CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW – 2022

Call: W1WBB
Operator(s): W1WBB
Station: W1WBB

Class: Single Op Assisted LP
QTH: RI
Operating Time (hrs): 16.5

Summary:
Total: QSOs = 587 State/Prov = 54 Countries = 29 Total Score = 133,630

Club: CT RI Contest Group

I was a lonely RI mult in this great Topband contest during the big blizzard of ’22. No club members heard nor worked other than Don (WA1BXY) from Tiverton RI as NC1CC, who operated sparingly in HP category. Only logged K1MD and WA1LAD as additional Ocean Staters. And our RI Topband ‘beacon by the beach’ W1XX (and 160m vertical ‘Big Bertha’, undergoing repair) was certainly missed. Not even PRC’s W1OP station from the big hill above Providence was active. No W1AN/W1DX logged either!? I hope you all safely weathered the Bomb Cyclone/nor’easter ‘Kenan’ that hammered us this past weekend!

There was a very nice opening to Eu the 1st night lasting just more than an hour where I worked 16 Eu stations, one every 4.5 mins — really fun with 100 watts! A total of 27 Eu were worked that entire night, but just one on Night 2 with that path all but shut for us LP guys.

Got a bonus Sunday morning just 4 mins before our sunrise when I worked a fairly strong KH7A for my last of 29 DX entities in the contest.

I’m excited to see my DXCC count of 29 in the contest (per 3830scores.com) is only currently exceeded by just *three* other USA/VE Low Power (Assisted & Unassisted) ops: KD4D at superstation W3LPL, VE3JM (phased 160m verts) and WO1N (YCCC/160m guy N. of Boston). Perhaps fortuitous ‘spotlight’ propagation here, the snow on the ground assisting low angle radiation and some luck too…but my Inv L w/ elevated radials worked pretty well for DX on 160m this past weekend!

The SSB portion of this CQWW 160m Contest runs in about 2 weeks.

73, Bill W1WBB

Hi All –
Here’s the link to our recently activated club email reflector located on groups.io:
https://groups.io/g/ctri
We look forward to having you join us there for discussion, sharing info etc.
73, Bill
W1WBB

Hi All –

Hope most of you can make some Q’s for our annual NEQP effort this weekend!

I’ve proposed an 80m (+75m SSB) *RALLY* so members can work each other and many other New England stations during two periods of NEQP (which can be slower times typically) :
— Sat night, last hour, midnite to 1 am local: CW on the hour (04-0430z), SSB on the half-hour (0430-05z)
— Sun eve, last hour, 7 to 8 pm local: CW on the hour (23-2330z), SSB on the half-hour (2330-2359z)
Try 3.540 MHz and 3.850 MHz +/- . Call CQ, look for (and spot!) active CTRI members, work other close-by W1’s, and have fun! I will definitely be in there!! Hope to work many of you in this Activity Hour.

See the updated NEQP.org homepage for times of the other three concurrent QPs — 7QP, INQP & DEQP. Work the 7’s and IN stations Sat night as they won’t be active much on Sunday. Only the DEQP runs 24 hours. For DX mults work all the stations calling CQ ARI (CW and SSB) and just provide a serial # to them. Each unique DXCC worked in NEQP is a mult so it is worthwhile to chase some DX too!

Good luck to our intrepid rovers W1AN, K1DM and W1XX operating as W1DX/m from various CT/RI/MA county lines on both days. Hopefully most of their chosen locations will be free of powerline/other noise.

With the success of the State QSO Party Challenge (now in year #2) bringing hundreds of additional ops to the QSO party table many many non-W1 stations will be hunting for you, so call CQ and Run often. All participants may use spotting networks so use the cluster as a source for new mults. All categories are considered Mixed Mode so don’t neglect your less favorite mode(s) to maximize points.

Good luck / good contesting … 73,

Bill W1WBB
Chief Op @ AI1TT
NEWRI

Long overdue various upgrades of my 5/16 wavelength (~ 170 ft) 160m Inv L have been occuring throughout this month of January during some milder (and less windy) days! Hoping for improved transmit performance in CQWW 160 CW (and perhaps 160m SSB event in Feb?) after disappointing results in recent Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge.

Primary upgrade: a newly installed *elevated* radial system to hopefully reduce existing ground losses…the menace of vertical attennas, esp. on 160m. Three non-resonant 1/8 wave (65 ft) elevated radials were installed, gullwing style, going from 4 ft at feedpoint up to about 10-12 above ground. NO attachment to the already existing on-earth radial system is made, although those radials (18 various length wires mostly shorter than 1/4 wavelength) help reduce the losses from the new elevated system!

