The sixth running of the Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge was held on December 30/31st. A record 238 logs were received and our log checking database shows over 1000 stations were active.
The top ten scores regardless of category are shown in the following table. Milt, N5IA, operated N7GP in the Southeast corner of Arizona with 5 watts to produce the world high score with over 3,000 points. Second place went to Milan, OM3TZQ, who worked an impressive 265 QSOs with low power to take first place in Europe. Vlad, UA2FF was close behind with high power.
It is interesting to see that the top three scores were produced with three different power levels. It would seem that the current multipliers do a reasonable job of compensating for the power differences. It is also interesting to note that the N7GP and OM3TZQ logs have only 11 common callsigns between them. Essentially, these stations worked the contest from a different world. Even with high power, Vlad, UA2FF, had fewer than 50 of his 364 QSOs with stations on the other side of the pond. The RF bridge between Europe and North American was not working very well this time out.
Larry, K0RI, made the most of his 5 watts and nabbed fifth place. K2TOP took world muiltioperator honors with a low power effort. There was another close race in Hawaii between Mike, KH6ND and KH7A operated by Aki, JA5DQH. Mike edged Aki out by less than a handful of those 10+ point QSOs. Stan, K5GO edged out N7JW for 8th place and W4SAA, who finished 10th, put a number of 10 points QSOs into the logs of west coast stations from the southern tip of Florida.
Top Ten Scores - regardless of category:
| Callsign | Grid | Power | Class | QSOs | Grids | Score | Best DX (km) | Best DX (call) |
N7GP |
DM52 |
Q |
S |
192 |
114 |
3080 |
5064 |
KH6ND |
OM3TZQ |
JN98 |
L |
S |
266 |
153 |
2884 |
13332 |
VK6HD |
UA2FF |
KO04 |
H |
S |
364 |
199 |
2637 |
13162 |
VK6VZ |
K0RI |
DM78 |
Q |
S |
163 |
104 |
2440 |
5170 |
KH7A |
K2TOP |
FN20 |
L |
M |
300 |
156 |
2428 |
18549 |
VK6VZ |
KH6ND |
BL01 |
H |
S |
208 |
121 |
2365 |
8280 |
K1FK |
KH7A |
BL20 |
H |
S |
198 |
115 |
2301 |
8208 |
W1BB |
K5GO |
EM36 |
L |
S |
337 |
159 |
2258 |
8128 |
UA2FF |
N7JW |
DM37 |
Q |
S |
153 |
101 |
2244 |
4746 |
KH6ND |
W4SAA |
EL94 |
L |
S |
196 |
117 |
1896 |
8562 |
UA2FF |
Plaques by W7EW
The plaque program for this contest continues to surpass the Boring Amateur Radio Club's wildest dreams (and some of our member have pretty wild dreams). No fewer than 31 plaques were sponsored this time around. Many thanks to those contributing $50 for the following. Congratulations to the winners. You should be receiving your plaque before the next running of the contest.
Plaque Donor |
Category |
Winner |
N5OT, Mark |
Top Score, Single Operator, High Power, World | UA2FF |
N5UL, Charles |
Top Score, Single Operator, Low Power, World | OM3TZQ |
Boring Amateur Radio Club |
Top Score, Single Operator, QRP, World | N7GP (N5IA opr) |
Oregon Nocturnal Chordal Corps |
Top Score, Multi Operator, World | K2TOP |
N5IA, Milt |
Top Grid Square Total, Single Operator | K9DX |
N7JW, Jim |
Top Score, Single Operator, Japan | JH4UYB |
K7CA, Al |
Top Score, Single Operator, South America | No Entry |
WA2DFI, Scotty |
Top Scores, Single Operator, Canada | VA3UZ |
KJ9C, Mel |
Top Score, Single Operator, Black Hole | N0XB |
AA4NN, Joe |
Top Score, Single Operator, High Power, Europe | HA5JI |
K1PX, Jim |
Top Score, Single Operator, Low Power, Europe | G4VGO |
ND3A, Rob |
Top Score, Single Operator, High Power, Oceania | KH6ND |
Low Band Monitor |
Top Score, Single Operator, North America | K0RI |
W5PR, Chuck |
Top Score, Single Operator, USA | W4SAA |
KQ6ES, John |
Top Score, Single Operator, Low Power, West Coast | VE7SL |
AA8U, Bruce |
Top Score, Single Operator, QRP, W8 | No Entry |
WA9IRV, Ron |
Arcadia Award – Top Score, Single Operator, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. | K1FK |
QSL’s by N0TT, Charlie |
Top Score, Single Operator, Age < 21, QSOs > 50 | Unclaimed (if this is you, please let us know) |
KI7Y, Jim |
Top Score, Single Operator, > 50 years old | K1VW |
W7GG, Bob |
Top Score, Single Operator, > 60 years old | N6RO |
N6RO, Ken |
Top Score, Single Operator, > 70 years old | W0HW |
KQ6ES, John |
Top Score, Single Operator, Low Power, Antenna < 46’ | N7YW |
K5TR, George |
Top Score, Single Operator, Prime Number | N2WW (1433) |
WA6CDR, Robin |
Highest Value DX Value QSO, > 20 QSOs in log. | K1ZM (156 points with VK6HD) |
W1TO, Tom |
Longest DX with 100 watts | K1PX (QSO with VK6HD) |
G4VGO, Bob |
Most South American QSOs | K8ND |
W8NF, Dave |
Most Southern Hemisphere QSOs from Northern | OH2BO |
West RF Consulting |
Most Northern Hemisphere QSOs from Southern | VK6VZ |
N7GC, George |
Top Score, Single Operator, WVDXC or WWDXC | W7GG |
K1FK, Dave |
Calcutta Award – Top Score, Single Operator, WI, MN, ND, ON or MAN. | WA9IRV |
ND3A, Rob |
Top Club Score, World | Society of Midwest Contesters |
Those plaques not awarded will automatically be carried to the next contest. If you would like to change the criteria for winning one of these plaques, please contact lew@teleport.com.
Certificates are once again being printed by Jim, K1PX. Certificates are awarded for the 2000 SPDC to all two letter Grid Fields winners, worldwide, who have attained a minimum verified score of 500 points and not won a plaque. Additionally, certificates will be awarded to all Grid Field winners who have attained a minimum verified score of 1,200 points. That means that a Grid Field can have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winner, etc. All certificates will be mailed before the next running of the SPDC. Certificates winners are shown using bold type in the score list.
