CQ WORLD WIDE PREFIX CONTEST -- 2001
Call: KQ2M
Category: Single Operator - Unassisted
Power: High Power
Band: All Band
Mode: CW
Country: United States - Connecticut
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/Q PREFIXES
160 1 1 1.0 1
80 8 44 5.5 1
40 625 2533 4.1 167
20 1018 2771 2.7 290
15 1229 3258 2.7 348
10 233 620 2.7 51
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Totals 3114 9227 3.0 858 = 7,916,766
All reports sent were 59(9), unless otherwise noted.
Equipment Description:
Club Affiliation: FRANKFORD RADIO CLUB
Conditions were fabulous and I got off to my best start ever with 900 q's @
0730z! I thought I had a shot at a new US record, but then the WX problems
started at 10z. A nasty "grouping" of T-storms developed 10 miles South
of me, expanded into my area and then just sat there for the next 10 hours.
15 & 20 became almost unusuable at times and 40/80 were just a disaster.
So much for a shot at the record.
Frequent T-storms made life difficult for the rest of the contest with power
"blips", rain "buzz" and bad qrn. I have a newfound respect and sympathy for
what the "Southern boys" must go through in this contest each year. I'm glad
that K1TO and others got to experience a storm-free contest for a change, but
I hope that things return to normal for next year - HI!
Lots of fun to operate as always! It was strange that with such generally
good cndx, there were so few JA's. You know there is reduced JA
activity when the West coast guys complain about it in their comments.
I have noticed a dramatic dropoff in JA activity as well - made
even more apparent by JA runs that I expected, that never occurred.
Here are some details from my logs over the past three years. There are a
few interesting trends.
YEAR Q's PFX's %ASIA JA Q's JA PFX's %NA W Q's W PFX's
1999 3010 822 14.4 268 74 18.6 495 179
2000 2867 812 10.6 191 62 20.6 516 195
2001 3114 857 9.1 168 56 22.3 596 214
With the exception of 2000, which had somewhat disappointing cndx, 1999
and 2001 were years with great cndx. The two trends that are apparent are
that JA activity, as measured by total Q's and prefixes, is decreasing, and
that US activity, as measured by total Q's and prefixes is increasing.
Since JA and US q's make up the largest % of Asian and NA q's respectively,
there is no question that JA q's are dropping and US q's are increasing.
WX may have been a factor increasing activity in the US, since you can't do
much outside in a T-storm, but I suspect that given the level of well-known
US "big-guns" getting on seriously for the first time this year, I think
this contest is being "discovered" in the US. The increase in the US
prefixes is pretty telling as well. This is great!
With excellent cndx though, the JA q's have declined steadily as well as the
number of JA prefixes that I worked. I would be most interested to hearing
from any JA ops. if they have noticed this too. Judging by the big JA
pileups on stations like 6Y1A, I suspect that more of the JA hams are DXing
rather than contesting since many of the loud JA's in pileups never called
me on the same band.
Perhaps the fact that TWO other KQ2 stations were active this year may
have had something to do with it. I can't remember the last time I worked
a KQ2 prefix, and this year I worked TWO KQ2 stations - WOW!
All-in-all it was fun as usual. I hope that next year we can get the great
cndx one more time AND good wx and low qrn - an awful lot to hope for
in May.
Tnx for the q's & 73!
Bob KQ2M
This is to certify that in this contest I have operated
my transmitter within the limitations of my license and have
observed fully the rules and regulations of the contest.
Signature _________________________________
MAILING ADDRESS:
ROBERT L. SHOHET KQ2M
51 SCUDDER ROAD
NEWTOWN, CT 06470
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