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[3830] CQWW SSB AD1C SOAB(A) LP

To: 3830@contesting.com, GMCC <gmc@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [3830] CQWW SSB AD1C SOAB(A) LP
From: Jim Reisert AD1C <jjreisert@alum.mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:21:26 -0600
List-post: <3830@contesting.com">mailto:3830@contesting.com>
I attached the wrong country report from CT.  Here is the one I meant to attach.


                   CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: AD1C
Operator(s): AD1C
Station: AD1C

Class: SOAB(A) LP
QTH: CO
Operating Time (hrs): 16.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
 160:
  80:
  40:   75    18       35
  20:  176    21       66
  15:  168    23       68
  10:    6     5        5
------------------------------
Total:  425    67      174  Total Score = 264,377

Club: Grand Mesa Contesters of Colorado

Comments:

Radio:    ICOM 756 Pro III
Antenna:  HyGain AV-640 vertical
Software: CTWin 10.04

It was a great weekend to be a DXer!

I took Friday afternoon off so I could put up my HyGain AV-640 vertical that
had been sitting in a box on the basement floor for over two years after moving
from MA to CO.  A few screws were missing, they're probably still rattling
around the floor of the moving truck somewhere in Kansas or Oklahoma.  The
capacity hat "spokes" were a little beat up, as were the tuning stubs
(especially the really long one).  I hammered a metal stake into the ground
which served as the support base, and tied a couple of ropes around the antenna
to keep it from blowing over, just in case.  The antenna base sat on the ground,
rather than being mounted five or more feet above ground as recommended by the
manual.  I was very lucky to route my LMR-240 coax through the same hole in the
side of the house that the DirecTV satellite dish uses.

After connecting the coax, I could hear an immediate difference compared to the
1/2 G5RV in the attic. Noise was lower (typically S3 now down to S0), and
signals seemed to "jump out".  I didn't really have time to do much A/B testing
until the contest started, but did note that the tuning (resonant frequency) was
off on most bands, both as measured with a MFJ-259B at the base, and in the
shack (more on this later).

I really didn't know what to expect contest-wise.  I thought the vertical would
help "a little".  I had much difficulty hearing some of the recent Pacific
DXpeditions with the dipole (especially 3D20CR who I barely heard), and thought
it might be a radiation angle problem more than anything else.  I reasoned that
a vertical should help in this respect.

I did the whole contest S&P.  I continually tuned the band(s) from one end to
the other.  I operated in the unlimited (assisted) category as usual, but I did
NOT use the cluster to chase spots.  Rather, I just let it fill up the band map
in CT so that when tuning around, I'd know who was where.  If I found a station
that was not in the band map, I spotted it.  Only a few times did I actually go
after a spotted station that I thought I could work easily (like VP9 on 20m
Sunday afternoon).  CTWin performed almost flawlessly.  I had one lockup Sunday
afternoon, but I closed the window and re-started (of course, losing all my
loaded spots!).  CT (at least for CQWW and ARRL DX) is a good example of "make
things as simple as possible, but no simpler."  I had intended to use WriteLog,
but found that both frequencies in split operation were not output to the ADIF
file, so went back to CT.

Friday night was typical - work what I could hear on 20 until the band closed,
then try to work stations on 40.  I was surprised to work CR6K on the first
call, but the rest of Europe on 40 would be difficult, nere impossible for me.
I still do not have the hang of it from western zone 4 (though K3LR does great
from "almost eastern zone 4"). I worked EE9Z on 40 for an all-time new one from
CO.  I was out from 0315z until 0515z picking up my wife at the airport.  A
little after midnight, with about four hours under my belt, I packed it in with
a mere 56 QSOs in the log.

I had a couple of problems on 40m.  The biggest was that that VSWR of the
vertical was > 10:1 as measured in the shack.  I did not have any time to tune
the vertical before the contest started.  I knew that the resonant frequency
was low (from doing a field measurement with the MFJ-259B), but didn't do
anything about it.  The auto-tuner in the IC-756 Pro III could sometimes get a
match, but small changes in frequency would cause it to search all over the
place again to find a match.  Even staying on the same frequency, sometimes the
rig would try to re-tune.  This made it hard to work stations with the power
folding back all the time.  I also wonder how much mismatch loss there was!
Despite the problems, signals on the vertical were several/many S-units louder
than the dipole.