The next Stew Perry test will be held on December 29/30th. A small change has been made to the rules. A 2X multiplier will be given for each QSO in your log with a QRP station that submits a log with at least 10 QSOs in it. This is to recognize that the receiving station does much of the work when making a QSO with a QRP station.
73 Tree & Lew
Here is Steve, VK6VZ and his two harmonics: Sam and Hannah. Steve will soon have the plaque for the most Northern Hemisphere QSOs from the Southern Hemisphere hanging on the wall (note: picture inverted to make it look correct).
High Power Scores - Scores shown in bold are certificate winners
Best DX Call Grid Power S/M QSOs Grid Score (km) Call UA2FF KO04 H S 364 199 2637 13162 VK6VZ KH6ND BL01 H S 208 121 2365 8280 K1FK KH7A BL20 H S 198 115 2301 8208 W1BB N6RO CM98 H S 319 167 1784 14760 VK6VZ HA5JI JN97 H S 282 164 1742 13295 VK6HD VK6VZ OF88 H S 62 57 1681 18618 AA1K K9DX EN52 H S 433 193 1672 17599 VK6HD N7DD DM42 H S 285 153 1616 15529 VK6VZ KV4FZ FK77 H S 212 133 1494 8299 LY2TA N2WW DM79 H S 371 166 1433 5465 KH6ND VA3UZ EN93 H S 391 183 1423 8193 PY2FUS W7GG CN94 H S 269 146 1357 8728 JA6BZI LY2TA KO15 H S 243 145 1325 13069 VK6VZ NB1B FN41 H S 290 162 1319 8940 4X3A 4X3A KM71 H S 181 123 1294 10459 W8JI N6FF CN80 H S 234 136 1285 14778 VK6HD JH4UYB PM64 H S 68 55 1219 15134 OK1EY G0IVZ IO70 H S 251 147 1171 7542 W5PR N4AO EL88 H S 218 139 1141 8527 9A2AJ W7RM CN85 H S 226 135 1134 8326 JA1XCZ/1 OH2BO KP20 H S 176 118 1107 15165 VK3IO N4CW FM05 H S 319 154 1094 18477 VK6VZ S50A JN75 H S 246 145 1090 13511 VK6HD W8TOP EN72 H S 258 152 1055 17724 VK6VZ N5UL DM82 H S 251 136 1055 9672 JA7NI N1EU FN32 H S 242 143 1050 9015 4X3A K5ZD FN42 H S 246 136 1014 8022 KH7A K1FK FN57 H S 193 123 1013 18482 VK6HD S57M JN76 H S 210 142 958 9448 JA1CGM DL7ON JO62 H S 163 109 942 13865 VK6HD WV7U DN70 H S 240 134 940 5475 KH6ND N8PR EL96 H S 189 121 936 8773 HA8BE KR1G FN43 H S 260 138 933 7814 PY2FUS DK2OY JO44 H S 230 134 933 14168 VK6HD FM5BH FK94 H S 114 82 933 8398 OH2BO W6EU CM99 H S 209 123 902 8352 7M3HLQ N6RK CM98 H S 183 111 890 6420 FM5BH K3WW FN20 H S 278 139 887 18770 VK6HD VE3PN FN25 H S 199 123 815 8150 PY2FUS VE3QAA FN15 H S 242 119 805 7729 KH6ND N2ED FN20 H S 269 137 802 7736 KH7A N5PO EM12 H S 195 124 758 16827 VK6VZ HA8BE KN06 H S 190 127 717 12901 VK6VZ N5RG EM12 H S 196 121 715 6191 KH6ND W9IU EN60 H S 261 132 701 3568 P43P W5PR EL29 H S 163 109 673 7542 G0IVZ RW4PL LO45 H S 104 79 670 11871 VK6HD 7S5J JO79 H S 158 110 613 13629 VK6VZ IV3PRK JN66 H S 142 101 601 13693 VK6HD K7RAT CN85 H S 123 92 594 8615 JA6GCE WT9Q EN53 H S 191 112 558 3662 KV4FZ K6TA CM98 H S 127 84 545 13676 9M2AX KJ9C EM69 H S 213 112 531 6731 KH7A UY5ZZ KN77 H S 88 70 517 11966 VK6VZ W3GN FM19 H S 200 102 513 3886 N6FF RA6AX KN94 H S 79 65 501 8180 JA1CGM N6ZZ DM73 H S 123 82 485 5439 KH6ND G3TMA IO92 H S 128 93 465 14806 VK6HD RV1CC KO59 H S 124 92 453 12751 VK6VZ 8S5X JO99 H S 128 91 426 7969 JH4UYB NA2AA FN20 H S 145 91 418 7736 KH7A K4BAI EM72 H S 139 91 408 3628 W7AWA WM4Q EM65 H S 139 90 398 3274 VE7SL 7M3HLQ PM95 H S 37 28 383 9538 N7DD DJ8QP JN67 H S 122 96 377 7896 W8JI WA8WV EM98 H S 160 87 371 7541 KH6ND SM4CAN JO78 H S 31 30 345 13876 VK6HD K4VV FM19 H S 143 80 340 3886 N6FF N1MD FN41 H S 137 74 337 3145 FM5BH UA9CDC MO06 H S 58 54 335 4259 G0IVZ W4VQ EL98 H S 82 63 320 7779 KH6ND W8RU EN82 H S 108 74 288 3317 N6FF N2BJ EN61 H S 99 69 267 3010 N6FF K3SV FN10 H S 110 72 259 3104 KC7V OE1TKW JN88 H S 102 76 250 8989 JH1RES KG9N EN50 H S 87 65 234 3668 P43P LY2CY KO15 H S 77 63 232 8041 JH4UYB G3TXF IO91 H S 81 67 227 5789 VA3UZ K8LN EN90 H S 101 65 210 3475 FM5BH WS4Y EM60 H S 60 50 191 3239 W6EU DJ5NN JO61 H S 99 67 181 2403 RW4PL SP5DRH KO12 H S 48 44 157 8237 JH4UYB UX1IL KN87 H S 38 32 149 11833 VK6VZ HB9ARF JN36 H S 67 52 136 1950 OH2BO NY4T EM65 H S 59 50 133 1650 N2WW IK0HBN JN62 H S 43 38 113 2957 EA8/OH2BYS WN9O EN60 H S 31 25 61 1682 N5UL DJ6TK JO53 H S 23 23 51 3110 4X3A SM6IQD JO57 H S 20 19 41 1564 DK2HH K6MO CM87 H S 10 8 28 3452 K8ND
