ARRL 160 Meter Contest (CW) This Weekend:

Have you ever thought about working 160 meters? This weekend will give you a great opportunity to do just that, during the ARRL 160 Meter Contest. This contest, which is CW-only, is great for both new and experienced General and Extra class licensees, as Generals have privileges on the complete 160 meter band. US and Canadian stations, as well as all US territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, will try to work as many US states, Canadian provinces and DX as they can! In this contest, Alaska and Hawaii are considered US states, and not DX (in some contests, Alaska and Hawaii are considered DX).

While it certainly helps to have a big antenna, you'd be surprised what you can work with smaller antennas. ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, said, "I've worked hundreds of stations (including some DX) on 160 meters from my old location in Illinois with just 100 W and a 40 meter dipole run through an antenna tuner!"

ARRL Contributing Editor H. Ward Silver, N0AX, might have an antenna solution for your 160 meter woes. He says you don't have to have a 250-foot dipole 300 feet in the air to have fun on 160. There are a number of tricks you can do with antennas cut for higher frequency bands. If you have an antenna for 80 meters or 40 meters, he recommends tying both conductors of the feedline together and connecting them to the ungrounded terminal of an antenna tuner output. The ground of your station can act as the counterpoise. This is an old and useful trick to get on Top Band for a weekend.

You can also extend any antenna by simply clipping a length of wire to it near the end. For a dipole, attach the wire or wires at the end insulators. For verticals, clip the wire on at the top of the antenna - you can make a dandy inverted-L this way. A random-wire stretched out over the bushes and trees will probably play a lot better than you expect. Use an antenna analyzer or your transmitter set to very low power levels to adjust your tuner. If you can't get the SWR very low, just reduce power output from your transmitter. Modern transmitters can output 10 W or so at high SWR and SWR losses in the feed line are very low on 160 meters.

Use your ham ingenuity to get on the air this weekend and start collecting QSOs for your 160 meter Worked All States Award. The best times for stations using low-power and compromise antennas is probably after 10 or 11 PM (local time) when the regional activity is at its peak. There will also be a "dawn enhancement" just before sunrise when stations to the west, where the path is in darkness, become quite strong for 30 minutes or so. Here at the bottom of the solar cycle, conditions will probably be quite good. See what you can accomplish -- you will probably be quite pleasantly surprised!

The ARRL 160 Meter Contest begins Friday November 30 at 2200 UTC and runs until Sunday, December 2 at 1600 UTC. Get on the air and work some stations on one of the most enigmatic bands used in Amateur Radio.

Source:

The ARRL Letter Vol. 26, No. 47 November 30, 2007

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