0AH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 726 New TS590S delivered as promised with pulling weak signals out of the noise- learning curve created a few problems, like being a bit too tight not to hear K0RF calling me who is 35 miles from here- got it figured out, hihi- I gave up on listening for any EU's inside the window as too many stateside ops calling in there )-; - but did work PJ2, FM5, and my biggest catch of the night was CE1/K7CA being at 8,336 KM. Two KH6 stations. Once calling me on my run frequency, the other S/P.. Ran stations in up conversion mode, SFT 350 and WDH 250, and worked tough DX in down conversion- filters mainly set at SFT 300 and WDH 80. Just an amazing radio for CW- Thx to N2IC on helping me set up the TS590S over-all menu items- I just had to figure out which filter settings were fb for me- Using Cushcraft MA160V, and single wire K9AY loop. Of note, I did not use the preamp on the K9AY loop....it seemed a better combination to use the TS590S without the K9AY preamp vs. using the Pro III and always seeming to need the pre-amp on- might be the conditions last night, but that is the most notible difference in comparing the rigs- The Pro III sure had a few items I missed, namely, a built in keyer that I was used to for several years- the most negative thing I had with the TS590S last night was the rig's internal keyer- just not as smooth as the Pro III, so far- Slept in again yet for another sunrise- no JA's but I know it would have been a good night for them- I wish this contest was LP for all- 73 Paul N0AH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0IM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 471 First time ever QRP on 160 for any contest so a learning experience to be sure. Will I do it again, think about it for the CQWW 160. I was grateful the bands were not wall to wall so I was able to find a frequency run for a short time. I had family commitments so didn’t get on until 2130 and operated until 0130 CST. By then I was beat… I did manage some DX, KH6, CE1, PJ2T, and FM5. Heard but couldn’t work WL7E and a host of Europeans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1EU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,564 Condx didn't seem very good at all but I guess they could have been worse. Many signals were lost in the noise, and apologies if you called and I couldn't pull you out. That being said, managed to work 35 European, 27 west coast, and a handful of Caribbean stations, as well as CE1/K7CA and KH6LC. Listening on 580ft Beverages in 4 directions, but surprised to find that sometimes the inverted L was hearing better. Thanks for all the q's 73 & Happy Holidays, Barry N1EU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1LN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,200 Nice to have a quiet band. Some of the time I did not even use my beverages. That made the QRP stations easier to copy. Only had 13 Qs over 10 points each. No KL, KH6, VK, ZL, or JA. Guess the band was too quiet. 73, Bruce ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2BJ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 367 A dentist visit is better! This was worse than pulling teeth or getting a root canal! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2CU Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,323 100% S & P. Didn't feel like being a CQ machine so I did something more challenging - QRP, all S & P. Lots of very good ears out there. The best has to be CE1/K7CA who came back on the first call and stuck with me until the QSB died. A big 48 points for that one! Kudos to G4AMT (first DX of the contest), KH6LC, KV4FZ and PJ2T who also got me in the log. Rig: K3 @ 5w. Ant: 46' Inverted L with 97 radials from 75' to 150' RX Ant: K9AY loops 73, Tom N2CU <>< K3 #3582 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2JDQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 404 1st Stew here ( Semi-serious Effort ) Band seemed promising @ 1st but seemed fairly flat with no significant 'enhancements' till about 0240z when I started hearing west coast. The sand man got me @ just before 0600z.. I cldnt stay awake regardless of how much coffee I drank which was sad because that's prime time for EU for my set up on their sun rise. For the most part I worked everything I could hear until the later hours 0400-0600z. Effort was 90% S&P as I don't as well as I should, so I hunted a lot. Stations Heard but no QSO: FM5CD - I heard him for what seemed hours n hours.. spent a solid 40 minutes in all trying to QSO with him no dice. ( Have workd him b4 tho ) K0TQ - Good signal I just cldnt make it ( abt 10 minutes attempting ) N5OT - Big signal.. was working west when I 1st tried.. then some e.cst calls.. I cldnt make the path ( abt 20 minutes attempting ) PJ2T - Solid for many hours but I could not get threw, it seemed when his sig peaked for me, thats when he was answering EU, and when he was light for me, is when he was working USA ( abt 20min attempting ) K9OZ - Tried for abt 10m and gave up.. put him on the 'to look for later list' and did not find him again SPECIAL THANKS TO : NG1G - Im not sure if you were LP or QRP or even QRO.. I dont have a good station.. so the 8-10 Minutes of repeats.. THANK YOU for not giving up! W7EW - I stumbled on him in S&P.. no one was calling him and I was shocked, I gave 1 call.. I got a? and sent my call again.. and he got a partial.. QSB must have got me a few times on his end as he worked N2MM and a few others.. and once I was almost certian he kept sending N2ODQ and then grid grid? I did not want him thinking that was my call..so..I kept sending my call again.. after what was in total probabally 15-20 minutes we finally got the qso... THANK YOU for not giving up. FYI you were 429-539 the whole time here. Point Breakdown (Distance): 2 ptrs - 64 3 ptrs - 52 4 ptrs - 16 6 ptrs - 1 8 ptrs - 1 9 ptrs - 2 12 ptrs - 2 Most Popular Grid Square - FN20 @ 13 q's 2nd Most popular Grid Tied with 6 QSO's FM05 & FM19 Longest QSO - W7EW @ 3595 kM Better ears are my priority for TB..next year hope to have a 30'x14' rotatable flag @ 40'..ground mounted minimally. ( dnt think the K9AY loop will work well here ) Station: Kenwood TS-940S 100w Ant TX & RX 1/4 wl Inv L (30' Vertical 45' straight horiz, then a few 90 deg bends to fit on my city lot which is 33'x46'- 23 Radials pointing from 340 deg to 60 deg even spaced.. NO LONGER than 60' with the majority in the 38-40' range) -Steve Raas N2JDQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4AF Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 210 45min break from higher bands in 9A contest. About 10 countries. Best wishes to everyone in 2012 ! 73, Howie STEW PERRY TOPBAND CHALLENGE SUMMARY SHEET CONTEST: STEW PERRY TOPBAND CHALLENGE START DATE: 18-12-11 CALLSIGN USED: N4AF LOCATOR: FM15 CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED CATEGORY-BAND: ALL CATEGORY-MODE: CW CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH CLUB: Potomac Valley Radio Club NAME: Howard Hoyt ADDRESS: 549 Bluebird Trail ADDRESS-CITY: Blounts Creek ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE: NC ADDRESS-POSTALCODE: 27814 ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA EMAIL: n4af@blountscreek.org OPERATING TIME: 00:44:32 CQ COUNTER: 15 RUN/SEARCH: 3/42 Qs UNIQUE CALLSIGNS: 45 BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points __________________________________________________________ 160CW 45 45 210 __________________________________________________________ Totals 45 45 210 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4DJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 65 Sorry I did not have much time for this one. I did fire up my Drake C-Line from the 70's! 73, Don N4DJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4DU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 749 500W into Inv-L up 70 ft across 60 ft. Best DX where CE1/K7CA and KH6LC, worked all the FM's, P4, PJ and KV4, etc. Only heard 2 europeans :-) Thanks for the contacts, Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4KG Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,000 YUCK ! Where was everybody? It was as if 'They threw a party but hardly anyone showed up'. (OK, the run rate peaked at 144 but wobbled all over the place with many periods of Dry CQ's). AND, only heard ONE European, F6BEE. We copied each others callsigns but were unable to complete the exchanges. NOT much fun. :-( NOT looking forward to next year. Tom N4KG in North Alabama (er, ah, EM64) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5IA Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,533 I did my usual two operations; one at HP with a club call sign and one at QRP with my own station call sign. This report will be for both operations as they were interleaved and each one had a bearing on the other. The sun is already about 45 minutes into the sky when the contest starts on Saturday morning. I operated N7GP at HP for 30 minutes, making 15 contacts, before having to go to work. I returned to the station in the late afternoon and made another 19 contacts in 1:15 of operating time. The 2nd contact was with FM05 and that was followed 5 Qs later with a contact with FN13. OK. This is a good indicator and I was ready for a good run. I changed logs and started the N5IA, QRP operation at 0000Z. This time corresponds with local sunset, and provides 14 hours of operation in darkness. The anticipated good propagation just did not show up for this location. By 0530 I had worked only three "F" grid locations and had only 85 total Qs. I was CQing (lots of open space = lack of stations) with the main radio and S&P with the 2nd radio. I cam across Ben, DL6FBL, with the 2nd radio and NO ONE was answering his CQs. Since Ben was one of my co-operators on Ducie, VP6DX, I just had to give him a call and Q. I decided to change back to the HP operation with N7GP and give him a call. This was at 0530, and he came right back to me. No problem. I said to myself, since it is VERY slow at QRP I might as well beef up the N7GP log a bit. I S&Ped from 1.840 down to 1.810 twice and made 40 Qs in an hour and 20 minutes. I logged two more EU stations, the Carribean