The CQWW contest is always a great adventure and this year's SSB weekend
proved to be no exception.
A not-so-short story about the contest follows these breakdowns and
statistics:
CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1998
Call: P40W (W2GD, opr.) Country: Aruba
Mode: SSB Category: SOABHP
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 87 247 2.84 9 22
80 430 1257 2.92 17 66
40 675 1970 2.92 25 86
20 1615 4754 2.94 35 119
15 1958 5771 2.95 34 122
10 2677 7861 2.94 33 126
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 7442 21860 2.94 153 541
Score: 15,170,840 points
Time: 41.5 hours
Equipment Description: TS930S, Alpha 87A
Antennas: 160M Inverted V @ 63 feet
80M Inverted V @ 67 feet
40M Inverted V @ 65 feet
20M 4 ele Force 12 @ 70 feet
15M 5 ele Force 12 @ 84 feet
10M 5 ele Force 12 @ 76 feet
800' beverage toward Europe, 400' beverage toward USA/JA
Club Affiliation: Frankford Radio Club
Team Contesting: Niger's Tigers #1
BREAKDOWN QSO/mults P40W CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST Single Operator
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
0 ..... ..... ..... 83/6 122/13 19/10 224/29 224/29
1 . . . 362/16 . . 362/16 586/45
2 . . . 259/9 . . 259/9 845/54
3 8/5 10/9 21/18 69/13 . . 108/45 953/99
4 . . 4/3 184/13 . . 188/16 1141/115
5 . 89/10 170/12 . . . 259/22 1400/137
6 4/1 160/21 . . . . 164/22 1564/159
7 9/2 . 78/11 . . . 87/13 1651/172
8 3/3 ..... 44/5 11/4 2/1 ..... 60/13 1711/185
9 . . 18/0 . . . 18/0 1729/185
10 . . 14/4 1/1 21/14 1/1 37/20 1766/205
11 . . . 1/1 166/31 . 167/32 1933/237
12 1/1 . . . 37/4 91/22 129/27 2062/264
13 . . . . . 161/19 161/19 2223/283
14 . . . . 62/2 88/4 150/6 2373/289
15 . . . . . 284/5 284/5 2657/294
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 376/5 376/5 3033/299
17 . . . . . 331/2 331/2 3364/301
18 . . . . 46/2 234/4 280/6 3644/307
19 . . . . 258/4 5/0 263/4 3907/311
20 . . . 2/1 228/3 2/1 232/5 4139/316
21 . . . 2/1 187/5 51/4 240/10 4379/326
22 . . . 121/11 41/1 49/1 211/13 4590/339
23 . 3/2 . 78/5 18/0 . 99/7 4689/346
0 ..... ..... ..... 108/11 ..... ..... 108/11 4797/357
1 1/1 22/11 6/2 52/4 . . 81/18 4878/375
2 5/4 26/1 . 5/3 4/4 1/1 41/13 4919/388
3 3/3 114/9 1/1 . . . 118/13 5037/401
4 . 1/1 150/17 . . . 151/18 5188/419
5 . 3/2 43/3 63/3 . . 109/8 5297/427
6 52/3 . 38/4 4/0 . . 94/7 5391/434
7 . 1/1 84/5 2/2 . . 87/8 5478/442
8 ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 5478/442
9 . . . . . . . 5478/442
10 . . . . . . . 5478/442
11 . . . . . . . 5478/442
12 . . . 70/5 9/3 45/6 124/14 5602/456
13 . . . 8/5 7/4 110/13 125/22 5727/478
14 . . . 4/4 4/4 101/9 109/17 5836/495
15 . . . 1/1 46/3 143/2 190/6 6026/501
16 ..... ..... 1/1 3/2 50/2 122/4 176/9 6202/510
17 . . 1/1 . 4/2 205/2 210/5 6412/515
18 . . . . 64/4 109/3 173/7 6585/522
19 . . . 2/2 214/6 2/2 218/10 6803/532
20 . . . 27/1 4/2 114/3 145/6 6948/538
21 . . 1/1 . 161/3 29/3 191/7 7139/545
22 . 1/1 1/1 . 107/7 3/2 112/11 7251/556
23 1/1 . . 93/1 96/1 1/1 191/4 7442/560
DAY1 25/12 262/42 349/53 1173/81 1188/80 1692/78 ..... 4689/346
DAY2 62/12 168/26 326/36 442/44 770/45 985/51 . 2753/214
TOT 87/24 430/68 675/89 1615/125 1958/125 2677/129 . 7442/560
Continent Statistics
P40W CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST Single Operator 25 Oct 1998
1659z
160 80 40 20 15 10 ALL percent
North America 82 333 498 1322 1416 2031 5682 75.0
South America 6 14 27 45 50 87 229 3.0
Europe 0 79 138 193 405 515 1330 17.6
Asia 0 1 4 59 79 39 182 2.4
Africa 2 5 6 13 18 30 74 1.0
Oceania 0 1 12 16 20 25 74 1.0
I flew from NJ to Aruba a full six days before the contest this time,
taking advantage of the $396 R/T airfare sale offered by American
Airlines when I booked the trip in August. There NEVER seems to be
enough time to get the station ready so I figured this would be a great
opportunity to perform some overdue tower and antenna maintenance. If
