CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: P40W
Operator(s): W2GD
Station: P40W
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 437 16 69
80: 1032 24 94
40: 1273 29 99
20: 1668 28 108
15: 1709 25 106
10: 104 14 29
------------------------------
Total: 1225 126 505 Total Score = 11,793,118
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Rig:
Icom 756ProIII, Alpha 87A (1KW), WinTest V3.17
Antennas:
160: Vertical Dipole, Inverted V @ 70'
80: 3 ele wire yagi pointed EU @ 60', Inverted V @ 70'
40: 4 ele wire yagi pointed EU @ 60', 2 ele wire yagi to US/JA @ 70', F12 C4
20: F12 4 ele @ 72', F12 C4@60'
15: Cushcraft 4 ele @ 82', F12 C4
10: F12 5 ele @ 77', F12 C4
800' beverage EU, 450' beverage US/JA, 500' bev N/S, 500' bev E/W
I actually enjoy the bottom of the sunspot cycle .... with its enhanced
propagation on 160/80/40. On the other hand, I miss the endless runs of EU and
NA on 10M. Hopefully next year BOTH will be true as the spots begin their
return.
Having done most of the antenna setup work for CQWW PH, this week the planned
focus would be various preventative maintenance projects, particularly
replacing the two lower sets of guywires on the two Rohn 25G towers with
Phillystran. All of the 8+ year old 1/4 inch EHS stell guys were badly rusted
and some were frayed, down to as few as 2 intact steel strands....failure was
just around the corner. The environment on Aruba is brutal and unforgiving. I
expect the Phillystran material will prove to be a much more permanent solution
over time.
During the 3 days prior to the contest I experienced two amplifier failures.
Searching for the problems and implementing fixes consumed considertable time.
The ham radio community is terrific on Aruba and my friends responded with
several offers of help. I want to thank P43JB, P43E, P43P and P49Y for their
generous assistance, without which this CQWW CW would not have happened.
Another example: Two hours into the contest the previously very reliable
Astron 12V 20A supply that powers my ProIII suffered some sort of failure that
would only produce 10 watts output from the XCVR and no more than 300W out of
the amp. Again, thanks to the unselfish generosity of Andy, P49Y, I was able to
obtain a replacement 12V PS at 4:30 a.m. local time Saturday morning.
Fortunately for me there there were no further equipment problems the rest of
the weekend.
As planned, operated 40M the first two hours, with clock hours of 233 and 211
back to back....a hot start. Then it was on to 160 at 0205, for a reasonably
good 150 hour and 31 mults, a nice mix of EU/SA/NA. Then two hours on 80M with
nice rates in the 185 range, and 61 mults....the 3 ele wire beam is doing its
job, despite being at reduced output(300W) due to failure of the XCVR power
supply.
Back to 160 at 0500 for another 130 qsos and 31 more mults. 160M is hot
tonight!
The 06 and 07 hours were 80M EU sunrise time.....rates in the 150s and another
31 mults. My pre-test plan to hit the low bands hard the first night seems to
be working with better than expected results.
O800 was a transition hour, with stops on 160, 80 and 40, to catch the tail end
of EU sunrise and the start of some PAC/AS action on 40. The rate drops below
100 for the first time, the downside to more S&P, but another 15 mults are
added. Took 30 minutes off the following hour (09) to go pick up a replacemnt
12V supply offered by P49Y and then get it installed. Still managed another 14
mults and only 31 qsos that hour, but feel more confident now that I'm back to a
full KW, and all set for the 20/15 runs to come later in the morning.
Sunrise is at roughly 1045Z. Transition from 160 to 80 to 40, mix of S&P and
short runs, picking up the NA morning crowd, PAC, Carribean, KL7 and then JAs
on 40.
Finally go to 20M at about 1200. Band is open to EU with strong signals.
Transition to 15 at 1315 and spend several hours running in the 185 range.
At 1700 go to 10M for the 1st time....and spend 25 semi-productive minutes
knocking off many SA mults, 3X5A, 6V7D, and 2 Texans. But the band isn't very
good, and won't be the remainder of the day. Its back to 15M to run the loud
and plentiful NA gang.
Step down to 20M about 2030 to finish out the first day. Mostly NA but some
JAs make it through.
Start Day 2 again on 40M. This time I'm working to make up a deficit of EU
mults, having concentrated on 160 and 80 the first night. The count of EU
mults steadily rises over the next two hours and the rate is a respectable
160/hour.
The 0200 hour is devoted to 80m, picking up the EU and AF mults missed the
first night. Rate is now dropping, as expected but still over 120/hour.
0300-0800 go into largely S&P mode, reverting to the dreaded DXer syndrome, the
result of fatigue and loss of focus. The rate is now substancially below
100/hour, but some nice mults are logged, particularly from AS/AF as their
sunrise approaches. Finally just after 0800 decide to take a 2.5 hour nap, and
set my new 'super loud' Timex alarm clock, and my three other clocks, to ring
off at 1015.