stations and Al down south in Huasco, Chile. Nothing to write home about, but it livened the evening up a bit. I changed back to the N5IA, QRP log at 0700. Conditions had improved slightly, but as others have noted the eastern USA casual operators had all gone to bed. I promptly worked KH6LC, and during the next 35 minutes managed to get PJ2T and FM5CD in the log. Then I made Al work. Fortunately he did not have any other callers at the time so I took TEN minutes of Al's time so he could have N5IA in his log. Was it worth it? Yes, for me. Thanks Al, for being patient. I had worked him earlier with N7GP at HP and said hello, so I am sure he was not expecting my personal station call sign. I logged Herb, KV4FZ, at 0819 and VY2ZM answered my CQ at 0838 (good ears Jeff, under miserable conditions). I decided at 1100Z, after 20 minutes of no one answering my CQs and finding only one station with the 2nd radio who would answer my calls, that it was time to put this one to bed and try to have some fun with HP for the balance of the night. I might comment at this time that I am still unable to understand how any CQing station can listen properly when after sending my short baud count call sign ONCE at 24 WPM and the first thing I hear in my earphones is the "Q" of CQ as he starts calling again. I found a least a DOZEN stations which fit this mold. LC on my end, but no response, not even a ?, from any of them. In fact, I don't remember a single ? being sent to my calls all night long. It was either there, or it wasn't. Back to HP with the N7GP call sign and the first Q in the log at 1106. I S&Ped from top to bottom two times during the next hour putting mostly "F" and "E" grid stations in the log. At 1200 I started to CQ in the JA window hoping to attract some attention. JH4UYB called in at 1213. During the next 30 minutes five more JA stations called in. And that was it for a JA opening from here. The last Q in the log was a ONE pointer with AA7A. Then it was off to take care of Sunday obligations. Some comparative stats: Call Power Time operating Qs Points KH6 Qs KL7 Qs N5IA QRP 9:23 136 1,533 3 2 N7GP HP 6:00 200 983 1 0 Thanks for the Qs. CU all in the CQ 160 CW with a multi-op at this station. Milt, N5IA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5RZ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,246 A fun time, good condx and good activity. A flurry of 20+ point JA's at the end took me over 400 Q's & 2,000 points raw score. Elecraft K3 + Alpha 87. Inverted Vee @ 50'. NE SE SW & NW 580' beverages N1MM Logger. Finished pouring concrete for tower bases/guy points on Saturday Morning. Will be stacking soon! Thanks to all for the QSO's. Merry Christmas & Happy 2012 to all. 73, Gator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5UL Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,446 Probably my best score -- yet. No QRN to count. A few very good signals from EU. More JA than ever before. Orion, Titan III, 86 foot vertical w/4 elevated radials, 6 Beverages. All QSO sent to LoTW. Thanks for the QSO's!! 73, Chas. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5UM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 584 A fun evening. Surprised what my short and low antenna can work with low power. Best DX was CE1/K7CA in FG41 - he must have some awesome antennas to be able to hear me, and for me to hear him. He was almost S9 from time to time here. Only other DX for me was FM5CD. 73, Al N5UM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6KI Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 739 Managed to get a few hours in contest and pick up 2 new countries for 160 CW. Best DX was CE1/K7CA just about time I was closing station at 0900Z. No sigs heard from down or EU. Heard RA0FU 0830Z CQing but KV4FZ was CQing on same freq so tried a direct call to RA0FU in between KV4FZs CQ,... to no avail. Was thinking how ironic to lose DX mult because another great DX Mult on same freq and no way to move these guys apart. I thought my call to RA0FU would alert KV4FZ that they were sharing same freq, but, .... again to no avail. I am beginning to think that contesters should have their own set of Q signals like QSF - Will one of you guys move QRR - 59 and 10 repeats - What the heck is my real RS(T) ??? QUP - He's listening UP you LID ! QFD- Hey!!!, U just faded onto MY freq !!! QOD - Who's the OP on Duty really screwing up this pile-up ? QDB - Yes I know U R QRP _ Ur 3 dB below my imagination ! I am sure everyone can come up with more Practical and FUNNY ones but SERIOUSLY - Who says we have to stick by the ORIGINAL Q Signals ( Contest Rule Committees, IARU, ARRL etc - What Say ?!!!!) K3 - ACOM 2000A - Full Length 160 Mtr Inv V at 70 ft apex - 160 RX Loop ) de N6KI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6RO Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 925 Operated SO2V in spurts from 0330 to 0900, after a long day of music jobs. Activity seemed down, even in prime time, altho had a peak rate of 240 in the first 30 minutes on. Little prop to the east coast until after 05Z. Worked two JAs at 0839z, and none thereafter. Couldn't keep my eyes open with no callers, so went to bed. Planned to get up about 1200 for the east coast sunrise and Asian opening, but slept straight thru til 1700Z. Other west coast comments suggest I didn't miss much! I'm getting too old for these all-nighters, except when I can sleep-in the day before. DX (the usual suspects): CE, FM, JA, KH6, KL7, KV4, P40, PJ2, RA0, VE, XE. No sign of EU on S&P nor CQ. In both RAC and SP this weekend, N1MM mis-behaved: Intermittently would not stop CQing when in repeat F1 mode when attempting to enter a caller in the logging window. ESC would not stop it, hitting paddle would not either. CRTL-ALT-DEL to close N1MM was the only cure. Anyone else experience this? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6VR Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 1,120 Condx only fair. Worked 3 EU, a handful of Carribean, CE1 and 13 JA's. Only on for 1.5 hours in the morning, don't know what else I missed. Antenna:60 ft vertical w/2 - 50 ft top hat wires, 80 - 135 ft radials. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,053 I enjoyed this contest, as always. I made one tactical error, though. I worked Saturday night to 11 PM, then quit, figuring to get up Sunday at 3 AM and work the last four hours for more Qs. Big mistake. Saturday night the band was fairly busy with productive Qs. Sunday morning it was a different band with very weak condx and few customers. Should have stayed up another hour or two Sat night instead. Well, that goes in the NOTES file for next year. I was surprised at not hearing any KL7, as I usually work them easily. I worked three in the half hour before the contest started, then never heard any of them again. I did have some luck, though. Two 36 points Qs with PJ2T and KV4FZ, one 30 pointer with VY2ZM, and three 24 pointers with K9FD/KH6, KH7X and KH6LC. I'll have to settle for my 1053 points score. I was hoping to use my QRP x3 multiplier, but I found that N1MM had already factored it into the scoring. For a little while I thought I had a 3159 score. Bummer. The rig here is same as past several years, K3 #811. This year my new P3 display really helped me find new stations to work, especially weak ones. I'd see a pip on the screen, then have to dig around in the noise to find and work him. Had to use some very narrow filtering at times to cut through the noise. I'm using my new 160-80-40m vertical this year. It is a 60 ft top loaded vertical of wire strapped to a 60 ft telescoping fiberglas mast, with six 16 ft top loading wires. Seems to work ok an all three bands. I moved my rotating bidirectional receive loop from the front driveway to my back yard, and it made quite a difference. Much better null, and lower resulting noise level. This year I could hear! Next step is to bring the rotating terminated loop to the back yard and see if it will be improved. Its null isn't great out front. Possibly due to the power lines along the street. Anyway, I had a fine time, and look forward to the CQ 160 next year. Hope to see you all then. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. 73, Bob N6WG The Little Station with Attitude ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7GP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 983 I did my usual two operations; one at HP with a club call sign and one at QRP with my own station call sign. This report will be for both operations as they were interleaved and each one had a bearing on the other. The sun is already about 45 minutes into the sky when the contest starts on Saturday morning. I operated N7GP at HP for 30 minutes, making 15 contacts, before having to go to work. I returned to the station in the late afternoon and made another 19 contacts in 1:15 of operating time. The 2nd contact was with FM05 and that was followed 5 Qs later with a contact with FN13. OK. This is a good indicator and I was ready for a good run. I changed logs and started the N5IA, QRP operation at 0000Z. This time corresponds with local sunset, and provides 14 hours of operation in darkness. The anticipated good propagation just did not show up for this location. By 0530 I had worked only three "F" grid locations and had only 85 total Qs. I was CQing (lots of open space = lack of stations) with the main radio and S&P with the 2nd radio. I cam across Ben, DL6FBL, with the 2nd radio and NO ONE was answering his CQs. Since Ben was one of my co-operators on Ducie, VP6DX, I just had to give him a call and Q. I decided to change back to the HP operation with N7GP and give him a call. This was at 0530, and he came right back to me. No problem. I said to myself, since it is VERY slow at QRP I might as well beef up the N7GP log a bit. I S&Ped from 1.840 down to 1.810 twice and made 40 Qs in an hour and 20 minutes. I logged two more EU stations, the Carribean stations and Al down south in Huasco, Chile. Nothing to write home about, but it livened the evening up a bit. I changed back to the N5IA, QRP log at 0700. Conditions had improved slightly, but as others have noted the eastern USA casual operators had all gone to bed. I