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| I therefore take the liberty of proposing for this hypothetical new atom, which is not light but plays an essential part in every process of radiation, the name photon. -- Gilbert N. Lewis, 1926 |
Richard, K5NA achieved what we believe to be the first clean sweep of all 80 W/VE sections during an ARRL 160-Meter contest. Quite an accomplishment!!! |
Quanta, photons, RF, light, nobody knows how they work so call them what you like. The first full weekend of December was once again a brilliant dance of nearly a thousand lights (961 to be exact). True to my prediction last year, this year's annual Topband ritual was attended by a record number of natives, beating 2002's record setting 919 logs by almost 5%. With more in attendance, the fireworks retired quite a few records: 2 Top Ten records, 9 Region records, 34 Division records, and 92 Section records, were dragged kicking and screaming into the archives by the torch bearing inhabitants of our little island. If you hold one of these records, you better be ready to defend your turf next year as we still have a couple of years to the absolute bottom of the solar cycle.
I can also report that we have a first-ever sweep of the ARRL sections. Richard, K5NA, managed to land the elusive #80, along with all the other sections, to actually book a single band sweep. To my knowledge, never before has a station been able to place a spotlight on every square inch of ARRL land, on the 160-meter band, during this one weekend. With old 'Sol' gasping for sunspots of late, Richard may be the first of a worthy few who will follow in his footsteps. Check out the full story on the web.
The Highlight of the contest for Bob, K8IA, was ZL2BSJ answering his CQ - not an everyday thing, since he only runs 100w and simple antennas during 160 Contests. |
More and more people are interested in Topband. Why? It's a mixed response. Some have abandoned the upper bands due to old Sol's lack of enthusiasm. Others have 'worked them all' elsewhere and are rising to the seemingly impossible challenge of working them all on Topband. A few have only recently discovered that 160M is a source of easy mults in DX contests. But many have come to enjoy the excellent ops, propagation that is open to the entire continent, and interesting propagation to the DX. If you need hardware to join the fun, summer is the perfect time to get ready for the next extravaganza on Topband--the first full weekend in December. Find an Elmer. Be an Elmer. Start getting your stations ready for next season, which should be memorable. Will we be running EU over the pole next year? Who knows! This is Topband! If you don't like the weather, stick around because it will change. Anybody who has played this band will tell you, the most important station asset is your BIC (butt-in-chair). When it's your turn to work the world on 160M, you better be in the chair and ready to light up the sky!
Top Ten
Our Canadian brethren managed to usurp two Top Ten records this year. VY2PX (K1PX op) managed to decimate W3GH's 2001 SOLP score by 53%! And VE3EJ edged past KC1XX's 2002 trophy by a slim 0.69% in the Multioperator category. K9DX fell 20% short of K1ZM's mammoth 2002 SOHP score, but squarely established himself as the 2004 winner of the SOHP category with a 24% margin for error. And finally WA4PGM squeezed out a first place SOQRP but left five old records from 1997 and 1998 intact.
Non-US/VE DX
Every year, DX plays a significant role in the outcome of this contest. By encouraging DX to participate, a significant wild card is introduced that makes this contest an interesting game of location, strategy, and brute force effort. By including DX in the scoring, the (what N0AX refers to as) dynamic range is greatly increased. A special editorial about the inclusion of DX in scoring the ARRL 160m contest can be found in the web page extended coverage area under results.
This year, for the first time, I have included a list of the Top 5 DX by category. The team of VP2MW landed a whopping 754 Qs from 74 sections during their MultiOp DXpedition to Montserrat. Pete-N0FW tells me that they put up quite an array just for this contest, and placed a special emphasis on working the west coast. 9Y4/DL6FBL landed 221 Qs and 59 mults to beat PJ2DX's 204 Qs and 57 mults in the SOHP category. CU2JU managed 115 Qs and 46 mults to snare the SOLP prize. YO4AAC did an amazing 18 Qs in the QRP category. Special thanks go to all the DX that handed out the few precious Qs that makes the ARRL 160m Contest so entertaining.
Regional Competition
Without a close examination of the Regional Competition, the ARRL 160M would be nothing short of frustrating. If you measure winners and losers by the single top score, this year there was one winner and 960 losers. Since we cannot all be located in VY2, the Regional perspective illustrates some spectacular performances. There was one new record in the Northeast and Southeast, two new records in the Midwest and West, and no less than three new records in the Central Region. I guess this must mean we are heading towards a solar minimum.