Arise refreshed and ready to do more battle on 20/15/10. But first run some on
80 and 40, picking up several NA/SA mults missed earlier, E51A for a double on
80M, and a nice run of JA on 40.
Skip 20M and head right to 15 at 1145. This is the last opportunity to fill in
the missing EU mults and the band is open. Signals are not all that loud, but
for the next 3 hours the rate stays in the 160 range - quite acceptable for Day
2. The missing EU mults are rolling in. VU2PTT calls in at 1450 but a move to
20M is unsuccessful.
At 1600 it sounds like 10M has a chance. Hear a few weak NA stations working
the loud PY/LU crowd. Find 3X5A for a double, and start calling CQ with the
beam SE. Eventually the skip moves to NA, K1ZZ was first in the log, then a
string of others. Stuck with 10M for about 1.25 hours, logging about 80 Q and
18 hard earned mults. That was it for 10M.
Go back to 15 for a few more hours of mostly NA, running in the 150/hour range,
which isn't bad since I was also frequently taking time to S&P for mults (an
SO1R operation). This helped, and was amazed how many new mults were found 60
to 120 KC above the band edge. I'm adding about 10 mults/hour.
Swing down to 20M for the last time at roughly 1945 for a final burst of W's
and some stray EU, AF and AS. Some timely but limited S&P on 15 yielded 5 OC
mults.
Spent the last hour on 40M. In retrospect, probably should have been there
earlier since another 10 mults were added, and 3 more moving stations to 80 and
160. HZ1IK at 2351 was the last mult logged.
Looking at the continental breakdown, it didn't surprise me that over 60% of
the action was NA, and just 30% EU. My plan had been to run NA hard and
often....taking advantage of the P40 pipeline to the US and Canada.
! EU ! NA ! SA ! AF ! AS ! OC !
-------------------------------------------------------
! 31.1% ! 62.6% ! 2.2% ! 1.0% ! 2.5% ! 0.6% !
-------------------------------------------------------.
Here is the band by band/hour by hour rate table:
! Hr ! 160 ! 80 ! 40 ! 20 ! 15 ! 10 !
Total !
! ! CW ! CW ! CW ! CW ! CW ! CW !
!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
! 00 ! ! ! 233 ! ! ! !
233 !
! 01 ! ! ! 211 ! ! ! !
211 !
! 02 ! 150 ! ! ! ! ! !
150 !
! 03 ! 9 ! 183 ! ! ! ! !
192 !
! 04 ! ! 192 ! ! ! ! !
192 !
! 05 ! 114 ! 19 ! ! ! ! !
133 !
! 06 ! 24 ! 104 ! ! ! ! !
128 !
! 07 ! 2 ! 152 ! ! ! ! !
154 !
! 08 ! 38 ! 3 ! 51 ! ! ! !
92 !
! 09 ! 2 ! 1 ! 27 ! 1 ! ! !
31 !
! 10 ! 17 ! 67 ! ! ! ! !
84 !
! 11 ! ! 16 ! 99 ! ! ! !
115 !
! 12 ! ! ! 20 ! 155 ! ! !
175 !
! 13 ! ! ! ! 48 ! 155 ! !
203 !
! 14 ! ! ! ! ! 203 ! !
203 !
! 15 ! ! ! ! 96 ! 83 ! !
179 !
! 16 ! ! ! ! 210 ! ! !
210 !
! 17 ! ! ! ! 11 ! 114 ! 14 !
139 !
! 18 ! ! ! ! 2 ! 168 ! 3 !
173 !
! 19 ! ! ! ! 1 ! 195 ! 1 !
197 !
! 20 ! ! ! ! 176 ! 43 ! !
219 !
! 21 ! ! ! ! 210 ! ! !
210 !
! 22 ! ! ! ! 69 ! 3 ! !
72 !
! 23 ! ! ! 51 ! 100 ! ! !
151 !
! 00 ! ! ! 169 ! ! ! !
169 !
! 01 ! ! ! 152 ! ! ! !
152 !
! 02 ! ! 124 ! 16 ! ! ! !
140 !
! 03 ! 24 ! 23 ! ! ! ! !
47 !
! 04 ! 24 ! 67 ! 3 ! ! ! !
94 !
! 05 ! 23 ! ! 6 ! ! ! !
29 !
! 06 ! 8 ! 1 ! 58 ! 1 ! 1 ! !
69 !
! 07 ! 1 ! 8 ! 67 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 !
80 !
! 08 ! ! 24 ! ! ! ! !
24 !
! 09 ! ! ! ! ! ! !
!
! 10 ! ! 46 ! ! ! ! !
46 !
! 11 ! ! 1 ! 38 ! ! 30 ! !
69 !
! 12 ! ! ! ! ! 171 ! !