promptly worked KH6LC, and during the next 35 minutes managed to get PJ2T and FM5CD in the log. Then I made Al work. Fortunately he did not have any other callers at the time so I took TEN minutes of Al's time so he could have N5IA in his log. Was it worth it? Yes, for me. Thanks Al, for being patient. I had worked him earlier with N7GP at HP and said hello, so I am sure he was not expecting my personal station call sign. I logged Herb, KV4FZ, at 0819 and VY2ZM answered my CQ at 0838 (good ears Jeff, under miserable conditions). I decided at 1100Z, after 20 minutes of no one answering my CQs and finding only one station with the 2nd radio who would answer my calls, that it was time to put this one to bed and try to have some fun with HP for the balance of the night. I might comment at this time that I am still unable to understand how any CQing station can listen properly when after sending my short baud count call sign ONCE at 24 WPM and the first thing I hear in my earphones is the "Q" of CQ as he starts calling again. I found a least a DOZEN stations which fit this mold. LC on my end, but no response, not even a ?, from any of them. In fact, I don't remember a single ? being sent to my calls all night long. It was either there, or it wasn't. Back to HP with the N7GP call sign and the first Q in the log at 1106. I S&Ped from top to bottom two times during the next hour putting mostly "F" and "E" grid stations in the log. At 1200 I started to CQ in the JA window hoping to attract some attention. JH4UYB called in at 1213. During the next 30 minutes five more JA stations called in. And that was it for a JA opening from here. The last Q in the log was a ONE pointer with AA7A. Then it was off to take care of Sunday obligations. Some comparative stats: Call Power Time operating Qs Points KH6 Qs KL7 Qs N5IA QRP 9:23 136 1,533 3 2 N7GP HP 6:00 200 983 1 0 Thanks for the Qs. CU all in the CQ 160 CW with a multi-op at this station. Milt, N5IA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7IR Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,542 Part time operation this year because of arriving holiday guests. Missed most of the evening session traveling to the airport twice. Spotty propagation with lots of QSB in the early morning hours. Best DX was a loud JH4UYB. Not the best SP contest but not the worst either. See you in the CQ WW 160 CW. Thanks for the contacts and your patience. 73 Gary, N7IR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N9ADG Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,500 Missed the first hour of the contest (oh, 1500, not 1600!) but was able to snag RA0FU, two KH6 (thanks K9FD for your patience!), and some local folks... heard RA4LW but unable to get his attention. A neighbor a few hundred feet away has a plasma TV that's even stronger than N7UA on my beverages, so at 2300 local when I heard some midwest/east coast stations coming in and NO PLASMA, I got to work. Unfortunately he returned at 0113 local, so took a break for dinner with the family. At 0345, checking the bands, NO PLASMA. Off to the races! Another hour of no plasma until 0445. Slogged it out until 0645; returned at 1000, hung it up about 1400, as the rate was very low. Best DX was CE1/K7CA - always a thrill when you hear your call returned. Very pleased to work G4AMT for my only EU and first EU this season (haven't been as active with the neighbor watching a lot of TV). Glad to find PJ2T, wasn't able to get P40TA, KV4FZ was able to hear me first try (perhaps the noise level has lessened there?) Other memorable contacts were VE1ZZ, VE9AA, KH2/N2NL; there were a few contacts where I was unable to get the exchange before a big fade, it was ultra-satisfying to find those stations later (e.g. AB2E) and be able to get a Q. Even with 1482 watts, top-band is a humbling experience. If I didn't hear you calling me, could you please email me? I'd like to know which RX direction is in most need of improvement. Thanks for your Q's! Brian N9ADG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N9RV Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,510 Was a little surprised when I was casually tuning the band at just before 1500z when the contest started! I guess I should read the rules more carefully. Band was in pretty good shape a couple nights ago, and with the K=0 for WWV I was optimistic about conditions. And the band was in good shape - for my receiver, anyway. My station has usually been an alligator on 160, but I copied and called a dozen Europeans who could not hear me or even tell I was there. I copied their grid squares effortlessly and was all ready to put them in the log, but they never came back! It got so bad that I started noting in my log that I was "calling EU" in the 20 minute segments where I had no QSO's. I did manage to work 4. Only E77DX came right back, rest were a real struggle. I have a long paper list of EU calls and grids -- maybe I should send out SWL cards! I worked RA4LW 15 minutes before the contest started (1445z), but never heard Vlad very strong during the test and he didn't copy me. Band was quiet here -- I ended up sleeping after 0600z and getting up for the JA's at 1200z. Obviously this contest desperately needs activity. It would be good otherwise! Thanks for the Q's and see you on the bands. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA4K Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 500 Steve NA4K ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NE7D Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 700 K3-100, N1MM, MAV-160 vertical ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NI0C Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 229 I enjoyed spending several hours testing my station with a low power S & P effort. The rig is a K3 running 95 watts to a Cushcraft MA160V (short top-loaded vertical). I love the rules for this unique contest. Thanks to all for the QSO's, especially CE1/K7CA, my best DX in the contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NI5O Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 598 My first Stew. 85 watts to an Inverted L. Had S6 to S9 QRN the entire time. Happy to work XE1, FM5, PJ2 and HQ9. Thanks to all and see you in the CQ 160 CW. Kevin - Ni5o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NM2L Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 414 Glad a few folks could hear me anyway. I love this contest, but didn't have much time to operate this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NM6E Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 26 Managed to get the 160m TBS-160S coil onto the Butternut HF-9V right before sunset Saturday night and tuned to a 13kc window.. I worked whatever I could here or be heard in the window! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NO3M Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 7,551 Raw points: 2517 3x QRP score: 7551 Running QRP on 160 puts one's nerves to the test, but also has it's great moments. I had a taste of this in the Pre-Stew, with the highlight being a QSO w/ T32C. No EU contacts in the log (heard plenty, but no joy), longest QSO w/ KH6LC. West coast was tough, but managed a good number of W7 Qs and maybe a handful of W6. Total of 42 Qs over 9 points. QRN was very low throughout the night. Temporary beverages were thrown up the week prior to ARRL160; hopefully I'll be able to get the permanent RX antennas up prior to next season. Ran full SO2R w/ 3 receiver channels, Run radio's main and sub RX in left and right ears respectively, S&P radio binaurally centered in headphones. Run radio (K3) in diversity mode (to lock freq and filter settings) w/ switchable beverages in different directions on each receiver, S&P receiver can share any (or choose it's own) RX antenna w/ run radio's receivers. Thanks for the QSOs. 73/HNY - Eric NO3M Equip: 2x K3 TX: 90ft top-loaded vertical, 100+ radials RX: various 750ft+ single wire beverages in 6 directions, also stagger pairs NE and NW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: OG4T Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 980 Multi operation with little brother Jouni OH4KZM. Local skimmer providing spots on bandmap. Some CQing too. Thank you for contacts! 73 and Seasons Greetings! Jukka OH4MFA, OG4T ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: OK3C Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,203 EU1AA/qrp = his 599 here is unbelievadle with 5Watts or he has big antenna for 160m ??? bad condx, only 2 DX UA9/0, no W/VE - lsn only 3x Ws and 2x JAs. FT-1000MP at 5W, GP 20,5m with 1,2km radials. Tnx for all for my QRP QSOs. ok2zc.blogspot.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: OL0A Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 552 Using K2 at 5Watts out and 27m vertical. Late start at 19Z. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: OL1A Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 3,600 I like this contest. I like pick up weak signals. There were many stations like this. I tried answer every station, but there were some of them I lost them in noise. I very apologize every station. I made first JA1QDB at 1738z, first NA VO1TA at 2009z. Condx was variable. I thing worst than last year.Worked CE1/K7CA,K7IA,K7RL,W7XU and many K9,K0.Good signal from HL2CFY.No VK/ZL. It took many time to read weak callsigns followed grid.I had to ask try agn many times. Hard work.In the morning when I call some station I sudenly start sleeping. I switch the station off and go to bed. Thanks every one to make contact.Excuse DL6FBL for working very close each other. Vlada OK1CW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: OM5RW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,765 Poor condx but still fun. I've learned from the DL6FBL comment that the high noise coming from NA direction was really caused by mother nature. I was really upset when it appeared right when some condx to that path was present and digging out weak signals was real struggle. Sorry for that, but at least I know the reason why I was so deaf sometimes. Longest QSO was with CE1/K7CA 12338 km. Congrats to DL6FBL, E77DX, SN7Q and others for nice competition. