CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB - 2023
Call: WX3B
Operator(s): WX3B N8IVN K1RH WA3AER WR3R WM3A KC3VBZ KC3EMA WT3K NY3A
Station: WX3B
Class: M/M HP
QTH: Maryland
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 32 5 9
80: 270 19 73
40: 578 24 92
20: 1864 36 127
15: 2240 36 130
10: 1518 33 126
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Total: 6502 153 557 Total Score = 12,454,820
Club: 90% PVRC, 10% FRC
Comments:
2023 CQWW DX SSB Summary
The excitement and anticipation leading up to this year’s CQWW DX SSB contest
was incredible. Band conditions, for weeks – were spectacular, and I knew
they were likely to be excellent in the contest.
Our team was formed a little late than usual, and it looked like we were going
to be under-staffed. Fortunately, we had several new guests that immediately
stepped up to the plate and made up the difference.
Anie, KC3VBZ previously enjoyed a 13 colony event at WX3B and she is also a
veteran of Brian N3OC’s team. Anie agreed to join us for the most difficult
shift: Saturday night until Sunday mid-morning. I heard from a very credible
friend (Steve NY3A) – that Anie’s voice gave her a competitive edge and she
was blood-thirsty, latching onto the multipliers – something we were sorely
lacking since all of us simply had a run-fest Saturday day. Welcome to the
team, Anie – I hope you had fun – you did quite well and I was impressed
you spent the ENTIRE NIGHT on the radio!
Steve, NY3A has completed his second (or was it his 3rd) year of operating with
our team – and he even stopped by Sunday afternoon to make sure we were doing
well. For a CW guy that dislikes SSB, Steve is one heck of an SSB contester –
and he can really hold his own. Evidently he is also a good instructor!!
Dale, WM3A returned to WX3B and assigned himself the night shift both nights
until about 1:00am+. There were reports of difficult conditions on the
night-time bands, however our team set a new high score on them anyway. Dale,
I’m glad you enjoyed your time at WX3B and helped improve our low band
scores.
Dennis, N8IVN did the Saturday day “hot seat” duty on the high bands and
enjoyed some excellent runs!! It is always fun to watch Dennis run stations –
and watch the smile on his face grow larger as the size of his pileup also grows
larger.
Rob, K1RH attended the sunrise services on both Saturday and Sunday until
mid-day, and he made plenty of QSOs on the RED HOT high bands in the process.
Rob also had the misfortune of trying to get the 10 meter amplifier to wake up
after it had quietly blow a fuse on Saturday night. Rob reported smoke on one
side and sparks on the other before shutting the amp down several seconds later.
A spare amp was wheeled into service and performed flawlessly. The lesson
learned here is never brag about not having a catastrophic amplifier failure –
it finally happened.
Ted, WA3AER was the true IRON MAN of this contest, and was 100% on campus for
the entire event. Ted was the only operator to earn that distinction this year.
I bet Ted made QSOs on most if not all of the 6 bands this weekend. I’m
confident he is excited about his next SSB pileup – good work, Ted!
Gary, WR3R pioneered a new success formula for his difficult, all-night
operations both Friday and Saturday night. He simply went home to sleep and
get set up for the next shift, rather than spend the entire time on the WX3B
campus. It seemed to have worked well for him, because he appeared well rested
at the END of the contest. Gary was the only overnight operator who stayed
awake BOTH NIGHTS!! This, after he had sworn he was not going to stay up all
night.
Jay, KC3EMA visited the station on Saturday night and he became a fan of the new
SDRPlay inspired spectral displays that now live within N1MM+. Jay also enjoyed
making some QSOs. On Sunday, I received photos of Jay’s own N1MM+ spectral
display, which magically did not require an external SDR to create. He simply
used his Icom IC-7300 and directly attached it to N1MM+. This is one of the few
radios that actually do that. The rest of us have to buy separate SDR
receivers!! Note: WX3B needs an SDRPlay and N1MM+ expert – my SDRs – which
have great sensitivity outside of N1MM+, is pretty deaf through the N1MM+
spectral scope interface – it is missing all the medium and weak signals.
Daryl, WT3K inquired about operating opportunities at the perfect time, as we
were lightly staffed on Sunday, and I knew we would all be tired. Daryl, who
actually prefers CW, did a very credible job on SSB and made quite a few QSOs on
several bands. Adding Daryl to the team gave us all a better balance of our
“operate”/take breaks opportunities. I saw Daryl’s face light up as was
joyfully finding double-multipliers on 10 meters near the end of the contest.
Welcome Daryl, I hope you will consider joining our team in the future.
Overall, I was happy with the band conditions on 10, 15 & 20 meters. 40 was
also in good condition, however 80 & 160 felt more difficult from my
station this year. Several operators noted that they couldn’t get any runs
going on 75m this year (unusual) and of course we only made a few QSOs on 160.
This was our second highest score to date in the contest (missed setting a new
record by 200,000 points!), and our best aggregated performance on the low
bands.
Thanks to my many friends around the world for cheering us on, spotting us,
making Facebook posts on our page, and most of all, making actual QSOs with
us!!
73,
Jim WX3B
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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