Ken Harker WM5R
2009 CQ World Wide WPX Phone - WM5R (@ K5NA) SOAB HP


The Station at K5NA:
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10 Meters
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 100', fixed NE
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 100', fixed NW
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 70', fixed SE
  Cushcraft X9 Tribander at 82', rotatable

15 Meters
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 170', rotatable
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 128' fixed NE
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 86' fixed NE
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 44', rotatable from 315 to 140 degrees
  Cushcraft X9 Tribander at 82', rotatable

20 Meters
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 190', rotatable
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 128' fixed NE
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 70' fixed NE
  5 element Cushcraft monobander @ 45' fixed SE
  Cushcraft X9 tribander @ 82', rotatable

40 Meters
  2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 200', rotatable
  2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 128' fixed NE
  2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 70' fixed NW
  Inverted Vee @ 35'.
  2 element Cushcraft XM240 @ 100', rotatable

80 Meters
  NE - Two element phased vertical array
  NW - Two element phased vertical array
  SW - Sloping dipole @ 170'
  Inverted Vee @ 150'

160 Meters
  Full sized Rohn 25G vertical with insulator at 30' and raised radials

Receiving Antennas
  Nine Beverages: SW, W, NW, NNW, N, NNE, E, SE

Radios:
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  Radio 1: Elecraft K3, Ameritron AL-1500
  Radio 2: Elecraft K3, Ameritron AL-1500
  SO2R Controller: microHAM MK2R+
  Headset: Heil Proset HC4
  Software: WriteLog V10.69A
Claimed Score

Band QSOs Point Mults
160SSB 12 20 2
80SSB 158 276 33
40SSB 851 1631 193
20SSB 2001 2908 599
15SSB 91 244 37
10SSB 11 33 6
Total 3124 5112 870

Claimed score4,447,440

Richard K5NA had invited me out to operate his station in a couple of phone contests this year, but it wasn't until the WPX contest that I could go. It was a great opportunity to try out one of the local super-stations and see what I could do as a single operator. This was my second real effort as a single operator in this contest. I came very close to beating my contesting mentor, George K5TR, from the ranch station of W5KFT in 2007. Last year, at W5KFT, a lightning storm on Friday night damaged the station, took out the power, and ate my log, forcing me to quit early.

Part of my experience at K5NA was learning new software and a different way to do SO2R. While I'm a long-time TR Log enthusiast, the Kings use WriteLog and the microHAM MK2R+. At first, the idea of having two log entry windows and two footswitches was very alien, but I think I managed to cope. This was also my first contest really using the Elecraft K3, which was a joy to use.

The first two hours of the contest were, I think, the first back-to-back hours with more than 200 QSOs/hour that I have had in any contest. I've only come close to that in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest before. This was also my first contest, as a single operator, with more than 3000 QSOs in the log.

Conditions on 20 meters and 40 meters were better than I was expecting, and those two bands accounted for the vast majority of my contacts. I tried running on 15 meters on Sunday, briefly, when the band opened up to the Pacific Northwest, but mostly it was search and pounce to South America on 15 meters and 10 meters. It's possible that I should have spent more time on 80 meters, but 40 meters was so good, it was hard to leave.

Richard and Susan were great hosts this weekend. Richard was willing to devote a lot of time to helping me get familiar with the antennas, the radios, the microHAM MK2R+, and the software before the contest. The weather also cooperated, which is always a big unknown this time of year in Central Texas.

Congratulations to K5TR on a great score!


Contest Logging was done with TR LOG contest logging software. The following reports and log were created using TR LOG's post-contest processor.


Last Updated 26 June 2020
wm5r@wm5r.org