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: ON4WW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 200 Score will be calculated by the Boring Amateur Radio Club. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: PA5KT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,011 I started late, had some family things to do. Heard some JA but decided to run self. Worked some eastern Russian stations, UA0OD was far east with 15 points. Most western station N5UL, good for 17 points. VY2ZM was first NA at 2124. In the beginning of the night the signals were strong so I had hope for a nice contest. Unfortunately this was not happening. Signals did disappear and finally I managed to work around 30 NA stations, which is far below expectation. Did try PJ2T and KV4FZ but gave up because I could not copy them enough to make sure we had a valid qso. RBN data shows that I was regularely spotted by NA skimmers till around 04:00, then only 3 spots. EU skimmers spotted me till 06:00. After all not so an exiting contest. Lets hope the cq 160 will bring us better conditions. Equipment: K3, Alpha 374A, 22m top loaded vertical, beverage dir NA. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: PI4TUE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,391 Station: Orion I - 100W, no amp K2 for RX at remote location (36km SE) Antennas: TX + RX: 1/4 wave end fed sloper, sloping down from 250FT. RX: short vertical (5mtr) at remote location This was my 3rd TBDC in a row. Like last year with low power. It was questionable if I could actually participate. Last weekend it turned out that the TRX at remote location could not be controlled (PC problems). A big thank you to Rens PA3FGA for fixing it during the week and installing the PC Saturday morning, just in time. First QSO was at 17:23 with UA9, 12 points, not bad. The next hours were quite exciting. Just past 20:30Z the first JA came back and was almost armchair copy, waw! This time 6 others made it into the log, no JA the last 2 times. It would be great if also VK would make it into the log. I watched the grey line pass over VK... Not a single beep. Oh well, hopefully next time. The JA' s still filled me with joy. Around the time I worked the last JA also W2GD could be heard calling cq (~21:30Z). That looked very promising... ... The second part of the night was actually very disappointing. Only two Canadians and not even a handful of US stations worked. From 05:00Z onward the remote link broke down, which handicapped me quite a lot. But still I got a new distance record into NA with N0NI, in the final hour before sunrise. Anyway it was a fun night again. As always if you worked me and want an audio clip, drop me a mail. Best wishes and CU in CQ160M -- Aurelio, PC5A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: PJ2T Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 6,478 Primary Station: Radio: K3 Amp: Ten-Tec Titan III (2 x 4CX800A) Windows 7 / Writelog (networked) Hot-Backup Station: Radio: FT-2000 Amp: Ameritron AL-1200 (1 x 3CX1200A7 Windows 7 / Writelog (networked) TX Antenna: Quarter-wave Inverted-L (~50-feet vertical, rest sloping up to 95-foot level on Europe tower) ~60 radials on ground RX Antennas: 1000-foot Europe Beverage 650-foot USA/JA Beverage I've been wanting to operate the Stew from the Signal Point station since my first trip down in 2002. Circumstances have not allowed that, but I finally got my chance this year! People have sugggestd that flying down and doing the work and having the expense of a trip for what is essentially a 12-hour contests is insane. They are correct, and so here I am on what is my 19th trip to Curacao since 2002. Well worth it! Since I'm here by myself, I did not have the DX Engineering RX 4-square available to supplement our permenantly-installed Europe and USA/JA Beverages. The 4-square is deployed "Field Day Style" for each contest in a large brambly-field West of the Signal Point house, and the tasks associated with deploying and re-storing the 1000 feet of RG-6 feedline and power wiring and setting up the antennas is more than my bad knees, bad ankles, and out-of-shape self could be trusted to accomplish safely alone in the heat of Curacao, so I used just the permanent Topband infrastructure for this contest. This time of year, there are only about 12.5 hours of dark on Curacao. I started the contest at 2200Z, just before dusk. At that point, experience has shown that we can hear Europe CQing and 'feeding upon itself", but there is no benefit to our calling them: they will not hear us. So, we CQ and work what we can until the USA gets more into dark, and the Europeans start listening in the direction of North and South America. First surprise was being called by CE1/K7CA at 2248Z. At that time, I was in the middle of the greyline period, and it would be an hour before the sun went down at his location in coastal Chile, around 2800 miles South of Curacao! He was loud, and stayed that way throughout the night here. The dark hours started off very quiet considering our location at 12-degrees North of the Equator. As dark spread over the USA, I was hearing fulll callsigns and grids, even from the weaker stations. This is much better than "letter mining" the parts of callsigns that often float in the sea of noise on Topband! Conditions got worse later, and culminated in a typical local rainstorm in the hour before dawn. I was still able to copy stations, but crashes often took letters and at least one "layer" of weak stations became a warble under the noise. I set up shop on 1834.0, and stayed there until after Europe sunrise, and then migrated to 1815.0 for the JA stations. Except for one very brief run to the bathroom at around 0900Z, I was continuously in the chair. I had two cases of stations (one USA one European) plopping essentially zero-beat with me and calling CQ for extended periods. Not nice, and forced me to focus on the other area (USA or Europe) while ceding the other continent to the ursurper. Eventually, they go away, either to S&P or when they get tired of stations calling me through them (what I call the "bulldozer effect"). At about 0200Z, I noticed that calling European stations were louder on the USA/JA Beverage than they were on the Europe Beverage! This lasted for about 90 minutes, when the flopped back to normal behavior. These antennas are pointed essentially 90 degrees apart! As usual, with the passing of Europe sunrise, hoards of North American operators turned off their radios and went to bed. Please note: "Sleep is for the Weak". The rate, which had been between 55 and 85 per hour for 7.5 hours dropped abruptly to the high teens and went as low as 8/hour during the 0900Z hour. A flurry of 19 Japanese stations worked between 1013Z and 1100Z (at 28 or 29 points each) rescued the rate in what was my final hour of this Stew. I worked 19 JA stations, and 116 Europeans among my 590 QSOs in this Stew. No VK/ZL. I count 300 grids. I know from scanning 3830 that there will be a many Low Power and QRP QSO points adding to this posed score. Among those North Americans worked were five of the members of the Caribbean Contesting Consortium, the club which has built and maintains the Signal Point PJ2T station: NP2L, N1ZZ, N8BJQ, W8TK, and W9JUV. Thanks to the Club for making my Stew trip to Curacao possible! One highlight for me was working W8JK. The callsign of Antenna guru John Kraus W8JK (sk) is now issued to the 'John D Kraus Memorial Amateur Radio Club' and it's trustee Bob W8ERD. Bob was Vice Director of the Ohio State University radiotelescope facility "Big Ear", and John Kraus was Director. Back in the 70s, I got started in 160 contesting with the W8LT OSU radio club, and for many years we operated in the ARRL 160 Contest the 'Big Ear' facility, using it's 2.5 acre aluminum foil ground plane under our transmit antennas, and it's large property for our many Beverages. Bob was one of our operators and our patron for these outings, and Dr. Kraus would make an occassional appearance while we shut down their normal operations for a weekend each year. Alas, the Big Ear was razed to make room for a much-needed golf course expansion and more housing (grrrrrrrr...), but those operations planted a love of Topband operating in a generation of W8LT operators. Some of them you may have worked in this Stew: K1LT and WB8JUI, and of course W8ERD using the W8JK callsign. Thanks for all the QSOs! I'll be back here at the PJ2T station for the CQWW 160 CW Contest in January, either single-op or with another operator. 73, Jeff PJ2/K8ND ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: S53M Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 657 Just part time event, I switched the radio off at 20:49 GMT. I was really surprised when 5H3EE and VY2ZM (at 19:54 GMT) returned my CQ �" THANKS. 73 de Miha / S51FB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: SM5MX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 350 Rig: TS-850 Ant: 40 m dipole configured as a "T" w 2 radials S/W: TR4W v4.233 73, Rolf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: TF4M Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,407 Raw Score = 469 , claimed QRP 469x3 = 1407 Due to health issues, I decided to take part in the Stew Perry with a casual QRP effort. 5 thunderous watts from my K3 into 700 meters of coax going to the Arctic King, complemented with 8 Beverages and 30dB of preamplification. See the King: http://tf4m.com/archives/2992 Conditions seemed poor, despite promising conditions the days leading up to the contest, band was very noisy, not a signal anywhere stronger than a 579 during the entire period. Despite bombarding some of the stronger stations with my massive signal, I had to give up on many of them...not even ? in return. Some stations seemed to have their keyers on without any break for listening, impossible to even send my call sideways - perhaps they had actually fallen asleep - I almost succumbed myself at 0300 AM. Others would answer on the first call. Seems that there is some lack of respect for the Top Band. Top Band is all about reception, not only transmit power. This is why I like the Stew Perry event, it rewards those able to make the longest DX contacts. Highlight of the event was being called by Jack, VE1ZZ. Heard KH7X and ST2AR and several JA stations. I look forward to taking part in the next event - with HIGH Power. QRP - Never Again... 