[PVRCNC] CQ160 CW N1LN Multi-Op HP

[Bruce Meier]

                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW - 2020

Call: N1LN
Operator(s): N1LN WA4PSC N4CW N3ND
Station: N1LN

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 34

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1420  State/Prov = 57  Countries = 77  Total Score = 761,522

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

If a prize was given for bad timing I would win it.  My station is in the middle of a major configuration change for the towers and antennas. The towers that supported one of the phased verticals for 160 are not there any more. So, the only remaining transmit antenna is a very strange looking wire L but the top of the L looks more like an inverted triangle. The Comtek phasing equipment was sold to NR4M so hopefully it contributed to the outstanding score that Steve and his team attained. WELL DONE GUYS! After the phased array became one I-L it just didn t work and CQ 160 was getting closer. The short story is I found a few bad pieces of coax, a bad N to SO 239 adapter, and an intermittent Polyphaser. Fixed with 2 days to spare!

Now on to the fun stuff. We all had a great time with the wonderful band conditions. Friday night was OK, but the static crashes and threat of a possible thunderstorm kept us watching the weather radar. The rain came but the big storm fortunately stayed away. However, the rain impacted the SWR and we were forced to stay below 1845 which may have cost a few multipliers. Saturday night made up for Friday in a big way. We have never heard 160 with such a low noise level. Actually, almost nonexistent. Our best 10 point Q count came from 0100 to 0630 UTC. The end came fast. We had good RBNs and then NOTHING. Almost like the EU switch was turned off. We were hoping for another 30 to 45 minutes before EU sunrise but it was not to be there.

I would like to suggest that more stations link up with ContestingOnLine. It was fun watching the scores of the big stations continue to grow. Ours also increased but at a much slower rate. 

I would also like to thank the rest of the N1LN MS team for being part of the team.  We always have a fun time when we get together and due to the station configuration changes the ARRL and CQ 160s will probably be the only multi op events we enter.

Thanks for the Qs, patience, repeats and FUN!

73,
Bruce N1LN
Howie WA4PSC
Bert N4CW
Dan N3ND