[PVRCNC] CQ WW 160 SSB - K4TMC

[Henry Pollock - K4TMC]

Call: K4TMC

Operator(s): K4TMC

Station: K4TMC



Class: Single Op LP

QTH: NC

Operating Time (hrs): 11



Summary:

Total:  QSOs = 213  State/Prov = 29  Countries = 3  Total Score = 14,752



Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club



Comments:

Portable operation from Atlantic Beach, NC (FM14PQ, IOTA NA112, USI NC010S).


Yes, there was some distorted audio and some accents…but none of those
dreaded key clicks!  Still…this was another successful portable beach
contest expedition from Atlantic Beach, NC.

Sure was nice to be within a contest circle that will allow me to provide
some points for the club.

Realizing that I was planning an end-fed halfwave vertical (265 ft) for
this effort, my thoughts were to acquire a large or several small aerial
support devices. Realizing that there were 3 military bases within a short
distance and a Coast Guard station only a mile away, and not withstanding
that there may also be some nervous neighbors, I decided not to launch a
balloon vertical.  So…with a 150 X 75 lot, I wound up with a bent
Inverted-L end fed halfwave (long horizontal portion bent into a flat U,
gradually sloping down from top of vertical section at 73 ft above ground
(sand) to 3 additional fiberglass/carbon fiber poles at 50, 45, and 30
ft.  With
winds at 20mph I was forced to use 26ga wire for the horizonal leg, but did
use RG174 (shield & center shorted) as the vertical leg loosely tied to the
64 ft carbon fiber mast with base 9 ft above ground on the house upper deck.

Started with S6-7 noise level and it continued the whole contest.  So, I
probably missed a lot of weak stations calling.  I noticed as the band
opened around 2200 each day there were some loud signals that sounded like
over the horizon radar…is that possible on 160? I ran most of Friday night
with some mixed S&P.  Easily snagged ZF2VE on one S&P trip with one call.  Was
called by KP4 and some VE’s during runs.  I did hear PJ4G clearly just
above the noise Friday night, but he must have had a high noise level also
since there were many others calling with no reply. I finally got him
Saturday night when he was slightly stronger. For those looking for V51MA,
I worked him on Sunday during the NC QSO Party on 10M and he confirmed that
he did not make any contacts on 160M.

Compared to my last time (2021) in this contest, the worked stations were
less, thus my score is not as good. I probably should have kept BIC longer
Friday night.  I did check the band at 6am each morning and made only a few
new contacts. On Sunday morning after adding several QSOs to the log, I had
to take down the EFHW and put up the antenna for the NC QSO Party which
started at 10AM.

Rig: Elecraft K3+ with Heil HC4 mic element

Antenna: MyAntennas MEF-130-LP with 265 ft wire as described above

73,
Henry - K4TMC