CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2022
Call: WX0B
Operator(s): AD5Q
Station: WX0B
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Dallas
Operating Time (hrs): 44:34
OpMode: 2BSIQ
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 37 12 21
80: 93 14 42
40: 976 30 87
20: 601 31 82
15: 1006 31 98
10: 250 26 68
------------------------------
Total: 2963 144 398 Total Score = 4,286,678
Club: DFW Contest Group
Comments:
Not sure I did this one right. Conditions were not great, and poor on 80/160. I
was skeptical of any 10m opening because I have long believed that it takes a
solar flux upwards of 140 to really open EU. Anything less and we (and not the
east coast) miss its more eastern time zone (eg. all of zone 16). And the band
closes early. Adjusting to conditions is part of the game.
For all of day one I was able to work around these limitations. Attempts to run
either EU or JA on 80 failed, and no EU was heard on 160. In the end, only 5
EU's on 160 (and no JA - wow!). 40 made up for all this, and that's where I
ran.
In the few hours around sunrise we had major rain (not lightning) and very few
signals on the band were above the noise on the panadapter when listening on the
stacks. I switched to the SAL-30 and was able to continue the JA run on 40 at
decent rate. I would have rather been on 20 because the EU run was peaking
there.
The rain ended and I was late to the party on 20. Quickly switched to 2BSIQ on
20/15 and ran the rate into the 200's without breaking a sweat. But it was
already time for 10. Was trying to run both 10 & 15, but nearly all the
callers were on 15 so went to regular SO2R for 10m. Since the rates were high on
15, that's hard to do and sweeping the whole band for mults during peak time is
just a dream. I never found a point in time where rates on 10 were worth leaving
15, and was able to test the waters there with 2BSIQ without leaving the good
run. So I ended the first day with good numbers on just 2 bands - 40 & 15.
The second day would fix all that? At least that was the plan.
I never found any kind of run rate on 80, and 40 didn't start running until
later in the night. Lot's of attempts + frustration. I took my first break after
33 hours, which for me is typical (as is the brain fog following any break).
What are those beeps? Aren't I supposed to engage with them somehow? Why? How?
The morning EU runs started out well, but I started having trouble holding
frequencies and keeping the rate up. I don't fully understand why. But during
the period when 10m died a lot of ops with good numbers on 10 (eg. east coast)
suddenly needed a frequency on 15. I got clubbed several times and had to find
new frequencies. Reasons varied. Was swamped with key clicks, or crowded off my
freq by a well known EU M/M call. When I went high in the band, an FT8 guy
figured out that I wouldn't stay long if I couldn't hear anything and I would
never get his callsign. What REALLY bothered me was getting bullied off my run
freq by another very well known contester who had only sent one CQ. Guys, when
you jump somebody's frequency it's a mistake and you find another one - OR - you
are on their s-list for life. Who can simply forget? This also happened to me in
the SS (different op).
At about 1700z on Sunday I was hit with a confluence of exhaustion, frustration,
bewilderment & resignation since my 2nd break wasn't expected for another 2
hours. I somehow got past this and finished the contest with a relaxing Asian
run on 15. Mults would be significantly higher if I had found just 30 minutes of
a good run on either 10 or 80. I missed some easy ones.
Roy -- AD5Q
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