CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: N4TZ/9
Operator(s): N4TZ/9
Station: N4TZ/9
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: INDIANA
Operating Time (hrs): 40
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 30 8 15
80: 84 14 51
40: 185 24 83
20: 285 30 99
15: 381 30 103
10: 311 27 97
------------------------------
Total: 1276 133 448 Total Score = 2,048,606
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
The third time is the (unlucky) charm? Two years ago,
my computer logging software crashed and would not restart
on two different computers, so I lost Sunday afternoon.
Last year, strong thunderstorms and the tornado warning
siren wiped out Saturday night. This year, my right hand
gave out late Saturday night. The pain in the thumb
became so bad that I took 4 hours off to sleep. When I
arose, the hand was clenched into a ball and I couldn't
pry any of the fingers apart! So much for using two
radios! I continued as best I could typing and tuning
with the one (off) hand. On Monday, I had to tell the
story 4 separate times to the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine
people who couldn't believe how physically demanding
ham radio contesting really is! The diagnosis is
arthritis located in my right thumb which caused the
fingers on the hand to become curled up. One week later
I can type with some difficulty.
Low power operation is more physically demanding than
high power. While the high power guy may have worked
4000 stations, I not only typed in at least the same
number of calls while Searching and Pouncing, but also
had to continually tune two radios. Even with remote
tuning knobs on each radio and a keyboard set at an
ergonomic height below the equipment table, the right
thumb is especially active. I used the thumb to tune
the edge of the knob, and the thumb is needed to hit
the space bar, which is a multi-purpose key in TRLog.
The contest started slowly compared with 2001, when
10 and 15 were still open to Asia at the beginning
of the contest. This year only the Caribbean stations
were heard on 15, nothing on 10. 20 and 40 were very
tough, so I retreated to 160! Even though the 2001
contest was marked by very bad conditions after local
midnight on Friday, I didn't fare much better this
year on Saturday. And Sunday was much worse than
last year. I averaged only 16 QSOs per hour the
last six hours this year, while last year I averaged
abour 40. Only the increased number of multipliers
everyone noted kept my score around last year's level.
Ten meters only opened for about 30 minutes on Sunday
morning. I found it virtually impossible to attract
any attention on any band at any time with my CQs.
Unlike N1UR, I did not get those 80-90 hours Sunday
on 10 meters. A four high stack of 5el yagis on the
fringes of the Black Hole is no competition for a
3el at 30feet in New England (or should I say,
Far West Europe!).
If I can't win the contest, or become Miss Congeniality,
I guess I'll settle for Mr. Consistent. This should make
9 DX contests in a row that I have made the top ten in
the category with the most entrants - SOAB LP:
2001 CQ WPX CW, 2001 CQ WW SSB, 2001 CQ WW CW, 2002
ARRL DX CW, 2002 ARRL DX Phone, 2002 CQ WPX SSB,
2002 CQ WPX CW, and hopefully 2002 CQ WW SSB &
2002 CQ WW CW.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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