Dave VO1AU / VO2AAA and I were active during the CQ160 CW contest from Point Amour, Labrador. This is the same location where VO2CQ operated CQWW SSB in 1998 (VO1MP & VO1MX), 1999 (VO1MP, VO1MX, & VE3FU), and 2000 (VO1MP, VO1MX, VE3FU, and VE2ZP (now VO1AU)).

We were at Point Amour from January 25 until January 30. The TX antennas were a vertical and an inverted-Vee, both suspended from the lighthouse. For RX we had a two-wire reversible Beverage (aimed at EU). There was no internet access at the operating site, so could not use the DX clusters to help find new multipliers. The weather started out great but worsened as the contest approached. We lost power for about 24 hours and actually ran the first 7 hours of the contest using a generator. See story below.

I had intended to record the whole contest, but with the power loss and occasional RF rebooting the computer, I was only able to record a few hours of the contest. So if you worked us between 0459-1203Z, 1818-2102Z, or 2350-2359Z on January 29, and would like to hear what you sounded like in VO2, send me an e-mail and I’ll send you the audio file. Here's a sample recording from 0518-0519Z. (External link)

The new colour QSLs from UX5UO have arrived! All the QSLs I have received so far have been answered.

The log search has now been updated.

A view of Point Amour.

Another view.

And another view.

The road to Point Amour.

Point Amour during the wind storm.

Looking down the Beverage to the SW.

Dave VO1AU/VO2AAA securing the base of the vertical during the wind storm.

Trying to string out the Beverage

VO2AC setup for CQ160 CW

Dave VO1AU/VO2AAA and Chris VE3FU/VO2AC

VE3FU/VO2AC at the top of the lighthouse, with a view to EU

VO1AU/VO2AAA on the beach

Here are some local links:

Point Amour Lighthouse

Labrador Coastal Drive

Lighthouse Cove B&B

LabadorStraits.net - Information about the area and links, including a web cam, and maps

A Google map - pinpointing where we were

Call: VO2AC

Operator(s): VE3FU / VO2AC, VO1AU / VO2AAA

Station: VO2AC

Class: Multi-Op HP

QTH: Point Amour, Labrador

Operating Time (hrs):

Summary:

Total: QSOs = 1523 State/Prov = 59 Countries = 70 Total Score = 1,479,372

Club: Contest Club Ontario and East Coast Canada Contest Club

Comments:

2 x TS-950SD

1 x TL-922

1 x Sloping Vertical

1 x Inverted Vee (never used)

1 x Reversible Beverage

No packet, no phased arrays, no multitude of Beverages, and no heat (on the first night). Just two eager and dedicated operators, simple antennas, a great location, a sought after multiplier, and a LOT of wind.

We arrived separately on the South East coast of Labrador on Wednesday, and met up Thursday morning. We went out to Point Amour to start setting up. The road was clear, so we could drive right up to the fence, but the yard was too full of ice and snow for us to drive any further.

We started setting up in the fog alarm building, where there was electricity and heat. We got the two TX antennas (vertical with three radials and inverted vee) up easily and quickly. The winds picked up as the day wore on.

Friday, the winds were screaming strong and they stayed that way 'til Saturday night. At times, when trying to set up the Beverage, it was all we could do to remain standing. We managed to get the Beverage strung out and a few radials at one end (good luck trying to drive a ground rod up there at this time of the year!) before we came to our senses and got out of the weather. With a lack of supports, the wind, not us, decided which way the Beverage wire would go. The wind, coupled with temperatures in the -5º to -10ºC range, wore us out and made us very cold.

Afterwards, several long-term residents told us they had never seen such winds, and never for such a long period. At Brador QC, about 50km west of us, they were clocked at 190km/h! They couldn't have been much less than that at Point Amour.

Because of the wind, we lost power at Point Amour on Friday morning. As the hour for the start of the contest approached, we were getting more nervous. We eventually learned that NL Hydro had given up on fixing the line 'til Saturday, so we rented a generator in L'Anse au Loup.

So, with that generator, we had enough power to power the rigs, amp and computers, but not the heater, so we began the contest with full power, full logging, but no heat. We resolved to operate until the generator ran out of gas, and that took us to 0715Z (3:45am local) Saturday morning. Being worn down by wind and cold, the generator cutting out was welcome, even though the first night's runs were very good.

At 1430Z (11am local) Saturday, the power came back on (NL Hydro replaced three insulators), so we returned the generator, even though the winds remained very high.

At about 1730Z (2pm local), we were ready to go back at it, and Europeans were audible. They were actually workable shortly after, and the second night got off to a great start. We carried on 'til well after sunrise, all the while thinking we were in catch-up mode, with frayed nerves. Our score at that point would have beaten last year's 3rd place WW Multi-op score, so we were pretty pleased.

Late during that second night, the winds went from screaming strong to just about calm in a matter of a few minutes. It was eerie.

At times, the band sounded like 20m. We were able to record some of the QSOs from the second night. We worked all States except Idaho (never heard one, despite intensive searching on the second rig) and all VE mults except VY1, VE8, and VY0. There were only two multipliers that we heard but were unable to work: ZL6QH and V51AS. One of them (I don't remember which one) copied "O2A" before starting another CQ.

We lost about five hours of good operating time due to the storm + power failure + cold and had no packet assistance.

Thanks for all the QSO's! Despite the wind and loss of power, we had a great time!

73,

Chris VE3FU / VO2AC
Dave VO1AU / VO2AAA

(Who knows, we may be back again next year to see if we can work Idaho to complete WAS :=)