03/15/2006 | FS5UQ FS5UQ (OPR. K3LP), SINGLE OPERATOR, LOW POWER, UN-ASSISTED

The ARRL DX CW 2006 contest had many new challenges. Twenty (20), 10 and 160 meter bands presented new frustrations for me this year.

First of all, my 20 meter QSOs on both Saturday and Sunday mornings were few in coming. There was a second operator (FS/KN5G) on the island operating single op 20 meters, but the guys on Aruba seem, each year, not to be impacted by this type of issue. Its not uncommon for stateside to be pointing toward Europe and not hearing the Caribbean until almost 10:30AM. It just seemed slower than normal. I was down about 300-400 QSOs on this band at the end of the contest. I kept myself busy operating 40 and 80 meters to fill the void, until I got 15 meters going at a decent rate.

The 40 light weight aluminum crank-up tower cable was damaged (rusted beyond use) with a rotator that would not rotate and could not be fixed until the aluminum tower could be lowered. I pointed the beam at the mid-west and operated the contest with the LogPeriodic beam in a fixed position both days. Its unclear how much my results were impacted by lacking some antenna gain by not using a mono-band beam and loosing the antenna directivity (i.e. no antenna rotation).

Ten (10) meters yielded zero activity for me until Sunday afternoon around 1800 GMT, when I finally made my first QSO on this band. I had a 2 hour opening that provided 179 QSOs and 35 multipliers, and believe me, I was grateful to have what came my way.

My 160 meter QSO and multiplier totals were both up this year, but I was still pained by not being able to get the north and northwest coast (OR, WA, VE7, VE6, VE5, UT, NV, ID) and northern mid-west multipliers (MT, ND, SD, WY, VE4) on this band. My 350 beverage was working fine and I seemed to work everything I could hear as I moved them from 40 or 80 meters to 160 meters. I just didnt get the proper openings. I tried at sunrise, during the middle of night and 1 hour before their sunrise, each time moving the needed multipliers, knowing the call sign, but just couldnt hear them, therefore not working the multiplier. This was a real bummer!

I was able to exceed my last year J6R QSO and multiplier accomplishments on 80, 40 and 15 meters. I was very happy with the results on these bands.

W3ARS (Clint) and I put up a two element wire beam for 40 meters that worked with great results from the 1,400 hill top location.

I used two IC-746PROs in a SO2R configuration. These radios were excellent for operating the CW contest and the rigs size made it desirable for taking on my DX-pedition. The IC-746PROs are a must on my future DX-peditions. I really liked the CW filters and numerous features bundled into this rigs medium sized package. Im hocked on the IC-746PRO after being disappointed by using other rig types on my prior dx-peditions.

I changed my sleeping arrangement this year. I slept three hours (starting 1.5 hours before sunrise) on Saturday morning and had no sleep on Sunday. Having no sleep on Sunday just didnt work for me. By the last two hours of the contest, where I needed to be focused to get the 250-300 Hour QSO rate, I had difficulty maintaining the rate over 225. I just wanted to go to sleep the brain to hand and keyboard actions just didnt want to play full blast anymore. Next year, Ill be changing my sleeping arrangement until I get it right.

Over all, I was able to improve my overall score in this competition compared to my prior Low Power contest DX-peditions (i.e. J6/K3LP, J6R, etc.).

This was another fun contest. I cant wait until next year.

David Collingham -- K3LP