CQ-160 SSB – Twice the SM record!

My plan for CQ160 SSB was to beat the Swedish low power record. I ended up with almost twice the score. Considering that the 2013 result was 130k in High Power Assisted, I am very happy with the result.

Propagation was weak the first night, very little DX and not a single K or VE station heard. Worked a few AS in the 3000 km range and in my sunrise I found KP4KE who came back to me on the first call. Even with the band broken the first night, KP4KE was the longest distance logged.

Second night propagation improved a little and a few K’s where heard. But I was only able to make it through to Jeff VY2ZM on PEI. Peter K3ZM was the strongest NA station with a real 59 at my SR, but I could not crack through the pile. The Briggs brothers where emitting 90% of the NA RF picked up here! Everyone else was weak.

The contest was run via remote using pre-recorded voice prompts overnight. N1MM is hooked up to the remote radio via Remoterig’s serial server. Commands travel back and forth and a lag is introduced. The lag is obvious when tuning the radio manually and it slows down S&P a little. But its a small price to pay for the convenience of the much more comfortable remote shack.

Total number of QSOs logged is 436, 49 country multipliers and only 1 Canadian province. All summing to a total (claimed) score of 109,450. The current SM record is 56k, half my final score.

Overall a fun contest and no snow shovelling needed. Thanks to everyone in the log!