CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2021
Call: P49Y
Operator(s): AE6Y
Station: P49Y
Class: SOAB HP
Class Overlay: Classic
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 30
40: 1120
20: 510
15: 1072
10:
------------
Total: 2732 Prefixes = 990 Total Score = 11,416,680
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
I got off to a bad start Friday night on 40, on a very crowded band with a lot
of atmospheric noise (which calmed down later) and an op feeling very rusty and
uncoordinated (the op calmed down later, also). I was seriously discouraged, but
forced myself to remember that Friday nights are usually the hardest in contests
from here. Needless to say, once I got in the contest groove, it became much
more fun.
And some friendly assistance from the ionosphere certainly helped greatly. 40,
20, and 15 were all in great shape here. It was particularly fun to work 20
near midnight and get the old-fashioned, high-sunspot over the pole propagation
to deep Russia and Asia. I could easily have spent a lot more time enjoying
dx-ing on 20, but the classic category forces choices. 15 produced my highest
hourly rates Saturday afternoon. 80 was very noisy and unproductive compared to
40. I never tried 10, because the opening I did hear Sunday morning seemed to
be shallow and focused on the East Coast, so there was no point in experimenting
while 15 was hot.
Early in the first hour, while looking for a frequency on 40, I called P44W, and
I think I may have made one more S&P contact in the contest. But other than
those, I only turned the tuning knob to try to find a clear frequency, and my
contest procedure this time was 100% running.
I was using a K4 field test unit borrowed (with Elecraft's consent) from N6XI
(thanks, Rick!), and it was pleasure to use the new, colorful and more
computer-controlled display. In general, it's backwards compatible with a K3
for external connections, so is very easy to get it working if you are used to a
K3. The Elecraft crew have been working on this radio for quite a while, and
their work has paid off with a very user-friendly and technically top-notch
radio. Thanks guys for the loan!
Our new suite of antennas from just barely pre-Covid times worked great, and the
directionality on 20 and 15 was helpful in narrowing the pileups somewhat,
which often came from NA and EU at the same time.
I have enjoyed the classic category in CQWW DX contests on several occasions,
and thought it would be fun in WPX as well, now that it is officially a 24-hour
category. There's always off-time strategy calls to be made in this contest in
the SO category for 36-hour operation, and even more so for 24. I also enjoy
getting some real sleep time, and the feeling that if you are going crazy and
just need a break, or want to enjoy a leisurely meal, you can just take an hour
off and not feel guilty about the non-radio timeout.
The social scene on Aruba is slowly inching towards normalcy. It's still a pain
to have to get tested before coming (within 72 hours of flight time, the Aruba
requirement), and then get tested again before leaving (within three days of
flight time, the CDC requirement). At least on the latter front, there are now
a multitude of convenient 7-day a week walk-in test sites, and John, W2GD, and I
went to the same one in slow contest time Sunday morning for our exit test.
On this visit it's been fun to see some Aruba regulars: JP, P43A, and Cris,
P43C; John, W2GD/P44W; John KK9A/P40A; Lisandro P43L and Lissette. On my last
visit in October, social interactions were sharply reduced by a curfew and
strict restaurant social distancing protocols, but these are in the process of
being lifted, so we'll be able to have our usual good times here.
Thanks as always to co-owner John, W6LD, and soon to be returning after
vaccination Ed, W0YK, for their station maintenance efforts and to Cris and JP
for their work on the house.
And thanks to everyone around the world for all for the great contest
participation this year.
Full write-up will be on our website: www.arubaqth.com (this will be our 173d
contest listing!)
73, Andy, AE6Y, P49Y
Rig: K4, Alpha 91B
Ant: JK 4 el 20/2 el 40 at 65 ft, JK Mid-Tri at 45 ft, JK 5 el 15 at 55 ft, 80m
inv. vee, beverages
S/W CQPWIN ver. 13.1
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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