The Station at K5NA: ==================== 10 Meters 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 100', fixed NE 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 100', fixed NW 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 70', fixed SE Cushcraft X9 Tribander at 82', rotatable 15 Meters 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 170', rotatable 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 128' fixed NE 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 86' fixed NE 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 44', rotatable from 315 to 140 degrees Cushcraft X9 Tribander at 82', rotatable 20 Meters 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 190', rotatable 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 128' fixed NE 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 70' fixed NE 5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 45' fixed SE Cushcraft X9 tribander @ 82', rotatable 40 Meters 2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 200', rotatable 2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 128' fixed NE 2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 70' fixed NW Inverted Vee @ 35'. 2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 100', rotatable 80 Meters NE - Two element phased vertical array NW - Two element phased vertical array SW - Sloping dipole @ 170' Inverted Vee @ 150' 160 Meters Full sized Rohn 25G vertical with insulator at 30' and raised radials Receiving Antennas Nine Beverages: SW, W, NW, NNW, N, NNE, E, SE Radios: ====== Radio 1: Elecraft K3, Ameritron AL-1500 Radio 2: Elecraft K3, Ameritron AL-1500 SO2R Controller: microHAM MK2R+ Headset: Heil Proset HC4 Software: WriteLog V10.69A |
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Richard K5NA had invited me out to operate his station in a couple of phone contests this year, but it wasn't until the WPX contest that I could go. It was a great opportunity to try out one of the local super-stations and see what I could do as a single operator. This was my second real effort as a single operator in this contest. I came very close to beating my contesting mentor, George K5TR, from the ranch station of W5KFT in 2007. Last year, at W5KFT, a lightning storm on Friday night damaged the station, took out the power, and ate my log, forcing me to quit early.
Part of my experience at K5NA was learning new software and a different way to do SO2R. While I'm a long-time TR Log enthusiast, the Kings use WriteLog and the microHAM MK2R+. At first, the idea of having two log entry windows and two footswitches was very alien, but I think I managed to cope. This was also my first contest really using the Elecraft K3, which was a joy to use.
The first two hours of the contest were, I think, the first back-to-back hours with more than 200 QSOs/hour that I have had in any contest. I've only come close to that in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest before. This was also my first contest, as a single operator, with more than 3000 QSOs in the log.
Conditions on 20 meters and 40 meters were better than I was expecting, and those two bands accounted for the vast majority of my contacts. I tried running on 15 meters on Sunday, briefly, when the band opened up to the Pacific Northwest, but mostly it was search and pounce to South America on 15 meters and 10 meters. It's possible that I should have spent more time on 80 meters, but 40 meters was so good, it was hard to leave.
Richard and Susan were great hosts this weekend. Richard was willing to devote a lot of time to helping me get familiar with the antennas, the radios, the microHAM MK2R+, and the software before the contest. The weather also cooperated, which is always a big unknown this time of year in Central Texas.
Congratulations to K5TR on a great score!
Contest Logging was done with TR LOG contest logging software. The following reports and log were created using TR LOG's post-contest processor.
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Last Updated 26 June 2020 wm5r@wm5r.org |