The second problem was that CT made the Rx VFO "active" when setting up a split
frequency, and because of my microKEYER router settings, I was unable to
transmit on phone until I made the Tx VFO "active" by hand (router would not
let me transmit "out of band").  This made it difficult to operate split and to
spot stations I had worked, and I'm not sure if CT logged the split VFO's
properly.  I posted a query to the microHAM reflector and shortly afterward,
Joe W4TV told me how to fix the transmit problem.  So I was finally able to
operate 40 split "hands off the radio" with CT and was much happier.  Thanks,
Joe!

I overslept Friday night and didn't wake up until 7:30 Saturday morning local
time (about 15 minutes past sunrise).  My bad behavior was rewarded, however,
as I worked a loud AH0BT on 40 with one call at 1344z (half hour after
sunrise).  I did not work a JA on 40m until 1418z (one hour after sunrise), but
I had been fooling around on 15 and 20.  DX1J was S9 on 40m at the same time,
but he couldn't hear very well.  I also heard VK6NC with a booming signal, but
no QSO.

CR2X was my first QSO on 15m at 1352z. I heard lots of stations from Europe
(woo hoo!) but couldn't get anyone else's attention, so I went back to 20m.
15m took a dive around 1414z where all the DX (and stateside stations) went
away, but then it came back.  I guess the MUF was right on the edge.  Because I
hadn't worked DX on 15 meters in SOOOooo long, I stayed there as long as there
were stations to work, occasionally going back to do a sweep of 20 meters.  At
1957z, I worked OG6N on 15m, followed two minutes later by OH0Z.  It was nice
to see that path open.

I made a note in the log at 1630z on 15m: "ED5T is S0/S1 on the dipole, and S9
on the vertical."  I guess it works!  But I could not work him, nor any of the
other loud EA's I called.  Until 1651z, when I worked three in a row!

I made a few trips to 10m, but only worked a few stations.  I worked PY/LU from
2006-2010z, then KP4 and PZ5 from 2039-2042z, and later HT2N at 2130z.  That was
all I worked on 10m, I did not hear a SINGLE signal on the band all day Sunday.
I never even worked USA!

At 2159z I worked 8P5A on 20 meters.  Tom said, "crushing signal".  I'm sure he
was joking!

At 2226z, I worked my first JA on 15m since moving to CO, and my first JA on 15
since February, 2005!  The dipole and vertical seemed pretty even on that path,
but the dipole had less background noise.

At 2306z, I worked a loud 9M8Z on 15m on the first call (another new Colorado
country).  One of my best contacts of the contest!

In the evening, 40m was a bust toward Europe (again).  Zone 33 wasn't a
problem, but I could not even work anything in Zone 14 besides France, Portugal
and Spain.  I could not even work Germany!  One of the more humorous incidents
of the night came when I called a blindingly-loud N7DD on 40m.  I told him I
needed the mult, he wondered why I hadn't worked Zone 3 yet and I replied, "No,
the USA mult!" (I had several VE7's in the log already).  He said he was going
to write that one down.  I don't like to bother the USA stations the first day,
then I'll wait until I hear a string of unanswered CQs before answering one.
The big surprise of the night was that ZS9X heard (and worked) me at 0140z!
Neither one of us could believe it.  A 9400-mile path on 40 SSB using 100W and
a poorly-tuned vertical.  I turned in about 11:30 p.m. local time after working
some stations in South America (like CE and LU), but PY could not hear me (no
double mult this year).

I woke up on time Sunday morning, 6 a.m. local time, over an hour before
sunrise.  I worked a bunch of JAs on 40m, but the other stations like Zone 27
and Zone 28 were barely audible this time, if they were even there.  Even
VK6NC's signal was just a whisper compared to the morning before.  I guess the
Dragon was causing problems over there all day Sunday.  I could hear Europe on
20m, but they could not hear me.  I took a small detour and worked P29VCX on 30
meter CW for a new IOTA (and another new country from CO).

My first DX of the morning was a very strong TM6M at 1401z on 15m.  I spend the
next couple of hours ping-ponging back and forth between 20m and 15m, trying to
work Europe and lands south.  I easily worked FO8RZ on 15m at 1631z, it must
have been near his sunrise.  One of my biggest frustrations was calling a loud
TK9R on 15 meters for what seemed like hours on-and-off, but I could not get
through.

