CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 25
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 17 2 2
80: 377 17 27
40: 331 19 35
20: 688 21 40
15: 167 12 25
10:
------------------------------
Total: 1580 71 129 Total Score = 670,600
Club: British Columbia DX Club
Comments:
Gear:
* 2 x 80M elevated verticals (JA or US/VE)
* 1 x 270' bi-directoinal Beverage for 160M and 80M
* 2 x 40M half-squares (JA or US/VE)
* 2 x 40M elevated verticals (endfire EU or W6)
* 3 ele. CL-33 tribander at ~45'
* FT-2000 + SB221 + N1MM Logger (outstanding)
=================================================
Year-over-year comparison:
QSOs Ctry Zones Score
2002 675 147 63 313,740
2003 865 115 73 351,936
2004 1,421 146 79 697,500
2005 1,014 126 61 411,587
2006 1,476 163 78 775,297 35 hrs
2007 1,470 129 69 615,582 < HP 32 hrs
2008: 1,580 129 71 670,600 < HP 25 hrs
Band 2008 2007 2006
Q CTY ZONE Q CTY ZONE Q CTY ZONE
160M 17 2 2 - - - 141 6 6
80M 377 27 17 352 24 13 240 24 15
40M 331 35 19 312 33 18 230 33 17
20M 688 40 21 761 52 25 620 63 24
15M 167 25 12 72 20 13 244 36 15
10M - - - - - - 1 1 1
1580 129 71 1470 129 69 1476 163 78
=================================================
Total Qs with 14 dupes: 1,594.
SFI=68 A=2 K=0 -- pretty quiet conditions with no sunspots. Flux still deep in
the trough. Rain and sleet all weekend knocked down the B.C. Hydro powerline
noise -- gotta love it when the weather office checks the contest calendar!
(Wish the sunspot organizing committee did, too).
A tale of extremes this year. While 80M played like a symphony, 40M tooted like
a kazoo.
I figured that if Europe opened well on 20M both mornings, and I could get 36
hours in the chair, I'd be able to hit 2,000 Qs and 1M points. And if
conditions were poor, all I could hope for was to beat last year's score.
Well, I managed 25 hours in the chair, EU didn't open well on Saturday and only
so-so on Sunday, but I still beat last year's score. Up by 100 Qs and 55,000
points, in 7 fewer hours. Alas, 670K won't get me far in a very competitive
SOHP unassisted field.
My 80M and 40M antenna setup is better than it's ever been, but they're not
4-square arrays or high yagis and eventually things get pretty slow. With that
in mind, conditions just didn't warrant going all out so I allowed myself naps
whenever rate went low for too long or I felt like it, whichever came first.
Last year, conditions were so bad that I had just 129 contacts before pulling
the plug for the first night at 0515z. This year, I stayed up till 1000z (2
a.m.) and had 389 Qs -- a total that took me until 1900z to reach in 2007 -- so
rate was better for me out of the gate this year.
I worked more 100+ clock-hours than ever before, including Sunday's 150 at
1800z (20M) and 157 at 2300z (40M) when the fun-factor 1-minute rate hit 360.
Best 60-minutes was 167 on 20M in the 1800z hour Saturday morning, part of my
longest run of 205 Qs.
160M -- Only 100W here and not much for an antenna, just a 70' vertical and 65'
horizontal inverted-L (sloping down to 50'). Goal was to work the easy stuff and
get out. Mission accomplished. US, VE, zones 3 and 4. Couldn't work a 5 but
didn't expect to. Have a secret plan to improve that in time for ARRL 160 CW
next weekend.
80M -- Hola! The two elevated verticals I put up this spring work like
gangbusters. Pure fun -- I never, ever thought I'd look forward to evenings on
80M, but I sure do now. I have NO European countries confirmed for DXCC on 80M.
That's because I don't recall ever working EU on 80M. Friday night, I worked a G
who was loud enough to be on this side of the Arctic circle, despite the fact
that none of my antennas have patterns pointing that way. Also found 3X, D4,
EA8 and other juicy DX. Very cool. These are now my good old days on 80M :) I
had nearly as many 80M Qs on the first night as I had all weekend last year
(switchable vertical array vs. full-size delta loop). Whatever did I do without
a Beverage on 80M? Now need one for 40M.
