CQWWCW95 - Single Band 160m
Don Field G3XTT (this article first appeared in the CDXC Digest)
160m is my favourite band, and this seemed the right moment in the sunspot cycle to make a serious effort on 160 in the CQWWCW contest How right this was to prove!
Time to got ready
My preparations for the contest start early in the week, making sure I have CT properly configured and with the latest COUNTRY.DAT file, and that the station equipment is set up in the most effective way (which includes fitting a recently-purchased 250Hz second IF filter for the FT-1000). The RSGB 1.8MHz contest, the weekend before CQWW, is also a chance to have a dry run. Rather than take the beam down, I have installed a 20ft extension pole above the beam, and erected a quarter-wave inverted-L for 160, which puts the highest point at almost 80ft. I work 18 North American stations in the RSGB contest, which is unusual, so everything seems to be in order. Of course, life is never so straightforward, with Murphy always lurking around the comer.
A couple of evenings before the contest TY5MF shows up on 160, and I am able to work him for a new one, though I am a little concerned that the antenna SWR seems to be varying quite a bit. The following morning ZF2RR is spotted on the Cluster and I work him for a second new one on the band in less than 12 hours. However, there still seems to be a problem with varying SWR. Not to worry. I have planned to take Friday off work to make my final preparations.
Friday morning, and an auspicious start with CO1OTA spotted on 40 CW. NA-093 as a new IOTA to start the day. I go outside to lay some more radials (one can never have enough), and come back in to see a spot for ZL7CW on 10MHz. A nice one, but I don't have a 10MHz antenna up at the moment. Thank goodness for antenna tuners. John G3WGV, sends me a Cluster "Talk' to say he has just worked the ZL7, so if John can do it with a dipole and 200 watts, I might just manage by running the linear into my 40m vertical. It turns out to be easier than I expect, and I catch the ZL7 second call. Soon afterwards John spots Roger TY5SW on 15 CW and we have a quick QSO, wishing each other luck for the contest. Hope Roger will make a point of looking for me on 160!
This is turning out to be a fruitful day, and the morning still has one more new one in store - PY2HA on 20m SSB for SA-071, another new IOTA for me. However, I have noticed that the 160m SWR and resonance is changing as I turn the HF beam, so there is clearly an interaction, which is disconcerting to say the least.
John G3WGV arrives with the latest Turbolog release, and after installing it we adjourn to the local for lunch and a pint (or two ..). I notice that the wind is getting up. My Hilomast is aluminium and is already overloaded, with a TH5 and 20ft extension pole. Together with the SWR problems I reluctantly come to the conclusion that there is only one solution; I must take the beam down.
Of course, the afternoons are getting pretty short at this time of the year, and by the time I have removed the beam, and reinstalled the 160m inverted-L, with a break to collect my son from school, it is almost dark. Fortunately the resonance is in the right place, although the SWR at resonance is well over 1.5:1. This is good news in one way; it means that the impedance of the whole system is down around the 25-30 ohms mark, which suggests that the radial system is working well But my antenna tuner doesn't want to tune out the mismatch My nice new linear (an Alpha 89) trips out if reflected power is too high, but fortunately this proves not to be a problem as I have no intention of running at its full rated output in any case, so I can stay well within the tolerance limits.
So it looks as though there is nothing more I can do, other than spend the evening with the family as they won't be seeing too much of me over the weekend.
Kick-off
Back into the shack soon after 2330 and 160 is starting to get lively, with a number of contest stations testing on the band. At about 2345 I hear FM5BH with a good signal. This is one of the easier ones that I still need; for some reason I have kept missing him. Two calls and he is in the log! This is my country 198 on 160 on the current list, so that magic 200 is almost in the bag. As it turns out, FM5BH is getting warmed up for a serious 160m effort in the contest - I am destined to run across him time and time again over the course of the weekend.
0000 and it's all systems go, A lively start, with my first US contact (AA8U) at 0005 and 91 stations in the log in the first hour (this sort of rate is unimaginable on 160 in this contest for our North American friends). The next excitement is at 0112 when TY5A calls me for a nice double multiplier; what it is to have friends in rare places! I work FM5BH at 0 130, so that's two contacts with this new one in less than 2 hours. I continue to run at a good rate, with plenty of North American stations, including a good sprinkling of 9s and zeros. But the big surprise comes at 0417 when I am called by AD6C. I ask him to confirm zone 3 as it seems quite early to be hearing the West Coast, but to prove it is no fluke the very next caller is N6DX! My next zone 3 is N6SS at 0557. Despite the good signals from North America and the consistently strong signal from FM5BH, I work no other Caribbean stations the first night. I hear KG4MN, but he is leaving only very short breaks between transmissions and seems unaware that he has a big European pile-up. I also bear FG5BG and V31UA, but can't raise either of them. The V3 would have been a nice one; I still need that on 160. Shortly before the band closes I hear a big pile-up calling HC8N. Trey, WN4KKN, is the operator and he has the good sense to work split. I raise him first call and he replies to me by name! A fantastic double multiplier, though not an all-time new one for me on the band (I worked N6EKIHC8 back in 1988).
By the time I call it a night at 0800 1 have 401 QS0s, 55 countries and 14 zones, which feels like a pretty good start.
The Saturday evening session promises to be a long slog, working one point Europeans, but there are some nice surprises. I work SU2MT for a double multiplier at 1811, and shortly afterwards find a clear frequency to call CQ. The first station to call me is ?L7XX. Must be a UL7. But no, it's KL7XX! I haven't worked KL7 on 160 since 1987 when KL7H and KL7Y were on Endicott Island way up in the Arctic Circle, but as far as I know KL7XX is somewhere in civilisation, so this is a very rare catch.
