The RST Contesting and Special Events SIG (CASE SIG) organized and operated a portable station during the ARRL DX contest, CW version, this past weekend, February 14-16. This was a simpler setup than for Winter Field Day last month, just one station set up in the barn at the N7NBV Corral. We ran 500 watts with 3 antenna options:
- a 3 element Yagi on 10m
- an 80m EFHW wire, 45 feet on the driven end, 20 feet on the far end, oriented N-S for mainly E-W coverage on 80-15
- a Butternut vertical for 80-10
We originally planned this event and the upcoming phone version (Feb 28-March1) as our effort at high score, but due to limited CW operator availability, this event was, well, a bit more limited. Still, we put the station on the air for about 23 of the 48 hours available and the result was at least respectable:
- 516 total contacts
- 194 DX multipliers (each call can be worked on each band)
- 77 distinct DX entities
- Overall average Qs/hr: 23
- 300,312 total score
10m was the best band, accumulating almost half the total contacts. And this was not for neglecting the other bands! 15m was good also, but only half as many contacts. 20, somewhat surprisingly, was not a great band, fewer Qs there than even on 40. 40 probably would have been even better if we could have kept the station on the air overnight. We were off the air from midnight to 6am on the first day, and 11pm to 7am on the second day.
We were hoping to make 500 contacts, but Sunday morning things were so slow, it looked like it wasn’t going to work out. And then the sun rose in Japan, and the last 50 were easy. The magic of radio!
Thanks are due again to Ken N7NBV and Vicki KG7OYY for hosting us at the OK Corral. Bill N7DZ, Ken N7NBV, and Lloyd K7NX got the antennas and station set up. The operators were Bill and Lloyd.
And were very happy for the visitors and the general club social atmosphere that resulted from other RST members showing up. In attendance were:
Ken N7NBV
Bill N7DZ
Lloyd K7NX
Ken KK7MBX
Helen KE2BPY
Joyce KD2QVP (Helen’s mom visiting from New York)
Richard K7NSW
Julian KK7PKA
Ray NH6NS
Thanks to all who made it happen and came to participate. We look forward to the next one: ARRL DX – Phone, February 28-March 2. That’s in less than 2 weeks! Don’t miss it!
The Contesting and Special Event SIG
Bill N7DZ, Lloyd K7NX, Helen KE2BPY, Ken N7NBV
Reported by Bill, N7DZ
Uploaded by Ana, WV3RSE