40M -- Couldn't buy a QSO on 40M all weekend until Sunday afternoon, and then
it opened up wide. I figured I was sunk trying to even tie last year's score
because 40M was flat-out dead for me. I made plenty of hay on 40 last year with
315 Qs, but this time by bedtime (1000z) Saturday morning I had only 51 contacts
and just 3 countries and 5 zones.
I'm having wisdom teeth yanked out on Monday (really), and I was actually
looking forward to that every time I turned the bandswitch to 40M. Dental
surgery is preferable to a band loaded with stations that just can't hear you,
even running max power. It was likely yet another example of 40M one-way
propagation, but I blamed the half-square antennas. Then I blamed the twin
verticals. Then, realizing how unlikely it was that BOTH antenna systems had
blown their TX gaskets, I instead blamed some dark leaden cloud hovering over
this QTH like a 7 mhz attenuator.
But, as the narrator often says, that was all about to change [insert sound of
birds chirping and harp music].
On Sunday afternoon when I had worked all the JAs I could hear in the final 20M
opening of the contest, I moved to 40M at 2230z (2:30 p.m. Pacific) to discover
Europe very workable for the first time in ages, and NA could actually hear me.
Up to that point, I had only 3 countries. Worked DL, OM, 9A, EA, ER, S5 and HA
as the first 7 Qs. Then it was F, YO, EA, and OX. Hmmm. Those twin verticals
are finally working. The antennas were not the problem with EU mults on
Saturday; the problem was me going to 40M way, way too late in the afternoon.
Europe is open at 2 p.m., not 4 or 5 p.m. here. Guess having a day job keeps me
out of sync with conditions.
Both nights I called CQ on 40M to US/VE and got virtually nothing. (Great. 40M
isn't an evening band like it once was). I figured the 2-element half-square
array (driver-reflector) pointed just south of East was broken -- great SWR,
great incoming signals, just nobody hearing me even with a KW into the wire.
When Sunday afternoon's EU opening faded, at 2309z I flipped over to the 40M
half-square array and dumped my call into an empty slot at 7.032. Bam! Instant
pileup at a sustained rate of 179/hour that didn't stop until the closing bell.
In less than an hour I managed 157 Qs. That would have been a great band total
for an entire contest for me a few years ago :)
So, although it took me a day of bad timing to learn when to be on 40M, I ended
up with 16 more Qs on 40M than last year, with 2 more countries and 1 extra
zone, thanks to the twinned half-squares vs. single-wides last year. Next time,
I'm going to 40M by 2200z, even if 20M is still cranking.
20M -- Mostly closed down by 0030Z each day. EU opening was very poor Saturday
morning, but stronger on Sunday though very brief, from about 1700 to 1730z.
After that, it was rough going over the pole. Had some great 2-point runs
beaming stateside. Without EU to work, I had to do as much running as I could
to make good use of time. That killed my multiplier count, of course, but there
wasn't much alternative. Had a blast working so many very familiar calls. New
solenoid-wound choke (7.5 turns on 4.5" form) seems to have resolved the
problems with the Mosley Classic-33. Worked like a charm all weekend on 20M and
15M with no power-handling issues.
15M -- Opened a bit on Saturday though not much rate. Excellent on Sunday from
1900z to 2010z, when I worked 127 Qs. Truly spectacular fun, guys. Thanks! 167
total beat the tar out of last year's 70 Qs on 15M. Even worked D4C for the
first non-NA/SA contact in a couple of years.
So, that's a wrap on another CQWW CW contest. A few days of scheduled recovery
time this week should allow some 160M antenna work in advance of ARRL 160 CW --
watch for the VE7s and remember to turn your 160M yagi to the Pacific Northwest!
Thanks for all the contacts and see you in the next one!
-- Bud VA7ST
http://www3.telus.net/va7st
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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