K1ZM calls me at 2016. Jeff is clearly aware that this is a dupe, but is checking propagation as it is almost an hour before his sunset. He is a good signal with me,
1 waste about 45 minutes in the 2045-2130 window trying to work a JA multiplier, but without success. It is galling to hear G3PQA and G3SED make the QSO, I'd love to know the secret of their success, but the European pile-ups are fierce.
At 2203 1 am called by Dennis GJ3YHU, which completes all the UK countries except for Shetland. Dennis has a problem with CQWW CW as it is invariably the nearest weekend to his son's birthday, but he usually tries to get on for an hour or two to give out the GJ multiplier.
At 2329 VP2MDE calls me. Thank goodness. I was beginning to think the Caribbean was a black spot, even though I am still stumbling across FM5BH at regular intervals. By midnight, half way through the contest, I have 75096 points, from 614 QSOs, 66 countries and 18 zones. That's ahead of my full-time score for last year, which was an English record for single-band 160 (GW3YDX is the UK and European record holder with 154,376 points).
Day 2
At 0006 1 hear PY0FF with a good signal and work him first call for another double multiplier. And another big surprise, K7CA in zone 3 at 0045, right on his sunset. This turns out to be the start of my most amazing run of the contest, with what seems like a pipeline into the mid-West. I work K0GU K0SF KD0ZR K0EU W0RXL K0RF NC0P AB0X W0CP K0FF N0BG and KR0Y in the next hour, along with lots of 5s, 8s and 9s. I arn convinced there are people calling that I can't pull through. The vertical is a great transmit antenna, but a bit noisy on receive. No space for Beverages here. Maybe another year I must try a EWE or some sort of receiving loop.
At 0331 I am called by 9Y4H for another double multiplier, and P40W gives me another zone 9 multiplier at 0634. W6PBI and N6LL give me two more zone 3 contacts just after 0700 and then I hear a big pile-up calling YS1ZV, which would be another double multiplier. I put his frequency in the second VFO and keep returning there to give him a call. Eventually I put this one in the log at 0719. A minute later, finding a clear frequency to call CQ I am called by NA7R in zone 4. I check the zone as I wasn't sure, and he tells me it's Wyoming. Sounds good to me! A few minutes later I work WB0O. The call rings a bell and I check my station log. Yes, I've worked him a number of times on the high bands and he's in North Dakota. Now that's a very nice one on 160!
Sunday evening promises to be a dreary round of CQing and search-and-pounce to catch those few stations who might be appearing on 160 for the first time in the contest. I work VEIZZ at 1928. After the contest I check my station log, and this is by far the earliest 1 have ever worked North America on 160 (though, in fairness, Jack qualifies as an "honorary European" with his location and fb topband signals).
I am not expecting to work more than a couple of new multipliers this evening, though I must make another effort to catch a JA. It is while listening up for JA that I hear 3V8BB with a good signal on 1910, working European stations at a good rate. I listen for a few minutes and don't hear him give any listening instructions, but assume that he must be listening down in the lower part of the band. I don't hear any obvious pile-ups, but I do hear 7Z5OO with hardly any callers, and work him easily, guess everyone is busy chasing the 3V8.
I am obviously getting tired, because it takes me a few more minutes to realise that the 3V8 is actually listening on 1911kHz. My antenna SWR is horrendous up there, but I guess everybody else is in the same boat, and I manage a quick contact, despite having to keep the power down at a fairly low level.
About 2215 1 hear a big pile-up, and find 5X4F, with a fair signal but a bunch of callers who never seem to listen. Fortunately he works Riki 4X4NJ, who suggests he start operating split. This speeds matters up considerably, and I put him in the log at 2252 for a double multiplier and my first all time new one of the contest. That's number 199! Guess which band I will be focusing on once the contest is over ..
At 2319 1 hear 3A/K1VWI calling CQ and work him second call. 10 minutes or so later I hear him again with a horrendous pile-up, presumably in the meantime some kind soul has spotted him on the Cluster. Glad I caught him when I did. My last multiplier comes at 2346: ES1RY. This is an easy one which had somehow slipped through my fingers until now.
The noise level has been rising for the last couple of hours of the contest; S7 rain static. Thank goodness this didn't happen earlier in the weekend.
Time to look back
My final claimed score is 137,600 from 880 QSOs, 78 countries and 22 zones. I heard 9 countries which I failed to work (FG 4K8 KG4 YV V3 JA VP5 XE and V4), and after the contest I check the packet spots and the Internet Reflectors and find that I also missed DU 7X ZD8 HH A9 SP9 NP4 6Y5 JT PY OX 8R, and no doubt some others too. This means that at least 99 countries were heard/worked by European stations over the contest weekend, so it really does look as though one day some well-equipped and diligent operator will achieve DXCC during a 160m contest. Who knows, it may even have been done this year by one of the multi-ops with their Packet spotting and big antennas. My final score would have won Europe in 1994, but I suspect this year there will be some very high scores posted. It's a pity G contacts don't count for points; someone like GW3YDX can count on at least another 5000 points from G QSOs alone. On the other hand, this rule puts DL1IAO (one of my main competitors) at a severe disadvantage; I'm sure he worked far fewer Gs than I did DLs.
After the contest I am able to do some analysis of the log. High QSO totals are with USA (220), DL (168), OK (38), UR (36), F (36) and OH (34), 240 North Americans, 4 South Americans, 22 in Asia, and 7 in Africa. No Oceania. Not a bad weekend, all things considered! Roll on CQ WW 160 ...