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[3830] RTTY WPX P49X(W0YK) SOAB HP

To: 3830@contesting.com, ed@w0yk.com
Subject: [3830] RTTY WPX P49X(W0YK) SOAB HP
From: webform@b4h.net
Reply-to: ed@w0yk.com
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 05:45:29 +0000
List-post: <3830@contesting.com">mailto:3830@contesting.com>
                    CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest

Call: P49X
Operator(s): W0YK
Station: P49Y/P40L

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: FL52al
Operating Time (hrs): 30

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:  403
   40:  780
   20:  321
   15: 1235
   10: 1209
------------
Total: 3948  Prefixes = 952  Total Score = 14,593,095

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

Another great contest weekend!  High participation and “exciting” solar
conditions.  Elevated SSN and SFI are not without risk and we saw that
throughout the contest.  During my operating hours here in Aruba there were no
total blackouts, but short-term signal levels varied greatly on all bands
throughout the contest.  I wasn't able to complete a number of QSOs when the
other station faded into the noise floor within seconds.  Even 40 and 80
behaved that way.  On the other hand, there were times when the low band signal
strengths were unbelievably high.

Propagation

My trusty propagation forecast model (www.k6tu.net) was severely challenged by
the current actual conditions.  Having listened to the first week of the FT5ZM
expedition from California, I was interested (and, optimistic) in how they
would sound down here.  The forecast looked really good from P4 to FT5Z. 
Surprise!  When the forecast showed S9+10dB signals levels, they were either
absent completely or very weak.  That was my first hint that this week’s
solar conditions were not going to fit the forecast model that is based mostly
on SSN.

Propagation uncertainty making this game interesting and challenging.  My goals
for this weekend were to beat my previous best in WPX RTTY while breaking 4000
QSOs and 1000 mults.  The number of mults was almost the same at 952, while the
QSO total increased more than 6% to 3953, also shy of my goal.  But, due to the
lower ratio of low-band contacts (double QSO points in this contest), the score
is down 4%.  The entire weekend was spent trying to minimize the unavoidable
deficit.

Operating

The biggest change I made was in the allocation of my 30 single-op hours over
the 48-hour contest period.  In the past, I've always emphasized the low-band
rate and then filled in the remaining hours with the highest rates on 10-20
meters.  I front-loaded the hours as a contingency for unforeseen problems with
equipment or propagation.  If I had a station failure, I still had time to take
a break, fix things and still get my 30 hours in.  Or, if there was a complete
blackout, as there was one year, there would still be operation time left if
and when the bands came back.  As a result, I often finished by 18-19z.  My
experiment this year was to dispense with the front-loading and space my breaks
out so as to capture a diverse and somewhat balanced mix of openings throughout
the weekend.

For example, instead of forgoing the first couple hours of the EU opening on
Saturday and Sunday mornings until the bands were solidly open, I shortened my
nap break to be running on 10 and 15 by 12z.  I was betting that the higher
solar levels would open the bands much earlier and as my prior week operating
confirmed, this was the case.  By 18z when I would normally be running out of
my 30 hours, I still had 4 hours left.  Instead of powering through, I took a
much needed meal and nap break and moved the last 4 hours to the end of the
contest when I could catch the JA opening and all their great prefix mults.  I
was apprehensive about this deviation from my previous schedule, but it was
very successful this time at least.

 The run rates at the end of the contest, given my 3-4 hour break mid-day
Sunday, were as high as or higher than if I had simply run out my operating
time earlier in the day.  And my anticipated JA openings on 15 and 20 meters
fully met my expectations in the 21-22z hours.

My 30 hours timed out at 2250z, so I opted to continue running until the end. 
A common misunderstanding about the 30-hour limit for single-ops in WPX RTTY,
is that you must turn off the radio at 30 hours.  All the 30 hours means is
that the first 30 hours in your log determines your contest score.  But, you
can operate the entire 48 hours if you wish.  Of course, all QSOs, whether they
count for your score or not, must be left in the log.  Otherwise, the stations
you worked, but didn't log, with get NIL penalties in their score.  And that
time in the contest is most enjoyable.  The initial feeding frenzy is over and
all the casual stations are giving out contacts just to enjoy operating their
station.  So many of them graciously moved from 15 to 20, or vice versa, to
keep the QSO total running up.  It was also gratifying to have so many JAs call
in when it is early Monday morning in Japan.

