Category Archives: Topband

CQ160 SSB: Prepping with Slash – SE0X Hits the Goal

Instead of getting some sleep before the CQ160 SSB contest this weekend I attended a Slash concert to get warmed up. Maybe not the wisest choice, but limiting the alcohol at the VIP party before the concert was a smart decision.

Because of the concert I had decided to run CQ160 SSB from SE0X via remote. I had also prepared to run the contest in “silent mode” so I would not disturb the princess in her beauty sleep. Being silent means that the computer has to do the talking. This is possible by voicing calls in N1MM, ie. recording all individual letters and numbers in advance, then let the logger pice calls together and play those back on the fly for each contact made. In preparation for the contest I had recorded, edited and pre-processed all required voice prompts.

Once on the air the scheme worked out better than I dared to hope. With very few repeats or clarifications needed, I was satisfied with the results. To hear an example of an exchange pieced together using pre-recorded letters and numbers, listen here.

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CQ160 SSB in itself is challenging and fun. To make things even more interesting I discovered right after start that I had a RF feedback problem affecting my IP link. My audio got all chopped up while transmitting, not a good thing in a contest where clarity is crucial. Reducing the power would keep the link alive so most of the contacts in the contest where done using just 300 watt.

My goal where set at 500 contacts and 127 000 points in the single operator, assisted, high power category. This was at a level that I felt would be possible even without much DX in the log. A few North Americans where received here, but it was hard to cut through the QRM with reduced power. I got lucky with VY2ZM, K3ZM, W3LL, KP4KE, ZF2AM and a few AS/AF, but in the end EU accounts for 98% of the log entries.

At the end of the contest I had been active for 24 hours and logged 523 contacts in 48 DXCC:s plus 3 US States and Canadian Provinces. This adds up to a final (claimed) score of 135150 points which is close to my unassisted SM record in 2011.

73 de Björn, SM0MDG

160m vertical in the air for the season

The top loaded 160 meter Top Band vertical TX antenna has been deployed for the winter DX and contest season. This year the antenna is based on an 18 meter aluminum vertical with three top loading wires.

160m Top loaded Vertical

The ground system consists of two elevated radials bent to follow the shore line. Both radials are raised from the feed-point in a steep angle to 2.5 meter heigh over the water level, then stretched straight out about ten meter in symmetry from the vertical before they both are bent about 90 degrees South. It is far from an optimal solution, but the antenna is literally standing on water which compensates for the lack of height and the compromise radial system.

The antenna is resonant on 1830 kHz and measures 17.5 Ohm impedance at the feed-point which is expected for a short vertical like this. An unun is used to transform the low impedance to 50 Ohm, then a coax choke is canceling RF in the coax shield. The choke is made using seven turns of RG-213 through five paralleled Amidon FT240-31 cores.

With the vertical up again I will be back on Top Band for the winter season and SE0X is ready for the upcoming contests. We are especially looking forward to the 160 meter contests.

CU on Top Band, 73!

CY9M – St Paul Island up next!

CY9M Logo

A 10 man international team is about to embark to St Paul Island, a top 40 most wanted DXCC, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Nova Scotia, Canada. The activity commence this week July 26 and ends August 1.

St Paul Island is commonly referred to as the “Graveyard of the Gulf” which has also been the theme for the expedition logotype. The landing at St Paul Island is difficult and dependent on weather, but the team is experienced from such landings previously at the Flannans (EU-118), St. Kilda (EU-059), Market Reef (EU-053) and many other IOTA expeditions.

A total of 6 stations will be deployed and be active on all bands 160 to 6 meter using the call CY9M. Hex beams and Vertical Dipole Arrays will be used on high bands while verticals and receiving antennas will be in service the lower bands.

CY9M will participate in the IOTA contest next weekend, giving both DXCC and IOTA hunters the chance to confirm NA-094. Our contest operation will be limited to 20 meters only, and we will operate both SSB and CW modes throughout the contest.

For more detailed information as it become available and your opportunity to support the team, please visit www.cy9m.com.

SE0X Claimed #1 SM in CQ160 CW

As the log submission deadline was passed on February 28th SE0X piloted by SM0MDG was the highest ranking single operator effort in SM with a total claimed score of 440.250 points. A total of 1114 contacts where made with 61 DXCC plus 14 states and provinces in 26 hours of operation.

