CQ WORLD WIDE WPX CONTEST 1995
Call: N2BA Country: United States (195)
Mode: CW Category: Single Operator Low Power
Total Hours of Operation: 27.2
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/Q PREFIXES
160 0 0 0.0 0
80 34 144 4.2 21
40 334 1448 4.3 229
20 544 1356 2.5 234
15 49 139 2.8 23
10 0 0 0.0 0
--------------------------------------
Totals 961 3087 3.2 507 = 1,565,109
Equipment Description: IC-780 (JA version of 781), IC-761
80 M Inv. V at 90'
40 Cushcraft Shorty-40 at 100'
20 4/4 at 114' and 45'
15 4 at 70'
10 does it matter
KLM 7,10-30 LPDA for spotting on 40-10.
Remarks: Operated the first half of the contest like I should have then
knocked off for second half to pay attention to our house guests like
everyone else feels I should have all along.
I've discoverd the following things:
How much fun I'm having is more a function of how busy I am rather than
how many Q/hr.
If I don't run a linear, I can work with 2 rigs, no problem.
2 rigs and low power is a lot more work than 1 rig with an amp.
When I work harder I am much busier.
Therefore low power is more fun than high power. QED
This may just be rationalization since I blew up the amp 12 minutes before
ARRL CW and have been too lazy to even look at it since.
Anyway, I realy enjoyed the time I put in and really enjoyed the time I
didn't.
73, Brooke, N2BA -- n2ba@cnct.com
>From kn5hose@acca.nmsu.edu (kn5hose) Wed May 31 03:26:49 1995
From: kn5hose@acca.nmsu.edu (kn5hose) (kn5hose)
Subject: KN5H WPX CW Results
Message-ID: <199505310226.UAA02771@acca.nmsu.edu>
Band QSOs Points
160 0
80 0
40 534 2360
20 1113 1664
15 86 137
10 12 18
TOTAL 1745 4179 times 679 mults =
2,837,541 points
Antennas:
10M - 5 ele @ 90 ft
15M - 5 ele @ 85 ft
20M - 5 ele @ 78 ft
40M - 4 ele @ 80 ft
80
80M - Who cares
Operated at K7UP's neat-O stn. Had FB JA runs on 40, lousy 20 meters
during daytime; got to listen to East coast build up points. See you
next year.
73 de Hose KN5H and John K7UP
>From Randy Thompson <k5zd@iconics.com> Wed May 31 03:26:58 1995
From: Randy Thompson <k5zd@iconics.com> (Randy Thompson)
Subject: K5ZD WPX CW Story (Long message)
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.950530221928.1544B-100000@genesis.iconics.com>
This is a loooong message.
CQ WORLD WIDE PREFIX CONTEST -- 1995
Call: K5ZD Country: United States
Mode: CW Category: Single Operator
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/Q PREFIXES
160 13 58 4.5 4 1/4-wave GP
80 114 498 4.4 47 Inv Vee at 95'
40 741 3514 4.7 294 2-ele @110'
20 1327 3492 2.6 374 5-ele/5-ele @ 100'/50'
15 58 151 2.6 24 5-ele @70'
10 0 0 0.0 0
--------------------------------------
Totals 2253 7713 3.4 745 = 5,746,185
^^^^^
Behind every summary sheet is a story...
This contest began about 6 weeks ago when Bill, KM9P, asked if he could
come up and operate again. Condx have been pretty bad, and when he found
out what a ticket costs, he decided to pass. But he had gotten me
thinking about the contest. I was in need of a fix!
I decided that I wanted to make a serious effort. I even found a 2x1 call
that I could "borrow" for the weekend to improve my chances.
My wife had originally decided to go out of town for the weekend. But then
on Wed, she changed her mind. And she started putting on the pressure that
I didn't really need to operate this contest either (I am sure you married
guys know the routine). I did not have a good week of preparation with lots
of hours at work and not much sleep. Friday morning, I agreed that I would
"give up" the contest and just mess around.
I got home about 1 hour before the contest started. I cooked dinner and got
a final decision. This would NOT be a serious effort. I could operate but
she would let me know when it was time to quit for some "family time."
It didn't help that the weather outside was best so far this year.
I didn't want to use the "borrowed" call if I wasn't going to be serious,
so I started out using K5ZD (or KH7D, or KH8D, as many Europeans copied it).
I wanted to be able to compare notes with my neighbor W2SC (aka NR1E) so I
decided to do my operating as seriously as possible...for as long as I
could get.
It looked to me that the double points on LF were the secret to
success. I got a great start on 40 while listening to the competition
run on 20. The difference was my rate was worth double points! 40 turned
out to be fantastic both nights. I too had the hash noise reported by
K3ZO. It was frustrating but signals were probably that extra 3 db louder
up here so I could still run. Same on 20m Sunday. Still, it caused lots
of extra repeats.
80 was good but not much activity. Almost all of my QSOs there were S&P.
