Bill,
I didn’t forget anything. My response was generalized because I couldn’t
possibly express all the differences by band, by antennas and by qth region
that I have seen and experienced in more than 300+ SOAB efforts plus another 50
or so single band efforts encompassing CQWW, ARRLDX, WPX, IARU, WAE and the 10
meter contests over the past 45 years. Nor did I want to have to address the
changes in propagation by region from one mode to the other between CQWW,
ARRLDX and ESPECIALLY WPX. Of course I left stuff out. It is impossible to
address all the relevant similarities and differences in one brief contest
reflector post – it would take an entire BOOK!
Having said that, I can’t even count the number of times that I listened to you
(from Florida) run EU on 20 and 40 during openings when I couldn’t even hear a
whisper. I also remember listening to KR0Y run EU on 20 during EU sunrise at
the top of the cycle from WM5G (or N5AU) that KC1F operating from K1EA and I
operating from KM1H couldn’t even hear! Jeff won ARRLDX SSB because of that
opening. K3LR milked a similar opening from K3TUP the year he won ARRLDX SSB
(1991 I think). K4ZW has won CQWWSSB twice I think and Bill KM9P won CQWWCW
from GA. N5RZ won WPXCW in the early-mid ‘80’s twice I believe.
Yes, these guys are great ops and most were at great stations, but they also
had propagation better than I did from W1, or W2 where I was operating from
that weekend because they were running EU stations for hours that I could not
even hear during EU sunrise when the band was closed for New England!
And then there was the extraordinary and likely never to be repeated CQWWSSB
win by WA6VEF from AI6V in 1983.
And then there were the CQWW and ARRLDX wins from the mid-Atlantic states in
the mid – late ‘80s – K0DQ operating from W3GRF, and others.
Before all of those wins, I remember ~35 years ago talking to KR0Y, KM9P and
maybe WC4E outside an elevator in the Crowne Plaza at Dayton and I told them
that I KNEW that CQWW, ARRLDX could be won outside of New England and the
Northeast – that all it would take was a highly motivated and highly skilled op
operating from a top-notch station on the right weekend, and that the ONLY
reason that it had not happened yet was because everyone thought it was
impossible, so therefore the right ops hadn’t bothered to operate with the
right mentality to WIN. They thought I was nuts and told me so. Funny though
how it was only a few years later when all the non-New England wins started.
Why? Because of the combination of highly skilled ops, operating from
World-class stations operating on the right weekend and then beating EVERYONE
in New England and everywhere else. Equally funny was the amnesia that they
had when I reminded them of what I had told them that night in Dayton just a
few years before. There was no magic – I had figured out what it would take to
win outside of New England – it was just a matter of other very talented and
motivated guys figuring it out too and deciding to go DO IT instead of making
excuses about why it couldn’t be done. That was the point. I would like to
think that I motivated those guys that night by (nicely) challenging them.
In EVERY sunspot cycle, the right op at the right station (outside of New
England) on the right weekend can win CQWW or ARRLDX, or WPX (especially WPXCW)
or IARU. BUT, it will be harder now than in the 1980’s of 1990’s because there
are more EU ops than ever before and the New England superstations are more
built up and further East than ever before. And we all know that there are far
fewer JA’s on now than back then. Advantage New England for sure! But I STILL
say that in EVERY cycle, the right op operating at the right station on the
right weekend can WIN one of those DX contests! But if no one good enough is
on, then it will not happen. Will it mean that it couldn’t have been done?
NOPE! Only that the right op didn’t try from the right station on the right
weekends.
BTW, the one less hour of darkness that you mention means one additional hour
of daylight – when the bands drop out here and we can’t work the Pacific or
Asian mults on on 20 or 15, and guys to the South and West do. And then they
could run for Asia/Pacific stations as a slow pace for 1 – 2 hours while we
have to fight to the death for a frequency and terrible qrn on 40 or 80. I
won’t even talk about 160 or the fact that by the time you get darkness the MUF
is already below 7 mhz in New England at this time of the sunspot cycle. If
you don’t have a big yagi on 40 or are near to the coast qth in New England you
might as well be watching tv for all the good it will do to operate. That is
when I used to sleep for a few hours.
Of course we GENERALLY get more Europe than anyone further away, we should, we
are closer. And yes that translates into more EU mults across all the bands.
But look at the CQWWCW mults – the highest mult totals are frequently NOT in
New England, and the highest zone totals are definitely not most of the time.
But also look at the stations that you are comparing against. Most of the
competitive New England stations are BIG – MUCH BIGGER than my station. And
their qth’s are MUCH BETTER than mine. That combination is significantly
better than most of the guys in the rest of the country who do SOABHP. And
most of the ops are REALLY good at running EU and maximizing mults and passing
them. It is NOT an equal comparison even BEFORE you get to differences in
propagation.
If it weren’t for KM9P, KR0Y, and K4ZW, a lot of contesters would STILL believe
that it was impossible to win the big DX contests outside of New England, even
though it was never really impossible at all – it was all in the perception -
“I believe that it is impossible for me to win, therefore it is impossible for
anyone else to win”.
A champion says “I can DO it – I CAN WIN”. And then he builds the station,
develops the skill and operates enough so that he is ready on that weekend when
the propagation gods shine on his qth.
73
Bob KQ2M
From: Bill via CQ-Contest
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2018 7:54 PM
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] WRTC Qualifying
Come on Bob, being in Al or FL is an advantage to work JA and VK, true.
However, no way can it make up for the multitude of countries and QSOs that are
available in EU, especially on 160 and 80. I'm only 4000 miles from JA out
here in KH6, and would gladly exchange the NY EU runs for my much slower JA,
BY, YB, HS runs from KH6. The quantity is just not there, even with my
outstanding location.
You forgot one other thing too. Being in AL or FL means that we get almost one
hour less darkness at the end of Oct and Nov to get all those 40, 80 and 160
mults and countries. Even the ARRL DX contests have that issue. The only time
AL, FL have equal darkness is for WPX SSB. And no, the extra hour of light is
not a big deal for AL/FL on 10, 15 or 20 especially at this point of the cycle.
I once had a big time contester come down from NY to do a multi-single. He
listened on 80 and wanted to know when the signals got better/stronger. I
broke the news to him. That was a strong as they got. He was quite
disappointed. End of story.
Bill K4XS/KH7XS
. The same way that being in Alabama should provide a BIG advantage vs. New
England to working Japan, Southeast Asia, UA9/0 and the Pacific even though
there are not as many stations to work.I’m sure that 100 miles North or South
makes a big difference on some DX paths in Alabama too but that it is less
noticeable until that 100 miles gives you a nice water path somewhere and then
you will REALLY notice the difference.
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