Research has shown NON-resonant radials in an elevated position on verticals causes negligible current deviations amongst those radials, thus reduced losses. Due to our poor New England soil conductivity ( a “2” here whereas some Midwestern soils register a very good figure of “30”) l’m hoping the above ground radials will be even more effective in isolating the Inv L from ground losses. And typical for above ground radials, just 4 radials is typically required … I opted for 3 somewhat symmetrically placed wires with my limited 100′ x 200′ space.

In addition, the Inv L was adjusted for a more ideal approximately “up 80 ft/over 90 ft” length and a more robust near 2000 pF series matching capacitor installed. Only the use of an SWR Analyzer awaits for final tweaking (warmer months??)… but for now it requires very little in-shack tuning across the band. Multiple mechanical attachment improvements and relocated feedpoint at the DX Engineering lowband-specific Balun itself round out the system changes.

Six recent Eu contacts and Reverse Beacon Network test reports show the new system is getting out at distance with my 100 watts. Contesting will put it to an even better test of course!

Hope to work many of you on Topband this weekend … or in the near future!!

Good luck/73,
Bill W1WBB
Trustee of AI1TT

Greetings All –

Hope you have been able to stay safe/stay well during the pandemic. Field Day is just two weeks away and it will be quite different of course this year. Wanted to encourage folks to be radio-active in some fashion for FD during the 24 hours of Sat/Sun June 27/28 1800Z-1800Z (2pm-2pm local).

I plan on activating the home station, but utilizing emergency power (Class 1E) for the first time from here. In addition, I hope to mentor a less experienced contester from our club… and get them ‘running’ with N1MM+ Logger while using the new technology of the Icom IC-7300 radio — and overall, just having FUN!
A mix of CW (2 pts/Q) and SSB (1pt/Q) modes is planned.
Both 10m and 15m came alive somewhat during the recent CQWW WPX contest so we’ll hope for more of that 27 days following (when solar conditions often repeat). And don’t forget E-skip season on 6m either.

Would be interested in knowing of others FD plans as well!

When submitting your score/info to ARRL (typically via their on-line applet) members should be consistent with inclusion of our exact club name to ensure credit [ CTRI Contest Group ].

RE: ARRL and Contest info/results — they just revamped their Contests Portal Page, so check it out…
https://contests.arrl.org/

Good luck to all in your Field Day 2020 individual efforts … and hope to C U on the bands.

73, Bill W1WBB
AI1TT Trustee, “Aquidneck Island Transmitting Team”

Hello All –

Hoping many CTRI CG members will get radio-active from the home QTH this weekend (while staying safe from the COVID-19 virus!) in the annual NEQP. Our group typically puts forth a significant effort each year in this fun event where us W1’s (and K1’s, NG1’s, KE1’s etc!) are the hunted.

A refresher on the rules can be found at: http://www.neqp.org/rules.html

Of note, NO restrictions on operators going “Assisted” and using spotting networks; NO mode categories (so break out the mics for more QSOs/mults you CW ops), though CW/Digital contacts count double vs. SSB; and EACH new DXCC entity worked is a separate multiplier, along with each state and VE province/territory. Hint: DX can be found during the ARI Int’l DX contest on CW, SSB and RTTY (1200Z Sat – 1200Z Sun)…just add a serial number to your exchange.

Activity in the State QSO Parties this year has been record-breaking so expect lots of QSOs to be had, especially during Saturday while we have the overlapping 7th Call Area QP, Indiana QP and Delaware QP going on. In addition, the inaugural State QSO Party competition (StateQSOParty.com) has added many additional ops who will be searching for us New Englanders!

For N1MM Logger users (within New England) you can use **just one log** [“NEWE” found within State QSO Party area when selecting a new log]* while working ops in each of the four QP’s going on during the weekend…EASY!!

A predicted low K-Index for much of the weekend (and lack of any expected regional thunderstorms) bodes well for us operators. Hope many of you can make plans for some operating time once NEQP gets underway Saturday at 4pm local time (2000Z) ’til 1am, then Sunday 9am ’til 8pm (1300Z-2400Z). Look forward to working lots of club members this weekend!

Take care/stay safe/good luck/have fun… 73, Bill W1WBB (chief op at AI1TT, for NEQP)

Hi All –

A reminder re: all ARRL contests… logs are due within 7 days of the completion date/time of the event. Subsequently, ARRL says they will continue to accept logs via its on-line web app page [ https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/ ] another 5 days after the log submission deadline (likely as checklogs, without explanation of late submission).