The goal was set at breaking my own 2010 SM record of 615.219 points, but I lowered my expectations because of current propagation. The final result mirrors the rise in solar activity attenuating Topband performance in every Topband contest since 2010.

CQ160 is one of my favorite contests of the year, and logging 1000+ contacts on Topband in one single weekend is more action than my total non-contest related activity on this fantastic band. I am already looking forward to CQ160 in 2013.

CQ160 SSB Update

Because of the weather it was not convenient to use my own station this weekend, so I arranged to use SM0MLZ’s station SG0X located just North of Stockholm in the CQ160 SSB contest.

Patrik has not been bitten by the “top band bug” yet, but he has a nice station with a nice location for DX’ing and contesting. His topband antenna is an inverted L with 10-12 radials, perfect for picking up multipliers in the big contests, but not really competitive for Topband DX’ing. As Patrik is “in between amplifiers” I had to borrow one and was able to source a FL-2100Z from SM0NOR Ulf, not the most powerful box on the block, but at least an S-unit over the barefoot K3. I also added a N/E Pennant in addition to Patrik’s N/W Pennant.

With this rather modest setup I was ready for a though fight in what could be the most challenging SSB contest of the year, especially in SM where we are restricted to use only 35 kHz of the 160 meter band between 1810-1845.

It was natural that DX suffered, in addition to three NA states worked in Zone 5 I also logged some DX in Zone 17, 20 and 33 but that was it! Longer distances where not possible with the current propagation and my setup. In general I was able to hear better than I was getting out which shows that on Topband a good TX antenna and enough power are vital element of success.

CQ160 SSB Remote Shack

As an experiment the station was hooked up for remote access and the last hours of the contest was logged via the remote interface. To make it even more challenging the remote setup was based on a TS-480, only 100 watts and no RX antennas. 21 stations where logged using this setup, and despite its limitations the low number of stations logged is more likely due to the fact that there were very few left to log at the end of the weekend.

The final result for the weekend ended up at 340 contacts worked in 39 DXCC, 2 US states (ME and MA) and one Canadian province (POI). The total time active was 17 hours. This was considerable less than in CQ160 CW, probably because activity on the band was less and nighttime shorter than in the CW contest a month ago.

SEØX breaks two SM CQ-160 Records!

When the final results where published for the 2011 edition of the CQ-160 CW Contest I was happy to see that SEØX had beaten the previous SM record in SOHP Assisted.

The previous record holder was SM2M operated by SM2LIY with a score of 453.128 in the 2009 CQ-160 CW contest. The final result of SE0X in 2011 was 480.998 points. Also in CQ-160 SSB did SEØX break the SM record in SOHP (non-assisted) with a final score of 177.219 points.

The top score of SE0X in any CQ-160 Contest was in the CW contest 2010 (SOHP, non-assisted) where the final score ended up at 615.219 which is another SM record.

The 2012 CQ-160 Contest is around the corner, and I am crossing my fingers for good propagation despite the increase in solar activity.

CU in the Pileups!

73 de Björn, SM0MDG

Happy New Year!

Once again its time to pop the cork of a bottle of chilled Dom Pérignon and celebrate another fun year at SEØX, and what a year it’s been!

2011 was the year when the sun finally got back into the game and once again fuelling fantastic propagation paths on high bands.

For me 2011 started with the failed DXØDX Spratly adventure which after its cancellation was rearranged to to an IOTA tour together with Christian EA3NT and Simon IZ7ATN. During the trip in the Philippine Archipelago trip we activated Palawan Island OC-128, Caluya Island OC-125, and Tablas Island OC-244. It was a memorable trip to and especially the very remote Island of Caluya will be pinned into my mind forever.

With the rise in solar activity the 160 meter band seems to have suffered which might explain this year’s lower result in CQ-160 CW. The goal was set to increase from the excellent 2010 result, SM record in CQ-160 CW SOHP, but propagation did not support the ambition. Despite the lower score, the 1031 contacts logged was enough to place SE0X as #1 SM and break the SM record in CQ-160 CW SOHP Assisted.

If CQ-160 CW was a little disappointing CQ-160 SSB was a positive surprise, maybe because of the lowered expectation. A total of 555 stations where casually logged but at a higher QSO rate than in the CW leg, and the result was enough to put SEØX at the #1 SM position in the SOHP category and break another SM record in CQ-160 SSB SOHP.

