CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2020
Call: N9NB
Operator(s): N9NB
Station: N9NB
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: va
Operating Time (hrs): 34
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 54 12 28
80:
40:
20:
15:
10:
------------------------------
Total: 1698 124 320 Total Score = 2,107,668
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Wow, that was fun!!
The CQWW CW contest is my absolute favorite, especially since it comes around
Thanksgiving. My first serious CW CQWW contest operations occurred when I was
just starting in college at Purdue, and I would make the trek to Dave Zeph's
W9ZRK (now W9PA) in Indianapolis where we used the N9MM multi multi call. There
were some great ops in that multi/multi team, such as W9RE and N9RV, who were my
contest mentors of sorts back then (I was still a teenager). The nostalga of
Thanksgiving break in college, and getting together with the gang at N9MM,always
brings a smile to my face as it was a wonderful part of my life when I was
young. And like back then, thanksgiving leftovers have provided the sustenance
during my more recent CQWW CW weekends, something I truly enjoy.
The conditions this weekend provided a wonderful way to end the 2-year WRTC
qualifying cycle, and seemed markedly better than last month's phone contest.
The 15 M opening on Sunday was terrific (I missed the Saturday morning opening
due to sleep) and the low bands were very quiet, with the 2-el vertical array
playing like magic on 80 and 160. 40M was my work horse, where the 2 2-element
yagis played well and allowed me to work everything I could hear. The only zone
I missed was zone 28, never could find a YB CQ'ing, just heard a couple passing
by in search/pounce mode (very different from last month when several YB
stations called CQ in phone).
On Friday, I drove several hours to get to the Riner, VA station, arriving just
a few hours before the contest start, and I was tired from the long drive (and
still full from Thanksgiving turkey!)..... I started the contest strong, but got
tired quickly and went to sleep 4 hours in, and slept through the first day's EU
sunrise opening as well as the US sunrise opening (What a blunder, I thought)! I
sensed the weekend was going to be a disappointment given my huge miss on major
QSO opportunities, but the conditions were so fine that it helped me keep the
intensity for the 2nd day of the contest and I was happy overall with the qso
rate and experience. I don't ever recall working so many JA's on 20 and 40 from
the east coast, and I finally worked a JA on 80m!
Conditions seemed so much better than last month's phone contest, and this
weekend I was able to run and keep a frequency virtually the entire time. I
haven't experienced conditions this good in years. 17 zones on 10 meters and 23
zones on 15 meters using low power -- that was a lot of fun-- thanks to great
conditions!
Thanks to everyone for the Q's and thanks to CQ and the organizers for
coordinating and arranging the event.
I am hoping that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and found things to be
thankful for in this crazy Covid-ridden world. My birthday always lands around
Thanksgiving, and this year Thanksgiving and my birthday coincided, and it was a
big birthday for me - one of those big round numbers that look mighty large in
print, and cause you to realize your own mortality and the finite-ness of life
on earth. I'm so thankful we have ham radio, and friends across the world in
this wonderful hobby, so we can immerse ourselves into the magic of traveling
across the airwaves. During the contest, I seem to forget about all of the daily
woes and stresses of life.
Very 73 and hope to work you in the next one!
ted n9nb
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