It came to my attention that a few CTRI CG entries in the recent ARRL 160m Contest have not yet been submitted! We are currently just shy of 700k club points in this event. So, get your logs in!
73, Bill W1WBB

http://www.arrl.org/arrl-contests-changes-for-2019-2020

All –

It has come to my attention that a significant number of club members are active operators via the CW mode (incl. a number of newer members). With the popular annual CW Open just a week away I’d like to encourage participation in this fun event (put on by the worthy CWOps organization) by entering a CTRI Contest Group team [maximum 10 team participants].

The contest occurs over three short 4-hour sessions starting this coming Friday eve (00z-04z on Saturday) with sessions two and three occurring 12-16z and 20-24z on Saturday. Team member participation can be for as much or as little as one can provide (ie. all 3 sessions or just part of one session). * No pressure* re: activity… would just like to get as near to ten available club members to be active on our team. Of course, increased team member participation (in more than one session) will add to our team final score. Additional event info is found here: https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/cw-open/

Contact me NLT Friday Sept 6 (by 2300z please) if interested in joining the team (membership in CWOps is NOT required for participation): wbliss1[at]cox[dot]net

Just for info — weekly CWOps Mini-Tests (good ‘live’ practice) are held each Wednesday at three separate times for an hour apiece…1300z, 1900z and 0300z (Thursday), utilizing a slightly different exchange.

TNX es 73! Bill W1WBB, CWOps #2207

Hey All –

Just a heads-up for *after* the scheduled 09:30am CTRI meeting this Sat… esp. for the weary travelers coming ALL THE WAY over the bridges to the East Bay — a few of us plan to grab brunch/lunch just a 1/4 mi. away at Foodworks Restaurant (2461 East Main Rd., Portsmouth RI) in the small banquet dining room. If you would like to join us for a meal at the restaurant please RSVP to me ASAP (wbliss1@nullcox.net) so I can give Foodworks a head count. Approximate restaurant arrival time guesstimate is about 11:15-11:30 am, dependent on meeting length. Look forward to seeing some of you “On-Island”!

Safe travels… 73! Bill W1WBB

Exch: Ser # and Name, 10-160m, HP/LP/QRP, 4-hr ‘session’ only [3 sessions avail in 24 hr period].  I may just op Session 1 tonite; possibly, Session 3 as well from Sat Sept. 2nd 16z-24z. [Session 2 is from 8am-noon on Sat Sept. 2nd].

Any CW takers as additional teammate(s) from CTRI??  Shake the CW rust off and have some fun!!  Plz advise ASAP but n.l.t. 7:45pm Fri, either here or via:  wbliss1[at]cox[dot]net  so I can register a team.  TNX es 73!   Bill W1WBB

P.S.  1st post on new site — TNX to John K1JSM

Many updates — read ’em here:    http://www.arrl.org/arrl-contests-changes-for-2017-2018

**Noteworthy**  ARRL (& IARU) HF contest log due dates now 5 days post-event; 10 days after event for VHF contest logs… log submissions will be via ARRL on-line web app, with logs submitted via email being phased out.

73,  Bill  W1WBB

Got an e-mail asking for add’l ops from RI (& beyond!) in this weekend’s NA SSB Sprint – a 4-hour contest on 20/40/80m bands only, starting this Sat. eve at 7pm local, going ’til 11pm.  A new enthusiastic group of contesters has taken over sponsorship of this event from NCJ with full details at www.ssbsprint.com including a place to post your expected activity and lots of available participation prizes.   They hope to have ops from all 50 states on-air.  I plan at least part-time activity from here.  Anyone else able to provide the RI mult??

Sprints, billed as the fastest 4 hours in radiosport [assuming enough activity!], are quite fun but have a **unique** QSY rule preventing ops from ‘running’ on a particular frequency.  Takes just a bit of time to learn the rhythym — see the website for details including a ‘tips and advice’ link.   But essentially, you must QSY a minimum of 5 kHz after having called CQ *and* completing a QSO before CQing again; or QSY a minimum of 1 kHz before answering another CQer ( the so-called 5/1 rule).  Upon inheriting a frequency after answering  another CQer, you may remain there to call CQ yourself until completing 1 QSO — then you must QSY again!

 

Good luck and 73, Bill  W1WBB

 

 

 

Congratulations to Pat NG1G who was elected Contest Manager for the CTRI CG at the most recent club meeting this month.  Pat will assume his duties immediately…just in time for CQWW RTTY late this month!  Good luck Pat.

I would like to very enthusiastically thank Ken K3IU for his wonderful work in accurately maintaining the CTRI CG Intra-club Competition contest scores for each active club member throughout my time as C/M.  In addition, Ken posted the scores spreadsheet to the website after the contests for updated viewing by the members.  Outstanding  job Ken  —  Bravo Zulu as we would say in the Navy!

Best of luck to all this new contest season…this may be the last best period for optimum HF condx this solar cycle.

73 and good contesting!

Bill  W1WBB