After the single operator efforts in January and February the SEØX team went south to the French Atlantic Coast to enter the ARRL DX SSB contest as TMØX. Vincent F4BKV had invited us to his station and we were treated with french hospitality by his generous family. Although the contest was fun, I am sure what the team remembers is all the tasty food and excellent wines served in the beautiful family estate housing Vincent’s station.

Next up was the big multi-effort of the year from the SEØX team in the WPX SSB Contest where we signed as 7SØX (for the “exotic” 7S prefix). The team gathered to have fun consisted of F4BKV, SMØMDG, SMØMLZ and SMØNOR. The station was temporary set up for M/2 and this was the first contest where the higher bands showed some life. 15 meter was quite OK, but 10 meter was not performing at all this weekend. The final score ended up at 8.410.650 score which was a substantial improvement of the 2010 result, but SJ2W with its huge antenna park was well ahead of us in a Single Op effort. SEØX ranked #1 SM and #18 EU in the M/2 category and the team is currently planning for WPX SSB 2012.

In April a lot of work went in to convert the station for M/2 and SO2R permanently. A Kenwood TS-590 was picked as the second station and 5B4AGN band pass filters installed to keep interference to a minimum. A 3-element Spiderbeam is serving as the temporary secondary antenna for high bands and the low bands antennas are shared between stations using a Sixpak antenna switch.

In WPX CW the brand new SO2R setup was taken for a test drive. At a claimed score of 2.069.559 SEØX (operated by me SMØMDG) ranks #1 SM in SOHP and #4 SM overall being beaten only by assisted stations.

In July I departed for Reykjavik to participate in the JX5O expedition to Jan Mayen in the Norwegian Arctic Ocean. The expedition happened to coincide with the IARU HF Championship and the team decided to put two of the four HF stations in the contest. The goal was not to work up a good score to be competitive, but rather to maintain presence at the contest bands during the weekend. The log of 1200+ contacts was submitted as a check-log. AD1C commented our entry in IARU with: “This was supposed to be a CW-only effort my only SSB QSO was with JX5O, an all-time new DXCC entity from CO” and DK9TN wrote “the best QSO was to be called by JX5O on 20m”.

Returning home from the Arctic Ocean I used the remainder of the summer to catch up on life outside the shack. In August I also spent some time getting most of my old personal and contest logs uploaded to LoTW, Logbook of The World.

September is the start of the contest season and it takes off with SAC, the Scandinavian Activity Contest. This might be a small contest for the outside world but for Scandinavians its an intense battle, and very competitive as the local participation is very high compared to most other tests. This year the contest committee decided to publish the results in record short time and SEØX ranked #3 SM in CW and #6 in SSB beaten by team mate SMØMLZ from his station SGØX.

In CQWW SSB it was time again for a team effort and Patrik SMØMLZ (SGØX), Ulf SMØNOR (SFØX) and I teamed up at Patrik’s station SGØX North/East of Stockholm. Preparations started one weekend before the contest when we put up a 2-element phased array for 80 meter and on the Friday before the test we setup the complete second station including a 3-element Spiderbeam yagi and all filters needed. There where no other entries in the M/2 category, but we where ranking #2 overall in SM with only SJ2W outscoring us. But with three operators on two stations we where happy with the result and we had enjoyed the first real explosion of the 10 meter band with some nice runs and funky DX.

Two of my favorite contests where the perfect end to a good contest and DX year, the ARRL 10 Meter Contest and the Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge.

I like the 10 Meter test and have participated the past years even though the propagation was dead. But this year the increase in solar activity made a big difference, and although a little weaker propagation than in CQWW SSB, the 2011 ARRL 10 meter contest was lot of fun.

Last but not least, the Stew Perry Top Band Challenge is a unique and fun contest. What makes it different is that the result is calculated by the total aggregated distance of all contacts worked which, in my opinion, levels the field and make the contest interesting regardless of location and power levels. This is a contest where its less important to win, its more about the challenge of filtering out faint signals from the static of Topband.

To sum it up, the improvement of Solar Cycle 24 is probably the most important news of 2011. Not only does it support contesting, but it also brings back life to DX’ing on higher bands in general. When fireworks and Champagne corks hit the ground on the other side of the New Year, I am convinced that 2012 will be even more fun and challenging!

