HAL's RTTY WPX Contest
Call used: K3MM
Location: MD
Entry Class: Single Op Unlimited
Band QSOs Pts Mults
80 646 -
40 1304 -
20 1100 -
15 409 -
10 1 -
----- ---- ---- ----
Total 1208 3460 371
Score: 1,283,660 - WOW!
(QSO band breakdown not available at this time due to logging technique)
Power Output: 1500
Club Participation: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Equipment: (2) FT1000MP, Alpha 87a
(2) Computers running WF1B 2.5h and RITTY 2.0 "beta"
80M Inv. V @ 100' + 2 dual-band EWE RX antennas
40M 402CD 2el "shorty 40" @ 125' + dipole @ 45'
20/15/10M (3) stacked KT34XA's at ~38/72/112'
fed w/ WX0B Stackmatch
rotated by a T2X and (2) 1022 TIC ring rotators
Comments: WOW! Conditions this weekend were very good considering
where we are in the sunspot cycle and all. The wierd thing
about this contest is that it always starts out with a
noticable lack of activity the first night, then really
starts to take off Saturday morning. WU3V/5 called in Friday
night with the same commentary. Activity from EU was very
high I thought, even on 80, and signals were generally very
good. I was also wondering how many good prefixes would be
lost to the new vanity calls...a few I'm sure (like KF3!).
Software: Well, after my crash with WF1B last year, I decided
to use my own call as a "dummy QSO" to keep the serial numbers
in line between the two computers. That worked great...except
I forgot that there is no utility to remove a particular call
from a WF1B log! So, I guess I'll be deleting 1208 K3MM's one
at a time! ARGH! My new 686 computer dumped out twice with
the still-infamous WF1B registration message. All else worked
as planned. I also ran K6STI's RITTY v2.0 "pre-release"
software...man, what a treat! While I never really had a
problem with tuning stations in before, the auto-tune feature
did help speed up my S&P operations. But the main advantage
is that it adapts to match the different shifts widths, which
really helps the copy under most conditions. Having the Alt-T
available in WF1B to disable it was also helpful on extremely
weak signals where it couldnt quite lock in and also
occasionally
with pileup differential or strong adjacent interference, even
with the Active Filters set On. However, in the pileup
situation
the autotune function often HELPED pull out one signal from the
ruckus. In addition, I've found that with the FT1000MP's DSP
noise reduction turned on, I've got very little degradation in
copy using my 250hz crystal filters, which are oftentimes needed
at the middle of 20 meters :). Another trick is that RITTY
copies
so well off just the mark or space tones alone that if someone
gets too close on one side or the other, you can shift the IF a
tad
and knock out one tone or the other and still get reasonable
copy!
All of these things in different combinations can be used to
frustrate almost all interlopers and jammers, even on the bottom
end of 40! I just love to work guys right through all the muck!
I only got chased off frequency one time: by 4U1ITU, who after
answering my CQ at 14081 started calling CQ without moving a
cycle!
Although I was jamming him pretty good, it was an uphill battle
with all the Europeans calling him, so I moved. You've got to
know
when to fold'em as Kenny would say...
DX: Nothing real rare, but lots of nice ones that all called me
with very low numbers: 7X2, A45ZX, ET3SID, OY, and VP8CKN. I
guess
maybe ZY0 got scared off by the contest...did anyone work them?
TIME: Because of the double-point low band scoring, I always
try
and maximize the low-band effort. With one of my radios ALWAYS
on
40 meters for RTTY contests, I'm forced to have a big 40 meter
score! So, I took about 4 hours off the first night and 6 the
second, and scattered the rest into the afternoons, mostly on
Sunday. I was surprised at how good 15 was into Europe on
Saturday
and was a little worried that I might be forced to take off some
time during a big EU opening towards the end. However, 15 never
really took off on Sunday (just the same big signals from
western
Europe) and 20 slowed down early due to saturation I guess, so I
think things worked out almost perfectly. With only 30 hours to
operate out of 48, this contest has a LOT of off-time, so it's
important to pick it well.
SCORES: Well, I predict a huge pile of broken records this
year!
My own score from last year, which I think was the SOHP NA
record
at 717k points was crushed into oblivion halfway through this
year's contest! It also sounded like there was some serious DX
activity. NP2E and KG4GC were heard Sunday morning with close
and
high numbers from NA. XR8S should be a contender for World with
the "3 point US" advantage.
RF: No failures to speak of...a power glitch during the snow
storm that confused one of my Alphas for a few heart-stopping
minutes. The tribander stack works real well, especially on
15 and 10. I need a better low angle antenna on 80...I was
hearing better than most of the DX I called, even with 1.5 kw.
WHAT FUN! Hope to see you all at the RTTY Contest dinner in
Dayton! Special thanks to K6STI for his exceptional dedication
to the advancement of the state-of-the-art in RTTY detection
at an affordable price...I cant wait to see what he does for
Pactor "next week"!
73, Tyler K3MM (ex-KF3P)
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