CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2019
Call: FS/VA3DF
Operator(s): VA3DF
Station: FS/VA3DF
Class: SO(A)SB20 LP
QTH: FS
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80:
40:
20: 909 21 91
15:
10:
------------------------------
Total: 909 21 91 Total Score = 244,608
Club: Contest Club Ontario
Comments:
Great to be in St. Martin! This trip was originally planned for 2017 but was
cancelled because of the hurricane. Rebooked for 2018 and cancelled again as the
country was still recovering from the damage. Many thanks to John K9EL for his
assistance in making this trip a reality.
Arrived on Tuesday and began putting things together on Wednesday morning.
Quickly found out that my brand new voltage converter was not putting out 120
VAC! Went with Plan B and modified my Samlex power supply to operate on 220 VAC.
Not a big deal but glad that I had brought the needed parts and tools.
Was feeling good until I realized the keyer would not key the K3! Hmmm, this
could be a major issue...spent time believing this was a port issue before I
realized I had forgotten to pack the cable used to key the K3. Located a
possible replacement in PJ7 and made an emergency taxi run to get the cable -
problem solved.
Thursday evening I met with Rob PJ7/K0CD and Marco FS4WBS - fine dinner at an
Italian restaurant and great company! That evening about 2 AM I was awakened by
a huge gust of wind and pelting rain. Thought that this might be an issue for
the CrankIR as it's not that stable at the best of times. I had guyed the
antenna against the prevailing winds but the storm came from the opposite
direction. Went outside at 3:30 AM and found the CrankIR laying on its side. No
damage. Installed additional guys the following morning.
Friday morning N1MM insisted on telling me that one of its ports was missing and
refused to work. The port was there so I don't know what the issue was but I
managed to get things sorted out. Still with me? Then, I found all the signals
on the band were almost inaudible - solution was a high resistance contact at
the antenna feedpoint. By now, I just wanted this to end....
Started the contest but condx were abysmal the first night - only 20 qsos and
I'm thinking of junking the antenna and catching the first flight home. Up early
on Saturday - now we be rockin' - over 600 qsos in the log followed by another
300 on Sunday.
SOSB is not my favourite mode but the lot layout wasn't such that an effective
dipole for 40 or 80 could be set up. I could have made it happen but it would
have been a dog's breakfast!
Did I have fun? You bet!
As usual, it's a jungle out there...
73,
Doug
FS/VA3DF
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