Low Power Scores - Scores shown in bold are certificate winners
Best DX Call Grid Power S/M QSOs Grid Score (km) Call OM3TZQ JN98 L S 266 153 2884 13332 VK6HD K5GO EM36 L S 337 159 2258 8128 UA2FF W4SAA EL94 L S 196 117 1896 8562 UA2FF W4WA EM84 L S 297 146 1880 7448 KH6ND N0XB EN34 L S 296 142 1848 6236 KH7A K1VW FN31 L S 265 137 1818 18592 VK6VZ K1PX FN31 L S 269 132 1764 18847 VK6HD WA9IRV EN54 L S 275 137 1724 6801 KH6ND N5DO DM80 L S 185 110 1576 5640 KH6ND W3GH FN00 L S 242 130 1472 7400 KH7A K4LDR EL88 L S 169 109 1398 8319 UA2FF K0UK DM59 L S 173 107 1324 9175 JH1GNU VE7SL CN88 L S 143 93 1312 7891 JA2ZJW VE3OSZ FN25 L S 207 112 1306 6410 UA2FF K9MMS EN51 L S 207 118 1254 6821 KH6ND VE6WZ DO21 L S 134 90 1222 5039 KH6ND K1TO EL87 L S 128 94 1212 8642 HA5JI N4DU EM71 L S 174 105 1194 7329 KH6ND K9OT EN42 L S 202 113 1194 6649 KH6ND W0HW EN35 L S 186 109 1174 4562 FM5BH K9LU EN51 L S 222 116 1152 3510 KV4IE G4VGO JO02 L S 149 101 1150 14441 VK6VZ LY1DR KO14 L S 145 93 1136 8220 JA3FYC K9WJU EN71 L S 197 113 1128 7154 KH6ND WJ9B FM06 L S 205 112 1112 7465 KH7A W5ODD EL09 L S 135 98 1106 6034 KH6ND LY9A KO26 L S 182 111 1098 6018 K1FK AF4OD EM72 L S 181 101 1052 3628 W7AWA UT7I KN88 L S 88 67 1052 8060 JA1XQC W1TO FN32 L S 162 101 1036 6544 UA2FF NT7Y DN31 L S 156 95 1034 4828 KH6ND WO9S EN61 L S 211 109 1030 3010 N6FF N8AA EN91 L S 189 106 980 7220 KH7A KG9X EN52 L S 182 107 980 3585 KV4FZ VE3CSK EN93 L S 152 97 954 7450 KH6ND WT9U EN71 L S 201 108 950 3077 W7RM N8BJQ EN80 L S 185 101 928 7063 KH7A W9RE EM69 L S 180 105 922 3758 FM5BH WX9U EN50 L S 135 91 886 6830 KH6ND PA3AAV JO22 L S 124 83 872 14400 VK6HD K9FO EN61 L S 141 97 850 6988 KH6ND K0CS DM79 L S 111 84 826 5186 KH7A VE3KP FN04 L S 160 92 806 3633 N6LL K1JT FN20 L S 159 82 798 4018 N6FF AF5Z EM10 L S 104 78 778 3544 KV4FZ N9SE EN60 L S 136 93 768 6725 KH7A SM5G JO78 L S 131 90 758 7796 N4AO VE7VV CN88 L S 89 64 756 4377 KH6ND K2PT FN20 L S 159 89 750 4018 N6FF S54A JN65 L S 131 89 732 13462 VK6VZ W9SMC EN62 L S 135 86 664 2897 N6RO W9RM EN52 L S 118 82 662 4102 FM5BH G3SXW IO91 L S 109 75 612 5611 K2TOP YU1RA KN04 L S 113 76 612 3641 EA8/OH2BYS WA9AQN EN50 L S 106 77 612 6830 KH6ND NE8O EN82 L S 138 81 606 3317 N6FF K2CDJ FN22 L S 105 70 592 3878 N6RO W9YS EN52 L S 106 80 586 6813 KH6ND AA1SU FN34 L S 127 67 552 3086 KV4FZ KU8E EN80 L S 116 72 542 3252 N6RK N9FH EN63 L S 100 69 534 2937 K8PO VE3MQW FN03 L S 111 71 530 3540 N6RK KJ5WX EM46 L S 80 66 526 6697 KH6ND KE0FT EN41 L S 102 65 520 2402 W6OAR AD8J EN90 L S 113 69 518 3431 W7RM NA3V FN00 L S 116 78 508 3586 N6RK W0UY EM18 L S 85 69 492 2362 VE7SL W2WC FN32 L S 89 62 492 4040 N6RO KS9W EN52 L S 86 65 480 2829 N6FF K0INT DM04 L S 82 53 464 4159 KH6ND K9CW EN50 L S 92 67 432 2510 K6NDV N0AX CN87 L S 63 44 410 4322 KH6ND N2CG FN20 L S 74 51 372 3696 K6NDV DK7ZT JO40 L S 75 58 354 9113 JH4UYB W7DRA CM87 L S 57 37 340 3883 KH6ND G4ERP IO81 L S 56 50 336 6658 W8JI W2YE FM19 L S 78 53 330 3182 FM5BH N7FF CM97 L S 65 38 326 4053 KH6ND JE1SPY PM95 L S 21 16 320 9538 N7DD KN4Y EM70 L S 65 44 318 3505 W7GG DK2HH JN43 L S 58 50 314 2447 RA3AJ N7LOX CN87 L S 56 34 312 4322 KH6ND OM5KM JN98 L S 69 57 298 2937 UA9CDC W3CP FM19 L S 66 47 296 3143 N7DD 8S0W JO99 L S 47 35 294 7969 JH4UYB W9SZ EN50 L S 70 52 290 2747 N6RO K8MR EN91 L S 69 52 290 3403 N6RO N4MM FM09 L S 56 48 288 3721 N6FF DL5SVB JO63 L S 72 56 268 2318 RW4PL VE7GDM CN79 L S 37 28 260 4312 KH6ND YO3APJ KN34 L S 42 39 260 2566 GM3POI KB9CRY EN51 L S 54 39 250 2614 W7GG W4EF DM04 L S 37 28 244 6192 FM5BH W6RKC CM98 L S 34 31 244 4083 KH6ND YC0LOW OI33 L S 9 9 244 13462 N7UA GW3NJW IO81 L S 50 46 240 1904 LY9A W5KI FM29 L S 46 37 238 5443 G0IVZ SM4OY JP70 L S 43 39 232 2387 RA6AX LZ2CJ KN23 L S 44 38 230 2546 GM3POI N7YW CN84 L S 43 27 226 4168 KH6ND ON6TJ JO20 L S 49 42 216 1673 OH2BO K9WX EN60 L S 47 43 192 1750 N5RZ KK7UV DN36 L S 38 24 190 2259 W8TOP AE9B EM28 L S 31 29 180 2476 W7WA JE3UHV PM74 L S 16 10 180 8313 UA2FF N9GH EN51 L S 39 34 178 2767 VE7SL OK2EQ JN89 L S 38 36 172 8775 JH4UYB SM7BHM JO76 L S 38 33 170 1564 F6HKA KC4HCH EM60 L S 25 24 146 3352 W7GG W9LYA EN61 L S 44 33 132 1539 N2WW DJ5CL JN58 L S 36 32 128 1688 SI3SSA W3SE DM03 L S 21 19 122 4141 KH6ND W7ZR DM24 L S 25 21 108 1685 N5RG K9PG EN62 L S 30 24 106 1314 K5ZD KC9FC EM69 L S 32 30 100 1539 N2IC DL6ZNG JO52 L S 27 27 98 1235 OH2BO DH1DX JO60 L S 21 21 78 1343 OH2BO DL4BCE JO43 L S 21 17 76 1112 DK2HH G0MTN IO92 L S 18 18 72 1482 OM3TZQ K1US FN43 L S 19 14 50 1470 K9DX JK2VOC PM84 L S 15 5 34 1425 RA0FF