A finely tuned ground crew helped Brian, N9ADG, (a.k.a.."Dad") with his 1/4w blimp-supported vertical and 450ft unterminated "beverage" due east for RX. Lowlight was finding the wind picked up and snapped the vertical wire during rain and sleet. It wasn't fun running outside, pulling it down, splicing it, and putting it back up. |
The Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) wasted no time putting its new club callsign KG6WJF on the air for the first time. Shown here is ARCA founder Allen KG6HM, making his first-ever Top Band QSO. |
Who says you can't do it minimally? John, K3WWP, managed 147 QSO's in 34 sections in about 5.5 hours running QRP and a random wire in his attic. |
In the Northeast, W3TS managed a Regional win in SOQRP but missed breaking WK3I's 1998 win by 50%. VY2PX challenged the SOLP category and decimated W3GH's 2001 record by an amazing 53%. AA1K accepted quite a challenge when he won the Region's SOHP honors, but left K1ZM's amazing win in 2002 intact with 40% margin for error. W2GD's Multioperator effort narrowly missed a record by 0.59%, leaving KC1XX's 2002 record enshrined--two more radials may have done the trick!
In the Southeast, WA4PGM landed a Regional win in the SOQRP category, but left W4WA's 1998 record unscathed. K4CNW managed to improve the SOLP SE record by over 2%. K5GO couldn't match W4AN's SOHP 2000 and 2001 records, missing the mark by 4.7%. And W0UCE landed the Multioperator win but left W4WA's and W8JI's 1997 and 1998 wins untarnished.
The Central Region enjoyed 3 new records this year. N9NE won the Region as SOQRP but missed a record. K8FH managed to edge out KG4BIG's 2001 SOLP score by nearly 6%. K9DX continues to improve his SOHP score for the third year in a row--in 2002 John improved the SOHP score by 7.7%, in 2003 by 18.7%, and this year by 36.4%! That's a three year growth of 62%! Check out the K9DX side bar article on the web. In the Multioperator arena, the Canadians are showing their Topband prowess. VE3EJ improved K8XXX's score by 29%.
The Region near-and-dear to my heart, Midwest, enjoyed two new record performances. K5NA is the proud winner of the SOHP category this year, finally retiring the record of N5JA from back in 1997. Richard also managed the first ever recorded Sweep of all 80 sections. See the special sidebar interview with Richard on the web. The Multioperator team at N0NI just keeps on improving their scores. For the fifth consecutive year, N0NI has improved their totals to secure their spot in the archives for years to come. In 2004, N0NI posted a score that was 45% higher than their record set back in 1997. W0CH landed the top slot in SOQRP. And this Op, N0FP, managed to enter the rarified atmosphere normally reserved for more southerly ports. Yes, I won SOLP in the Midwest, with Dick, N0IM, nipping closely at my heels. But we both left three previous performances untarnished.
The Midwest and Central Regions boast (tongue-in-cheek) as being the Black Hole. If scores dictated who should be allowed the label, then the West Coast Region would win hands down. The Northern latitudes may have the North Pole to deal with, but the Left Coasters have the Rockies. Maybe we should say they are behind the "Iron Curtain." In spite of the challenges out West, N7IR managed to improve his SOQRP top score for the 5th time. K8IA managed his West Coast SOLP win over N6RK by a narrow but adequate margin, but left K7CA's amazing 1997 record unblemished. WA7LT fell short of N6SS's 2003 SOHP record. But N7GP managed to increase their Multioperator score for the third year in a row.
Division Competition
For the first time, I'm including the Divisional Competition records for your consideration. There were 34 new Division records set this year. Space does not permit describing them all. Atlantic had 1, Canada 3, Central 4, Dakota 2, Delta 3, Great Lakes 3, Hudson 1, Midwest 2, Northwestern 3, Pacific 2, Roanoke 4, Rocky Mountain 1, Southeastern 1, Southwestern 2, and finally, West Gulf had 2 new records. The complete detail is available on the web.
Club Competition
Another record! 38 clubs are credited to having submitted 571 logs. The previous record was 464 in 2002. That's a 23% increase! The only club sponsoring at least 50 entries (Unlimited Category) was the Minnesota Wireless Association with 57 logs. Although other clubs posted higher cumulative scores, the MWA is boasting a continuance of its proud tradition of increasing the number of logs submitted for the fourth year in a row. In 2001, only 24 logs were credited to the MWA. The effort to "win the gavel" paid off this year. Each year, the MWA is experiencing an increase in competitive effort by its members.
In the Medium category, the total score from the Society of Midwest Contesters' 46 logs edged out totals from the Frankford Radio Club's 40 and Potomac Valley Radio Club's 46 logs. In the local category, the Medina 2 Meter Group used 4 logs to land the title.
2005 Competition
With old 'Sol' gasping for energy, 2005 promises to be another great year in the ARRL 160 M Contest. As we approach and even pass the solar minimum, expect the unexpected. If you take the time to examine the spreadsheet available on the web, you will observe a large number of records that have remained intact since 1997 and 1998. 1997 plus 11 years equals 2008. As we approach the solar minimum, expect to see amazing scores tallied. Clubs need to help equip members to participate. Getting a few years experience on Topband is going to prove essential to landing the monster scores that will remain intact for decades to come. Be there the first full weekend in December.
