I have been playing around on 160 meters for a few years, and find it to be very challenging. The antenna is the weak link in any 160 station. Unless you live on salt water, any antenna you put up can be improved! Along those lines, I spent late November stringing out more radials for my quarter wave top loaded vertical, and modifying my ground wire buss to use stainless steel hardware for attaching all the radial wires. The ARRL 160 contest was a great way to check and see if the changes made any difference.

I got a late start on Friday as I had been helping a friend in the next state doing some tower work. I got home after the contest began. I was making noise by 0000 UT and kept it up until about 0900 UT. My eyelids would not stay propped up any longer. I quit with about 500 Qs. The next night, things were so busy and crowded that I quit very early and went to bed  with the idea of getting up before my sunrise when things were more quiet and I could find room to squeeze in a few CQs. I did manage to get up and had a very enjoyable time working stations at a more leisurely pace. I added about 300 more QSOs and deduced that my radial wires had helped to improve thingsmaybe just a bit. (Wishful thinking?)  Anyway, the contest sure was a bunch of fun.