QRP Scores - Scores shown in bold are certificate winners
Best DX Call Grid Power S/M QSOs Grid Score (km) Call N7GP DM52 Q S 192 114 3080 5064 KH6ND K0RI DM78 Q S 163 104 2440 5170 KH7A N7JW DM37 Q S 153 101 2244 4746 KH6ND K1ZM FN51 Q S 126 77 1800 19076 VK6HD N7IR DM43 Q S 115 82 1712 4881 KH6ND N7DF DM72 Q S 101 75 1492 5440 KH6ND K5LG EM36 Q S 118 84 1244 6217 KH7A K7NU FM19 Q S 154 80 1144 2419 K0RI N6CMF DM14 Q S 75 56 1016 4340 KH6ND K0CKD EN41 Q S 74 60 816 2680 N6FF N6WG CM87 Q S 66 34 604 3883 KH6ND HA1AG JN87 Q S 67 55 564 2368 RW4PL PA1AT JO32 Q S 61 48 504 1676 RV1CC W3BBO FN02 Q S 53 37 380 3353 K6NDV K6EI CM87 Q S 35 22 308 3616 KH7A OM6AJO JN99 Q S 40 33 296 1744 GM3POI RA0FF QN16 Q S 10 6 240 7441 K6TA WG1Z FN42 Q S 29 22 232 2174 K0HA DL1LAW JN59 Q S 25 23 172 1354 GM3POI K2PC FN32 Q S 28 21 164 1189 W9IU K2QO FN02 Q S 21 18 144 1517 K0HA JR1NKN CN87 Q S 5 2 20 267 VE7SV WB9RRO EN52 Q S 1 1 4 278 W9IU
Multi Scores (all power levels) - Scores shown in bold are certificate winners
Best DX Call Grid Power S/M QSOs Grid Score (km) Call K2TOP FN20 L M 300 156 2428 18549 VK6VZ K6NDV DM15 H M 343 169 1862 15158 VK6HD K9IZ EN61 H M 413 181 1294 8295 PY2FUS W5TM EM15 H M 313 159 1242 8834 HA5JI K8ND EN80 H M 381 165 1178 8006 PY2FUS K8CV EN82 H M 60 44 117 1876 N2WW
Soapbox
K1JT: Conditions poor here in NJ.
K2PT: 8" snow as contest started will mark the 2000 Stew Perry for me.
K8MR: It was fun imagining this was a VHF contest, working all those cool grid squares.
KE0FT: Got to put up some kind of RX ant! Inverted L not Cutting it. S9+ db of noise
N1MD: Fifth time in the challenge and my personal best. Recovering from the Nor'easter but not serious enough to keep me off the air. No Europe heard. Conditions only mediocre. Only operated about eight hours. Inverted L works better now that it is up higher. Still think need more radials in the spring. See you all next year!
N2CG: Conditions were much better than years past, perhaps improved by 2 feet of snow earlier that day.
W8RU: Great fun. Thanks to all for the QSOs.
KG9N: 160 antenna went open and hour into...too cold to climb the tower to fix...cu next year!
W5TM: The Beverages were under a thick coat of ice. I'm surprised that we could hear anytbing. Apologies to those stations that called and we couldn't hear.
VE7SL: Great contest as always. Condx not the best but enough east coast.
K0UK: This was a fun contest and my first serious effort with TRLOG and going thru the learning curve.
KJ5WX: Conditions much better than last year. Even heard EU but at ESP level and couldn't turn their heads. By 0600Z I had worked everybody I could hear so went to bed and slept through sunrise. I may qualify in the short antenna and old guy categories. My xmit antenna is a 44' wire vertical with four 55' top hat wires for loading. Uses four 80" elevated radials from 10 to 12 feet off the ground. It's all homebrew including five wooden poles that hold it all up. My age is 62 but then isn't everybody on 160 at least that old? Don't let the critics get you guys down. As that great philosopher Ross Perot once said, "There are those that get in the ring and those that sit in the stands. Isn't it interesting that those in the stands always seem to know more than those in the ring?" You guys stepped up and did something good. Thanks for a great time. All the best for 2001.
W1TO: Good Contest as usual. Europe was hard to work. Missed VK6HD and KH6.
