Topbanders,
In spite of constant heavy QRN throughout the contest, I had a personal best
for the number of EU worked in one evening/night. Before this weekend my
best was 19 EU worked in a local evening / night. This weekend, Saturday
evening from 2222 to 0514 when I went to bed, I worked 33 EU stations,
representing 17 countries!
Because of family comings and goings I didn't get out to the shack until
about 2210. I turned on the radio and heard DR5X calling CQ! He was in the
log after one call. I did a few minutes of S & P-ing to check out the band.
At ~2230 I began calling CQ. The very first station to call me was UW2M! I
knew it was going to be a good night!
Generally, I don't like to call CQ on 160 because of my paranoia of being an
alligator. But after 5 or so EU stations called, I got a new shot of
"CQ-itis" and spent most of my time running. There were several stations I
simply could not separate from the QRN, and I'm sure there numerous others
that I never heard at all. So I apologize to those who tried but didn't make
it.
I experienced another first... A DK0 started calling "CQ test" zero-beat on
my run frequency. I tried my best to shoo him with the "QRL, pse QSY"
routine, all to no avail. He was loud enough that I could not have heard
weak stations, so I moved on. How's that for humiliation? Giving up a run
frequency to a DK while blasting with 1.5 kW!!
Speaking of alligators... There were a few out there. One HB9 simply could
not hear any of the EC major contest stations calling. On Sunday morning,
near my SR, there was an N7 (with a WC grid locator) CQ-ng with a 20 over
signal. I could not even get a hesitation from him!! Then there are the CQ
Machines that don't pause long enough to even get a "WS" out the door!
Once again, the SP proves to be a great contest. Thanks for all the Qs, and
a special thanks to all whose patience allowed me to ride out the static
crashes to get you in the log.
73 es HNY!
Jim - WS6X
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