CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: W2ID
Operator(s): W2ID
Station: K9RS
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: EPA
Operating Time (hrs): 46.5
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 94 12 51
80: 325 16 55
40: 869 27 86
20: 599 30 82
15: 711 30 82
10: 848 26 91
------------------------------
Total: 3446 447 141 Total Score = 5,819,436
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Huge thanks once again to K9RS for doing all the difficult stuff - getting his
station fully prepared for a serious SO2R contest effort. In 46.5 hours of
intense usage, I lost a total of less than 45 seconds to equipment "issues",
which were due to a pesky and so far non-reproducable issue where N1MM loses
connectivity with the MK2R box and starts sending garbled CW. I learned during
CW sweepstakes that restarting both applications provides an instant cure
(until it happens again), and it only happened two or three times in the entire
contest, hence the <45 seconds lost figure.
Ray's 2/2 stack of C31's performed very admirably, as did the 2/2 stack on 40M.
The "bent" 4-squares on 80 and 160 also seemed very competitive. Having
additional modest antennas fixed South on 40-10 was a huge addition as well,
for minimizing the time spent grabbing all those great island mults.
One thing I still can't get used to was the radios themselves, a pair of
FT-9000's. I know I'm just being a slow learner here, but even after using
these rigs for several contests, I still can't figure out how to use the RIT,
and can't figure out how to use the second VFO to do S&P within the same band
I'm running on. The ergonomics of the FT-1000MP are just SO good for
contesting. Why can't somebody make a radio that has the dynamic range and
selectivity of the top contest radios (FT-5000, K3) while having the
user-friendliness and nice quality receive audio of the FT-1000MP? (Attention
radio manufacturers: If you take me up on this challenge, I will buy three of
them.) In defense of the 9000's, I do not have one at home, and I have never
had an opportunity to learn how to use one outside of the heat of a contest. I
have to assume that if I took the time the learn how to operate the rig, I would
be able to do a lot better with it. I apologize to all of the guys who I was
unable to get into my log because, despite the fact that you repeated your call
numerous times, I just couldn't find the right setting of the right knob that
would allow me to copy it. I only figured out at the very end of the contest
that if I just opened the bandwidth back up to 1.2 KHz and just used my ears as
the filter instead of the DSP which turned everything into a pile of mush, it
was significantly easier to copy people.
But my biggest "excuse" for not scoring a lot better was that I simply didn't
spend enough time calling CQ. After 30-plus years of operating low power with
tiny antennas and doing almost exclusively S&P, it's just hard to reprogram
myself to call CQ. This is really a surprise, and quite irrational, given that
I KNOW that calling CQ is how to win contests. Not only that, but when the
last-10 rate meter hits into the upper 200's and even briefly goes over 300/hr,
it's an incredible adrenaline rush. (I don't recall ever seeing my last-10 rate
over 300/hr on CW before this contest, so that was pretty cool. I spent several
hours practicing copying calls with RUFZxp in the weeks leading up to the
contest, even raising my personal high speed for copying a single call to 80
WPM by the last day. I am sure that this helped me to be able to focus and
copy calls correctly the first time when running. It was a real pleasure to not
have to ask for many repeats.)
Even with the rate over 200, I never made more than three qsos without sending
my call. It annoyed the heck out of me to have to stop and listen to certain
selfish, inconsiderate DX stations make 10 contacts or more before giving their
call. I had all sorts of fantasies for how to deal with them, and ended up
deciding to use the boycott approach. So I hope they are reading this: If you
don't send your call within the 45 to 60 seconds that I am listening to you,
then I am simply not going to call you, period. A couple of times, I tried
this other controversial approach: I worked them first, and then stuck around
for 3 more QSOs. If they gave their call within their next 3, then I logged my
QSO with them. If they didn't give their call, then I went off to make more
QSOs elsewhere. I also tried asking "?" or "CL?" or "CALL?" several times
before calling them. At no point did anyone oblige, and I'm sure it's not that
they didn't hear me. A few times, I tried asking for their call after they had
come back to me and before sending my report. While this worked, I am sure it
annoyed them a lot, so I didnâ??t keep it up.
In the venting category, is it normal to have a HUGE number of stateside
callers on 80m and 40m? After logging literally dozens of US calls, I finally
got annoyed enough to ignore a few of the stateside callers who were trying to
work me on 40m near the end of the contest. I worked them only if they didn't
go away quickly enough, or if they were preventing me from hearing a DX
station. What is the technique for telling these guys that a QSO with them is
worth nothing?
Enough for the venting. The bottom line was that the FUN I had in this contest
really confirmed for me exactly why I have loved contesting so much all these
years. (It all started with Field Day in 1978.) A contest provides an
opportunity for you to see if you can do better than you have done before, by
doing some combination of the following:
*Improving your operating skills
*Having a goal and a strategy
*Knowing when to change your strategy if the curring one isn't working as
expected
*Improving your station (or having a great friend that lets you borrow his!)
*Improving your physical conditioning
*Luck
I list luck last because, while it is perhaps partially responsible for your
score, it is truly only a very small part. For example, while you could assert
that I was lucky that a VU2 answered my CQ on 40M, the reality is that if the
antenna hadn't been high enough, either he wouldn't have heard me or I wouldn't
have heard him.
The other aspect of contesting that makes it so appealing is that not only are
you trying to do your personal best, but you are doing this in the context of
other people who are also on the same mission, and playing by the same rules,
and therefore you can compare your results against theirs as a way of
validating your results.
Some people might do contests for the fame and glory, or for the respect and
admiration they get from their peers, or even for the awards themselves.
Everyone has their own reasons. Personally, I like contesting because it
provides an objective way that my personal performance can be measured, and
therefore I can compare each performance against my previous performances, and
then evaluate in which areas (from the list above) I should focus my efforts in
order to try to make additional improvements for next time. Given how much fun I
had this time, the next time canâ??t come soon enough!
73, and thanks for all the Q's... (but please don't QSL...)
John
W2ID
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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