Just could not get anyone to call me. Did get one "run" of about 10 stations
on Sat night. It included 5Z4FO calling, with HZ1HZ right behind. Wow!
New England was blessed with incredible sunny clear wx all weekend so all the
static was coming from SW. My beverage was the difference in being able
to hear effectively. Even used it on 40 once or twice.
The signals on 160 both nights were great. G3LNS was booming the first
night. Everyone was loud the second. Unfortunately, there just wasn't
much activity and I couldn't spend much time.
Went to bed Friday at 0715z (milked those LF Europeans as long as I could).
Set the alarm for our sunrise (0845). Never heard it -- but a miracle
occurred as I woke up at 0930!!!
Contest was basically single band 20 all day. Used the second radio to
periodically tune up and down 15 for the occasional new LU or PY. Took an
hour off around mid-day to refresh and eat lunch.
Despite the comments to the contrary here on the reflector, I do use
prop forecasts to help make strategy decisions. I had good info from
several sources (tnx KY1H) that a disturbance was expected Monday but it
might appear earlier. So I made the decision to operate as much as possible
the first day, then burn off time on Sunday. It worked perfectly as
condx were still good Sunday, but the rate was way off.
Worked lots of Europeans that weren't moving the S-meter. Sure wish some of
them would learn to send numbers. Nothing more frustrating to have to
ask for multiple repeats because the guy wouldn't send the number the same
way twice. Or because QSB would get the same digit each repeat. Urrrrgh!
I didn't know what the record score was, but I had the last few years of
results out on the table. By lunch Saturday, it was looking really good
compared to the previous scores. I begged my wife to let me continue and
she grudgingly agreed (I still don't know how much it is going to cost
me!).
My second "miracle" occured on Sunday morning. I went to sleep around 06z
with the alarm again set for 0845z. I woke up about 1015z! No alarm.
I looked at the clock again to discover that it was showing 6:15PM, but the
alarm was set to 4:45 AM!!!! I can't believe I woke up TWICE during a
contest with no alarm. I knew I was going to win right then.
Sunday was slow but steady. Got to watch most of the Indy 500 while either
pushing F1 or killing off time. This would be an incredibly fun contest
if it had better activity.
Existing USA Single op record was 5.3M by KM1H in 1992. My 5.7M looks like
a new one. Biggest factor in breaking the record was the high number of
QSOs on the LF bands. Look at those points/QSO ratios! We also probably
had as good of condx as we could get for this contest. AD5Q was right.
It is better for the Northeast when we are the only ones getting across the
pond.
I really enjoyed this contest for several reasons.
- It was something new for me (I haven't done it seriously in 10 years).
- It was always "easy" to get and hold a frequency (as compared to WW or
ARRL).
- I enjoyed the extra strategy of the off times. Plus I felt better since
the off times forced me to sleep both nights.
- I liked the serial numbers to be able to track KF3P, NR1E and K3ZO.
Kind of like Sweepstakes, wondering how their numbers related to off
time, etc.
Let's see if you have learned anything from these messages I post after
each contest.
How do you win from W1?
A) By working Europe all the time, any time, any band
B) By calling CQ and running Europe
C) By working more Europeans than everyone else
D) All of the above
Continent Statistics
160 80 40 20 15 10 ALL percent
North America CW 4 38 177 187 11 0 417 18.5
South America CW 0 4 14 12 28 0 58 2.6
Europe CW 9 69 534 999 18 0 1629 72.3 <<====
Asia CW 0 1 7 119 0 0 127 5.6
Africa CW 0 2 6 5 1 0 14 0.6
Oceania CW 0 0 4 5 0 0 9 0.4
BREAKDOWN QSO/mults K5ZD CQ WORLD WIDE PREFIX CONTEST Single Operator
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
0 ..... ..... 107/93 10/10 ..... ..... 117/103 117/103
1 . . 77/53 13/11 . . 90/64 207/167
2 . 5/4 59/32 7/6 . . 71/42 278/209
3 6/3 52/25 . 3/2 . . 61/30 339/239
4 . 19/9 48/19 2/2 . . 69/30 408/269
5 . 4/3 44/28 3/3 . . 51/34 459/303
6 . . 16/11 24/9 . . 40/20 499/323
7 . . . 6/3 . . 6/3 505/326
8 ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 505/326
9 . . 2/2 17/7 . . 19/9 524/335
10 . . 2/2 93/33 . . 95/35 619/370
11 . . 2/2 93/41 . . 95/43 714/413
12 . . . 74/28 3/1 . 77/29 791/442
13 . . . 65/23 . . 65/23 856/465
