[SJDXA] FW: TBDC W2GD Multi-Op HP

Wed Dec 30 17:29:04 EST 2009

SJDXA members,

Find below John's overview of the Stew Perry effort.

See ya' in the Pileups!

73!

Bob Schenck, N2OO

GO SJDXA! www.sjdxa.org

Old Barney ARC! www.obarc.org

835 Users Group! http://146835.org

VK9LA DXpedition! http://www.odxg.org/vk9la.htm

Fun stuff for hams:

www.cafepress.com/QRM

www.cafepress.com/DXER

www.cafepress.com/qrostuff

www.cafepress.com/cqdx

From: John Crovelli [mailto:w2gd at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 11:10 AM
To: gofrc at yahoogroups.com; Marty Grozinski; w2no at optonline.net;
ku2c at comcast.net; k2tw at yahoo.com; N2OO; k2sg at comcast.net;
jimjarvis at optonline.net; eyg at prodigy.net; w1gd at aol.com; rwmcgwier at gmail.com
Subject: FW: TBDC W2GD Multi-Op HP

> Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:08:01 -0800
> To: 3830 at contesting.com; w2gd at hotmail.com
> Subject: TBDC W2GD Multi-Op HP
> From: webform at b41h.net
> 
> Stew Perry Topband Challenge
> 
> Call: W2GD
> Operator(s): K2SG, K2TW, N2HM, N2OO, N4HY, W2ARP, W2CG, W1GD, W2GD, W2NO,
W2OB
> Station: W2GD
> 
> Class: Multi-Op HP
> QTH: FM29
> Operating Time (hrs): 13:57
> 
> Summary:
> Total: QSOs = 732 Total Score = 4,224
> 
> Club: Frankford Radio Club
> 
> Comments:
> 
> Station located on the NJ Shoreline, 20 miles N of Atlantic City, SNJ
> 
> K3 + IC746 slave RX + Alpha 99
> K3 + Alpha 78
> Flex 5000
> WIN-TEST Software
> 2 ele Vertical Beam NE and SW
> 5 beverages S/N, SW, W, NW, NE
> Short RX Vertical
> 
> We enteered the M/S HP catagory again this year primarily to test a new RX
> antenna and transceivers. And looking back through the records, our score
this
> time was our best HP effort ever, and 20% better than 2008, with nearly
100 more
> QSOs. Rates were very good the first few hours then dropped off in the
'deep
> night' period. But we worked 4 JAs and thanks to Greg, ZL3IX, for our best
> DX.
> 
> Since the ARRL 160 we've been busy planning and implementing some station
> changes that would improve our ability to hear DX, specifically EU. Over
the
> prior two weeks we built a new short vertical RX antenna and located it
2500
> feet away from the TX array. It performed exceptionally well during the
TBDC
> and makes S&P by our 2nd operating position ops much more enjoyable and
less
> fatiguing. The mult ops can now effectively hear through the run station,
> something we've been trying to achieve for over 20 years. 
> 
> The other big change was replacing the ICOM xcvers with K3s equipped with
the
> 2nd receiver and offering diversity reception. This was probably the
single
> most important factor in our score increase over prior years. The K3 is
> everything it is reported to be, signals seemed to pop out of the noise.
Fully
> 30 percent of the EU stations worked were not audible on a slave Icom xcvr
using
> the phased EU beverages. 
> 
> We also tried a Flex 5000 in a 3rd RX position. It has terrific dynamic
range,
> rivaling the K3, but the user interface for contesting is not quite ready
for
> 'prime time.'
> 
> In retrospect, maybe an earlier start time would have been a better
choice,
> since conditions to EU sounded slightly above average the first few hours
and
> faded later. But we were going through the K3 setup learning curve so had
to
> settle for a 2200 UTC start. F6BEE, HA8JV, F5IN and others were booming as
> early as 2100Z, well before our sunset. 
> 
> We started the contest on 1811.5 but would later move around, operating up
on
> 1841 for quite some time. Not sure how important frequency selection might
be,
> but we noted the FO station cannot operate below 1830. Other 3830 reports
are
> filled with comments that it seemed band conditions were about average or
below
> and we totally agree. The signals heard from EU were generally weak or at
the
> noise level, but of course there were exceptions. There was never a
> time when the band sounded 'full' to us. And conditions to W6/W7 were less
> than steller. No KL7 this time and only one VE7. 
> 
> Despite a strong coastal storm (heavy rain, winds gusting to 50 mph) we
never
> had a noise level problem, which pleasantly surprised us since we expected
> significant local power line QRN. Only the NE beverage seemed to be noisy,
> probably because it was aimed directly at the storm as it passed by up the
> coast.
> 
> ZL3IX was our best DX. No VK, no KL7. 192 EU, 40+ DX entities, and 4 JA
(the
> JA signal peak at our sunrise was terrific, but we missed the JD1. We'd
> previously taken two 30+ minute off times to have sufficient op time left
for
> the hoped for JA run). Some select EU stations were S-9 the first few
hours,
> but conditions faded signficantly, and the hoped for signal enhancement at
EU
> sunrise never materialized. It seemed we could hear the western USA
stations
> better than they were hearing us much of the time. Where were all the PYs
and
> LUs this time? Very little Carib activity and none from AF was noted.
> 
> Thanks again to WYRS-FM for the use of their great facilities, and to
members
> of the SJDXA for their continuing support of our 160 contest efforts.
> 
> We'll be back for the CQ160 CW next month. HNY to everyone.
> 
> 73,
> 
> John, W2GD, for the 160 TEAM
> 
> 
> 
> Country QSO List:
> 
> USA 484 Canada 39 Germany 31 Czech 17 Ukraine 17 Euro Russia 14 England 12
> Sweden 12 France 8 Finland 8 Hungary 7 Italy 7 Belguim 7 Scotland 6 
> Netherlands 5 Croatia 4 Japan 4 Slovakia 4 Slovenia 4 Poland 4 Austria 3
> Denmark 3 Latvia 3 Aruba 3 Romania 3 Martinique 2 Iceland 2 Barbado 1
Bahamas 1
> Chile 1 Spain 1 Ireland 1 Isle of Man 1 Guernsey 1 Wales 1 Switzerland 1
Sicily
> 1 Hawaii 1 Virgin Is 1 Puerto Rico 1 Norway 1 Lithuania 1 Kaliningrad 1
> Montenegro 1 New Zealand 1
> 
> 
> Day-Hour Rate EU AS NA SA AF OC
> > 26-21 57 5 0 52 0 0 0
> > 26-22 94 13 0 81 0 0 0
> > 26-23 74 28 0 46 0 0 0
> > 27-00 81 33 0 48 0 0 0
> > 27-01 70 10 0 58 2 0 0
> > 27-02 54 5 0 48 1 0 0
> > 27-03 68 23 0 45 0 0 0
> > 27-04 44 20 0 24 0 0 0
> > 27-05 39 15 0 24 0 0 0
> > 27-06 38 21 0 16 1 0 0
> > 27-07 34 17 0 17 0 0 0
> > 27-08 15 2 0 13 0 0 0
> > 27-09 19 0 0 17 0 0 2
> > 27-10 14 0 0 14 0 0 0
> > 27-11 8 0 1 7 0 0 0
> > 27-12 23 0 3 20 0 0 0
> > 732 192 4 530 4 0 2
> >
> 
> 
> Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at:
http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/

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