you haven't yet read the great post about P40B/P43P, please take the
time to do so. Jackie shares with us a great story and offers many
suggestions about what he has done to try and delay the ultimate effects
of this hostile salt air environment as he recently built his new super
station on the north shore of Aruba. Everything seems to corrode here
sooner or later and extraordinary precautions are required if you expect
to have a functioning station for any length of time (e.g. more than a
year or two). For an absentee station owner like myself the problems
are further compounded when it is only possible to visit the station a
few times each year. Every trip becomes an adventure, never knowing
exactly what you will find working (or broken) upon arrival. Hopefully
whatever is found to be in disrepair can be can be made to function
properly in the few days remaining before the contest begins.
A set routine is followed upon arrival. Step One: Test the Transceiver.
I can't count how many times I've arrived on Aruba (and elsewhere) and
found that for one reason or another the radio doesn't work.
Unfortunately this trip would be no exception. When I tried to fire up
the TS930S I brought down with me on the plane it had no audio, no
digital display, and the S-meter was pinned to the right. OK, time to
go to Plan B. I next attempted to fire up the backup TS930S that had
been left behind in Aruba after the ARRL DX SSB contest last March.
Basically the same result with this radio too, no audio, no digital
display, and the S-meter is pinned to the left. Hmmmmm. Things are
starting out so typically. I strongly suspect these transceiver
problems are somehow related to the dramatic change in temperature and
humidity levels. A critical voltage is a little off or some corrosion
develops. I opened the first radio and removed the digital processor
board. Upon inspection it appeared a corrosive film had developed
around the ground posts. Fortunate for me, after a little cleanup and
re-assembly the radio fired up normally. I placed a muffin fan over the
RF deck and left the radio continuously powered on for the next 8 days.
Step Two: Check the antenna SWR curves. Several weeks before my
arrival, Jackie, P43P had tested the antennas with an MFJ antenna
analyzer. Only the 2 element 40 meter beam had tested strangely, and as
it turned out this test at 50 watts indicated something was not quite
right. All the other antennas tested normally. More about the 40M
problem later.
Step Three: Test the Rotator. I use a Ham-III/IV (not sure of the
vintage) rotor to turn the 22 foot mast upon which the three Force 12
yagis are mounted. Everything is OK.
Step Four: Test the Amplifier. The Alpha 87A is without a doubt the
very best amplifier I have ever used. But it is an extremely sensitive
instrument, with sophisticated firmware designed to protect the device
when operating parameters outside the norm are detected. Once again
this would be a problem. I hit the on button and almost immediately a
fault condition automatically turns-off the amp. It is a hard fault,
indicating a possible short in the tank circuit. I have had this
problem before. A sensor is being fooled by the high humidity.
Solution, open the cabinet and place a fan on the tank circuit to "dry"
out whatever component is producing the erroneous indication. Two hours
later, the next attempt to power up is successful. The Alpha is left
powered up until the contest is over a week later. I never take any
chances once the transceiver and amplifier are up and running.
The basics are now in place to compete on some level. Re-stringing the
beverages takes a few hours. But I managed to get a cactus needle
embedded in the small toe of my left foot (they go through leather shoes
like butter). This injury had me hobbling around for the next 4 days.