Compared my personal best in 2013 in this contest, this weekend yielded 300
less low-band contacts or the equivalent of 600 high-band contacts.  There were
200 less QSOs on 20 and 650 more on 10 and 15, largely due to 10 being equally
productive as 15 this year with over 1200 contacts each.  The net was 240 more
QSOs this year, but a 4% lower score due to the shift from 6-point low-band
contacts to 3-point high-band contacts.  WPX levels the playing field across
the range of solar activity.

RTTY Decoders

This contest strongly confirmed the value in running multiple decoders on each
audio stream.  As for ARRL Round-Up, I configured 12 decoder windows, 4 on each
of the two main receivers and 2 on each of the two sub-receivers.  This
diversity paid huge dividends.  I’d estimate that my need for repeats
decreased by more than 20x compared to using a single decoder on a receiver. 
As to the ongoing debate about 2Tone vs. MMTTY vs. other decoders (I also use a
Hal DXP38 hardware decoder), I continue to see value in this decoder diversity. 
Yes, there are times when 2Tone is amazing, but there are other times when it
prints nothing useful, yet MMTTY and/or the DXP38 print clearly.  I’d be very
uncomfortable without all three, especially in a serial number contest like
WPX.

There are other decoder attributes that are important in contesting besides the
basic decoding accuracy.  MMTTY decodes several characters sooner than 2Tone. 
While an absolutely very short time, it seems like forever in a contest
situation.  OTOH, being able to 100% decode a signal buried in noise or QRM is
a tremendous asset of 2Tone.  The DXP38 decodes signals further off-frequency
than either MMTTY or 2Tone and, again, this is a big advantage in the
contesting environment.

Thanks

I’m forever grateful to the multitude of contest participants, most of which
aren't “competing” at all, for making radiosport so enjoyable.  Thanks for
each and every QSO!  And especially to those who move to other bands or take it
on their own to try and work my call on every band.  I’m also very fortunate
to be able to escape the home QTH in CA and operate near the equator for a
number of contests.  Thanks to Andy, P49Y/AE6Y, and John, P40L/W6LD, for making
it possible here at their Aruba QTH.

Now looking forward to ARRL DX CW next weekend as P40L!

Ed P49X/W0YK

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CALLSIGN: P49X
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CONTEST: CQ-WPX-RTTY
OPERATORS: W0YK

-------------- Q S O   R a t e   S u m m a r y ---------------------
Hour     160     80     40     20     15     10    Rate Total    Pct
--------------------------------------------------------------------
0000       0      0     39     76      0      0    115    115    2.9
0100       0     10     66     40      0      0    116    231    5.9
0200       0     47     65      0      0      0    112    343    8.7
0300       0     49     85      0      0      0    134    477   12.1
0400       0     38     76      0      0      0    114    591   15.0
0500       0     52     86      0      0      0    138    729   18.5
0600       0     25     71      0      0      0     96    825   20.9
0700       0     34     53      0      0      0     87    912   23.1
0800       0      5      6      0      0      0     11    923   23.4
0900       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    923   23.4
1000       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    923   23.4
1100       0      0      0      0      0      0      0    923   23.4
1200       0      0      0      0     54     74    128   1051   26.6
1300       0      0      0      0     75     85    160   1211   30.7
1400       0      0      0      0     85     82    167   1378   34.9
1500       0      0      0      0     89     99    188   1566   39.7
1600       0      0      0      0     77     92    169   1735   43.9
1700       0      0      0      0     88     90    178   1913   48.5
1800       0      0      0      0     73     98    171   2084   52.8
1900       0      0      0      0    103     75    178   2262   57.3
2000       0      0      0      0     74     64    138   2400   60.8
2100       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2400   60.8
2200       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2400   60.8
2300       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2400   60.8
0000       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2400   60.8
0100       0      4      2      0      0      0      6   2406   60.9
0200       0     27     41      0      0      0     68   2474   62.7
0300       0     30     71      0      0      0    101   2575   65.2
0400       0     31     40      0      0      0     71   2646   67.0
0500       0     35     53      0      0      0     88   2734   69.3
0600       0     16     26      0      0      0     42   2776   70.3
0700       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2776   70.3
0800       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2776   70.3
0900       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2776   70.3
1000       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   2776   70.3
1100       0      0      0      0      0      1      1   2777   70.3
1200       0      0      0      0     50     83    133   2910   73.7
1300       0      0      0      0     61     75    136   3046   77.2
1400       0      0      0      0     59     70    129   3175   80.4
1500       0      0      0      0     61     58    119   3294   83.4
1600       0      0      0      0     62     79    141   3435   87.0
1700       0      0      0      0     23     23     46   3481   88.2
1800       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   3481   88.2
1900       0      0      0      0      9     11     20   3501   88.7
2000       0      0      0     22     63     50    135   3636   92.1
2100       0      0      0    102     70      0    172   3808   96.5
2200       0      0      0     81     59      0    140   3948  100.0
2300       0      0      0      0      0      0      0   3948  100.0
------------------------------------------------------
Total      0    403    780    321   1235   1209   3948