Contesting is about decisions and compromises, whether it's whether to run or
S/P, or family issues.  In my case, I spent 1700-2000z watching the New England
Patriots play football in London, England with my wife.  She's the football fan
in the family.  Plus, it was a way to spend time with here, rather than
relegating her to ham radio widow status all weekend.  I did operate for 15
minutes during halftime, where I snagged ST2KSS on 15m for an all-time new zone
for me from Colorado!  Due to the game, I missed my last good chance at Europe
on 20 meters.

After getting back on the air, I was calling VK4MA on 15m without too much
luck.  KA1IOR relayed my call in, he called me and I worked him.  When I
entered the QSO, I was *aghast* that it didn't come up as a double-multiplier,
or as a mult at all!  It turns out I had worked VK4CZ the afternoon before, but
had just forgotten about it (I have a pretty good memory as to what I've worked
in a contest).  Thanks anyway 'IOR!

The last few hours I had better luck on 15m, but still tried to work the Sunday
afternoon pileups on 20m for new mults.  I heard OA4SS on 15m going by numbers,
starting at the 6s.  After he finished the 0s, he opened it up to everyone
Shoot!  But I worked him a little while later.  I heard OX2A on 20m with a
great signal that just seemed to get better, but the pileup was too big.  About
5 minutes before the end of the contest, he was still there, but the pileup was
gone!  Easy QSO.  VP5T and OA4SS on 20m were also tough, it was mostly luck
that I got through.  I could not crack V48M on 20m, but I did find and work
CX4BW nearby for a new mult - they all count the same (except for the double
ones).

I turned off the radio feeling exhilarated.  Then I went outside in the snow
flurries to take down the vertical.

What a weekend!  Propagation was good again, and I had a decent antenna for a
change.  Despite yelling "Alpha Delta One Charlie" all weekend, my voice was
intact (my wife's ears, that's a different story).  I did not quite make DXCC
in a weekend (only 82 countries).  But I had a blast, that's what's really
important!

Now that I've been spoiled, I need to figure out a way to make the vertical
installation more permanent, while at the same time, trying to hide it from
sight when it's not in use (to keep the home owners association from cracking
down on me).  That's a project for another weekend!

Thanks to all for the contacts!

73 - Jim AD1C


                           QSO Counts By Band-Country

   AD1C   CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST    Single Unlimited     25 Oct 2009  2359z

 PRFX    160         80          40          20          15          10

 4U1U                             1           1           1
   6W                                         1           1
   6Y                             1
   8P                             1           2           1
   9A                                         2           1
  9M6                                                     1
   9Y                                         1           1
   CE                                         3           4
   CM                             1           1           1
   CN                             2           1           2
   CT                             1           2           1
  CT3                             2           3           3
   CU                             1           2           1
   CX                                         1           2
   D4                                         1
   DL                                         2           1
   E7                                         1
   EA                                         4          11
  EA8                             1           2           2
  EA9                             1           1
   EI                                         1
    F                                         2           8
   FM                                         1           1
   FO                                                     1
   FS                             1           1           1
   FY                             1           1           1
   GI                                         1
   GW                                         1
   HA                                                     1
   HC                                         1           1
  HC8                             1           1           1
   HI                             1           2           1
   HK                                         1           1
   HP                             1                       1
   HR                             1                       1
    I                                         1           4
   J3                                                     1
   JA                             8          23          16
   JW                                         1
    K                             2           3           2
  KH0                             1                       1
  KH2                                                     1
  KH6                             4           6           7
   KL                             3           4           1
  KP2                             1           2           4
  KP4                             1           4           4           1
   LU                             1           8           9           1
   OA                                         1           1
   OE                                         1
   OH                                         3           2
  OH0                                         2           1
   OK                                         1
   OM                                         1           1
   ON                                         1           1
   OX                                         1
   P4                             1           1           3
  PJ2                             2           2           2
  PJ7                                                     1
   PY                                         8          13           2
   PZ                                                     1           1
   S5                                         2           2
   SM                                         1
   SP                                         1
   ST                                                     1
   TG                             1                       2
   TI                             1           3           1
   UA                                         3
   V2                                         1           2
   V3                                         1           1
   V4                                                     1
   VE                            23          36           8
   VK                                                     3
 VP2M                                         1           1
 VP2V                                         1           1
  VP5                             2           1           1
  VP9                             1           1           2
   XE                             2           2           3
   YN                                         1           1           1
   YV                                         1           6
   ZF                             1           1           1
   ZL                             1                       2
   ZP                                         1           1
   ZS                             1

-- 
Jim Reisert AD1C, <jjreisert@alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.us
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