[EIDXA] Contesting for Non-Contesters - "Practice What You Preach"

[reheinri at rockwellcollins.com]

So just a quick note to everyone to follow-up on this past weekend's CQWW 
160M CQ contest.  WOW!  Great Fun.  Steve, N0SM had commented on what 
great conditions were in place for the ARRL 160M contest in December, but 
I have to admit that this one is the best I've enjoyed in any of the 
previous contests.

So I spent about 6 hours total - 3 on Friday/Saturday night and 3 more on 
Saturday/Sunday night.  I made 310 QSOs in 45 States and worked 25 
countries.  Now before you get excited - many of these would not even 
raise eyebrows on 20M, but on 160 they were better than "normal".   DX 
included - the typical Caribbean bunch, LX, MD, G, UA2, etc.  I also took 
an hour or two to hone some of my contesting skills.  I had the rate meter 
running at 220 QSOs per hour for a while - but the typical rate was about 
130 per hour - not bad for a 160M contest!  And I worked a handful of Iowa 
contesters!

So what do I have on 160M?  An inverted Vee with the apex at 60 feet. 
Because there was some juicy DX high in the band I was limited to about 
500W to avoid SWR problems with my amplifier.

But every contest offers more learning experiences.  What I learned was 
that using my tribander as a receive antenna lowered the noise and I could 
hear the Europeans better.  I've been trying to get my beverages up for 
the last three years, but never seem to get it done.

So here was an opportunity where I could not really be competitive in 
terms of being able to invest the time in the contest.  But I increased my 
160M band countries from 75 to 85, I improved my search and pounce skills, 
and took the opportunity to keep my run rate skills honed.

In all a fun weekend.  I hope you at least tried your hand.

Rick N0YY