Gross QSOs=3997        Dupes=49        Net QSOs=3948

Unique callsigns worked = 2427

The best 60 minute rate was 191/hour from 1449 to 1548
The best 30 minute rate was 204/hour from 1447 to 1516
The best 10 minute rate was 228/hour from 2008 to 2017

The best 1 minute rates were:
 6 QSOs/minute    4 times.
 5 QSOs/minute   29 times.
 4 QSOs/minute  218 times.
 3 QSOs/minute  469 times.
 2 QSOs/minute  561 times.
 1 QSOs/minute  378 times.

There were 2487 bandchanges and 1644 (41.6%) probable 2nd radio QSOs.

Number of letters in callsigns
Letters  # worked
-----------------
   2         1
   3        10
   4      1212
   5      1666
   6      1015
   7        15
   8        12
   9        11
  10         6

Multi-band QSOs
---------------
1 bands    1480
2 bands     557
3 bands     246
4 bands     104
5 bands      40
6 bands       0

------- S i n g l e   B a n d   Q S O s ------
Band    160     80     40     20     15     10
----------------------------------------------
QSOs      0     98    278     95    505    504


           80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    EU     134    338     53    517    586    1628    41.2
    NA     264    421    244    641    580    2150    54.5
    AS       1     12     19     56      8      96     2.4
    OC       1      0      3      5      5      14     0.4
    SA       0      7      1      9     18      35     0.9
    AF       3      2      1      7     10      23     0.6

