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STATION SPECS

The station is designed for SO, SO2R, M/S and M/2 operation in the major international DX contests—CQWWs and ARRL DX Tests.  Normally, it is on M/2 in the WW and ARRL DX Tests. VE7SV has called it "one of the best-designed contest stations in the world".  It is located at my home, next to a sheer cliff overlooking salt water to the horizon.  ON4UN has dubbed it "the dream QTH of VE1JF".

The 80M antenna is a Force 12/ComTek 4sq, recently switched from raised radials to a more and more extensive ground screen (expected completion Summer 2004).  Yagis on 40-20-15-10 are a Force 12 3-stack, with the top yagis 330' (100M) above salt water to the horizon. Top and bottom yagis are C51XRNs; middle yagi is a C31XR-H (all antennas are hurricane rated).  Spacing is 37.5'.  Phasing is by Array Solutions StackMatches.  Stack offers 2/2 on 40, 3/3/3 on 20, 5/4/5 on 15 (including double reflectors on the C51XRNs), and 7/7/7 on 10M.  Stacking and phasing work very well.  160M antenna is an F12.  Several rx antennas are selectable at each rig, including K1FZ reversible double-wire Beverages that show 8 S-unit f/bs in each direction.

Station specs are always in evolution, taking into account suggestions from guest ops as well as my own experience and research.  Basics are included in the “QSL page”.  In general, there are three to four rigs (FTDX9000D, FT1000MP, and Mark V, usually plus a guest op's MP or MkV) driving two Alpha 87As that can operate simultaneously on any two bands and each be connected to any of the 6 sets of single-band antennas or stacks.  There are two ACOM 2S1 "commutators" to hook up two rigs per band for double-teaming the Alphas, as well as two alternative SO2R setups—an Array Solutions and a W5XD multi+. To minimize inter-rig interference, there are DuneStar 600 multiband filters on both rigs plus tuned coaxial stubs on 10, 15, 20 and 40, plus W3NQN 2KW low-pass filters with more than 70db adjacent-band rejection.  It is possible to operate two bands simultaneously with full power on the same boom(s) and to phase or select any of the yagis and rotate them together or in separate directions.  

Normal software in contesting is WriteLog, although guest teams can bring other software.  Normal software for logging and QSLing is DX4WIN.  Normal spotting is by telnet.