G3TXF in CQWW CW Contest - Nov 2006
G3TXF entered Single Band on Topband (SOSB/160) in CQWW CW

Claimed score : 286,082 points

1,588 QSOs 24 Zones 94 Countries

QTH : North Devon QTH (WAB = SS44)
Operating time : 34 hours.

Topband is the place to be at the bottom of the sunspot cycle!

High winds at the Devon field-day contest site on the Friday prevented the 20m antennas being installed for the orginally planned SOSB/20m entry.

Instead a 160m inv-vee dipole was wound up to 95ft and three 160m listening antennas were stretched out around the garden. These "short-Beverages" made all the difference.

Excellent 160m conditions produced 349 W and 29 VE QSOs. Overall 25% of the 1,588 Q's were with North America and 72% with Europe.

Being called by several Caribbean stations really helped the Multiplier total.

Additional Mults heard that did not make it into the log were UA0YAY in z23, HS0ZDJ in z26, LU8YE in z13 and 9Y4AA. Apart from these, every Mult heard was worked. But plenty more Mults were no doubt missed completely!

Was QRV in the shack for 34 hours. Most of the daylight hours on the Saturday were spent outside setting up temporary 160m receive antennas.

A weekend on Topband to be remembered!
160m inv-vee dipole with centre at about 95ft above the ground.
The top-20 QSO countries:
W
349
 I
33
DL
256
 SM
30
UA
121
 EA
29
OK
88
 VE
29
G
64
 UA9
24
F
56
 S5
23
SP
51
 HB
21
UR
47
 LY
20
PA
42
 ON
19
OH
41
 OM
18
DX (Non-EU) Mults: 3V, 4J, 4X, 5A, 5B, 6W, 8P, 8Q, A4, CM, CT3, EA8, EA9, HC8, HI, HK0, HP, J7, KP2, KP4, P4, PY, RA9, TA, TI, TZ, UN, V2, V3, V4, VE, VP5, VP9, VQ9, W, ZF and ZL.
The pole supporting the 160m inv-vee dipole above the 80ft mast bends in the high winds.
Post CQWW CW Dinner with the local DXers...
CQWW CW 160m SOSB Results for 2006 (<100k pts)
Three separate receiving antennas were put up during the course of the CQWW CW Contest weekend. Above is a westerly facing 340ft "short Beverage". This receive antenna made it easier to hear US and Caribbean stations. A second receive antenna was installed 'facing' North-East. The difference in reception between the two receive antennas was remarkable. Putting up these receive-only antennas for the 160m entry in the CQWW CW Contest finally brought home to G3TXF the importance of receive antennas on 160m.
Primitive 9:1 matching transformers for the 160m receive antennas were constructed during the CQWW CW Contest weekend!
Activity in 39 years of CQWW CW Contests [1968 to 2006]
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