73 de Thor, TF4M http://tf4m.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: UX3MZ Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 75 CHECKLOG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 273 Had hoped for better conditions for The Stew, but seemed like regional Qs were all I could manage. Best DX: two KH6s for 10 points, and K9MMS for 9 points. Wasn't on during the JA opening, if there was one. Added four more 75-foot radials -- total now a band-busting 8 -- in a semicircle from east to west on Friday afternoon (thanks to a smokin' hot deal on surplus telephone station wire at the local Princess Auto, $1.50/75' roll). The 135'-long (80v + 55h) sloping Inverted-L definitely played better, but lots of improvement needed. Another trip to that store is in my future. Gonna need a bigger basket. Thanks for the Qs. RTTY Roundup next. Happy holidays all. -- Bud VA7ST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE1OP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 152 Band seemed awfully flat compared to Friday night during the RAC contest. Happy Holidays to all. Scott VE1OP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE1RGB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 438 Gary VE1RGB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3CV Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 636 Why can't I easily tell N from M? Did all S&P because I couldn't get my brain to work and constantly messed up grids. Conditions were pretty good as west coast OR and WA stations came in early, but only CA was N6RK from CM98. Also, heard lots of EU early and worked E77DX and OL1A around 0430Z (early grey line) then they all disappeared as grey line approached. Hope I didn't miss the opening as I packed it in at 0630Z. Thanks for Herb, KV4FZ for pulling me out. Also thanks to HI3TEJ, FM5CD and PJ4T for providing some DX. Thanks for all the Q and thanks to the BORING RC for running a great contest. 73 Jeff VE3CV Station: 100W into 80m Zepp at 50ft used as top-loaded vertical 550' Beverages facing Japan (330deg) and EU/Mideast (50deg) FT-1000MP N1MM Logger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3MGY Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,005 It was the last test of the new antenna till the CQ160 in January and February and everything seemed to work very well and I had a blast as always. QRN was very good all night at around just S0 - S2 on the vertical BUT the band just seemed "noisey". I kept checking the S meter all night and "visually" the band was quiet but it always "sounded" noiser than it "looked". I never would have mentioned it here until I read some posts of other TBer's saying the same thing. I heard ( but didn't work ) EU and did my best to snag PJ2T but I was just wasn't making the trip with 5 watts. My longest "DX" was ~3700 km into California. By EU sunrise NA seemed to go QRT and S&Ping yielded nothing new as did CQing so I called it a night as I had achieved my goal anyway. However not long after hitting the rack at around 1000Z I woke up to go to the head and just couldn't go back to sleep knowing the contest was still on sooo... I made a pot of coffee and started turning on the gear... The funniest moment in this - or any 160 contest to date - had to be when I was CQing and I heard nothing for maybe 10 minutes and then I got a very weak station that came back to me and was exactly zero beated on my QRG. I copied "YP8" and lost it in the noise. QRZ I sent!! AGN AGN I said!! Was it DX?? A rare mult?? A new 160 DXCC?? Then the station came back to me - this time on the QSB wave peak at S5 without QSB. "YP8 YP8" he sent and then a 5 second tone..... What the ... For the Love of... And if your wondering - NO I didn't long the fish beacon!! LOL. But I did have a really good chuckle over it. Like they say timing IS everything... Thanks for all the QSO's and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 73, Brian VE3MGY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3OSZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 830 The band was noisy and subject to deep QSB. Was unable to complete several QSOs because the other station faded out completely before the exchange was finished. Propagation to/from EU was not nearly as good as it had been a few days ago. Best DX QSOs were CE1/K7CA, KH7X and SV3RF. Drake TR7 100 watts Inverted L Short Beverage TR Log 7.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3TA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 333 Check Log - Cluster Used ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE9AA Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,340 In the end, the sandman got me. I think it was the "6" hour between 3am and 4am local that did it. ARGH Mike VE9AA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1HP Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 275 Best KH7X BL01 19 points 5843 miles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VY2ZM Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 1,000 This was a 95% search and pounce operation. Vy little "running" because most people just do not hear QRP CQ entreaties. K3ZM said it well I think on this topic.....!! Many don't hear you either when you do S&P. It's part of the game for sure - it humbles you most of the time.... Couple of observations: 1) Many good operators often did not hear me when I called them initially. Some I kept coming back to now and then. As condx changed, many of them did hear me eventually after 1-3 hours of repeat attempts as I rolled across them again and again - W9RE/K4BAI/K9CT - (it was just a function of condx & local noise as these guys all know their DOUGHNUTS!!). 2) Merv K9FD/KH6 nearly made me fall out of my chair when he called me - and his signal here was 599+++ when he did.....WHO IS THAT MAN????? 3) I found quite a few CQ/QRP stations that I called and called and called. EU1AA was one - never managed to get his attention. I chased GM4AFF all night who was also QRP and became his FINAL qso in the contest at his sunrise peak. It is really interesting to see what can actually be heard & worked using QRP - as long as the QRG is clear. 4) TF4M has some great ears because Thor heard me after only a short time - kudos to the Arctic King! 5) There were a few really standout signals most of the night long - kudos to DL6FBL, DJ0MDR, G4AMT, G3BJ, OL1A, SN7Q etc. These guys were heard on the left coast as well I think.... 6) My vote for "best ears" is a split decision - UU7J who copied me almost immediately - and RA4LW whom I worked a bit later without too many attempts. Score to be determined by the Boring Amateur Radio Club - I used the CT VHF Sweepstakes as my logging program and Lew and Tree can determine the rest. Postscript: John G3XRJ sent me an MP3 file last night that I will ask WW2DX to put up on the VY2ZM.com website later this week. We ran some tests on 1810.2kHz at QRP, QRPP and QRPPP levels at 2145z last night - with G3XRJ/ON4IA/SM7BIC and IV3PRK doing the listening. The signal levels John recorded are similar to what I was hearing from GM4AFF, TF4M and EU1AA. Later OK2BUX called in with 5w and was quite good copy. Season's Greetings to all - It's time after something like 8 contest weekends to spend some quality time with the family. 73 JEFF VY2ZM K1ZM@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0BH Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 620 Happy Holidays to all! 73, Bob, w0bh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0MU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 291 Conditions here did not sound great from a DX standpoint. Longest Contact was with KH7Y and PJ2T for 11 and 10 points. The majority were 3 pointers. 1st test of my new 100ft radius 8 element circle receive array. I am pleased with the performance. It was the difference maker getting what I suspect were QRP contacts in the log. I picked 100ft as I would like to use the array on 160, 80 and 40. It also works ok on 20m just playing around with directions. I would be curious to know if people called me and I did not come back or if I was heard at all in EU. TX antenna was a full sized Inverted V at 70 ft. I added on to my 80m V for this contest. My Inv L was destroyed by a fallen limb and I never got around to fixing it. I worked pretty much everyone I heard. I had lots of east coasters cq in my face around 0000 though. I guess they were looking EU as I had one come back to SP0. Elecraft K3 and KPA 500 amp 500 watts out. I was going to run QRP but decided to have more fun and ran with the small amp. It was great to work lots of old friends! