CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 32
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 6 2 2
80: 448 18 35
40: 263 24 47
20: 715 28 62
15: 289 20 34
10:
------------------------------
Total: 1721 92 180 Total Score = 1,033,056
Club: Orca DX and Contest Club
Comments:
* SO1R unassisted
* FT-2000 + SB221 + N1MM Logger
* 3 ele. SteppIR at ~40'
* 1 x 40M SteppIR dipole
* 2 x 80M elevated verticals (JA or US/VE)
* 1 x 160M inverted-L
* 1 x 270' bi-directional Beverage
2010: SFI=78 A=2 K=1, SSN=22
2009: SFI=73 A=2 K=1, no sunspots
2008: SFI=68 A=2 K=0, no sunspots
=================================================
Generally rough conditions for yet another year, except on 80M which was rather
fantastic on Friday night, returning to average on Saturday night. Best-ever
outing on 80M for this contest.
40M wasn't good at this QTH. Tried a not-yet-useful 40M 2-el quad for Europe,
but the primary rotary dipole was better over the pole and much better to the
U.S. Conditions didn't favor domestic Qs on 40, and the antennas didn't favor
DX. Managed to be heard by a few over the pole using the low dipole, but it was
very hard work even QRO.
Bottom of the "future" 40M quad's diamond loops are almost on ground... more
like flat-bottomed triangles at the moment as I ran out of time to get it
raised properly. Funny how snow arrives at the exact moment antenna season
ends.
Goal was to beat my previous best, from last year. Knew on Friday night that I
was in good shape....
First Night Second Night
------------------ -------------------
2009 2010 2009 2010
------- -------- -------- --------
QSOs 405 520 1,200 1,150
DXCC 46 77 120 169
Zones 36 47 76 88
Score 70,028 140,120 493,528 658,691
Enjoyed Friday night and Sunday. Saturday was a grind, with a very poor 20M
opening to Europe, causing some concern about maintaining my lead over last
year.
Sunday, the 20M EU opening was pretty good though not good enough to run
stations. After several sweeps of 20M to collect European mults, I concentrated
on domestic contacts for some rate. The final two hours provided a good run to
Asia. I just pointed at Japan and ran as many 3-pointers as I could, working
lots of Ws off the back, too.
ZS2EZ called me on 20M almost exactly when he always does: local noon. He
checked in at 12:02 p.m. (2002z). Super double-mult!
The fun is draining out of CQing, thanks to the rising popularity of All
Pounce, No Search (APNS) mode (tm). Seems a large percentage of ops have
dropped hand-on-dial work in favor of chasing spots. I sure notice it when
running these days. Unless I had been spotted in the past few minutes by one of
those actually searching, I got no callers. Then five or six, then none for long
stretches. Overall rate remains OK, but when it comes in bunches, the gaps in
activity really stand out. I prefer the slower but steady stream of pre-APNS
vs. the intermittent blast from a firehose.
Can't see the sustaining fun in auto-point-and-shoot, with no raw thrill of the
surprise find? Unassisted puts the unexpected back in the game. Hand-operated
skimmer. It's new :)
I broke through 1M points at 2327z Sunday after a virtually unbroken five-hour
470-Q run on 20M, but still finished about 55 QSOs short of last year. The big
difference from last year was an increase in countries... thanks to 80M and an
actual VE7 opening to Western Europe.
Year over year comparisons:
80M totals
QSOs Ctry Zones
2010: 448 35 18 2 x elevated verticals E-W
2009: 305 13 14 2 x elevated verticals E-W
2008: 377 27 17 2 x elevated verticals E-W
2007: 325 24 13 Delta loop E-W
2006: 240 24 15 Inverted-V E-W
2005: 119 10 7 2 x delta loops E-W
2004: 216 16 11 2 x delta loops E-W
Claimed scores...
QSOs Ctry Zones Score
2010: 1,721 180 92 1,033,056 < HP 32 hrs
2009: 1,777 158 92 950,750 < HP 31 hrs
2008: 1,580 129 71 670,600 < HP 25 hrs
2007 1,470 129 69 615,582 < HP 32 hrs
2006 1,476 163 78 775,297 35 hrs
2005 1,014 126 61 411,587
2004 1,421 146 79 697,500
2003 865 115 73 351,936
2002 675 147 63 313,740
In the noise,
-- Bud VA7ST
http://www3.telus.net/va7st
Check out the new Orca DX and Contest Club
http://orcadxcc.org
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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