14 . . . 47/14 7/4 . 54/18 910/483
15 . . . 69/14 . . 69/14 979/497
16 ..... ..... ..... 48/12 5/3 ..... 53/15 1032/512
17 . . . 7/2 3/0 . 10/2 1042/514
18 . . . 53/9 4/3 . 57/12 1099/526
19 . . . 64/15 1/1 . 65/16 1164/542
20 . . . 66/15 1/0 . 67/15 1231/557
21 . . . 71/17 3/2 . 74/19 1305/576
22 . . 2/1 57/10 . . 59/11 1364/587
23 . . 64/8 7/3 . . 71/11 1435/598
0 ..... ..... 50/7 2/2 ..... ..... 52/9 1487/607
1 . . 49/11 8/5 . . 57/16 1544/623
2 7/1 29/6 5/3 2/1 . . 43/11 1587/634
3 . 5/0 53/4 1/1 . . 59/5 1646/639
4 . . 70/3 2/2 . . 72/5 1718/644
5 . . 24/7 . . . 24/7 1742/651
6 . . . . . . . 1742/651
7 . . . . . . . 1742/651
8 ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 1742/651
9 . . . . . . . 1742/651
10 . . 3/2 16/4 . . 19/6 1761/657
11 . . . 57/15 . . 57/15 1818/672
12 . . . 52/7 . . 52/7 1870/679
13 . . . 16/9 22/5 . 38/14 1908/693
14 . . . 3/1 . . 3/1 1911/694
15 . . . 42/6 3/2 . 45/8 1956/702
16 ..... ..... ..... 49/7 ..... ..... 49/7 2005/709
17 . . . 4/2 . . 4/2 2009/711
18 . . . 7/0 1/1 . 8/1 2017/712
19 . . . 31/3 3/2 . 34/5 2051/717
20 . . . 55/1 1/0 . 56/1 2107/718
21 . . . 59/15 1/0 . 60/15 2167/733
22 . . 30/3 17/1 . . 47/4 2214/737
23 . . 34/3 5/3 . . 39/6 2253/743
DAY1 6/3 80/41 423/251 899/289 27/14 ..... ..... 1435/598
DAY2 7/1 34/6 318/43 428/85 31/10 . . 818/145
TOT 13/4 114/47 741/294 1327/374 58/24 . . 2253/743
BREAKDOWN in mins/QSO's per hr K5ZD CQ WORLD WIDE PREFIX CONTEST Single
Operator
DAY1 0.2/37 1.3/62 5.3/80 13.1/68 0.5/53 ..... ..... 20.4/70
DAY2 0.2/43 0.7/50 6.0/53 7.7/55 0.8/39 . . 15.3/53
TOT 0.3/40 2.0/58 11.3/66 20.9/64 1.3/45 . . 35.7/63
See you in the fall!
Randy Thompson, K5ZD
---------------------------------------------
Note new address (9 Dec 94): k5zd@iconics.com
---------------------------------------------
>From kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) Wed May 31 07:39:25 1995
From: kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) (Tyler Stewart)
Subject: 95 WPX Score - N3RS
Message-ID: <199505310639.CAA25116@cais.cais.com>
>Saddest Story:
> My favorite band, 40M, was nearly useless for the majority of
> the prime time. Some sort of roaring noise covered the entire
> band with a peak signal level of over S-9. I normally copy many
> signals on 40 that are just above the noise, but at S-6 to S-9,
> that removed most of my run potential. This was most frustrat-
> ing and nearly caused me to quit. The noise also appeared on
> 20M, but was much weaker and far less annoying.
>de Sig, N3RS
>(longing for some sunspots!)
>
Sig, I think we've all been suffering thru that roaring noise on 40...it also
shows up on 20 as you said, but at manageable levels. That's been going on for
quite a while now and W3LPL, Frank says it's probably spurious from a broadcast
station. I've noticed it appears and disappears on certain half hour intervals.
I used it's appearance on 40 as an excuse to suffer thru slower rates on 80
working the bigger signals that I could hear...after an hour or so it went away
and I went back to 40.
You'd think they would have fixed that problem by now...I think it's been going
on for at least a couple of months!
73 and GL in the "contest" de Tyler KF3P@cais.com
>From k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM) Wed May 31 08:29:36 1995
From: k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM) (John Zapisek K2MM)
Subject: Just Rumors
Message-ID: <9505310729.AA15392@greylock.local>
> [Bob/N6TV] Recently K5ZD posted a note to the cq-contest reflector
> suggesting that the League might be considering a reduction of contest
> coverage in QST, perhaps moving most of it to the NCJ.
I didn't hear him say that. But I *have* read a lot of the-sky-is-faling
postings saying that someone had said that. Funny how rumors grow.
But it really has been a good thread.
> Actually, it was posed more like a, "What if?"
Actually, it was posed *exactly* like a what-if. In fact, it WAS a what-if.
> [Randy/K5ZD] Before you get excited, I have no "inside" information that
> any of the above is being planned.
Well, I guess we contesters are a somewhat overly excitable bunch. Right,
Bob? :-)
> [N6TV] Mark [Wilson, AA2Z, QST Editor] assured K6WR [Brad Wyatt, Pacific
> Division Director] that there is absolutely no plan to reduce contest
> reporting in QST . . .
It's good to know that Randy and the League agree on this point.
73. --John/K2MM
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