QSO/Pref by hour and band

 Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime

D1-0000Z  --+--   39/27   76/62   --+--   --+--  115/89    115/89  
D1-0100Z  10/5    66/48   40/22     -       -    116/75    231/164 
D1-0200Z  47/19   65/40     -       -       -    112/59    343/223 
D1-0300Z  49/13   85/36     -       -       -    134/49    477/272 
D1-0400Z  38/13   76/37     -       -       -    114/50    591/322 
D1-0500Z  52/14   86/32     -       -       -    138/46    729/368 
D1-0600Z  25/9    71/39     -       -       -     96/48    825/416 
D1-0700Z  34/4    53/25     -       -       -     87/29    912/445 
D1-0800Z   5/2     6/4    --+--   --+--   --+--   11/6     923/451    52
D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     923/451    60
D1-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     923/451    60
D1-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     923/451    60
D1-1200Z    -       -       -     54/21   74/28  128/49   1051/500    14
D1-1300Z    -       -       -     75/15   85/23  160/38   1211/538 
D1-1400Z    -       -       -     85/18   82/19  167/37   1378/575 
D1-1500Z    -       -       -     89/21   99/17  188/38   1566/613 
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   77/14   92/18  169/32   1735/645 
D1-1700Z    -       -       -     88/14   90/20  178/34   1913/679 
D1-1800Z    -       -       -     73/10   98/14  171/24   2084/703 
D1-1900Z    -       -       -    103/14   75/7   178/21   2262/724 
D1-2000Z    -       -       -     74/4    64/12  138/16   2400/740     5
D1-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2400/740    60
D1-2200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2400/740    60
D1-2300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2400/740    60
D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2400/740    60
D2-0100Z   4/1     2/0      -       -       -      6/1    2406/741    52
D2-0200Z  27/4    41/11     -       -       -     68/15   2474/756 
D2-0300Z  30/2    71/10     -       -       -    101/12   2575/768 
D2-0400Z  31/3    40/6      -       -       -     71/9    2646/777 
D2-0500Z  35/1    53/7      -       -       -     88/8    2734/785 
D2-0600Z  16/1    26/3      -       -       -     42/4    2776/789    23
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2776/789    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2776/789    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2776/789    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2776/789    60
D2-1100Z    -       -       -       -      1/1     1/1    2777/790    59
D2-1200Z    -       -       -     50/6    83/19  133/25   2910/815 
D2-1300Z    -       -       -     61/13   75/13  136/26   3046/841 
D2-1400Z    -       -       -     59/6    70/10  129/16   3175/857 
D2-1500Z    -       -       -     61/9    58/7   119/16   3294/873 
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   62/7    79/8   141/15   3435/888 
D2-1700Z    -       -       -     23/2    23/1    46/3    3481/891    35
D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3481/891    60
D2-1900Z    -       -       -      9/0    11/1    20/1    3501/892    51
D2-2000Z    -       -     22/2    63/5    50/6   135/13   3636/905 
D2-2100Z    -       -    102/12   70/14     -    172/26   3808/931 
D2-2200Z    -       -     81/7    59/13     -    140/20   3948/951 

Total:   403/91  780/325 321/1051235/2061209/224



Pts by hour and band.

             80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total   Cumm    OffTime

D1-0000Z    ---+-    234     228    ---+-   ---+-     462    462
D1-0100Z      60     394     120       -       -      574   1036
D1-0200Z     282     390       -       -       -      672   1708
D1-0300Z     294     510       -       -       -      804   2512
D1-0400Z     228     456       -       -       -      684   3196
D1-0500Z     312     516       -       -       -      828   4024
D1-0600Z     150     426       -       -       -      576   4600
D1-0700Z     204     318       -       -       -      522   5122
D1-0800Z      30      34    ---+-   ---+-   ---+-      64   5186     52
D1-0900Z       -       -       -       -       -        0   5186     60
D1-1000Z       -       -       -       -       -        0   5186     60
D1-1100Z       -       -       -       -       -        0   5186     60
D1-1200Z       -       -       -     161     222      383   5569     14
D1-1300Z       -       -       -     225     252      477   6046
D1-1400Z       -       -       -     255     246      501   6547
D1-1500Z       -       -       -     266     297      563   7110
D1-1600Z    ---+-   ---+-   ---+-    231     274      505   7615
D1-1700Z       -       -       -     264     264      528   8143
D1-1800Z       -       -       -     219     290      509   8652
D1-1900Z       -       -       -     308     225      533   9185
D1-2000Z       -       -       -     220     190      410   9595      5
D1-2100Z       -       -       -       -       -        0   9595     60
D1-2200Z       -       -       -       -       -        0   9595     60
D1-2300Z       -       -       -       -       -        0   9595     60
D2-0000Z    ---+-   ---+-   ---+-   ---+-   ---+-       0   9595     60
D2-0100Z      24      12       -       -       -       36   9631     52
D2-0200Z     162     242       -       -       -      404  10035
D2-0300Z     180     424       -       -       -      604  10639
D2-0400Z     186     240       -       -       -      426  11065
D2-0500Z     210     318       -       -       -      528  11593
D2-0600Z      96     152       -       -       -      248  11841     23
D2-0700Z       -       -       -       -       -        0  11841     60
D2-0800Z    ---+-   ---+-   ---+-   ---+-   ---+-       0  11841     60
D2-0900Z       -       -       -       -       -        0  11841     60
D2-1000Z       -       -       -       -       -        0  11841     60
D2-1100Z       -       -       -       -       3        3  11844     59
D2-1200Z       -       -       -     150     249      399  12243
D2-1300Z       -       -       -     183     224      407  12650
D2-1400Z       -       -       -     177     209      386  13036
D2-1500Z       -       -       -     183     174      357  13393
D2-1600Z    ---+-   ---+-   ---+-    186     237      423  13816
D2-1700Z       -       -       -      69      69      138  13954     35
D2-1800Z       -       -       -       -       -        0  13954     60
D2-1900Z       -       -       -      27      33       60  14014     51
D2-2000Z       -       -      66     187     147      400  14414
D2-2100Z       -       -     304     208       -      512  14926
D2-2200Z       -       -     243     176       -      419  15345

