CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: PZ5ZY
Operator(s): N6ZZ
Station: PZ5RA
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Surinam
Operating Time (hrs): 43.5
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 139 10 30
80: 714 19 73
40: 906 31 99
20: 1227 33 95
15: 2446 34 116
10: 657 23 79
------------------------------
Total: 6089 150 492 Total Score = 11,469,330
Club: Southern California Contest Club
Comments:
Dupes have been removed from the QSO totals above.
It's always interesting to see how the ol' body reacts to sleep deprivation. I
decided to operate for as long as I could and then decide what to do to deal
with the problem.
After pretty much stayed in the chair for the first 26 hours, I started to feel
so badly that the accuracy and score would certainly suffer during the second
day if I didn't get some sleep. So at 11PM local time, I set the alarm for
3AM.
I woke up at 2:30AM on my own, feeling pretty decent. Back to the fray!
Two hours later, something happened to the receiver audio in my TS-850. After
talking to the radio in terms that became less and less congenial, I replaced
it with Ramon's FT-920. I've never used a 920 before, but noticed that when I
called CQ, stations would answer, so it was probably OK.
Therefore, 43.5 hours in the chair. A great pleasure to see the clock hit
0000Z Sunday evening!
During each of the two afternoons before the contest, the QRN from developing
thunderstorms would make 15 and 10 meters useless for a couple of hours, until
it actually started raining. I figured that would probably happen during the
contest as well....but it didn't! We just got your typical tropical downpour
each afternoon with no noisy prelude. Also, there was a 2-hour power failure
in the area just one house away, but not at the PZ5RA QTH...what good fortune!
The setup...
Transceivers: TS-850/FT-920 - no SO2R
Amp: Acom 2000 @ 1000 watts (That's the legal limit in PZ, plus I'd rather run
1000 watts for an entire contest than push for more and run the risk of amp
failure during the event)
Antennas: Some kind of 7-element Mosley for 10-40 @ 50 feet, Inverted vee for
80, some kind of Alpha-Delta shortened antenna for 160. No separate receiving
antenna.
TRLog on an aging IBM Powerbook...the F1 key sticks on it. I wonder why?
Stat highlights: 3 clock hours of over 200 QSOs, the best being 231 during the
18Z hour the first day. I was amazed at how productive 15 was; I really had to
drag myself away from the band, with attention to 20 probably suffering as a
result. Openings on 10 to multiplier-rich Europe were marginal, but nearly 200
of them made their way into the log. 80 and 160 were challenging....my ears
probably lost yet another 2 db. from the static. Overall, ~2800 US QSOs &
~2500 Eu QSOs with some 700 Qs from the rest of the world.
Thanks to Ramon and his XYL for keeping me supplied with food and drink during
the 'test.
73 - Phil, N6ZZ
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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