ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: P40W
Operator(s): W2GD
Station: P40W
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 43.5
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 417 58
80: 880 58
40: 1110 59
20: 1311 59
15: 1488 59
10: 167 35
-------------------
Total: 5373 328 Total Score = 5,282,112
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Equipment: IC756ProII, Titan Amp. (1KW) Win-Test Logging Software
Antennas: 160M Vertical Dipole, 160/80 Inverted V, 2 ele 40M wire beam,
Force 12 4 ele 20M, Cushcraft 4 el 15M, Force 12 5 ele 10M, Force 12 C4
tribander + 40M
Beverages NW, N, NE
Sometimes it just comes down to being lucky. A few examples:
>Despite waking up an hour late on the morning of departure, I still managed to
make my 6:35 a.m. flight to San Juan without attracting the attention of local
law enforcement during a 'high rate' trip to Newark Airport, some 60 miles
away.
>Departed just hours before arrival of a snow/sleet/freezing rain storm that
paralyzed ground and air travel in the region for the following 36 hours. Just
lucky I'd booked a Tuesday and not a Wednesday departure two months earlier.
>On Sunday morning I overslept despite a pair of very loud alarm clocks blaring
two feet away from my head. Just lucky I woke up only an hour later.
Whew....disaster avoided.
>Late Sunday afternoon, I'd departed 10M to resume running on 15M, thinking the
rather mediocre 10M opening wasn't worth more time. It was only at the
insistence of AA1K that I returned to 10M and ended up catching the best part
of the conditions and another 12 multipliers. Again....just lucky.
Went into the contest in what I considered an under-rested state. An attempt
to sleep Friday afternoon was largely unsuccssful. Maybe I managed an hour of
fitful sleep at best. Got up an hour before the start. Immediated found that
one ear of my Heil headset was not working. Frantically diagnosed the problem
and made repairs to the cord/connector. Thank god for clip leads and Scotch 33
electrical tape.
Then just minutes before the start I also discovered the computer and rig
weren't talking to each other. Didn't have time to diagnose this problem, so
ended up manually changing bands on Win-Test for the first 24+ hours. BTW, I
really enjoy using the Win-Test logging software. It offers an easy transition
from CT. Give it a test drive!
Prior to the contest I'd decided to start on 40 meters, after experiencing
rather poor results on 20M during the first hour the past two years. Never
even listened to 20M this time - only to find out from P49Y the next morning
that he had a 200 hour on 20! Damn.....
Fortunately the first hour on 40 yielded a healthy 194 QSOs, and the second
hour another 193 more contacts made it into the log. This was one of my best
starts in an ARRL DX CW - ever.
P49Y and I 'timeshare' 160M every other hour since we are only 1 mile apart. My
first trip to 160 was at 0200. The band was dead quiet, an S-2 noise
floor...perfect conditions. When the smoke cleared at the end of the hour, 177
contacts in 48 sectons had been put in the log. WHAT A RUSH! It felt like 20M.
Never had to turn down the keyer speed (36 wpm) even once.
Followed up the 160 assult with a huge 205 hour on 80M (and another 48 mults
there too). Low band conditions don't get much better than this from the
southern Caribbean!
The next several hours were 143, 158, 95 and 100 respectively, as I moved every
30 minutes or so between 160, 80, and 40. The mults kept coming. By the end of
the first night I had pretty much maxed out mults on 160 and 80 with 58 each
(never heard VE4, not sure if the far north VE8s or VO1 were active) and 57
mults on 40M. Felt getting ahead of the multipler curve the first night lifted
some pressure from my shoulders. Found some of the more difficult mults like DC
and ND easier to work this year, especially on the low bands. Thanks guys.
On the downside, it was during this timeframe I discovered a serious amplifier
problem, When operating the low bands, I use beverages for rx nearly 100% of
the time. By chance I switched to the TX antenna on 40M and heard DEAD SILENCE.
The exact cause is yet to be determined, but I strongly suspect the vacuum relay
in the Titan wasn't releasing normally. Experienced this same problem last
year, it is intermittent and only happens after several hours of continual
operation of the amp. Unfortunately it would continue to come and go without
warning and for random periods of 5 seconds to 15 minutes the remainder of the
weekend. At 0900 I found P49Y on 160 and made arrangements to drive over to
his station after sunrise and borrow an amplifier for backup. As it turned out
I managed to get through the remainder of the contest without putting the
borrowed amp on line, by using the beverages for RX on all bands, but it was
very reassuring having the amp available if needed. TNX again Andy!