Total:      2418    4666     961    3695    3605 

           80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total

    4L              1                            1
    4X              1             1              2
    5B                            2              2
    9A              2      1      4      8      15
    9X                     1             1       2
    9Y              1                            1
    A6                                   1       1
    A7                                   1       1
    BY              1                            1
    C3                            1              1
    CE                            1      3       4
    CM       2      3      1      5      3      14
    CN                            2      1       3
    CP                                   1       1
    CT              1      2      2      1       6
   CT3                            1      2       3
    CU                                   1       1
    CX                                   2       2
    D2                            1      1       2
    DL      30     51      3    111    130     325
    E7              1             1              2
    EA       9      9      7     31     38      94
   EA8       3      2             2      3      10
   EA9                                   1       1
    EI                            2      2       4
    ER                            1      2       3
    ES              2             1      1       4
    EU       4      8            13      8      33
     F       9     20      5     18     34      86
    FG              1             1              2
    FP                                   1       1
     G       5     14      7     32     42     100
    GI                            1      2       3
    GM       1      2             4      4      11
    GU              1                            1
    GW              2      1             6       9
    HA       4     10      3     11     17      45
    HB              1      1      3      4       9
   HB0                                   1       1
    HH              1                            1
    HK              1                            1
    HS                            1              1
    HZ                     1      2      2       5
     I      10     23      3     50     63     149
    IS                                   1       1
   IT9              2             5      8      15
    JA              2     14     35             51
     K     246    382    221    585    542    1976
   KH6       1             1             1       3
    KL              2      1      4              7
   KP4              3                            3
    LA       1      2      2      8      7      20
    LU                            2      6       8
    LX       1      2             1      3       7
    LY       2      5             5      4      16
    LZ       5      5      1      5      4      20
    OE       1      3             3      6      13
    OH       3      8      3     10      9      33
   OH0                                   1       1
    OK       4     12            10     10      36
    OM       5      9             8      5      27
    ON       4      7      3     11     10      35
    OZ       1      2             3      2       8
    P4                     1      1              2
    PA       2      5            14     24      45
   PJ2              1                            1
    PY              2             4      5      11
    PZ              1                            1
    S5       5      7      1     11      9      33
    SM       1      4      2     15      7      29
    SP      10     21      2     28     24      85
    SV              4             4      3      11
   SV5       1                    1              2
   SV9              1             1      1       3
    TA              1                            1
   TA1                                   1       1
    TF              1                    1       2
    UA       5     31      3     35     26     100
   UA2              1                            1
   UA9       1      3      4     11      1      20
    UK              1                            1
    UN              1             3      2       6
    UR       6     33      1     35     38     113
    V3                            1              1
    VE      16     29     20     43     32     140
    VK                     1      1              2
    VU              1             1              2
    XE                     1      2      2       5
    YB                     1      4      2       7
    YK                                   1       1
    YL       1      5      1      5      2      14
    YO       2     12            11      7      32
    YU       2      7      1      2      7      19
    YV              1                    1       2
    Z3              2                    2       4
    ZL                                   2       2
    ZP                            1              1
    ZS                            1      1       2


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