2006 ARRL 160 Meter Contest
04/24/2007 |
AA9DY
This was my first time on 160m. Did this 100% S&P, unassisted with only 100 Watts. Thanks to WE9V for the prodding just days B4 to try it out and for other fellow SMC'er's tips, as well! Now I have 39 states towards WAS-160m. And just days after contest, 31 states are already confirmed via LoTW!! This contest was awesome!!! It was like an ALL-U-CAN-EAT smorgasbord early in the test. Work a Q... barely move the dial... work another... Many time I would call into a pile and get it on the first try. Even the XYL was impressed on how easy it was to get on this band with what we had... long wire, short property, short trees...
Funniest thing about one of the QSO's... I heard AA9D working a station (S&P), and when I took my crack at the same station, the op was trying to tell me B4 B4... figures... but got it after tossing my AA9D"Y" at 'em a few more times...
To get on this contest, I was one of those that crazy enough to whip something together the night before, literally in the cold night and right before a major snowstorm. Armed with a little flashlight and determination, I ventured out into the dark & cold just hours before the snowstorm was to start. Managed to get a 140 foot wire ~20ft vertically up into a tree at the edge of the marshland behind my house, several feet below our property grade... One cool thing about this antenna is that the vertical section of this ant will get taller and taller every year. Maybe on the order of 4-6 feet each year. The trees at the marsh boundary are fast growers and can get to >50 feet.
The rest of antenna shoots over the 2nd story of the house and ends up about 20ft up in a tree in the front yard by the curb. Had a heck of a time getting the line over the house. Tossed the line to the top of the garage, which is only one story. Climbed up there and without falling, used a broom to push the wire over the apex of the second story. Had the XYL out in the front yard holding the line, while I fiddled with the things on the roof (fiddler on the roof?.. yeah I just realized I typed that...).
For the ground-point, I drove a 3ft rod into the ground very close to where the vertical wire section starts. Soil was pretty soft still and moist. Well, just as I finished things, the snow started around 11:30PM. The VSWR wasn't very good during post installation checks.
Friday Morning... The good thing about getting the 12" of snow is that it made it difficult to get out of the driveway for work and our street wasn't even plowed yet. So, I worked out of the house. Later in the afternoon (after snow removal exercizes), I set out on an arctic expedition to the marshland to work on the antenna. I didn't have any more wire to lay out radials, so I clamped one of the spades from a 75 ft extension cord to the ground braid of the coax. The cord was laying on the ground perpendicular to the way my antenna bends. Would add more radial, but it was awfully close to game time, and I was getting wet and cold!!! VSWR improved a lot and made the auto-tuner happy. Bagged about 165 Q's after several hours B4 hitting the hay for the night.
Late Saturday morning of the contest, I realized there was not going to be any Q's to collect. So, I checked out the antenna on other bands. Looks like the antenna "as is" works for 15, 12, 10, 6 meters. I made some Skywarn Recognition Day contacts (Phoenix, AZ; Grand Junction, CO; Elko, NV) and also a QSO with Oregon on 15m. The Oregon station gave me a 5x9+20 report! Made my morning. :-))
Sunday afternoon, after I got back home from a trip out of town, I took down the antenna and will put it away in a safe place 'til next year. Afterall, I still need 11 more states for WAS-160m. I plan to get more radials out there and the vertical section should be taller.
73, Wayne / AA9DY.com -- AA9DY
Funniest thing about one of the QSO's... I heard AA9D working a station (S&P), and when I took my crack at the same station, the op was trying to tell me B4 B4... figures... but got it after tossing my AA9D"Y" at 'em a few more times...
To get on this contest, I was one of those that crazy enough to whip something together the night before, literally in the cold night and right before a major snowstorm. Armed with a little flashlight and determination, I ventured out into the dark & cold just hours before the snowstorm was to start. Managed to get a 140 foot wire ~20ft vertically up into a tree at the edge of the marshland behind my house, several feet below our property grade... One cool thing about this antenna is that the vertical section of this ant will get taller and taller every year. Maybe on the order of 4-6 feet each year. The trees at the marsh boundary are fast growers and can get to >50 feet.
The rest of antenna shoots over the 2nd story of the house and ends up about 20ft up in a tree in the front yard by the curb. Had a heck of a time getting the line over the house. Tossed the line to the top of the garage, which is only one story. Climbed up there and without falling, used a broom to push the wire over the apex of the second story. Had the XYL out in the front yard holding the line, while I fiddled with the things on the roof (fiddler on the roof?.. yeah I just realized I typed that...).
For the ground-point, I drove a 3ft rod into the ground very close to where the vertical wire section starts. Soil was pretty soft still and moist. Well, just as I finished things, the snow started around 11:30PM. The VSWR wasn't very good during post installation checks.
Friday Morning... The good thing about getting the 12" of snow is that it made it difficult to get out of the driveway for work and our street wasn't even plowed yet. So, I worked out of the house. Later in the afternoon (after snow removal exercizes), I set out on an arctic expedition to the marshland to work on the antenna. I didn't have any more wire to lay out radials, so I clamped one of the spades from a 75 ft extension cord to the ground braid of the coax. The cord was laying on the ground perpendicular to the way my antenna bends. Would add more radial, but it was awfully close to game time, and I was getting wet and cold!!! VSWR improved a lot and made the auto-tuner happy. Bagged about 165 Q's after several hours B4 hitting the hay for the night.
Late Saturday morning of the contest, I realized there was not going to be any Q's to collect. So, I checked out the antenna on other bands. Looks like the antenna "as is" works for 15, 12, 10, 6 meters. I made some Skywarn Recognition Day contacts (Phoenix, AZ; Grand Junction, CO; Elko, NV) and also a QSO with Oregon on 15m. The Oregon station gave me a 5x9+20 report! Made my morning. :-))
Sunday afternoon, after I got back home from a trip out of town, I took down the antenna and will put it away in a safe place 'til next year. Afterall, I still need 11 more states for WAS-160m. I plan to get more radials out there and the vertical section should be taller.
73, Wayne / AA9DY.com -- AA9DY
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