Even on Dxpeditions they're certain priorities. Sunday, Tuesday and
Wednesday evenings were reserved for watching the baseball World Series
(I've been a New York Yankee fan for over 40++ years). The games were
not being carried on basic cable but I found them (broadcast in Spanish)
on the bar TV at Tony Roma's restaurant (thank you FOX Sports Amercias).
Several great rib dinners and many beers later the Yanks had capped one
fantastic season (sorry San Diego Padres fans).
The downside to preoccupation with the World Series in the evenings was
my failure to recognize the extent of the 40 meter beam problem. Early
Thursday morning it finally became apparent that even though I could
generate pileups using the beam, matching it with a tuner, signals were
way down when listening on the beam versus what was being heard on the
beverages. A trip up the tower at 2 a.m. early Thursday morning and
careful examination of the tower end of the coax jumper going to the
balun/feedpoint revealed the feedline was most likely contaminated and
in need of replacement. As luck would have it, after several days of
relatively calm winds, Thursday dawned with very gusty conditions, too
strong to even contemplate dropping the beam for repair. Finally after
waiting around most of the day, hoping for the winds to die, I picked up
Robert, W5AJ/P40N, who helped build and erect both a 40 meter dipole and
a delta loop, finishing the work after the sun was well over the western
horizon. Following a great steak dinner at the Outback Steakhouse,
comparative tests conclusively indicated the dipole/inverted V was out
performing the delta loop. It would just have to do for this contest.
I finally decide to go SOABHP after initially toying with the idea of
making an assault on the long-standing QRP record set held by K7SS at
PJ9FR. Maybe next year Danny.
Friday was spent making a few final human factor adjustments at the
operating position, last minute beverage purchases, and finally catching
a 2 hour nap late in the afternoon. Let the contest begin!
I'm sure everyone noticed the high level of native P43 activity during
the contest. One of these stations, P43A, is located just 300 feet
northwest of my location, quite literally across the street. Jean
Pierre runs a full gallon on 15 meters so you can imagine how difficult
it is for the two of us to co-habitate the same band. Even in the
deepest possible side null of the yagi his signal is S9+20 with the beam
at 30 degrees. Fortunately my beverages are less susceptible to this
interference and throughout the weekend I'll be listening on the
beverages at least 95% of the time when operating 15.
Start the contest on 15, the band open nicely to the US and JA. After
about 20 minutes of running, a quick QSY to ten to pick up some pacific
multipliers and then down to 20 to jack up the run rate once again. The
second hour was what you dream about, a 362 hour, mostly US with some
Europe and JA mixed in. Another hour running on 20 was followed by an
hour of multiplier hunting on 20, 40, 80 and 160. This was probably the
wrong thing to do, but I wanted to ensure snagging as many low band
multipliers as possible the first night, not knowing how conditions
would emerge on night two. Managed to round up 45 mults so this was
probably a wash score wise.
At 05Z, with significant apprehension, I give 40M a try. Much to my
surprise the Inverted V at 60 feet generates very sizable pileups to
North America and a fair number of common Europeans. But I notice the
QRN is starting to build so I went to 75M at 06Z to catch the Eur.
sunrise opening. Near 09Z the noise is approaching 20 over 9 even on
the beverages and I can see T-storms off to the west. Decide to take a
1.5 hour nap to be fresh for the morning European runs.
When I wake up a quick scan of the early morning sky spells trouble.
There are close lightening strikes off to the west and the radio is
really crackling. Normally storms move east to west like the trade
winds. Today the wind is nearly calm and the clouds are flowing in the
wrong direction, west to east. Initially hit 40 for some quick mults
but almost immediately move to 15 which sounds good to Europe. A
combination of QRN, rain static, and P43A hurts the rate, can't quite
pull out the weaker stations. The lightening gets closer and the skies
open up. It's raining buckets. Move to 10 and can't hear a thing on
the yagi through the clatter. Resort to hunt and pounce using the
beverages, working the very loudest stations from Eu and NA (some of the
US big guns seemed very surprised when I answer their CQs).