Happy New Year!

73 de Björn, SM0MDG

CQ WW CW was a blast!

CQ Logo The propagation outlook for CQ WW CW was really promising with the recent improvement of solar acitivity, and the sun provided for a lot of action on higher bands while the aurora stayed calm enough to allow for low bands to perform.

SMØMDG was operating with the SEØX in Single Operator, High Power category in Non-Assisted mode. The contest started out in a good pace with 62% of the contacts logged within the first 24 hours. The second night I took a 3 hour break to catch some sleep and getting ready for Sunday’s high band action. The solar flux dropped a little on Sunday and the rate was getting slower as the I was getting more tired, but another 1200 unique contacts where logged and I reached my goal of logging at least 3000 contacts.

10 meter was the joy of the contest, and as in CQ WW SSB Ten provided almost 500 contacts in 21 Zones and 52 countries. Its also worth to note that 80 meter performed well in number of contacts including quite a few DX, but it fell short on multipliers when compared to 40 meter. Most points where collected on 20 meter with 1299 contacts, 24 Zones and 57 countries (just 2 countries short of 40 which topped no of countries worked) and 160 meter provided 311 contacts, 7 Zones and 38 countries.

The station was set up for SO2R using a Elecraft K3 and a Kenwood TS-590S. The main station has a SteppIR while the other station operates on high bands using a temporary 3-band Spiderbeam. On low bands the 2 element phased array and the top loaded verticals for 80 and 160 where shared between the stations.

The final claimed score ended up at 2,3 million points, about a million more than the 2010 score. Next challenge is the ARRL 10 meter contest that I am very much looking forward to, it should be lots of fun now that the sun cooperates.

CU in the ARRL 10 meter contest, 73!

CQ160 SSB Report

CQ Logo I had not planned for a serious effort, just a little fun in CQ 160 SSB contest this weekend. And fun was exactly what was provided, together with some snow to clear at the station!

I decided to operate only for a few hours which finally ended up at a total of 12 hours casual operating. I was prepared for heavy QRM and complete chaos, but it was actually easy to find a hole in the otherwise crowded 40 kHz allowed band segment.

I picked a tactic of working a few hours at a time, then take a few hours break to let the band fill up with new calls to work. This worked out well and I logged a total of 555 stations which made the QSO rate slightly higher than in CQ160 CW a month ago. A total of 60 countries but only 4 states where logged. The DX drowned in QRM and the ones found usually had trouble hearing on their end.

Topband, especially when limited to 40 kc, is not really suited for a SSB contests but nevertheless it was fun to dive into the mess and rely on the K3′s DSP filters to be able to make sense of the mess.

Another fun weekend on the air, 73!

CQWW 160 CW Claimed Score

In CQWW 160 CW this year the goal was to improve my score and to try to be competitive with the multi-op contest stations ranking top 3 in SM last year. Unfortunately band was not as “hot and willing” as it was a year ago. I guess the best TB season during this bottom of the solar cycle was 2010 and now its time for higher bands to improve. (As I write this the solar flux hits 113 which is the highest value since September 2005).

To be able to improve the score this year I decided to enter as assisted using the cluster and plus a local SDR/Skimmer feeding the band map with workable spots. This helped a little initially, but not as much as one would expect.

The band was at times very crowded and it was hard to find any space for a run wider than 200-300 hz, but the paradox was that it felt like there were fewer stations to log compared to a year ago. Maybe there where fewer stations active, but with longer operating hours and bigger signals they where filling up the band anyway.

Initially the QSO rate was OK, but at the end things got very slow. On Sunday night it was really hard to stay awake during endless CQ calls, non-productive S&P and band maps filled already worked spots.

At the end a total of almost 1.050 contacts where logged, about 70 contacts less than last year. But the real difference was a much lower number of multipliers, especially the NA states where fewer, most probably because of weaker propagation this year. The final score landed at 507.567 points, about 110.000 below my #1 SO achievement of CQWW 160 CW 2010.

Finally I did beat one of the contest stations mentioned earlier, but it was not a fair deal as it was a single op effort with few contacts according to his claimed score. The two other stations still had the upper hand with more operating hours and bigger antenna farms. To summarize the contest result was a little disappointing as I did aim to increase the score, but as usual it was a fun and challenging contest as usual.

73!