CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: VE3JM
Operator(s): VE3JM
Station: VE3JM
Class: SOAB HP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 42
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 412 14 54
80: 1181 22 70
40: 1094 24 90
20: 1296 24 84
15: 766 22 83
10: 22 6 12
------------------------------
Total: 4771 112 393 Total Score = 6,415,520
Club: Contest Club Ontario
Comments:
The weekend before the contest we had strong winds and freezing rain. The mast
that holds the antennas started to rotate freely and I had to tighten the bolts
on the rotator. It was not a great feeling to be up there on the tower at winds
over 50 km/h, but I was concerned the coax may get damaged since the wind was
changing direction and the antennas were pretty much following the wind
direction. Don VE3RM had a spare original u-bolt that I used to replace a bolt
that was not fitting perfectly.
During the week we had more freezing rain. The verticals for 80 and 160 are OK
electrically, but mechanically they are not strong enough to sustain strong
winds and ice build up. As I was travelling to the location Friday afternoon, I
had a bad feeling about the antennas. I was worried about the verticals and a
possibility that the rotator is not holding the mast tightly anymore. I was
already thinking about plan B and going to operate from Don's.
But after arriving there, I found that everything was OK. I also borrowed a set
of W3NQN filters from Don so I could do SO2R. I had to switch the filters
manually, so Don also gave me a couple of push-on connectors to be able to
change the filters quickly. It is nice to have a ham radio friend who has a lot
of nice hardware and lets you borrow things.
Started the contest on 40, but after few minutes realized it was a waste of
time. Pretty much the same start as two years ago when 40 was unproductive at
the beginning and 80 was great. Just this time 80 was even better.
My goal was to reach 5 Megs. Since I am lousy at collecting mults and the
second tribander is not great for working mults on the second radio anyway (it
is fixed to Europe and is 20 feet high), thought I would need about 4,000 Qs.
So the strategy was to focus on running and the part with improving skills on
finding mults will be left for some other occasion.
First 24 hours were great. I was happy with the performance on 80 and 160. I
could easily break pile-ups. But 15 was not that good as 4 weeks ago. Sunday
morning while I was on 15 the line noise came back. The signals were not as
strong as the noise and I asked for many repeats. So after 30 minutes of
struggle I decided to move to 20 where the noise is barely noticeable. 20 was
great and I guess the whole Europe was there. I experienced pile-ups that I
couldn't manage. Several stations would call in and I was not able to handle
them quickly. I am using FT-1000 MP Field as the main radio and have read
somewhere that K3 sounds much better in these situations.
I reached the goal 7 hours before the end of the contest. I am pleased with how
the station played, best score ever. The next thing on the list is to improve
high band antennas - when the budget and time allows. Sunday morning I was
listening to the big East coast stations running Europe on 20 before our
sunrise, while I couldn't produce any runs.
Congrats to VE3EJ team for setting a new Canadian multi-single record. Nice
effort from many CCO members.
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
|