CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
Call: WX3B
Operator(s): WX3B N8IVN KK4ODQ WA3AER K3AJ KC3BWA KC3EMA NY3A WR3R K1RH N8II
Station: WX3B
Class: M/M HP
QTH: MD
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 83
80: 559
40: 1225
20: 1748
15: 1534
10: 1174
------------
Total: 6323 Prefixes = 1579 Total Score = 25,612,959
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
What a great way to spend a weekend �" our team was SUPERB �" we
enjoyed the contest and functioned well together. The station held up great,
everything worked….even the pesky 80m vertical array that had an
“unsolvable” problem has been functioning correctly for 2 years in a row.
That NEVER happens!! Inter-station interference, while always a challenge at
WX3B seemed to be down this year…15 & 10 meters took on some mixing
products when all 6 transmitters were going…but the operators just kept
going….
The solar indexes looked great; in fact the bands were SO GOOD on Friday I just
knew we had a chance to break the M/M record set by NQ4I last year. Even 10
meters was playing to EU LATE Friday afternoon, and 15 had those GREAT
simultaneous openings to EU and JA that make you wonder which direction to put
the antenna (those of us without a stack to split…)
On Saturday morning, 15 opened later than last year, and 10 was several hours
late….however what we lacked in a morning opening we got back in SPADES in
the afternoon. At the 24 hour mark, a new record was looking like it was
within reach!!
On Sunday morning, all of that changed. 20 seemed to have propagation (slow
rate though), however 10 & 15 were totally flat. 15 was several hours LATE
to the party and by the time it opened, there was never any rate. 10 meters was
dead all day except for E skip and N/S propagation. Team WX3B kept plugging
away and the CQ button was mashed thousands of times. To say Sunday was
S-L-O-W would be an understatement!! Fortunately, 15 & 20 picked up in the
afternoon, and by the end of the contest there were QSOs being made on all 6
bands, even 160. Our result: the second highest score in WX3B history, and a
walk down memory lane for me with KN2T when he announced during my (duplicate)
QSO that we both had the same Elmer Tee WA2AET from Metuchen, NJ. That was a 5
minute contact! Was also fun talking to Jorgen, OZ7IF who I renew friendship
with every contest �" has he gave us as many bands as he had. An
honorable mention goes to Tim Evans, G1ISN for cheerleading the team.
Team WX3B welcomed two new YOUTHS to the team: Nick, age 18, KK4ODQ and Evan,
age 22, KC3BWA. Both of these young lads were IN THE CHAIR for many, many,
hours, and Evan got to experience his first “all-nighter” on 40 meters.
As is common for any WX3B operation, folks rotated around and got time on
different bands. Nick got to hear himself recorded on YouTube from a UK
station. Evan, by himself, took to heart my comment about pouncing only when
running (without losing your run frequency). He figured out how to use the
FTDX-5000’s second receiver and transmit on the “B” VFO so he could do
that. I was floored when I asked him who showed him the ropes and he said
“nobody, I just kept pushing buttons and rotating knobs until I figured it
out!”
Dennis N8IVN coined the phrase “couples contesting” to describe a new niche
at WX3B: On Saturday night, NY3A and his YL Chantal were spotted contesting
together on 20 meters while WX3B and XYL Elizabeth were making QSOs on 15.
Perhaps we are onto something here. Who knew contesting could be so romantic!
Thanks to Tom K3AJ and Dennis N8IVN for being the station masters in my absence
5 hours Sunday while I was celebrating my bonus daughter Frazier’s 17th
birthday.
One of the more humorous moments I recall was having the footswitch break
“on” on 15 meters, yielding a summons for assistance. At first I thought
we had a broken radio….but was quickly relieved to find out it stopped
transmitting after the Mic cord was pulled. Recognizing that the Heil FS-2
footswitch has 2 independent keying lines in it, Tom K3AJ quickly masterminded
a cut, solder & tape solution to use the amplifier relay keying line (RED)
to key the footswitch. Problem solved.
I also watched with amazement our two young guns, tirelessly CQing for hours
and staying in the chair. They both have contesting rule #1 mastered: STAY in
the chair! Watching Gary WR3R on 75 meters was a lesson on motivation and
tenacity. He milked that band for all it was worth, and also took turns
making sure the other bands had some coverage while others were sleeping. Gary
got to experience the early morning Asian opening on 40m and talked about
working YB, which was fun. Rob K1RH got some prime time on 15 meters and some
non-prime time on 20, however his timing was just BEFORE the bands fully opened.
Dennis N8IVN had his turn on 40 and had a fantastic first couple of
rate-hours….in fact he mentioned that there was not much fighting over the
frequency. 7.144 must be a good place to set up shop, that’s the second year
in a row we had good results with that frequency.
Tom K3AJ found ways to lead and motivate the team even in the darkest hours of
low rate. His (nasty) surprise occurred Sunday morning when he was rubbing his
hands together in eager anticipation of getting that HUGE 15 meter
opening…..He pushed the CQ button for two hours and STILL no opening…..3
hours….not much….it just never had a big opening.