K4LDR: This is my 2nd Challenge. I love this in-the-trenches low freq Morse stuff. I am age 60Y4M28D. My objective was to double my last year's score. I came real close. 73 til next year.
K1VW: FIRST TIME LOW POWER
NT7Y: Fun contest!
WJ9B: My first time in this event; very nice way to bring in the next year!
W9SMC: Thanks to K9QVB for the continued use of his station!
HA5JI: Comments: this was my first on the Stew Perry contest. On contest Saturday I still work on two pennant RX antennas (tnx info from K2RD). The condx was excellent for JAPAN so I have worked 43 JA's many at 599 sigs. This was fantastic! I will remember for a long time. The condx for NA was similar poor as on ARRL-160. First US station I heard NB1B 449 at 00:32 Z. I worked from NA 25 US & 4 VE the signals was 339-559. Thanks for VK6VZ (579) and from VK6HD (589) called me.
IV3PRK: Conditions should have been great with the K-index = 0 and a beatiful weather here around, ...but noise, noise and noise : what a pity ! Best QSO's with VK6HD and VK6VZ, both real 599, and 11 JA's, which contributed to almost half of the contest score. Just a short opening towards NA between 03.30z to 04.30z and wkd only those stations above the high noise level (in ME,NH,IL,FL and ONT. The QRN was even worse on a new 200 m. Beverage, so I could only receive on my usual 4-square mini-array. Thereafter only 18 european contacts until 07.20z (my sunrise was 06.50z)and daily that's the most productive DX time! ... what a strange unpredictable Band: is that the reason why we love it so much ??
K1FK: Fair conditions and low noise here in northern Maine. Fewer Q's this year, but more DX in the log than last year. Best DX was VK6HD worked 45 minutes before my sunrise with an amazing S9+10dB signal!
NB1B: Started the contest earlier than last year, with EA8/OH2BYS first in the log at 2053Z. From 2100 on I could hear a number of Europeans working JAs, but not a peep of a JA from here. The first European QSO was with G0IVZ @ 2145Z, quickly followed by DK2JX. The 2200Z hour brought OM, FM, YV, GM, and 7 other DX; the 2300Z hour brought OE,OZ, GW, SM, S5, HA, ON, and LY for the best DX hour of the test. I felt my precontest goals of 320 QSOs, 175 grids, and 1500 pts was on target. At 0002Z I worked 4X3A; little did I know that would be the best DX of the contest for me. Over the next 2 hours UA2, OK, EI, F, and a handful of other DX stations made the log, and I was at 192 QSOs at 0200Z. At this point, things started to slow down- Herb KV4FZ was the only DX station to be worked during the 0200Z hour, SM4CAN and LA3XI were worked during the 0300Z hour, OH2BO was worked during the 0400Z hour, and PY2FUS was worked during the 0500Z hour- that was the sum total of the DX. As we approached European sunrise, another 7 stations worked worked, with only 9A2AJ and PA3AAV being new countries. At 0700Z, the rate slowed dramatically, so I decided to take the 1:15 of off time needed to stay on the air until 1200Z. I nestled in, slept thru both alarms, and awoke with a start about 1000Z. I tuned back and forth across the band to maybe 20 stations- all of them worked. I called CQ for the next 1.5 hours, interspersed with tuning the band, and worked a grand total of 5 more QSOs. I heard the VK6 on, but he was never copiable here.
Totals for the contest: 50 DX contacts in 28 DXCC countries, 164 grid squares. Notable misses- KH6 and VK6. I slept thru the KH6 opening, and the VK6 wasn't audible. Overall, I felt the opening to Europe was no better than so-so; the Europen sunrise "bump" in signal strength produced few new stations to work. Going the other way, the furthest north station on the Pacific Coast I worked was N6RO (never did hear K7RAT, W7EW, or W7RM). It seems that many stations worldwide turned in early to be ready for holiday festivites later that day.
N6ZZ: Not much of a chance to operate during the evening, altho the few signals I heard from New England were pretty good. DX consisted of KH6 and KL7. Heard a few JAs in the morning, no QSOs.
VE3OSZ: Condx mixed here. Not a lot of DX. Best was UA2FF, but didn't hear any KH6 this year. Good condx to some areas of the West USA. K6NDV had an excellent signal here. My high ambient noise level prevented me from copying some of the weaker signals. (Sorry, VE6WZ that I couldn't copy your grid !).
K6NDV: Worked everything we could hear including KV4FZ, FM5BH, PY2FUS, 3 VKs and 8 JAs. The east coast was coming thru in bright sunshine at 23Z so we were hoping for a great start at 01Z but heard no other DX than that above.
W4EF: Kinda wandered in and out of the shack on this one, so I am not really sure about my total operating time. Only have 2 radials under my dipole (I was feeding it against ground) so system efficiency must have been dismal. Managed to work as far east as K9DX, and as far west as KH7A. Biggest signal heard (aside from N6LL who is line of sight from my QTH) was N7DD in Arizona. Best (and practically only) east coast heard was K8ND in Ohio. Also heard where W8JI, AA4MM, and a whisper from W3GH. Only DX heard were KH7A, KH6ND, and FM5BH all with good Q5 signals here on my 200' x 50' city lot. Cuall next year!
N8PR: Great time, again. Sorry there were not more EU and Pacific stations on which could be heard in South Florida. Never heard a G area station. Saw later on the internet call ins that HA0DU complained that I would not respond while running to his calling me... unfortunately never heard him. Never heard any JA's. Conditions just not good enough (heard them several times int he past 2 weeks) 2 VK6's too weak here to copy well enough to work through the pile up, though I heard them both at times. Well, there's always next year. 73 and HNY to all from N8PR - Pete (AKA Florida Chad)
WO9S: First time in this contest as a single operator. No DX worked from here (heard only KV4FZ and FM5BH) but nice band opening to the West Coast.
VE3QAA: My first SP, but it will not be my last! Poor operating time planning and a non-functional European beverage contributed to disappointing results. I'll be better prepared next year.
K7NV: An enjoyable few hrs of freezing fun. Compliments to everyone for the effort to get the exchange right. Pretty wild qsb swings here, only had to trash a few contacts here, that got made again later.