The storm gets worse, water is now entering the shack, dripping from the
rafters behind me and cascading down the coax where it comes through the
wall next to me. What a mess! The lightening is getting more frequent
and a lot closer. Then BOOM! The rotor control box lights up like a
candle and gives off a puff of smoke. Now that's TOO close, even for
me. I disconnected the feedline to the amplifier and exit the shack for
a safer location in the house. Gave P40N (operating from the P40V's
rental a mile to my south) a call and found out Robert had been without
AC power for a while. The tropical downpour continues. Lost about a
half-hour of prime Eur runtime waiting for the storm to pass to the
east.
Got back on the air but the rain static clatter forces use of the
beverages for receive. It continues to rain off and on for the next two
hours. The storm actually makes a U-turn and comes back from the east,
now heading west. Was this storm an spinoff- of hurricane Mitch? More
lightening in the air. Call P40N again on the telephone but he is still
off the air watching it rain. After about 4 hours of continuous bedlam,
the rain finally stops and I can hear signals on the yagis. I realize
my chance for a run at the record has passed.
It's now 11 a.m. local time. Turned the beam north and have my best run
of the contest, back to back 376 and 331 hours on ten meters, sitting on
28495. This is by far my personal best phone rate. The adrenalin is
pumping again. I fly through the mid-afternoon with 4 or 5 straight
hours in the 220/250 range, moving back and forth between 10 and 15
meters.
As sundown approaches I go into what I call DXer mode. Calling CQ JA on
10 generates a pile-up of weak JA's, enough to ensure the multiplier but
too weak for rate. Scout the bands for Pacific mults with some success,
but I never hear XX9X or a BY the whole weekend.
At the end of DAY 1, with over 4,600 contacts in the log there is some
hope of a reasonable score in the 15 million range.
>From 00Z till 08Z the bands seem punk and noisy. Can't seem to get a
decent run going so spend a lot of time tuning and working mults. C56T
moves me to 160 for a good QSO but can't seem to work any of the audible
Europeans on that band. Have a few nice Eur runs on 75 but once again
the noise is rising. Finish off the evening with some needed Eu and Pac
mults on 40M and then begin what was supposed to be a 2 hour nap.
Well, 4 hours later I'm up and operating. Ooops. Missing the sunrise
openings on 80/40/20 hurts but there is nothing to do by forge on.
Decide to aggressively move mults whenever possible the remainder of the
contest. Actually this strategy makes a significant difference in the
score by the time the final bell rings.
The openings Sunday don't sound nearly as good as a day earlier. Keep
trolling for Africans with the beams aimed ENE most of the time. Find
Jose at SU2MT, and move him for three doubles. Move a VU from 15 to 10
with great signals on both bands. Some paths seem better than others,
propagation to northern Europe seems to be the most difficult. The
close-in Caribbean stations are workable on the higher bands despite
huge US pileups. Moved FS5PL through 5 bands mid-afternoon with no
problem.
Noticed with an hour left, I was still missing VK on 10 and 15. Calling
a single CQ on 28505 and to my amazement it attracted a VK4 who
subsequently moved to 15 for a pair of doubles. Finished up the
contest with reasonable runs of W's and JA's on 15 and 20. Some
additional AS and PAC mults called in on 15 for icing on the cake.
Snagged TI for a double mult on 160 at the end of the contest.
My score of 15.17 million points is a personal best phone score by
millions of points. I was most pleased with the multiplier totals,
especially on 15 and 40. Felt a lost of focus more than a few times
during this contest but will have the opportunity to return next month
for CW to make amends. The contest dinner with P43A, P43E, P43T, P43W,
P40B and P40N afterwards was great fun.
Postscript on the 40M beam. On the Monday morning after the contest,
under sunny skies and relatively calm winds, the beam was dropped off
the mast to a position where it could be examined. Discovered that not
only had the coax jumper and balun been distroyed by salt intrusion, but
carbon arcs were found through the fiberglass insulators that separate
the element tips from the inner-element pieces. The beam was resonating
at about 9 Mhz. Hopefully the driven element can be repaired prior to
the CW event.
Congratulations in advance to CN8WW, HC8A, EA8AH, and ZD8Z, for their
well earned scores that will in all likelihood exceed mine.
--
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