CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1998
Call: WO1N Country: United States
Mode: SSB Category: Multi Single
Zone: 05
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 9 10 1.11 3 2
80 37 86 2.32 11 27
40 42 108 2.57 14 36
20 211 576 2.73 27 89
15 188 531 2.82 24 86
10 186 518 2.78 26 82
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 671 1824 2.72 105 321 => 777,024
All reports sent were 59 05, unless otherwise noted.
Operator List: WO1N, K1WD, NF1A
Equipment Description: FT1000D, TA33@30', Alpha-Delta 160-40 trap
dipole
Club Affiliation: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Story:
What a blast. I had a taste of what it is like to graduate from a 3rd
tier to a low 2nd tier station. It's a long story, if you're still reading
it goes something like this:
Somewhere along the way I got myself fairly committed to this contest,
something to do with putting on a good effort for the YCCC.
Two weeks prior I found myself calling club members to get them to get
on the air. One week prior I began restoring a pretty beat up TA33 to
supplement my R7 and wire dipole. I don't own a tower, but four years
of Field Day has taught me a few tricks. I finished the antenna late
Thursday evening. K1TWF loaned me his mega 30' ladder which, after
scooting out of work a little early on Friday, gave me time to
install a 30' temporary tower up against the house (thanks to a little
assist from N1HTS). PDU (as in Pretty D*mn Ugly) and I'm sure it raised
the eyebrows of a few of my neighbors. You've got to understand I'm working
some family dynamics here also. In a last hour decision I put the TA33
on an old rat shack TV antenna rotor. Good decision.
Multi-Single was choosen to allow YCCC'ers K1WD and NF1A a chance to
operate.
As SSB contests from a 3rd tier station are very painful, I disuaded them
from coming over Friday night. Another good decision, more fun for me....
I tried opening on 15M. Nothing happening there. Typical. Moved to
20M where it became apparrent that the beam was working. Not great,
all Carribean, but not bad. I was not experiencing the CQ in your
face syndrome. Pretty much one or two calls on the beam and I had
them in the log. Signals that were S9 on the R7 showed S9 +15db on the
beam. Ah, but the real test will come in the morning.
Moved through 160M, 80M and 40M and pulled the plug at 0600Z with 74Q's.
This is a triple of what I have been able to do in years past. Note, I
don't own an amp.
On at 1100Z on 20M. Not bad. Oh yeah, did I mention I now have a computer
interface for the FT1K? That helped a ton also. Europe was in pretty good.
S&P'ed for an hour while watching the spots on the cluster. 10M looked in
good shape, so I jumped to it at 1200Z. I was immediately rewarded
with ZS and lots of Europe. Europe on 10M, ahh, just like the old days...
It seemed the band would open and close to Europe over the span of 15
minutes or so, but Africa and SA were in there solid to keep the action
going. It sputtered shut to Europe around 1400Z so I moved to 15M where
the action was hot. K1WD showed up for his first stint and we bounced
between 15M and 10M. Back to 20M at 1800Z where I tried my first run
of the contest. It was worth a 55 hr. K1VR stopped by the frequency and
offered to hold it while I got some lunch. Nice try, Fred ;-) It seemed
all of Europe suddenly got called to dinner at 1900Z and CQing was
unproductive. Fred's suggestion to go get lunch suddenly sounded like a
good idea, so I offered him the frequency via packet, but he declined it
as he had already found himself a spot....
The lunch break slowed me down a lot so my best hour was followed by two
very bad hours. I finally got rolling again 2100Z. 10M was great. JA's,
FK8 (first time ever from my station), Zone 1, Zone 31. This was
unbelievable. As the day rolled on NF1A showed up for his first stint
between 0000 and 0130. It allowed me to eat dinner with the family, take
a shower and watch the Lost in Space movie with my son. Cool movie. Back
to it at 0230 for a few slow hrs. Pulled the plug at 0500Z with 459Q's
in the log.
At 1000Z swept 80M, 40M and finally to 20M at 1100Z. Band conditions were
weird. No Europe on 20M but lots of strange Asia and Pacific. OK, I admit
it. I fell into DXing mode. I was hearing stations I've never heard before
at my station. Worked JT1T on first call. Spent a half an hour chasing the
DU3 (no joy), but it seemed like I was the only one calling him. He was
strong just about anywhere I pointed the beam, also. Europe was spotty, but
figured out if I pointed the beam due east they would be more reliable.
I went to 15M and found it in great shape, even to Europe. Isn't that a
little unusual? Had one of those contest lowlights here when my first
LU on 15M says I'm a dupe and wouldn't log me. I gave him a lot of grief
for about 5 minutes to no avail. Just give me the gd exchange! I knew
I'd eventually work 20 or 30 of them, but he was the first. Honest.
10 was in relatively poor shape and I needed 15M q's so I spent most of the
day there. Tried another run on at 1800Z (again). It initially was
productive
but quickly dried up. Perhaps I should have tried earlier. This run
provided one of the contest highlights when a 1 lander stops by and gives
me a 58 05 (Ok, I can deal with that). I guess you had to be there, but I
couldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes.
The last two hours I needed to concentrate on 40M. It was tough going but
every Q was a new mult. Thanks for the reminders to work stateside for the
mult on 40M I didn't have it so went into panic CQ mode. Found what I
thought was an open spot (QRZ is the frequency in use...wait...QRZ is the
frequency in use...wait...CQ contest...Hey this is our frequency blah blah
blah...) I asked them to give me the exchange and I'd leave. They didn't
bite, but I left anyways. Found another spot and NN3Q stopped by and gave
me the exchange. I closed out the last 5 minutes on 20M worth 5 new mults.
The combination of a low tribander, computer interface and fairly good
conditions made this test very enjoyable. On the downside I didn't work
out any clear committments with the other ops which in the end affected
my pacing and on-time planning. It also restricted me to the 10 minute
QSY rule, although this wasn't a big problem. CT V9.37 worked flawlessly
and reports 30hrs on time. This seems about right. The tribander generated
a lot of good discussion with the XYL on tower placement, guy wires, roof
mounts, Rohn 45 vs Rohn 25 etc etc....maybe next year...
CU in the CW test from K1TTT's QTH,
Ken
WO1N
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