IK0HBN: Back home from a long trip from the South, after a little nap, I enjoyed the last 2 hours and half before sunrise. A lot of noise: the only station from NA I barely copied (N8PR from FL) did not copy me due to the heavy pile up on his QRG. Hope more time next year. Reception without Beverage's is really tough.
S54A: Half horizontal, half sloped dipole at 10 meters height is not so good for long distance contacts when the QRN is high too. Haven't heard no W/VE,... was quite lucky to contact VK6VZ and JH4UYB,...
HA1AG: Remarks: It was a great fun to operate this contest. Unfortunately the core I found to make up a transformer could not handle more power. The same place will host a 26m tall vertical next year. When I ran out of workable stations around midnight I started to call CQ on 1824 and was stunned to get called immediately... hi
I was amazed by the receiving ability of G3SXW, 8S5X, DK2OY, PA3AAV and PA1AT. I worked them with 1W. The short vertical over a good ground system makes an excellent RX ant. This is what I heard between 2000Z and 01:00Z: JH1GNU, VK6VZ, JA0RUG, JA6BYI (599+), UA9CDV, UA9CDC, EA8/OH2BYS, JH4UYB, JE4VVM, JA3FYC, JA4DND (599), JI4LOR, JA4DEN, HL3IUA (599), JE6IBJ, TA3D, NB1B, K3JJG, UN7EX, RX9AX.
K1TO: When W4SAA posted a note to the FCG about driving down to the Keys and erecting a balloon vertical just to get on for the SP, I had to take the 1/2 hour to solder the "extension" coax to my now direct-fed inv-L and be able to spend some time on the air.
But after that, neither version of NA on the home PC would load completely. I spent nearly 2 hours getting the laptop integrated into the station and once again rearranging the station layout b4 getting on the air. In the meantime, I heard FCGers KN4Y, N4AO, N2NL, K4LDR, N8PR, W4FMS and W4SAA. Managed to catch up with all but Dave (NL), and I even heard K1PT calling guys later after wrestling his station back from Dave, but I did not call CQ successfully often enough for him to find me.
In fact, I worked almost 100 stations before ANYONE answered my low power CQ. This inverted L performed OK at times, such as to Eu and to the Western US, and awful at other times, mainly to W8/9 (a bad area to be awful into!). Most everyone needed at least one repeat of my grid early on and I bet I sent EL87 500 times to make 128 QSOs.
DX worked here, in order of Stew points awarded: 36-OM3TZQ+HA5JI, 34-UA2FF, 32-SM6MCW+KH6ND, 30-G4BWP+KH7A, 28-G0IVZ and 12-FM5BH. Had a bunch of 16-18 pointers on the West Coast, with N6RO the first to hear me. I had been moments away from pulling the plug when I worked UA2FF (see note below, too) and I'm glad I played for 3 more hours after that to get those other Europeans.
Pulled several bonehead moves. Had called KV4FZ for a while with no luck, before he QRTed. Much later, I heard GW3YDX signing his call, so I jumped in with my callsign. Herbie came back to me with a report because it was actually his frequency and YDX was calling him, but I ignored him, thinking we had already worked. He gave me several chances with "?"s, but I was silent!
Another more fundamental boner was not using the MP's built-in tuner. My inverted L tunes differently over a pretty narrow portion of the band and using the tuner made many stations suddenly magically workable. I've been so used to the amp performing that function in the past that it did not occur to me until after several hours!
Also heard, but not worked: EA8/OH2BYS, PY2FUS, DL7ON, DK2OY, G3KMA, LY2TA, KH6AT (those are the ones I have notes on). Went to bed after Europe mostly died at 0815Z or so.
Having 3 terminated Beverages available - 570' to Eu, 330' N and 330' WNW was FB. It was obvious that I could hear almost anything, and that the problem is on xmit. So, I have a project on the list to "de-elevate" the inverted L. Currently, it is elevated about 10' at the base with 4 elevated quarter-wave radials. Only 45' or so is vertical, then the rest (90' or so) is nearly horizontal. I have seen various theories about whether the direction of the horiz. piece matters or not. Based on the relative deafness of the W8/9s, I'm thinking that there is some directivity to this antenna. Another explanation is that the Midwest is more likely to be listening on antennas favoring the populous east and west directions than they are to be listening to the south. Plus, I have a directional Beverage here that peaks them up. Anyway, my theory is that lowering the L to the ground gets 10 more feet vertical and there is then an opportunity to substantially beef up the radial system without the hassle of keeping them elevated.
Excerpts from my .NOT file to gain further insight into my over-documented 6 hours of operation:
11 00:34z this ant SUCKS
34 01:21z N5RZ - GREAT EARS AWARD again this year
84 04:16z n8pr wkd iv3prk - audible - NEVER WORKED PRK
85 04:23z kh7a q5 called na2aa - WORKED EASILY LATER
94 04:51z k7nu = first answer of contest!!
96 05:02z UA2FF all alone - vy loud! - one call - amazing
97 05:08z dk2oy all alone at 32.5 but na
103 05:39z kh6nd got my call but not grid - GOT IT LATER
103 05:44z py2fus q5 calling n7dd (NEVER HEARD HIM AGAIN)
104 05:52z n8pr easily works HA5JI - not a peep when I call (DID
MANAGE TO WORK HIM WHEN HE PEAKED LATER)
120 07:15z ea8/oh2bys q5 (QRTed before peaking)
124 07:40z k9mms and k9wju CQ in my face still - amazing
126 07:49z w7qc and w7rm cq in face, but Eu hears me great!
126 07:54z beaten out to n6ll by kl7ra - inaudible here
W9SZ: I spent about 4 hours in the contest from our new club location a mile or so south of Urbana, IL. I used an 80-meter dipole and antenna tuner and barefoot TS-440S. Despite the lack of heat in the building, I had fun. Looking forward to next year with better antennas!
VE7VV: KH6ND was my first QSO, also longest distance, 4376km, and was audible whenever I was tuning. Zero DX stations worked this year. Only very brief peaks, no sustained openings. Fun as always.
N7IR: Good conditions from here to the east coast part of the time. Heard the two Carribean stations but didn't waste any time trying to crack the pileups. Best DX was KH6ND, followed closely by KH7A, with KL7RA third. The receiving loop saved the day again by nulling out my single S9 noise source. Time to go noise tracking again! EQ: Elecraft K2 at 4.5 watts out, Tuned coax loop with W1FB preamp, 88' shunt-fed, top-loaded tower with 6 quarter wave radials.