171 !
! 13 ! ! ! ! 1 ! 157 ! !
158 !
! 14 ! ! ! ! 15 ! 116 ! !
131 !
! 15 ! ! ! ! 114 ! 1 ! 1 !
116 !
! 16 ! ! ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 60 !
63 !
! 17 ! ! ! ! 6 ! 8 ! 24 !
38 !
! 18 ! ! ! 1 ! 5 ! 144 ! 1 !
151 !
! 19 ! ! ! ! 47 ! 112 ! !
159 !
! 20 ! ! ! ! 149 ! ! !
149 !
! 21 ! ! ! ! 110 ! 3 ! !
113 !
! 22 ! ! ! ! 138 ! ! !
138 !
! 23 ! 1 ! 1 ! 70 ! 1 ! ! !
73 !
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
! ! 437 ! 1032 ! 1273 ! 1668 ! 1709 ! 106 !
6225 !
!
And finally the mults/hour table:
! Hr ! 160 ! 80 ! 40 ! 20 ! 15 ! 10 !
Total !
! ! CW ! CW ! CW ! CW ! CW ! CW !
!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
! 00 ! ! ! 26 ! ! ! !
26 !
! 01 ! ! ! 18 ! ! ! !
18 !
! 02 ! 31 ! ! ! ! ! !
31 !
! 03 ! ! 40 ! ! ! ! !
40 !
! 04 ! ! 16 ! ! ! ! !
16 !
! 05 ! 28 ! 1 ! ! ! ! !
29 !
! 06 ! 4 ! 12 ! ! ! ! !
16 !
! 07 ! 1 ! 14 ! ! ! ! !
15 !
! 08 ! 5 ! 2 ! 8 ! ! ! !
15 !
! 09 ! 3 ! 2 ! 7 ! 2 ! ! !
14 !
! 10 ! 3 ! 6 ! ! ! ! !
9 !
! 11 ! ! 6 ! 10 ! ! ! !
16 !
! 12 ! ! ! 2 ! 37 ! ! !
39 !
! 13 ! ! ! ! 5 ! 46 ! !
51 !
! 14 ! ! ! ! ! 11 ! !
11 !
! 15 ! ! ! ! 8 ! 3 ! !
11 !
! 16 ! ! ! ! 18 ! ! !
18 !
! 17 ! ! ! ! 4 ! 6 ! 17 !
27 !
! 18 ! ! ! ! 4 ! 11 ! 4 !
19 !
! 19 ! ! ! ! 1 ! 4 ! 1 !
6 !
! 20 ! ! ! ! 7 ! 2 ! !
9 !
! 21 ! ! ! ! 4 ! ! !
4 !
! 22 ! ! ! ! 5 ! 4 ! !
9 !
! 23 ! ! ! 9 ! 4 ! ! !
13 !
! 00 ! ! ! 8 ! ! ! !
8 !
! 01 ! ! ! 6 ! ! ! !
6 !
! 02 ! ! 6 ! 1 ! ! ! !
7 !
! 03 ! 2 ! 6 ! ! ! ! !
8 !
! 04 ! 1 ! ! 3 ! ! ! !
4 !
! 05 ! 3 ! ! 7 ! ! ! !
10 !
! 06 ! 2 ! 1 ! 3 ! 1 ! 1 ! !
8 !
! 07 ! 1 ! ! 3 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 !
8 !
! 08 ! ! 2 ! ! ! ! !
2 !
! 09 ! ! ! ! ! ! !
!
! 10 ! ! 2 ! ! ! ! !
2 !
! 11 ! ! 1 ! 7 ! ! 4 ! !
12 !
! 12 ! ! ! ! ! 7 ! !
7 !
! 13 ! ! ! ! 1 ! 3 ! !
4 !
! 14 ! ! ! ! ! 6 ! !
6 !
! 15 ! ! ! ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 !
3 !
! 16 ! ! ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 12 !
15 !
! 17 ! ! ! ! 4 ! 10 ! 5 !
19 !
! 18 ! ! ! ! 6 ! 5 ! 1 !
12 !
! 19 ! ! ! ! 5 ! 2 ! !
7 !
! 20 ! ! ! ! 8 ! ! !
8 !
! 21 ! ! ! ! 4 ! 3 ! !
7 !
! 22 ! ! ! ! 3 ! ! !
3 !
! 23 ! 1 ! 1 ! 9 ! 2 ! ! !
13 !
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
! ! 85 ! 118 ! 128 ! 136 ! 131 ! 43 !
641 !
After the contest the traditional dinner gathering was attended by P40W, P49Y,
his daughter Holly, P43L and XYL, and K2UYH, who had been on Aruba for the EME
contest this same weekend. Great food and conversation to finish out a great
weekend.
Looking forward to the next 'big show' in November, 2008.
73,
John W2GD/P40W
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|