Top Band Activities

As the summer comes to a close, the 160 contest season is getting near. Over the past month I have added another dozen radials to my 160 Vertical. The antenna is a Butternut HF-2V. I currently have over 70 radials of varying lengths. Several are quarter wave for 160. I have recently obtained an MFJ-1025 Noise reduction unit. I am playing with various auxiliary antennas to reduce noise and hopefully enhance DX receiving. Look for me on CW!

2007 ARRL 160 Meter Contest - November 30 thru December 2

67 total contacts

22 ARRL Sections

Canadian Provinces of SK and BC

All California Sections but SF and SB

Best distance, IL, AR and Hawaii

Only DX was Bonaire, Curacao

Total Score - 3,014

Overall, it was a poor performance due to some water issues with the rain and my antenna. Hope to see you all on 160 next year!

2006 ARRL 160 Meter Contest - December 1 - 3

I LOVE 160!

This year, at my station, conditions were not as good as in past years. I use a ground mounted Butternut HF-2V vertical with about 80 radials of various lengths. I want to get up some form of horizontal antenna because verticals are notoriously noisy. (And I had my share of QRN – generally S5 to S7 ugh!) My rig consists of an Icom 756 Pro II barefoot. I have a Drake L7 Amp but I didn't want to be in the high power category of the contest. I have an MFJ-1025 Noise Canceling device but didn't use it. It still needs some preliminary testing before trying it in contest conditions. I didn't want to accidentally cross wires and blow up the pin diodes in it.

All in all, it was a HOOT. I was unable to get on until Saturday afternoon (I lost all of Friday night – darn it) but I tried to make the best of it. I operated off-and-on from about 0100Z to 1500Z Sunday. (Saturday evening to Sunday morning local time) I really wished I could have seen how Friday night would have worked out but, “Maybe next year”. Anyway, here is what I was able to accomplish:

104 total contacts

30 ARRL Sections

Canadian Provinces of ONT , SK and BC

All California Sections

All lower 48 Sections in the 7 call area

Best distance, IL, GA and ONT

No DX and no Alaska or Hawaii

Overall, it was a mediocre performance, but some of the BEST CW operators live on 160. Hope to see you all on 160 next year!

2006 Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challange - December 30 - 31

This is really a fun contest and although I didn't spend a lot of time operating, I enjoyed myself and look forward to a better performance next year. My results:

50 Contacts

118 QSO Points

236 Total Score

Best DX was 2,648 Km

Lookinjg forward to next year's contest.