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0PC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 421 Enjoyed Stew Perry again. I was much more relaxed this year. Thanks for all the Qs. 73, Rick ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0UCE Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,089 Heard but a few EU stations and No Joy in working any. K-3/KPA500 - 500w to Inverted L 46.5' Vertical, 85' Horizontal with K2AV 33x33 Folded Counterpoise. Thanks for the Qs. 73, Jack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1GD Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 420 The "collision" between the Contest Calendar and the Hoiliday kept me from going down to the W2GD operation this year. I managed to steal away 2 total hours and decided to run QRP to help out those who managed to hear me. I heard several loud Europeans just after my sunset, but couldn't work them with onlly 5 watts into a lousy antenna. Station: K3 and inverted-L. QSL via LoTW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1NN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 900 Remotely operated from Tokyo. Does this qualify for an award? Maybe the longest cord between key and radio (approx 6,000 miles)award? Win-Test scored this at exactly 600 points and I added another 300 points above to reflect the low power mult but there is no way to really calculate the score on this end because the power of stations worked is needed. I am using a compromise all band antenna which is up only about 35 feet in the middle so this antenna is even worse than my regular poor antenna, and I could definitely feel the difference. Only one or two EU stations heard and none worked, and it was a major struggle to work anyone west of the Rockies (except K7QQ heard me right away). Never did make it into W7RN's log although he made a nobel effort to get my grid. I felt like I was QRP. I QRTed before Ohio sunrise so I'm not sure what I might have missed. But it was still lots of fun. And no sleep lost. The band started getting active right after I woke up on Sunday morning local time and I kept at it on and off straight through until dinner time. What a great way to operate a 160 contest! Thanks to the Boring folks and Seasons Greetings to all. 73, Hal W1NN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1UE Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 476 Night came to an early end. Some problem cropped in the feedline or antenna, amp kept tripping off and SWR was all over the place. I chose to toss in the towel rather than frustrate myself the rest of the evening. For the time I was on, conditions seemed to be okay. Was able to work 18 Europeans with the best DX being UU7J. Also tested out the K3 AGC mod; jury is still out on it. Thanks for the Qs, and thanks to Greg W1KM for the use of his station. Dennis W1UE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1WBB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,095 Good to spend a part of my evening with the dedicated denizens of Topband! Was fooled into thinking all the indicators said "FB condx" (A/K at zero, very low solar wind speed, quiet geomagnetic field, lack of NA thunderstorm activity, nice propagation the nights B4, etc.) Wrong! The solar cycle still rules...DX and long distance QSOs were in short supply. -- SP TBDC @ W1WBB *SOLP* -- 2009: 165 Q/1084 claimed pts - 22 Eu, 25 DX, 36 ten-point or > QSOs in ~7h:45 2010: 301 Q/1533 claimed pts - 11 Eu, 16 DX, 41 ten-point or > QSOs in ~12h:45 2011: 241 Q/1095 claimed pts - 4 Eu, 9 DX, 24 ten-point or > QSOs in ~ 8h:15 Did enjoy working a nice number of distant W5, W7 and W0 stns out west who were invisible in the recent ARRL 160m 'test. But where was the DX? Enjoyed the runs early on and in the hour plus B4 sunrise. Best DX: 1)KH6 2)CE1 3)OL1 Also believe SP participation seemed down; likely due to event date sked *before Dec 25* vice week after. Thanks to all for the QSOs! Rig: Icom IC-737 @ 100w into single-el Tx/Rx 160m 3/8 wv Inv-L (< 40' vert/~150' horiz); 18 mostly 1/8 wv gnd radials; N1MM Logger; suburban 100' x 200' lot @ 115' A.S.L. 73, Happy Holidays and good contesting in the New Year... Bill W1WBB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2FU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,946 Always fun and a real test of the 160 meter station. Wish I could be here to do this every year. Conditions about what we would expect for our newly found sunspots, but there were some surprisingly good signals from EU at times. The band started getting noisy around 10 or so, and seemed to get progressively worse from then on. Did manage to get 45 EU stations in the log, an AK, XE, CE, a few in the Carrib and 2 KH6 Jeff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2GD Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 3,094 Comments: We used the Stew as another tune-up for the 2012 CQ160 CW since several of our regular crew were busy with seasonal family activities. We tried out a few antenna changes and had fun just being together. It was a little odd with no snow on the ground this year. Since the ARRL 160 two weeks ago, two work parties enabled us to we restrung the West beverage, made some changes to the NE TX antenna, and we tried to resolve problems we're having with a short RX vertical. The West beverage replacement was a complete success, the NE TX antenna changes seem to have improved how our vertical beam array tunes (we increased the spacing between the DE and Reflector), but we're still at a loss why the short vertical isn't working like it did the past two years....but we have six more weeks to figure it out. Not having diversity reception working correctly clearly cost us a bunch of contacts. Our plan was to operate from local sundown to local sunrise, with an hour or so off when the rate dropped in the deep night period. We were hearing EU more than an hour before sundown. A good sign we hoped. Looking back now, the best conditions and activity level from FM29LL were the first few hours following local sunset. Signals from EU were never very loud, and the activity level seemed less than recent years (finding a clear spot to CQ was never a problem) but we expected this as the sunspots increase. There was no signal enhancement at EU sunrise, and conditions to the west were at best just so so, although we seemed to experience fewer "CQ in the Face" situations. No VK, no ZL, no JA, not a peep. We heard the 8Q9 for maybe 1 minute at his sunrise but no QSO. Several KH6 and KL7 QSOs were made, thanks guys. Our best DX contact was once again UU7J who we worked in our second hour of operation. Its clear the contest being before Christmas weekend, immediately following the ARRL 10M, and on the same weekend as the 9A event thinned out the participant pool noticeably. The calender isn't very cooperative in 2012, so maybe we'll have to suffer this contest dilution until 2013. The best STEW participation seems to occur when it falls on a weekend between Christmas and New Years. Thanks again to our WYRS-FM hosts, to K9RS for his equipment support and to everyone who called in this weekend. Special congratulations to the N0NI multi team for their terrific effort. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. CU on the radio during the CQ160 CW next month. 73, John, W2GD, for our 160 TEAM. QSL via LOTW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2ID Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 903 Had to attend a company party Saturday evening, so this was a very limited effort. Thanks again to those who worked hard to dig out my QRP signal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2NO Class: Multi-Op HP Total Score = 160 High noise level here since the Oct. 30th snow bashing. Lots of AC poles still need repair. SO w/ Packet. Seasons Greetings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W2VJN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 758 Best DX was CE1/K7CA this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3TS Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 810 All S&P Rig: Ten-Tec Orion at 5 watts TX Ant: 60 foot high 80M/40M fan dipole used as an 1/8 wave Tee over 70 x 70 foot long radials. RX Ants: 300 foot NE/SW short beverage and 300 foot SE/NW beverage and a NE and NW Flag. The best I can do on a 150 x 200 foot town lot with the help of understanding neighbors. Logger: N1MM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4AU Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 223 Could put in only limited time Saturday evening and Sunday morning; missed any of the DX that was on, but still had a great time. I like the format and scoring of the Stew Perry. Also, the rules detailing what constitutes "assisted" category is complete and unambiguous. tnx fer the Q's, 73 - John, W4AU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 308 Ran for a couple of hours before sleep won out, long day before the contest. Used inv-L with K2AV FCP counterpoise system, which replaced a set of mixed length radials fed via a loading coil. The modified antenna seems to be working well, I was rewarded with a couple of nice runs while trying to lay some data down into the reverse beacon network. 73 de w4kaz ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4MJA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 182 Not sure if I calculated my score correctly - but the number of contacts is correct. This was my first Stew Perry Top Band Challenge as well as my first 160 contest ever. I see why it’s called the “gentlemen’s band” �" lots of good operators. I see why 160 can be really addicting. Never even thought about doing this one seriously �" adjusting from the Pacific time zone and getting the house ready for guests the next day kept me busy. Just casual contesting at it's finest. All S&P, no CQing. Was surprised at how well my 160 antenna worked �" 20M lazy H with the feeders shorted, fed against radials. I still need to add more radials, but I worked everything I heard last night on the first call. FT-1000MP + Inrad, 20M Lazy H with feeders shorted, fed against radials, K9AY loop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W5MX Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,146 As several have eluded to, participation down over last year it seems. Still had a great time though. Had 707 Q's last year. Just like the ARRL 160, it seemed more difficult than usual to work the West Coast. Had a little better prop to EU than 160 from here anyways. I appreciate all the Q's as always and look forward to the next contest! 73's Bryan W5MX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6IZT Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,546 Conditions were poor at this location. Plenty of NA activity. Only worked a few EU stations.No JAs, VKs, or ZLs. Elecraft K3 Command Tech HF-2500 Shunt fed tower Beverages This is my first TBDC, hopefully conditions will be better next year. 73 and Happy Holidays Gregg W6IZT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6ZL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 558 Best DX CE1/K7CA. Also worked KP4, KH6, PJ2. Heard Japan, but could not get their attention. Thanks to all that copied my LP signal from residential lot. /73 Dave W6ZL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7RH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,863 Another Stew Perry Top Band DX Contest is complete. I managed into the remote site under cover of freezing temperatures and 10 inches of new snow Saturday morning. Made a quick check and took a 4 hour nap. Conditions looked favorable, low solar activity with quiet geomagnetic activity. Solar wind put-zing along at ~260km/sec. Hearing nice EU signals on band 2 hours before darkness. Activity was definitely down and my operating was pierced by occasional precipitation static pushed by 20 MPH wind. Unfortunately this year was like a turtle race. Almost reminded me of my early days on Top Band in CQ 160 or ARRL 160 where you would spend hours to score <2000 points. It can't be all that bad. Still had two G station in the log for EU which is my measure of performance. I still had fun and it makes me feel like a trooper to go into the wild in the middle of Winter. My wife thinks I'm crazy. See you all in CQ 160 CW next year, God willing. 