CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST 2000
Call: OH6NIO Country: Finland
Mode: CW Category: Single Unlimited
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 29 34 1.17 5 26
80 97 147 1.52 12 57
40 191 348 1.82 31 89
20 810 2055 2.54 36 103
15 662 1451 2.19 32 91
10 512 1236 2.41 34 108
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 2301 5271 2.29 150 474 => 3,289,104
All reports sent were 59(9), unless otherwise noted.
Equipment Description:
Rigs: TS830S, IC765, 2x3-500ZG kW linear amplifier, relaybox for SO2R etc.
Tower #1:
10m band 5 element monoband yagi @ 39m (128ft)
15m band 5 over 5 element monoband yagis @ 33m & 42m (108ft & 138ft)
20m band 4 over 4 element monoband yagis @ 23m & 36m (75ft & 118ft)
40m band 2 element full size yagi @ 21m (69ft)
160m band inverted vee dipole on the higher guy wires feedpoint @ 33m
(108ft)
Tower #2:
10m band
4 element rotatable monoband yagi @ 35m (115ft)
6 element monoband yagi @ 16m (52ft) pointed to 270 degrees
3 element monoband yagi @ 12m (40ft) pointed to the EU
15m band
4 element monoband yagi @ 26m (85ft) pointed to W1
5 element monoband yagi @ 21m (69ft) pointed to Japan.
20m band
3 element monoband yagi @ 28m (92ft) pointed to Japan
3 element monoband yagi @ 18m (59ft) pointed to EU
40m band
2 element rotatable Cushcraft @ 33m (108ft) and a dipole
Between my towers I have a delta loop and a 2 element wire beam for 80m
Before the contest:
------------------
This time I was a little bit better prepared than for the SSB-part.
Nevertheless I was suffering from flu just the week before the contest
(and during the contest) so I could not finish my solid state amp for my
second rig in time. That made a full effort on SO2R an impossible task to
accomplish. Some antenna work was also to be finished some time later in
the future. I was also forced to run only 100W on 160m because my main
amplifier is not working on that particular band. I was not feeling very
great prior to the contest because it just wasn't going to be what I
originally planned.
I had been rebuilding my contest station very hard for almost 4 months so
I was a bit frustrated. Oh well! Feeling sorry for yourself is not going
to help you a bit I thought and I decided that I was going to try what I
could do with what I had my physical condition permitting. There would
always be the next contest season and then I would have my station better
prepared than ever. I would also take more exercise so that I would be in
top shape before the contest season.
Before the contest started I also thought that maybe I should try 15m
single band but that would only have been half the fun so it had to be an
all band effort.
The contest:
------------
I started the contest with mixed feelings on 20m but the lament melted
away as the QSO-rate started to climb higher. This is contest! With my
main radio running on 20m I made only a few QSOs with my second rig. My
condition did not allow me to fully utilize the 2nd rig.
The fun on 20m with good conditions to the states lasted until 06Z,
when I started to feel exhausted. I had to take a break to eat and drink
something and 0648Z I was back and QSY'd to 80m to work some good mults
from the carribbean. At 0721Z I was finished with 80m and QSY'd right
away to 40m. That resulted many nice mults from NA and CA.
Around 08Z I was not feeling very well and instead of going to 15m I was
going to my bed. After some 3 and half hours of sleep I woke up feeling
quite confused but I had to get up.
1130Z I had to QSY to 10m because it was open and I did not know if it
would be open again the next day. I knew that this would hurt my 15m
score a lot as it did. I had not made many contacts on 15m so far. 10m
was better than I had expected and I stayed there working USA until 1541Z.
During those hours I was not making many contacts on my 2nd rig.
1552Z I finally QSY'd to 15m and worked the states until 1803Z. No 2nd
radio QSOs during that period.
1819Z I then QSY'd to 20m but the band was not very good into the states.
I only S&P a few mults like GU, KH6, J3, ZF2.
1852Z It was time to milk 40m as there were still many easy mults to
catch. I quikly S&P mainly europe but there were some quite nice mults as
well. A few to name: ZS, ZC4, IH9, TA, V8, 9M6, KH2, VU, SU, BY and JT.
1949Z I made a QSY to 80m for some juicy mults like KH2, A61, EA6, ZC4,
HZ and S&P some european stations.
2057Z I was ready for the torture; 160m with just 100W! I knew that I
would miss many mults because it was not going to pay off calling the
stations time and time again. So I gave only 2 or 3 calls and if there was
no reply I thought that it was their loss. I had to keep going. There were
too many 59+20...30dB signals who did not even respond with a ?. Hats off
to CN8WW guys! You really had good ears on top band.