Jeff N8II arrived just before 10 meters opened Saturday and he rode that wave
to the tune of about 1,000 QSOs!!
Ted WA3AER had his turn on the hot high bands and noisy low bands….including
40 meters…
I was delighted that N3SB and Martha made it to the Friday night dinner, my
good friend John Chesley AK3Z also attended, and my friend, QSL Manager and
“surrogate Dad” Joe N3YIM stopped by for a visit over the weekend.
A BIG thank-you to my wife Elizabeth, now officially known as “Mrs. WX3B”
(Thanks Dennis) for her tireless effort as CFO �" Chief Food Officer and
excellent companion.
Soapbox comments �" from the operators are below.
Very 73,
Jim WX3B
(From Gary WR3R)
Hi Jim,
Thanks for all your hospitality....from you and your new partner!! It was an
UNREAL experience. It was super fun getting back to serious BIC time with some
fellow hams in a MM competition. Also, I learned a bunch form you and all the
other ops.....much of what I could use in the future.
The WPX is truly a lot of fun. With the rules for multipliers, it is amazing
how many you can capture just in the US.....this really helped to keep me
motivated on 80 meters. Knowing that by just getting stations to answer CQ,
another multiplier would show up again and again and .....
For a short while, I was the only one up on Sunday AM. It was no problem
keeping awake, moving from chair to chair. What a super station!!!! Later,
even though it was only a regular old multiplier, I did enjoy working Indonesia
on 40 meters at sunrise on Sunday....he pulled us right out of the pileup!!!
In terms of a lighter moment, the one that comes to mind really just involved
me. I call it the tortoise and the hare. I had been operating all night the
first night, most on 80 meters, fighting QRN and QRM netting about 300 Qs.
This was the tortoise. Then I got about 3 1/2 hours sleep, and got up and
found a little chow (no lack of food at WX3B MM!!!). Then Jeff need a break on
10 mtrs. I got in his chair and quickly found out most of EU was calling.
WOW!!! The hare had taken off......I don't know what my run rate was, but it
was sure a wild ride. I definitely understood why Jeff needed a short
break....it was CRAZY!!!!!!!! And FUN!!!!!
It was fun having the younger guys around too. Hopefully another few new
contest "hams" got a great feel for a super hobby.
BTW, if you need me to help some with some antenna work or something else, let
me know. Trish (my wife) and I are now both retired and around some of the
time. I say some, because we are out and about some of the time. Nice to
finally be able to do what we want to do....within reason!!
Tks again and 73s to you and yours....Gary WR3R
(From Jeff N8II)
N8II thought your station was extremely effective on 10 and 15 and I know it is
great on 20 unto EU. As I drove up, it looked like the antennas were hugging the
ground which did not give me a good feeling. But, after 1430Z EU signals were
really loud on 10! As was AF. Even into Asia and OC, I felt pretty loud.
The fast response check partial really helped prevent a lot of inadvertent call
sign errors. I really like N1MM plus.
We held our own on 15 at the bottom of the band Saturday and finally the QRM
dropped and running the 2nd and 3rd tier EU stations became pretty easy.
You had a very nice group of ops and it was fun to see all six bands running
Saturday evening.
It was an amazing score even without considering the poor conditions Sunday.
73, Jeff
(From Nick, KK4ODQ)
Thanks a lot Jim my dad and I had a great weekend. Thanks for inviting us to
your house for the weekend. I had a great time. Conditions were not great on
Sunday but we got the job done. I figured yesterday i sat in that chair for
about 7 hours. Had a great JA run in the last few hours. Saw you took some
pictures could you send them to me. After the end of each contest i compile the
pictures and then look back at them later. Again tell Elizabeth my dad and i
really enjoyed the food. Jim hope to come back to your fine station for the
next big contest just let me know when i and i will try to be there.
(From Ted WA3AER)
I will echo Tom's comments about the culinary experience this year. Elizabeth
certainly did provide us all with wonderful food. Jim's barbecue is not to be
discounted, but we've made do with a lot of snack food in the past. I wondered
why I got no response to my offer to bring folks' favorite snacks, and now I
know why. Many of them went unopened this year. Tom is right about WX3B
attracting more operators if word of our provisions leaks too far. We
"old-timers" may be fighting for seats. Maybe we need to put a Cone
of Silence on our discussions about the culinary delight we had this weekend?
Maybe it’s' a good thing I had the wee hours of the morning stint on 40M from
Saturday night into Sunday. Sunday was a disappointment on 10M. I think the
Saturday crew sucked the entire signal off 10M and, in the process, depleted
the ionosphere. I must have been lucky to eke out the few SA
contacts I did. 15M was a tough go on Sunday, too, but somehow the afternoon
operators found pay dirt. The little time I spent on 20M was the usual
pandemonium on that band.
Sunday's activity had Tom and me both wondering if there were a BIG soccer
match in EU that kept the operators away, like what happens here on Sunday
afternoon during NFL season (Honestly, now, how can NFL compare with a good
radio contest??!!). Space weather hinted that we might have
an M-Class flare, but that didn't happen. There was also a suggestion that high
solar winds might hit us. Maybe that explains Sunday's conditions? I heard
rather odd conditions on 15M mid-day, where it was very quiet, followed by
normal background noise levels. These cycles were several minutes
long and persisted for about an hour.