Made my first appearance on 20M at 1300. Was pleasantly surprised to find rate
awaiting me, since the 1200 to 1600 period is normally the Caribbean "duldrums"
when US stations are working EU. Put 164 qsos in the log that first hour on
20M, felt like I was in dream, this never happens! Stuck with 20 for about 90
minutes, before sliding up to 15M where the rate was even better.
The 1400 hour was the best rate hour of the contest with 209 contacts. Spent
most of the next 6 hours on 15M, where the rate hovered in the 190 range
endlessly. Starting at 1545 checked 10M every 10 minutes or so for posible
signs of life. Found a lonely W0AIH there at 1546 but no one else. Then at
1611 I was rewarded with 24 ten meter contacts in 12 sections in 12 minutes.
As it turned out this would be the end of the 10M action for the day.
During the 2000 hour it was time to return to 20M where I would be 'fresh meat'
having only about 200 contacts in the log on 20 at that point. It was like
being a P5, the pileup was instantaneous, huge (a Khz plus wide),and initially
undisciplined. The rate slowed until I could work through the first layer of 40
over 9 guys, a who's who from FRC, YCCC, PVRC, NCC, MRRC, NCCC, etc. Got through
it by picking off stations calling on the edges of the pileup. I second N5AU's
comments and suggestion, position youself above or below, not exactly zerobeat,
your chances of success are increased significantly. The next three clock hours
on 20 were 206, 207 and 187 respectively. It doesn't get much better in any CW
contest!
After 24 hours, roughly 3,600 QSOs and 302 multiplers were in the log. I knew
the 150/hour rate was unsustainable, so set my goal at 5500 by the end of 48
hours. Almost made it too.
The period 00 - 06 was totally uneventful. Conditions on the low bands were
somewhat noisier the second night with static crashes. Rate for all but one
hour was sub-100. At 0627 decided it wasn't much fun anymore and resolved to
take a 1.5 hour nap. Set three alarms, one at 1.5 hours and two at 3 hours,
then laid my head down on the desk. Slept through all three alarms located
just 2 feet away. Fortunately I woke up at 0955. I wasn't coherent for several
minutes, but the break period left me rested and paid dividends the rest of the
way.
Over the next five hours, followed the propagation from 80 to 40 to 20 and
eventually 15. The rates were mediocre, but typical of this time frame from
P4, in the 50 to 100 Q range and only one additional mult was worked (Tnx Andy,
VE9DX).
Started my 10M band watch again at 1600. At 1621 found seven New England and
northeastern VEs to work, but it didn't last long and it was soon back to 15M.
Rates remained around 100/hour.
At 1900 found 10M runable. Put 46 contacts in 46 minutes in the log, adding
another 9 mults. Lousy rate but you have to be there. The opening was coast
to coast, and signals were weak, many near the noise floor with few
exceptions. The KH6s were loud however and heard them ripping off the Qs. Left
again thinking this was it, the 10M propagation gods were not going to shine
down upon us in SA this year.
But at 2041 AA1K called in on 15M and strongly urged me to give 10M another
try. Boy am I glad I did. Over the next 40 minutes added 89 additional 10M
QSOs and more importantly 12 multipliers for a final mult total of 35. TNX
Jon!
The final 2 hours of the contest were a push for QSOs, it seemed 5400 might be
reachable at this point. Moved to 20M and was rewarded with a 155 hour, the
best rate of the second day. The final hour was split between 20 and 40 and
yielded 118 qsos and two final mults on 40M in the last ten minutes on skeds
(TNX to N7NG for WY and VE4MG for MB). At the close, my claimed score was up
8% compared to 2006.
After the contest P49Y picked me up and it was off to the traditional
post-contest dinner with P49V, AI6YL, and P43E attending. Its always so great
to share our contest experiences when they are still vivid.
Congrats to K6AM, K4BAI, KH6ND and others for their outstanding scores, and for
making this a very competitive event from the DX side of the pileups. Mike,
with some more sunspots you would have been very dangerous!
Special thanks to NO2R, W2RQ and W2NO for technical support prior to the
contest, and of course to my girl friend and host family who are so tolerent of
my contesting activities.
73,
John W2GD/P40W
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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