3830
[Top] [All Lists]

[3830] WPX CW M6W(G3WW) SO(A)SB15 QRP

To: 3830@contesting.com, g3ww.dez@gmail.com
Subject: [3830] WPX CW M6W(G3WW) SO(A)SB15 QRP
From: webform@b4h.net
Reply-to: g3ww.dez@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2020 06:39:26 +0000
List-post: <mailto:3830@contesting.com>
                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2020

Call: M6W
Operator(s): G3WW
Station: G3WW

Class: SO(A)SB15 QRP
QTH: IO92ub
Operating Time (hrs): 19

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:     
   40:     
   20:     
   15:  412
   10:     
------------
Total:  412  Prefixes = 310  Total Score = 151,280

Club: 

Comments:

Well, the sporadic-E this year made for some great fun on the higher HF bands!

This was very much a field-day style operation. I put a pair of 1/4 wave
vertical ground planes up Friday evening on fishing poles and they were gone by
sunset on Sunday to keep the XYL and neighbours happy.

I operated from the garden patio both days as I don't have a permanent shack
here and the nice summer WX made pleasant conditions for working 'al fresco' the
whole contest.

Friday afternoon I made a few quick tests on the phased array to see whether it
was performing as it should. It all seemed pretty encouraging with some signals,
particularly directly off the ends, up to 6 S-points difference F/B. During the
contest though, I never quite achieved such optimal performance but I was
consistently seeing a couple of S-points difference. I had the array switchable
for broadside too but wasn't happy with the VSWR running them in phase.

The QRP didn't seem to handicap me, apart from understandably having to wait my
turn; I was 95% search & pounce as CQ-ing proved largely unfruitful but I
kept checking the RBN to know where I was being heard.

With plenty of household chores to do alongside operating the radio, I didn't
work as much as I could have and each time I returned to the radio I would pick
off a few more loud Europeans.

Conditions seemed roughly equal both days, although I only worked North America
on the Sunday. The 12 Americans were all really weak so much that I could only
hear them with the array switched to fire in that direction. There was one west
coast logged before I finally called it a day. I doubt it was true F layer and
presume it was multi-hop E's for the handful of DX contacts.

The other nice ones were ZS, VR, FY and PY. I heard Andy, 5Z4/G3AB who had no
takers but think he had high noise level on 15m.

Overall, I learned a lot about phased verticals and will consider scaling them
up for the lower bands, perhaps in the future but definitely not from this
garden!

I also encountered a completely new type of QRM this weekend; a nearby wood
pigeon began cooing rather loudly at exactly the same pitch as my CW sidetone!
This became a real problem for all stations who were zero beat whilst the pesky
bird was calling!

Finally, if you haven't yet learn cut numbers invest some time and effort, don't
whinge about them. They are not a new concept: T=0 A=1 N=9 and you occasionally
hear E=5 as part of the RST or serial. Far from being rocket science.

Dez, M6W / G3WW

FT-1000MP 5w
1/4 wave phased verticals


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • [3830] WPX CW M6W(G3WW) SO(A)SB15 QRP, webform <=