CQWW WPX Contest, CW
Call: PA/W1NN
Operator(s): W1NN
Station: PA/W1NN
Class: SOAB(TS) LP
QTH: Nijmegen
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 205
40: 612
20: 334
15: 340
10: 71
------------
Total: 1651 Prefixes = 690 Total Score = 2,548,170
Club: North Coast Contesters
Comments:
This was my fourth mini-dxpedition to operate a contest from a rental house
somewhere in Europe (the others were the Azores, France and Crete) and the
seventh European country from which I have operated a major contest (the others
were Germany, Jersey and Norway). These trips are usually in conjunction with
business trips and are about a month long. Radio is actually just a small part
of these trips since the main focus outside of business is on sightseeing,
history study, food, and having fun with the XYL, but somehow these trips
usually take place during a major CW contest. The CEPT agreement allows
operating in most EU countries without any paperwork whatsoever. I try to pick
rural rental properties where the owner will permit me to put up antennas and I
bring a modest but complete station including wire antennas and coax. My K3
has a lot of miles on it.
This time my QTH is in a little Dutch town by the name of Mook, located about
10 miles south of Nijmegen, a 2,000 year-old town on the River Waal close to
the German border. I picked this place mainly because I found a nice remote
house surrounded by trees here where the owner had no objection to putting up
antennas, but I was also happy to come to this area because my uncle, a C-47,
C-64 and glider pilot with the 82nd Airborne Division during WWII, flew in and
out of here numerous times and was closely involved in the campaign to capture
important bridges in this area in 1944.
I arrived here by rental car on Tuesday afternoon and was pleased to find what
the house pictures had indicated: a nice remote property surrounded by lots of
trees. In fact there are actually too many trees and I could have done with
only half of them, but better too many than too few. I got to work first thing
Wednesday morning with my slingshot and fishing line and by the afternoon I had
the 40 and 20 antennas up near the top of a couple of tall pine trees and
managed to work a couple dozen stations in the 1300Z and 1900Z CWT contests.
On Thursday I put up the 80 and 10 meter dipoles and even had the afternoon
free for some local sightseeing. All four antennas are up around 50 feet so
the station is not too different from what I have back in Ohio (although only
one radio). I was pretty sure that I could have fun in the contest and turn in
a decent low power score.
One tough thing about contesting in central Europe is the 2 AM start time. I
always try to get a nap beforehand but usually just toss and turn until the
start time. This time was no exception and I was not in great shape when the
contest began, still being somewhat jet-lagged.
Nevertheless I got off to a good start on 40 and 80 and operated for most of
the first 30 hours. I was relieved to see that the low band antennas were
working fine and that at least the big NA stations could hear me on 20 and 15.
In my studying and review of past results before the contest, the thing that
stood out was how much better off you are making any contacts but especially
intercontinental contacts on 40 than you are working inter-European stations on
the high bands, so one of my goals was to maximize my 40 meter activity.
Fortunately, most NA stations could hear me pretty well on 40. Good nighttime
openings on 20 sometimes lured me away from the low bands, but I spent more
time on 40 than in my previous WPX operations, and the score reflects this: 40
meters accounted for almost 50% of my total points. Of course, this strategy
also plays to the strengths and weaknesses of my antenna setup: dipoles at 50
feet do pretty well on 40 and 80 but not so well on the high bands where I
found that running was not very successful.
In my past EU operations, I have had trouble with my call signs. MJ/W1NN was
especially tough for a lot of Europeans to copy. This time I did not expect
much trouble since PA/W1NN is pretty easy to copy. Or so I thought. It turns
out that well over half of the EU stations I called needed repeats. Sometimes
I had to drastically QRS and send my call five or six times before it got
through. Interestingly, North American ops rarely needed repeats. This is
puzzling to me, since overall, EU ops seem to be very good. Perhaps the NA
stations (mostly the louder ones) I was working are the top ops among American
contesters whereas a lot of the EU stations I was working were from the less
experienced ranks. Or perhaps more American contesters are familiar with my
call. Whatever the cause, it was a small but continuing source of frustration.
Overall, conditions turned out to be very good. Although my part of Europe had
rain and windy conditions throughout the weekend, QRN on the low bands was not a
problem. 20 had really good openings and at times the US west coast was booming
in. In contrast, 15 did not seem that good to me and my rates there were really
poor. 10 was a huge disappointment. One Belgian station’s 3830 report from
the 2014 WPX showed over 700 contacts on 10 meters alone, so when skip is short
on this band, you can really churn out the contacts and build up the prefix
total from Europe. That was not to be this year. In the past I have found that
160 is usually noisy in late May and that there is not much activity there, so I
didn’t bother to put up an antenna.
A few statistics:
Stations worked by Country:
US & Canada: 321
Germany: 131
European Russia: 84
Asiatic Russia: 48
Ukraine: 73
US & Canadian stations worked by band:
80 5 (has been higher in previous years)
40 116
20 109
15 91
QSO points (and QSOs) by band:
80: 435 (205)
40: 1827 (612)
20: 626 (334)
15: 690 (340)
10: 115 (71)
I love these modest DXpedition/vacations and recommend them as a great way to
experience contesting from a different part of the world and also enjoy the
other aspects of travel, especially for those who are retired and can spend a
few weeks away. There are thousands of rental properties of all varieties and
prices throughout Europe (well, throughout much of the world, really) and a
trip like this can be done for a surprisingly reasonable price. Just Google
something like “rental vacation house Europe” or “rental villa” and
look through some of the websites that come up. You’ll be amazed at how many
offerings there are. Rent a house, reserve a rental car and bring the family
along for a great vacation.
Thanks for the contacts!
73, Hal W1NN
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