CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
Call: VP2V/K9NW
Operator(s): K9NW
Station: VP2V/K9NW
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Tortola
Operating Time (hrs): 15
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80:
40:
20: 459 15 34
15: 406 11 26
10: 12 3 7
------------------------------
Total: 877 29 67 Total Score = 173,472
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
IC-746
Wire vertical (actually diagonal) on the beach
I was fortunate to have a work trip to Tortola coincide with the CQWW Phone
Contest. Packed the '746, accessories, a 100' piece of coax and some wire and
I'd figure out what to do when I got there. I missed the first 15 hours but
thanks to K5ZD's live streaming audio I could still listen in a bit while
mulling over antenna ideas.
As it turned out I only had one convenient palm tree within reach of my run of
coax. I had settled on a plan to hang a 20M dipole along the beach but that
was going to require a lot of extra rope to get to the next support. Plan B
was to run the dipole from the tree to the building. But then I thought why
not try and configure the antenna as a vertical, hanging one end into the tree
and using the other end as a radial. The worst that could happen is it
wouldn't work and I'd revert back to plan B. Well.....it mostly worked!! So I
went with it. It was far from perfect but the tuner in the radio didn't revolt
and ultimately it worked well enough on 15,17,20 and 30m for just over 3000
QSOs for the week, 20% of which were JA!
If interested you can check out some pics at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fininine/VP2VK9NW2008#
It was tough to break through the QRM level in Europe and thus the vast
majority of my contest QSOs were with North America. Thanks to those EU
stations that would get a piece of my call and stick with me to complete the
QSO. I could get some decent runs going if I was able to squeeze into a clear
spot....a small challenge on 20M! And when it was just impossible to be heard,
I'd slip down to the CW end of the band and work a bunch there....like 170 JAs
on 17m Saturday evening!
In the end, due to mostly 2-pointers and a low mult total, this is likely the
lowest CQWW score I've submitted since I started sending in scores. But it was
fun to come up with a way to get QRV with minimal resources. I have a whole new
appreciation for those ops on holiday somewhere that throw a wire out the window
or whatever just to hand out a few QSOs. When in doubt, try
something....anything!
Thanks for the QSOs!
73, Mike VP2V/K9NW
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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