No matter the conditions, the WX3B team did not let them sour us. We had some
good humor going on; the team worked well together. I think we only had one
incident of a young whippersnapper booting an older operator from his seat. In
fact, he was trying to help out his Dad, so we cut him some slack. ;-)
I'm on the fence about the Iron Man Award for this outing. Yep, the young ops
can sure rack up BIC time; but in deference to really sticking it out, Gary
gets my vote. It was a treat operating overnight with you. And I can't believe
you toughed it out as long as you did. I was ready to keel over, and I almost
did when I got out of the chair around 0415 to let you know I was going to sack
out. Gary, You Da Man!
I'll close my comments by once again thanking Elizabeth for feeding us so well
and looking out for our well-being. Having been as well fed as we were, had
band conditions cooperated, we would have beaten last year's score. And, Thank
You, Jim, for again letting us invade your home, take over your station,
and have a darned good time.
Oh, I racked up 11 hours sleep last night, and it felt oh so wonderful.
Until next time, 73.
---
Ted WA3AER
(From Tom K3AJ)
Jim-
Thanks for letting the team invade your house once again. Here are my comments
on this one:
Those of us who are veterans at WX3B noted a dramatic upgrade in the culinary
environment, as Jim's new XYL, Elizabeth, provided some seriously good food
throughout the weekend. And Jim should still take some credit for his grilling
work to supplement her dishes. If Elizabeth and Jim keep this up, they may find
that more operators show up and stay longer - which could be a mixed blessing!
WX3B is a great place for newer contesters to learn and develop skills. It was
really awesome to see two young operators, Nick, KK4ODQ and Evan, KC3BWA really
stepping up with confidence and enthusiasm.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, Gary, WR3R, a veteran of some
serious multi-op contesting back in the 70's and 80's, is returning to multi-op
work. In this appearance at WX3B, he was relentless during two all-night
efforts, racking up a terrific score on 80M, while constantly moving around
from radio to radio to keep things going on 160M and 40M as well until well
after sunrise.
From Friday night through Saturday night, we enjoyed good rates and good band
conditions everywhere. You never know what 10M will provide, and it was late to
open Saturday, but when it did - WOW! 15M was a winner as well, and 20M was
strong and steady.
But then came Sunday! The 20M and 15M ops were in place at 0600 local, eagerly
awaiting a repeat of the EU run - but it never got going at all. Tom, K3AJ was
complaining of developing carpal tunnel syndrome from pushing the voice keyer
button relentlessly for almost 3 hours trying to open 15M, to no avail. 10M
never did open to Europe at all on Sunday, and we only added another 100 or so
Q's to our roughly 1100 QSO count on 10M. We spent the day perusing the space
weather web sites trying to figure out what was going on, but it didn't seem
like there was an obvious explanation for the conditions. Later in the day, we
finally started to work some EU with decent signals, but it seemed like
activity was low and Sunday turned out to be a hard slog on all bands to move
the score from around 21 million at the start of the day to our final score a
little under 26 million.
Tom K3AJ
(From Evan KC3BWA)
I would just like to thank everyone for being so open to sharing all the
knowledge you guys have. I love soaking it all up as much as I can and learning
how to operate the radio with better efficiency. I look forward to each time I
learn something new from all of you. It is one of the things I love the most
about ham radio.
I will echo everyone on comments about food. As for how the contesting went I
am not sure what to say since this was really the first time I seriously
competed in one, if you don't count the ARRL SSB that was more for the fun of
it. I enjoyed it very much and am surprised I am not all ham radioed out from
the weekend. I look forward to the next time.
73 to you all.
PS Ted - I'm loving all the articles on antenna building and homebrew
equipment. Thanks for all magazines!
(From Dennis N8IVN)
Jim,
Contesting as a team member at WX3B has always been fun. These days it is not
only fun, but appetizing due to the fine cooking of Elizabeth (Mrs. WX3B). It
was nice that grocery support was also provided by the fine farm animals of
Mike and Donna, WX3B neighbors. Thanks go out to these folks and Sous Chef Jim
(Mr. WX3B, himself) for a very enjoyable/nutritious contest weekend.
In the five or so years that I've had the opportunity to enjoy being a member
of Team WX3B, I don't recall a team made up of such a wide variety of folks w/
regard to their contesting skill set. This year we had the dedication of
youthful neophyte contesters and their fathers, a highly experienced old timer,
and then, there were the rest of us. It is great to assist new-comers to this
part of the hobby as well as watching the team gel.
As you pointed out, there was much smooth sailing. The team worked well
together, the equipment was reliable (all but a foot switch), and though
propagation was not at its best we made the best of it. We had two father/son
teams active on Team WX3B and the interest of a couple of the YLs. There was
chemistry throughout the operation.
Though propagation was not at its best, the station and team performed well.
I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to contest with this group. Thanks,
as always for a fine contest weekend.
73,
Dennis N8IVN
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