73 Bob, W7RH For those who wonder. Station is solar battery powered running a TS480. Antenna is a hybrid parasitic array of five short 44ft elements allowing 6 directions plus OMNI. No separate RX antennas are used. :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7RN Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,754 John's first foray into the world of diversity RX. Unfortunately no EU from NV but the JA's were there. K3, Emtron Amp, 1/4W Vertical w. 70 radials, 2 x DXE 4SQ RX Array ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7WHY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 238 Either the new antenna I put up was really working, or conditions were outstanding. I heard plenty of DX--FM5CD, CE1/K7CA, KV4FZ,(but most didn't hear me) and signals seemed really loud. KH7X was S-9+40 here. Working the east coast at 7:00 is unusual for me. Thanks for the Q's and 73 TS-450SAT 100 watts Inverted 'L' N1MM Logger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8KTQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,270 I put up a new 160 Inv. L with 80' vertical height off the tower for the contest and it worked much better than the one I had up before. Added one half wave elevated radial to it, mostling running east and west. Best DX; Chile! Go figure! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W8WTS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 326 I started at 0330Z, due to work/holiday function, missing some of the best operating hours. The results for the next 5:22 were not spectacular. Station: 80m dipole at 12 feet, with two 90 degree turns, wrapped inside a postage stamp city lot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9RE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,361 Debated whether to operate seriously or not because of a line noise problem that resurfaced on Thursday and obviously had no time to get it fixed. The problem was first noticed about 1.5 months ago at a capacitor bank and it got a temporary fix and no noise problems until now. It is about 1300 feet from my receive antennas and is about S7 (compared to S0 normally) when listening West or Northwest. So at times I was an alligator especially those directions. Heard DL6FBL about 2300z and called every 30 minutes or so but did not make it into the log unitl 0219. Only worked 8 Europeans and 8 or so other DX contacts. Best hour was my first (2200z) with 95 Q's. Score down from last year by a little bit. Thanks to the Boring Club and also to the many plaque sponsors (unique). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9ZRX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 652 Conditions did not seem as good as in the ARRL 160. On the other hard worked CE1/K7CA (longest DX), KH6LC, KH7X, WL7E, PJ2T, KV4FZ, FM5CD, G4AMT, and DL6FBL - first time for some of these. Rig is a K3 (100W) to a 140-ft high 135-ft doublet fed with 430-ft of 300-ohm ladder line from a 1:1 current balun located 8-ft from the K3. Both sides of the ladder line are connected to one terminal of the balun and the other is grounded. Win-Test software worked FB as usual - never have had a problem with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA7LNW Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 260 K-3 @ 100 watts, 23 ft. fiberglass inverted-L antenna with elevated radials. Strange band conditions this year.....but still fun talking to friends on 160 CW. 73's de Jack, WA7LNW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WB2ABD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 543 Recent line noise problem precluded any serious effort. Plus it sounds like the beverage lost a ground someplace ( nice time to find out) K3 Inv Vee @ 60ft N1MM + GHE Radio Boss ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WB3CQM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 101 I was looking forward to the 2011 Stew Perry CW Challenge . This would be my first attempt and so in preparation I increased the number of radials to my 65 foot T from 44 to 62 130 foot radials . I also spent several days laying out a new Beverage and got that up and running in time. 1050 feet @ 50 degrees towards Europe.I now have 4 Beverage in 4 directions. Radio is a Icom 746Pro with 100 watts. I was really excited to see the contest start. First qso was with W2GD and I hit enter before I put the grid in. Did not know how to undo my mistake on WrightLog . The second contact was with KU2M. At that point I knew it was over for me and I basically quite. I then reverted back to my old self and just wanted to listen and compare signals on the different antenna. I searched and pounced and tuned looking for Europe stations,as well as other dx the rest of the night. Some Dx I called and other stations I did not.I sat there on a few stations a long time waiting for their signal to come up before I would call. Mostly I tuned and listed to the contest ops. DX stations worked were S59ZZ / 403A / FM5CD / OL1A / OK2W / SN7Q / KV4FZ / DL6FBL / VE3CUI I discovered the 1000 foot Beverage opened up a new world of listening and I am very happy with its performance. I had lots of fun in the Stew Perry and hopefully this will motivate me to try harder next time. I admire the speed some of you send type and log a qso. Sure takes a special skill with lots of patients. 73 JIM/WB3CQM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WB8JUI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,702 Activity was off to an early start this year. I worked Vic (K1LT) at 2100Z and from there things started rockin' until around 0500Z when all pretty much slowed to a crawl. I was hearing EU early, but couldn't raise any attention until just before their sunrise Sunday morning. During the week leading up to the contest, EU was easily worked at my local sunset. Go figure... Thanks to The Boring Amateur Radio Club for the fun. 73 - Rick WB8JUI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WD5R Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 2,183 Our beverages ran out of gas and hit the sea wall in KH6 . May have worked a few QRP'ers on the way Doug, n5ect cw op at wd5r ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WI9WI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 208 Limited time op because like so many had a holiday obligation. I apologize for being an alligator when I was CQing. I have a very wide band noise source on the low bands just behind my house in the University of WI Research Park. I think it is from the ventilation system of a building about 150 meters behind the house. It cropped up about 3 years ago. I have to do all my receiving on a small terminated loop. Otherwise the only signal I can hear is K9MA who lives within walking distance of me. This cuts the noise way down, but also cuts the signals way down too. Only DX even heard was FM5CD. Best QSOs were only a few 6 pointers to the west coast. Gear: K-3. Homebrew 33 ft top loaded vertical. Homebrew receiving loop. 73 Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WJ9B Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 68 ...that's correct, DN13 and using a wire! Happy Holidays!! 73, Will, wj9b ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WL7E Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 699 K7SS needs to upgrade to 6 watts next year. But tnx for calling! :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WS7L Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 1,090 It was encouraging that JAs were booming in at S9+ right at the start. Condx seemed good with average QRN and no big static crashes, and I scored a little better than last year. I seem to run out of stations to work somewhere a little over 200 Q's. Very lean through the late hours here, 0900 to 1300, but then I picked up a dozen or so more including 2 JAs. Not much DX besides the JAs and KH6/KL7. A couple Caribbeans and of course the always reliable CE1/K7CA who is my top DX for 20 points and again the only SA or Central American heard. It was a great time and a real challenge, pulling the weak ones out through the QSB. I had one of my longest ever straight runs ... 2 1/2 hours from 0530 to 0800 with about 100 stations logged. I gave myself some more practice using SO2V mode in N1MM and managed to log a few S&P QSOs during my runs without tripping over my own fingers so that was good. K3 + sub RX, 700 W H/B amp, top-loaded 50 ft vertical. 73 and thanks for the Q's Carl WS7L ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WU6W Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 361 Lot of Fun !! Great CW contest where most ops stick to 20 WPM. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WW9R Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 584 Thanks for the fills. The band was very noisy tonight. It was great to work so many old friends and hopefully make a few new ones. Happy Holidays Pat WW9R Index of Calls Call: 5H3EE Class: Single Op HP Call: AA1K Class: Single Op HP Call: AA1K/M Class: Multi-Op LP Call: AA3B Class: Single Op HP Call: AA7V Class: Single Op LP Call: AB1OD Class: Single Op LP Call: AB2E Class: Single Op HP Call: AC0W Class: Single Op LP Call: AD4EB Class: Single Op HP Call: AE4O Class: Single Op LP Call: AJ1E Class: Single Op LP Call: AL9A Class: Single Op HP Call: CE1/K7CA Class: Single Op HP Call: DL4ME Class: Single Op LP Call: DL6FBL Class: Single Op HP Call: DL6RAI Class: Single Op HP Call: E77DX Class: Single Op HP Call: EA2LU Class: Single Op HP Call: EU1AA Class: Single Op QRP Call: F5IN Class: Single Op HP Call: F8CRS Class: Single Op LP Call: FM5CD Class: Single Op HP Call: GM4AFF Class: Single Op QRP Call: HG8L Class: Multi-Op HP Call: I2WIJ Class: Single Op LP Call: IV3PRK Class: Single Op HP Call: JA1XMS Class: Single Op LP Call: K0AV Class: Single Op LP Call: K0KX Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K0PK Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0RI Class: Single Op QRP Call: K0TI Class: Single Op QRP Call: K1GU Class: Single Op LP Call: K1LT Class: Single Op HP Call: K1PX Class: Single Op HP Call: K1TN Class: Single Op HP Call: K1TR Class: Single Op HP Call: K1ZZI Class: Single Op HP Call: K2PO Class: Single Op LP Call: K2QO Class: Single Op LP Call: K2SX Class: Single Op HP Call: K2TTT Class: Single Op HP Call: K2ZR Class: Single Op QRP Call: K3FIV Class: Single Op LP Call: K3IE Class: Multi-Op HP Call: K3TN Class: Single Op LP Call: K3WA Class: Single Op HP Call: K3WW Class: Single Op HP Call: K3ZM Class: Single Op QRP Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op HP Call: K4EDI Class: Single Op LP Call: K4FT Class: Single Op LP Call: K4FTO Class: Single Op LP Call: K4IQJ Class: Single Op HP Call: K4WW Class: Single Op LP Call: K4ZGB Class: Single Op LP Call: K5AF Class: Single Op LP Call: K5MR Class: Single Op HP Call: K5OAI Class: Single Op QRP Call: K6CSL Class: Single Op LP Call: K6SRZ Class: Single Op HP Call: K7BG Class: Single Op LP Call: K7HP Class: Single Op HP Call: K7IA Class: Single Op HP Call: K7NJ Class: Single Op HP Call: K7RAT Class: Single Op HP Call: K7RL Class: Single Op HP Call: K7SS Class: Single Op QRP Call: K7XC Class: Single Op HP Call: K8FC Class: Single Op HP Call: K8FH Class: Single Op LP Call: K8GT Class: Single Op LP Call: K8IA Class: Single Op HP Call: K8MM Class: Single Op HP Call: K8MR Class: Single Op LP Call: K9CT Class: Single Op HP Call: K9IG Class: Single Op LP Call: K9MA Class: Single Op HP Call: K9MMS Class: Single Op LP Call: K9NW Class: Single Op HP Call: K9YC Class: Single Op HP Call: KB1EFS Class: Single Op HP Call: KB8U Class: Single Op QRP Call: KC7V Class: Single Op HP Call: KE2VB Class: Single Op HP Call: KE3X Class: Single Op LP Call: KG7H Class: Single Op HP Call: KH6LC Class: Multi-Op HP Call: KH7Y Class: Single Op HP Call: KI7Y Class: Single Op LP Call: KN4Y Class: Single Op LP Call: KP2DX Class: Single Op LP Call: KQ0C Class: Single Op HP Call: KS4L Class: Single Op LP Call: KS4X Class: Single Op QRP Call: KU5B Class: Multi-Op HP Call: KU8E Class: Single Op LP Call: KV4FZ Class: Single Op HP Call: KX7L Class: Single Op QRP Call: KY5R Class: Single Op HP Call: KY7M Class: Single Op HP Call: LY9Y Class: Single Op HP Call: LZ2DF Class: Single Op HP Call: LZ9R Class: Single Op LP Call: MM0LID Class: Single Op QRP Call: N0AH Class: Single Op LP Call: N0IM Class: Single Op QRP Call: N0KE Class: Single Op HP Call: N0NI Class: Multi-Op HP Call: N1EU Class: Single Op HP Call: N1LN Class: Single Op HP Call: N2BJ Class: Single Op HP Call: N2CU Class: Single Op QRP Call: N2ED Class: Single Op HP Call: N2JDQ Class: Single Op LP Call: N2NS Class: Single Op LP Call: N3AM Class: Multi-Op HP Call: N3RD Class: Single Op HP Call: N3ZZ Class: Single Op HP Call: N4AF Class: Single Op HP Call: N4AU Class: Single Op LP Call: N4DJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N4DU Class: Single Op HP Call: N4GU Class: Single Op LP Call: N4KG Class: Single Op HP Call: N4NM Class: Single Op HP Call: N4VV Class: Single Op HP Call: N4ZZ Class: Single Op HP Call: N5IA Class: Single Op QRP Call: N5RZ Class: Single Op HP Call: N5UL Class: Single Op HP Call: N5UM Class: Single Op LP Call: N5WR Class: Single Op HP Call: N6KI Class: Single Op HP Call: N6RO Class: Single Op HP Call: N6VR Class: Multi-Op HP Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Call: N7GP Class: Single Op HP Call: N7IR Class: Single Op QRP Call: N7MAL Class: Single Op LP Call: N8BJQ Class: Single Op HP Call: N9ADG Class: Single Op HP Call: N9RV Class: Single Op HP Call: NA4K Class: Single Op LP Call: NE7D Class: Single Op LP Call: NF8M Class: Single Op LP Call: NI0C Class: Single Op LP Call: NI5O Class: Single Op LP Call: NM2L Class: Single Op LP Call: NM6E Class: Single Op HP Call: NO3M Class: Single Op QRP Call: OG4T Class: Multi-Op HP Call: OH6MW Class: Single Op HP Call: OK1FPS Class: Single Op LP Call: OK2W Class: Multi-Op HP Call: OK3C Class: Single Op QRP Call: OL0A Class: Single Op QRP Call: OL1A Class: Single Op HP Call: OM5RW Class: Single Op HP Call: ON4WW Class: Single Op HP Call: PA5KT Class: Single Op HP Call: PI4TUE Class: Single Op LP Call: PJ2T Class: Single Op HP Call: S53M Class: Single Op HP Call: SE0X Class: Single Op HP Call: SM5MX Class: Single Op LP Call: SN7Q Class: Single Op HP Call: TF4M Class: Single Op QRP Call: UR5IFB Class: Single Op LP Call: UW2M Class: Single Op HP Call: UX1UA Class: Single Op HP Call: UX3MZ Class: Single Op HP Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op LP Call: VE1OP Class: Single Op HP Call: VE1RGB Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3CV Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3KI Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3MGY Class: Single Op QRP Call: VE3OSZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3TA Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3XAT Class: Single Op HP Call: VE9AA Class: Single Op HP Call: VO1HP Class: Single Op HP Call: VO1TA Class: Single Op HP Call: VY2ZM Class: Single Op QRP Call: W0BH Class: Single Op HP Call: W0DLE Class: Single Op HP Call: W0ERP Class: Single Op LP Call: W0MU Class: Single Op HP Call: W0PC Class: Single Op LP Call: W0UCE Class: Single Op HP Call: W0UO Class: Single Op LP Call: W1AJT Class: Single Op HP Call: W1END Class: Single Op LP Call: W1GD Class: Single Op QRP Call: W1NN Class: Single Op LP Call: W1UE Class: Single Op HP Call: W1WBB Class: Single Op LP Call: W2FU Class: Single Op HP Call: W2GD Class: Multi-Op HP Call: W2ID Class: Single Op QRP Call: W2NO Class: Multi-Op HP Call: W2RR Class: Single Op HP Call: W2VJN Class: Single Op HP Call: W3FV Class: Single Op HP Call: W3KB Class: Single Op LP Call: W3KL Class: Single Op HP Call: W3SO Class: Single Op HP Call: W3TS Class: Single Op QRP Call: W4AU Class: Single Op HP Call: W4BAB Class: Single Op LP Call: W4BK Class: Single Op LP Call: W4GDG Class: Single Op LP Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Call: W4MJA Class: Single Op LP Call: W4UT Class: Single Op HP Call: W5JBO Class: Single Op LP Call: W5MX Class: Single Op HP Call: W6FA Class: Single Op HP Call: W6IZT Class: Single Op HP Call: W6ZL Class: Single Op LP Call: W7PP Class: Single Op HP Call: W7RH Class: Single Op LP Call: W7RN Class: Single Op HP Call: W7WHY Class: Single Op LP Call: W8KTQ Class: Single Op LP Call: W8WTS Class: Single Op LP Call: W9CF Class: Single Op LP Call: W9ILY Class: Single Op LP Call: W9RE Class: Single Op LP Call: W9ZRX Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4SM Class: Single Op LP Call: WA7LNW Class: Single Op HP Call: WB2ABD Class: Single Op LP Call: WB3CQM Class: Single Op LP Call: WB8JUI Class: Single Op LP Call: WD5R Class: Single Op HP Call: WD8RYC Class: Single Op HP Call: WI9WI Class: Single Op LP Call: WJ9B Class: Single Op LP Call: WL7E Class: Single Op HP Call: WS7L Class: Single Op HP Call: WU6W Class: Single Op HP Call: WU9B Class: Multi-Op LP Call: WW9R Class: Single Op LP Index of Calls organized by Class Class: Multi-Op HP Call: HG8L Call: K0KX Call: K3IE Call: KH6LC Call: KU5B Call: N0NI Call: N3AM Call: N6VR Call: OG4T Call: OK2W Call: W2GD Call: W2NO Class: Multi-Op LP Call: AA1K/M Call: WU9B Class: Single Op HP Call: 5H3EE Call: AA1K Call: AA3B Call: AB2E Call: AD4EB Call: AL9A Call: CE1/K7CA Call: DL6FBL Call: DL6RAI Call: E77DX Call: EA2LU Call: F5IN Call: FM5CD Call: IV3PRK Call: K1LT Call: K1PX Call: K1TN Call: K1TR Call: K1ZZI Call: K2SX Call: K2TTT Call: K3WA Call: K3WW Call: K4BAI Call: K4IQJ Call: K5MR Call: K6SRZ Call: K7HP Call: K7IA Call: K7NJ Call: K7RAT Call: K7RL Call: K7XC Call: K8FC Call: K8IA Call: K8MM Call: K9CT Call: K9MA Call: K9NW Call: K9YC Call: KB1EFS Call: KC7V Call: KE2VB Call: KG7H Call: KH7Y Call: KQ0C Call: KV4FZ Call: KY5R Call: KY7M Call: LY9Y Call: LZ2DF Call: N0KE Call: N1EU Call: N1LN Call: N2BJ Call: N2ED Call: N3RD Call: N3ZZ Call: N4AF Call: N4DU Call: N4KG Call: N4NM Call: N4VV Call: N4ZZ Call: N5RZ Call: N5UL Call: N5WR Call: N6KI Call: N6RO Call: N7GP Call: N8BJQ Call: N9ADG Call: N9RV Call: NM6E Call: OH6MW Call: OL1A Call: OM5RW Call: ON4WW Call: PA5KT Call: PJ2T Call: S53M Call: SE0X Call: SN7Q Call: UW2M Call: UX1UA Call: UX3MZ Call: VE1OP Call: VE3XAT Call: VE9AA Call: VO1HP Call: VO1TA Call: W0BH Call: W0DLE Call: W0MU Call: W0UCE Call: W1AJT Call: W1UE Call: W2FU Call: W2RR Call: W2VJN Call: W3FV Call: W3KL Call: W3SO Call: W4AU Call: W4UT Call: W5MX Call: W6FA Call: W6IZT Call: W7PP Call: W7RN Call: WA7LNW Call: WD5R Call: WD8RYC Call: WL7E Call: WS7L Call: WU6W Class: Single Op LP Call: AA7V Call: AB1OD Call: AC0W Call: AE4O Call: AJ1E Call: DL4ME Call: F8CRS Call: I2WIJ Call: JA1XMS Call: K0AV Call: K1GU Call: K2PO Call: K2QO Call: K3FIV Call: K3TN Call: K4EDI Call: K4FT Call: K4FTO Call: K4WW Call: K4ZGB Call: K5AF Call: K6CSL Call: K7BG Call: K8FH Call: K8GT Call: K8MR Call: K9IG Call: K9MMS Call: KE3X Call: KI7Y Call: KN4Y Call: KP2DX Call: KS4L Call: KU8E Call: LZ9R Call: N0AH Call: N2JDQ Call: N2NS Call: N4AU Call: N4DJ Call: N4GU Call: N5UM Call: N7MAL Call: NA4K Call: NE7D Call: NF8M Call: NI0C Call: NI5O Call: NM2L Call: OK1FPS Call: PI4TUE Call: SM5MX Call: UR5IFB Call: VA7ST Call: VE1RGB Call: VE3CV Call: VE3KI Call: VE3OSZ Call: VE3TA Call: W0ERP Call: W0PC Call: W0UO Call: W1END Call: W1NN Call: W1WBB Call: W3KB Call: W4BAB Call: W4BK Call: W4GDG Call: W4KAZ Call: W4MJA Call: W5JBO Call: W6ZL Call: W7RH Call: W7WHY Call: W8KTQ Call: W8WTS Call: W9CF Call: W9ILY Call: W9RE Call: W9ZRX Call: WA4SM Call: WB2ABD Call: WB3CQM Call: WB8JUI Call: WI9WI Call: WJ9B Call: WW9R Class: Single Op QRP Call: EU1AA Call: GM4AFF Call: K0PK Call: K0RI Call: K0TI Call: K2ZR Call: K3ZM Call: K5OAI Call: K7SS Call: KB8U Call: KS4X Call: KX7L Call: MM0LID Call: N0IM Call: N2CU Call: N5IA Call: N6WG Call: N7IR Call: NO3M Call: OK3C Call: OL0A Call: TF4M Call: VE3MGY Call: VY2ZM Call: W1GD Call: W2ID Call: W3TS