2144Z I then QSY'd to 15m to work some USA. A big surprise was RV9JR
coming at 2145Z. He was from zone 17 and that was even a double mult for
me! 2153Z KL7AC offered another double mult and then at 2206Z I worked my
first JA (JR0WZR) on 15m! Unfortunately there were not many other JA's
coming through. Other mults worked were 2228Z TF8GX and a surprise again
at 2233 UN9LY and then soon XE2MX. After 2330Z the 15m band started to
fade out and I S&P XQ3ZW, 3W2LWS and 9G5AA on 20m. On 15 I was still able
to work LU6UO at 2350Z for a double mult.
2355Z I QSY'd to 20m where I immediately worked VP2EST, HC8N and P43E.
Soon HS1RU and 9M2TO were also logged and I continued to S&P. Later some
good mults like YV, V2, BY among the others were worked. Then it was time
for me to try running USA. 20m was open into the states and the QSOs
amassed.
This is fun! Now the 2nd radio was working occasionally a few new mults on
160m and 80m. At 0335Z I could stay awake anymore and I almost started to
hallucinate. I really had to get some sleep although I should have been
QSYing to 15m.
0622Z I woke up and thought that I had overslept the opening on 80m. So I
rushed to 80m to find out that it was still open. I quikly S&P some USA
and nice mults like J3, HB0 and HC8 a few to name.
0653Z I QSY'd to 40m and it was wide open to the west. HI, VE, CT3, TF,
KP4, CO, D4 and ZL6 among the others were worked.
0810Z I skipped 15m again for 10m and that was probably a big mistake.
Then again when 10m is open it is hard to resist the temptation to work
there. I still needed many mult also on 10m. So soon I S&P mults like 8Q7,
KH0, VR2, HL, SU, YB, 5X, 9M6, DU etc. More than an hour later the band
was still open into the east and BV, ZL and HS0 were worked.
0942Z I had to QSY to 15m because I was sverely lacking too many mults
on that band. There was still some propagation into the far east, but it
was too late for any good runs into JA. Too many europeans were coming
back so running was not very productive. During this time period I was
working with my 2nd rig on 10m 1145Z FM, then OH0 and PY0F. At 12Z 15m was
not yet open into the states so my S&P produced following mults: KH0, 4K,
SV5, GD, 3V, EX, J3, CT3, A61, 5B, P2, ZB2 etc. 1229Z K1ZZ was the first
station from the states but 15m did not open very well into the states.
Meanwhile my 2nd rig was working a few mults on 20m. GJ, V8, ZL, HZ were
some of the mults logged. A real surprise on 15m was at 1435 when I worked
XV9SW and soon after that on 20m I worked T88JA and 9M6NA. The propagation
into the states fluctuated and at 1545 I made a brief S&P to fill my log
with VE2IM for Zone 2, CO, SU, OY, T9, D4 and TU.
1612Z I then QSY'd to 20m to work 3V, T9, FR5, 5B, A4, JY among the others.
20m was not open to USA so I had to run into EU/AF. After 18Z a brief S&P
produced more mults: YI, SU, TZ, 8Q and KH0.
1826Z Good time to QSY to check if I could snatch a few mults on 40m. A4,
9M2, T9 and a nice surprise KL7 were logged. Then 5A nad 3DA on 20m were
logged and soon I realize that 10m has some audible signals from the states.
1914Z I QSY'd to 10m and S&P HK0, KH6 and OA. Then I started to run and they
kept on coming. This is fun again! Last 10 rate was showing 255 but too soon
at around 20Z 10m took a deep dive but recovered slightly at 2020Z. 2039Z
K0IW was the last USA station worked.
2104Z The higher bands were quiet so I QSY'd to 40m where I started to call
CQ.
Only europian stations were coming back to me. After I snatched LX and FR5
I QSY to 80m because 40m sounded very poor. Too much time has passed on but
not too many QSOs have resulted.
2219Z On 80m first I logged A45XR and then P3A. The bands did sound very
poor.
2250Z I tried if 20m would start to open. It was still very poor but I
worked VU, EA8 and CX. Then later at 2312Z ZB2X was logged but band
remains very poor. The only delight happened at 2332 when I worked
VK6LW as a double mult. The last QSO in the contest with FY5KE was my
103rd mult on 20m. A new record on AB for me I guess.
The contest was over and I was much more tired than after the SSB weekend
although my time on was only about 40 hours. During the SSB part I only had
1,5 hours of sleep during the contest. Anyway I had a lot of fun and I was
glad that I did not operate a single band effort. Next year will be
different and I will try harder than ever to utilize SO2R to its fullest
potential. If only we could have good propagation throughout the whole
weekend.
Club Affiliation: CONTEST CLUB FINLAND
http://personal.inet.fi/koti/teijo.murtovaara/
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/3830
Submissions: 3830@contesting.com
Administrative requests: 3830-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-3830@contesting.com
|