G3TXF : CQWW 160m CW Contest : Jan 2010
G3TXF Claimed: 1,486 QSOs, 73 DXCC, 49 States/Prov 1,111,240 pts QRV 26 hrs

Topband dipole at 90ft and two short (350ft) beverages were put up especially for the CQWW 160m Contest. Operated throughout the first night up to 0900z on Saturday. The last DX station worked on the Saturday morning was VE3EJ at 0852z, a full hour after our SR. Started up again at 1800z, but just could not keep going through the whole Sat night/Sun morning. Took a 3.5 hr sleep-break from 0100z to 0430z. The last DX QSO on Sunday morning was N9NC at 0824z. Europeans were worked up to 0900z, and then another 6.5 hours was taken off during Sunday morning/afternoon until about 1530z.

DX - - EU -
W
294
 - DL
232
VE
27
 - UA
114
UA9
25
 - OK
86
5B
3
 - UR
75
CT3
3
 - G
65
UN
3
 - SP
47
C6
2
 - I
42
EA8
2
 - PA
40
KP2
2
 - S5
37
4X
1
 - EA
34
Was then able to work right through to the end at 22z. The new 22z start/end makes for more civilised contest times (in EU at least!). As can be seen from the photos the weather was superb (for late January) during the CQWW-160m.

My last mult was NP4A who called me at 2102z on the Sunday, which must have been about two hours before his SS. Heard BY4RF, VU2PAI and BU2AQ all with good signals in the minutes just before the start of the Contest on Friday night, but never heard any of them again in the ensuing mayhem of CQWW-160m.
Although 294 Ws were worked, eight States were missed: DC, MS, OK, ID, KS, MO, ND and SD. In Canada LB (VO2), MB (VE4), BC (VE7), NT (VE8), VY1 and VY0 all failed to make it into the log.
Top-10 DX and Top-10 EU
This is the second year of using the K3 in CQWW-160m. Last year there were no Beverages. This year there were two, and these caused problems with the K3. An RF protection relay (within the K3) was clicking during keying whenever "RX ANT" was used for receive. Apart from that (not inconsiderable) problem, the K3 functioned very well, especially handling the signals on 160m CW. Contest weekends are seldom blessed with fine weather, but CQWW-160m was an exception. It was dry (but cold) all weekend with clear blue skies during the day and a full-moon shining for much of the night. On the left can just be seen one of the several 6ft bamboo poles used to support the two Beverages which were temporarily installed for the 2010 CQWW-160m Contest.
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