Cure Those Post Christmas Blues With a Foray Onto 160 Meters, As Stew Perry 160 Caps 2008

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted December 22, 2008

After fantastic conditions on 160 meters for many competitors in the 2008 CQ WW CW Contest, organizers are hoping for much the same as the Stew Perry 160 Top Band Distance Challenge helps end the contest year.

"This is the prime time of the year - during the best part of the sunspot cycle," said Stew organizer Larry Tyree N6TR.

"Hopefully, we will have a repeat of the conditions we saw in the first two runnings of the Stew. I remember hearing GM3POI here in Oregon a full two hours before our sunset."

The man to beat in this year's edition is the defending single op champ from 2007, Al Van Buren K7CA, who is back in Chile and ready for Topband action.

"I'm definitely going to give it my best shot," he said, a night after arriving back in Chile.

"Since it is summer down here the biggest problem on 160m is the QRN from storms to my east and north east," said Van Buren, who will be trying out a new listening antenna (see right) and bringing along a new radio as well.

"This year the K3 should make picking out single stations much easier," said Van Buren. "I'm hoping the K3 also might help with some of the constant summer time QRN here too. I'll even try the diversity receiving setup."

K7CA's QRN troubles were evident from last year's results, as CE1/K7CA made valid contacts with only 4 QRP stations and 30 low power operators.

Second place finisher Clive Penna GM3POI meanwhile had 12 QRP and 123 LP from Wales, while third place John Laney worked 28 QRP and 157 LP from the W8JI QTH in Georgia.

"My strategy was the usual," said Laney. "Run as fast and as hard and as accurately as possible. Try to be polite."

"Make an effort to work multipliers while they are available without losing out on rate on the run frequency. I did take W8JI's advice and seldom operated above 26 WPM," Laney added.

"In contests on higher bands, I usually operate around 32-34 WPM until the rate slows significantly. The results were very good," he said.

Laney had won the honor of making the most QSO's in the 2007 Stew. In 2006, he worked the highest number of grid squares worldwide.

The 2007 Stew had an increase of 20 percent in the number of submitted logs, and with all the action on the band of late, organizers hope for another good showing in 2008.

"All of those guys who find a new K3 under the tree this year will just be itching to take it for a spin on topband," said Tyree N6TR.

"With the contest coming just two days after Christmas - there should be lots of activity."

The list of plaques being sponsored is getting long again - which is a good indicator of the interest level.

The results posted by Tree also showcase each entry's "Best DX" contact. Two ops made QSO's that were over 18,000 kilometers in distance, as W4ZV and WE3C reached that mark. WE3C won the longest QSO, 18,549 km with VK6VZ.

The Stew Perry contest begins at 1500z on December 27 and goes for 24 hours to 1500z December 28; see the rules and more at the Stew Perry web site.