CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW - 2020
Call: W3DQ
Operator(s): W3DQ
Station: W3DQ
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Washington, DC
Operating Time (hrs): 6
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 192 State/Prov = 40 Countries = 9 Total Score = 24,059
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
This contest was a combination of the good/fun and difficult/less fun.
Due to lots of work/life commitments, my time was limited to late night. I
started at 1:00 AM Sat night and was on for 2 hours. The band was busy and
relatively quiet. Only Caribbean DX. I S&P'd, with some chasing me as I
moved around the band. Those two hours made up for more than half my score. I
came back for a semi-productive not-quite-hour Saturday afternoon, and then in
earnest at 11:00 PM, having missed the openings to EU earlier in the evening.
Thee band was very crowded for at least the first hour (or maybe 90 minutes). I
missed the openings on both days. I heard more EUs than I worked. They had
trouble hearing me. Operating LP was quite the challenge. Oh well.
The pluses: Everything worked.
The minuses: 1) The urban environment has gotten noisier as my neighbors have
put up new garages, studios, etc. in the last year. Time for a "noise
audit" to see what's going on. 2) The K3 (temporarily in Watsonville) hears
better than the Orion. 3) I need to work on the receive antennas. I've tried 'em
all -- or rather, the ones that can fit in shadows of the inverted-L and power
lines on three sides of my 1/8 acre (40 ft x 140 ft) lot -- with little success.
And finally, 4) I''m not at a point where I am comfortable running in a CW
contest. I was overwhelmed by the onrush of callers when I CQ'd. I should have
known better!
In the end, it's always fun to join the fray!
Eric W3DQ
Washington, DC
Orion & inverted-L
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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