W7GG: Fun contest but lacks activity. Gess 160 not the place to be this time of the cycle! Very slow in the wee hours...had one 47 minute period of CQing with no respones! This calculates out to 202 CQ's!! U.S. cndx seemed pretty good but DX sucked. NO EU or ZL/VK and only a few JA's. Best distance was FM5BH. Would like to see the Grid Square format used in an all band contest....really give the log checkers something to get their teeth into!!
WA9IRV: The nice condx to the 6 pointers out west made it hard to take the time to try and break the piles of East Coasters working the EU's. Another good time on Topband.
N7UA: Fun contest. Propagation seemed poor here to the NE USA, but was fair to SE USA and Asia. Worked 27 JA's and other asia including 9V1PC, 9M2AX, and UA0FF. Best distance was YC0LOW, just a little further than VK6VZ and VK3IO. Fun contest. An opening to Europe would have helped.
LY1DR: First time this contest. Excellent propagation to JA! Heard them a lot, but tnx god that few heard me :). Equipment here Kenwood TS 850S + 2 x Sloping Dipoles upper point @ 38 mH.
W4WA: I operated up to 3:30 AM and never got back on. Conditions to the west coast were better than in the ARRL 160 test. More activity would make this contest really interesting.
W8CAR: I'm glad 10 is open! Best DX KH6, one carib. no EU, NO JA, NO VK. Got tired at about 1:00 am so choose sleep over a rate that allowed me to use compressed air to clean my key board! Nice to wrk the usual suspects but activity seemed down. Next year !
K3WW: This should about wrap up my Y2K contesting Looks like about the 37th Contest log of the year, of course some weekends there were 2 or 3 logs, so plenty of free weekends. More power, more QSOS, more DX, smaller score than last year when I ran 5 watts. The band was not all that noisy, but plenty of guys I could not pull through.
N1EU: The snow storm in the Northeast sure made things interesting. Had to periodically dash outside to keep the driveway clear (all 1000ft of it) and knock the snow off the inv L feedpoint. Also made for fairly high noise levels, especially to the Northeast/Europe after 0200Z. The weather service reporting unusual thunder and lightning in some areas of snowfall, so this helps explain the QRN to the NE.
A fair number of weaker European stations were being trounced by US hams who were running at 1834-1836. Besides the obvious dx window violations, I witnessed ill-mannered operating on several occasions - the last bastion of gentlemanly operating (i.e., Topband) was surely tested. I guess contests can unfortunately bring out the worse in some.
Apologies to the low power west coasters I couldn't pull out of the QRN, even on the Beverage. And thanks to KL7RA for calling in with the biggest KL7 signal I've heard in this neck of the woods (Albany, NY) in quite a long time.
DX worked: 4X, DL, EA8, F, FM, G, GM, GW, HA, I, KH6, KL7, KP4, KV4, LA, OM, PA, PY, SM, UA
DX heard/not worked: LY, OK, UR5, YV
DX not heard: VK
K8ND: Our goal this year was to maximize QSOs and Grids, and so we operated with High Power. With the current scoring system in place, this once again meant we were *not* maximizing score. Claimed score is 26 more points than last year, with 18 fewer QSOs.
Suggestion: add a "Power" indicator to the exchange, and assign points to each station based on the distance *and* the power of both stations. Digging out a QRP station from the noise should result in *both* stations being rewarded with more points than working a high-power station at the same distance.
For the first half of the operating period, we had problems hearing, with snow static on all antennas. DX conditions seemed terrible throughout; no Europe heard (except a few "bursts" from DF2PY, not good enough for a QSO); no VK/ZL heard, no JA heard. (We *were* listening for Europe while CQing: the NE Beverage was given priority. Not a peep.) I see now from the Cluster that some Europeans were hearing us: sorry we couldn't hear you!
DX worked: YV, PY, P4, KH6, KV4, KL7.
The last half of the contest seemed far slower than last year. Perhaps lousy conditions and plans for the impending New Year's Eve celebrations sent people to bed earlier?
K9IZ: Good run of West coast stations made up for the lack of EU stations. Not a peep from JA or VK. Only 1 SA worked.
K6KYJ: FIRST STEW PERRY CONTEST....WISH THERE WERE MORE STATIONS ON, WORKED NEARLY ALL I HEARD. THE FOURS WERE NOT AS PLENTIFUL AS DURING THE ARRL 160 CONTEST.
AE9B: Just got on to listen on the dipole and couldn't help but make a few contacts. Coast to coast but didn't hear any DX at 6:30- 7:30 AM CST 18:30-19:30 UTC
W5TM: Activity and conditions seemed down. My Beverages haven't recovered from the ice storm. But I consider myself very lucky compared to K5MR.
W2FU: My first 160 meter contest in 40 years of operating....what a blast.
N0AX: Never, never, never go to a holiday party and then come home and try to work a 160-meter contest. ZZZZZZZZZZ... Conditions seemed to be greatly improving around local midnight, but the ol' peepers just couldn't stay open. Next year will find a nap on the agenda, I think.
The local "problem pole" seemed to stay quiet - had a wierd grumbly noise between 1820 and 1830 (of course), but not enough to shut me down. It wasn't until 11PM, though, that the noise level dropped to less than S-7. Going to have to do some Sherlock Holmes-ing on the noise sources around here. Too many PC's and gadgets.
Managed a lone JA Saturday morning - JA2ZJW - and heard none in their old band segement about 1900 kHz. Otherwise, PA and eastern VE3 were the best NA DX worked. KV4FZ (how is he still on the air?) was attracting a crowd, but was clearly talking farther than listening.
I must be getting old, because I can't wait for the next sunspot minimum :-)
KU8E: Just a partime effort after suffering through having the flu all week. Only DX wrked was KV4FZ, Heard 4X3A and FM5BH with good signals but could not break pileups with only 100 watts. Activity seemed lower this year... CU next time and happy New Year to everyone...
N5IA: Greetings from sunny, warm, calm southeastern Arizona. I really feel for you guys farther east. I worked on the Beverage farm Saturday repairing cow damage and said to myself. "I prefer this to reapairing ice damage." Kudos and thanks to all the easterners who made it on the air.
