CQ 160 Contest – TF4X #2 in Europe, #6 World !

Yuri, K3BU operated TF4X in the CQ WW 160 meter contest in the Single Operator High Power category.

A solar flare about a week before the contest started caused worry that conditions would be poor.   The band seemed to have recovered nicely, but the Aurora Index stayed high during most of the contest and it became clear that conditions were disturbed.

Iceland is greatly affected by any Auroral disturbance, much more so than neighboring countries and Yuri observed, for example, that my Great Beverage antennas showed almost no directivity during the contest.    I know for a fact that they work very well, but during the weekend it seemed that signals appeared to come from all directions simultaneously.   I understand this may be due to a high arrival angle during disturbed conditions.

Some juicy DX was worked, two KH6 stations for example, it is only recently that the historic first QSO with KH6 was made from my station – this is quite remarkable considering the disturbed conditions.

The raw score is as follows:

1643 QSOs

51 States/Provinces

80 Countries

Total Score = 1,317,729

At present TF4X has the second highest reported score in Europe and is #6 worldwide.   This may of course change as and/or when other stations report their scores, but it is incredibly satisfying to see all my hard work being justified with such superior results.

It was quite illuminating to observe such an experienced operator running my station – at times I feared that my amplifier would literally melt, but it performed to my full satisfaction and there were no equipment/antenna issues whatsoever during the contest.

Yuri wrote in his comment to the 3830 Reflector:

Last minute adventure to the Aurora zone, taking up Thor’s invite.
Being rusty from dormant period, problems with equipment setup,
drivers, but got ready for the start.
Stories about Aurora wipeouts made it a big if.
Thanks to Thor and his magnificent station it ended up being fun and decent
score, even if coming short of beating the Eu record.
The background noise is probably the lowest in the world allowing to
hear lot more of the juicy stuff than working it.
Thanks for wonderful hospitality and station from Thor, TF4M and all the QSOs
and points. Lot of dirty clixing signals and rude behaviour by “CQ pirates”.
Will have more later.

Yuri, TF/K3BU

I used my PERSEUS SDR receiver to record the entire contest 1800-1900kHz.   The recording obviously contains the entire contest effort of TF4X and in addition it contains the contest effort of everyone else heard at my location.

This consumes two hundred GB of data, please contact me if you are interested in specific time periods.

A new chapter in the History of Amateur Radio has been written.

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