Equipment for this outing: FT-1000MP set at 4.8 Watts thru a Bird 43 to the full sized 1/4 WL elevated Ground Plane. Twelve Beverages, 1.5 to 3 WL long for receiving. 486 DX 66 running NA 10.50 for logging.
5th year in the SPDC. First time to try starting on Saturday morning. The sun is already 35 minutes into the sky at contest starting time. Quite a few west coast stations on including KH6ND. I worked ten, including KH6ND before absorption closed the band.
Started the evening shortly after 0100. Band seemed good. Had hours of 30, 25, 19, 18, 19 & 22 before the bottom dropped out. I think everyone went to bed. Worked only 57 stations after 0700. From 0800 to 1200 the hours were 5, 5, 7, & 5. At times there were only 10 running stations on the whole band.
Thanks to the 2nd receiver in the MP I was able to find some new stations during the last hour. When AA0RS showed up at 1400 with his big station it was like a pirana feeding frenzy. I think he was the only new station on the air that everyone west of the Mississippi could hear and needed to work.
NO DX other than three KH6s. Did not hear EU, Carib (Herb couldn't hear me), SA, CA, JA or the VKs. Still, a few more Qs and a bit higher score than last year when I worked the FO0 and 5 JAs. Thanks east coast guys for the long distance counters.
W4SAA: Operated portable from the KOA camp grounds at Fiesta Key in the FL Keys. EL94 Rig OMNI 6+ Tuner ant 1/4 wave vertical over sea held up by a kite..tnx to N4BP. put 2 radials into the water. Operated in the open. Picnic table on point. Temp in 40's wind 25 mph had to quit for 3 hours.shaking es cud not copy. this was my first time ever on 160m and of course my 1st Stew Perry. Hope the error rate is not to high. Still new at this. This was my first time ever on 160M..and first Stew Perry.. Not my last. Home QTH antennas limited to what I can fit on my apt balcony...so portable for my xmas present to myself. I had a ball..cold and all. Some qrn but lots of wind noise. Lots of good OPS Thanks for your patience. Best dx KH7A KH6ND UA2FF one wiff of a DL but faded. Looking back I should have ran more early in the evening. Listened in the DX window..but not much DX heard.. but high point ratio from EL94.
VA3RU: My first Stew Perry contest. Started late only at 00:41. It was a good opportunity to test my new wire GP and new RX antenna for the CQ WW. The GP works great, even a few W6 answered my CQ (that never happened before)! My RX ant came down after a few hours in the contest but I have to replace the wire anyway. N6RO was really loud time to time. Only one EU - UA2FF.
VE6WZ: My first formal contest submital since Field day 27 years ago !!! Good fun all night, and LOTS of great operators....thanks to all who worked hard at digging my Grid out of the noise. No real DX...best KH6ND, KH7a and W4SAA. Did copi one Ja for about 5 seconds. Good copi on FM5BH and KV4FZ, but no luck with low power....what willpower needed to keep the power-out control backed off and not turn on the heat went the going gets tuff!! Very little W1/2/3....K3ww nice sig but no luck. Loud ones: K9DX, N2WW, K9IZ, K8ND, W8JI, N4AR. Too bad not more DX..band was VERY quiet...wish it always was!
N6RO: Good activity in first :30, including 9M2AX, who gave out a grid square that didn't compute (whatsa Tree?). Good prop. to the east coast, for the first time this season, lot's of 8/9 pointers. Was looking for a big JA run, but condx to the Pac/Far East very poor Sunday AM, even with a quiet band.
Those of you over 50, please note your age on your entry, there are awards for top scores over 50, 60 and 70. Looks like we may need one for over 80? CU all in CQWW160.
N7WA: Strange contest... I build new coaxial inverted -L as in CQ magazine. Works great!. I get on after dusk and hear a French station (Can't work 'em but I could hear 'em!). Came back later and actually started contesting. The 2nd person I called told me I was a dupe and wasn't taking NO for an answer. That set the tone for the night - no real dx, no real rate, just a contact here and there. No real spark at all. Went to bed after 11PM local. Did an hour in the morning - still not much on. I guess it was better than last year. This contest needs a sunspot minimum or something. I love the contest - grid squares for points is great. See you next year. Hopefully, I'll have a 160M antenna up before the contest starts next time.
W7ZR: QRP is all I could get into the 40M rotating dipole. Worked most people I heard but there were a few who's hearing was impaired. Maybe next year I will have an antenna.
K4LDR: I love this 160 meter in-the-trenches Morse stuff! Thanks to all that helped me with a contact. Congratulations to all on the gentlemanly patience extended to the topband fellowship. My location is inland from Crystal River, FL on a 135 ft ASL sand dune (that is a mountain by Florida standards). Station is an OMNI VI+ at 100W, and a low inverted "L" with only a 35 ft vertical segment and 10 radials. This is my 2nd SPDXC. In 1999, I did 118Q/750pts. I was shooting to double the 1999 point score and I almost did it. It was bone-cold here in West Central Florida, even inside. Our key lime and orange trees froze and croaked. It was so cold that I didn't bother to drag the 200+ feet of feedline out to the single Beverage towards Europe. Good news though, no snow! The AGC in the OMNI radio broke and that was a troublesome hindrance. My biggest start was hearing UA2FF really strong and then working him on the first call. I saved personal injury when I fell off my chair! That was a 34 pointer! Got a couple of 32 pointers too; SM6MCW and KH6ND. 28/30 pointers were G0IVZ, G4BWP, KH7A. Regards to my PVRC comrades from the 1970s. As I said, I love this 160 meter in-the-trenches Morse stuff.
K0JJ: Some year I need to try a 160 meter antenna. This old antenna tunner can only load up so much of the house. Lots of fun!!!
W3SE: This is my first entry for SP. decided about 0905UTC to check it out, and made my last Q at 1135UTC. My MONSTER Top Band station consits of: TS-940S and Sloper at 30' directed towards South America, (150Deg) this would put me in the "100 watts - Radiator <46 feet high/width/length" Class. For Scoring, I used Grid Bearing and Distance Calculator, BD_2000 http://www.w1ghz.cx/bd_2000.exe Thanks to all that dug my signal out of the noise. Longest Distance, Mike, KH6ND BL11 3957 Km.