ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 39
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 104 55
80: 237 73
40: 384 97
20: 894 113
15: 138 69
10: 32 25
-------------------
Total: 1789 432 Total Score = 2,305,584
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
Since I am still working on a nifty work project with a delightful
tie-in with a ham-radio project, I continue to mostly neglect my
station. Since I didn't implement any improvements and I am feeling
lazy, I decided to operate in the unlimited category so in can spend
all weekend clicking and calling. That is, I decided to maximize
multipliers and see how close I can get to working one of everything.
Before the contest I decided my goal was to work 100 countries on 40
meters. I figured this goal would impact my potential score but would
be more enjoyable than working hard for a lot of QSOs. I also figured
that I would miss a few potential multipliers by not CQing as much,
since the ops in some rare countries don't CQ.
I spent the first 24 hours chasing multipliers everywhere. I slept
for 3 hours the first night and got up in time to chase the far east
on the low bands. I CQed for a few minutes a couple of times when the
multipliers were scarce. At the half-way point I had 89 multipliers
on 40 and considerably fewer on the other bands. 15 meters was good
for some west Europeans and 10 meters was good for just a few South
Americans.
The second 24 hours required more CQing in order to prevent boredom.
The 20 meter multiplier count caught up with 40 and then surpassed it.
The 40 meter multiplier count quickly leveled off at 96 countries. I
again slept for 3 hours and got up in time for the far east chase.
However, I stupidly observed there was only 1 multiplier to chase at
that moment, and used that as an excuse to go back to sleep. When I
got up again, it was daylight.
Since there were no multipliers available to chase, I CQed. My rate
on 20 for the first 30 minutes was 174 per hour, but that was probably
a 'fresh meat' rush. Every once in a while, a new multiplier would
show up and I left the CQ frequency to chase it. Usually, the
frequency was still there when I returned. Some of the new
multipliers were on 15, but only one of those was workable. 10 meters
opened to the Caribbean so I completed the 6th band for several
stations. A few 5-band stations didn't notice or take advantage of
the opening.
My rate steadily dropped all day and by about 4pm calls were
infrequent. However, there were bursts of new multipliers. One burst
during the 17Z hour included OX and TF on 20.
The second burst of new multipliers on 20 occurred during the usual
afternoon long path opening to Oceania. Usually I work just 1 or 2
VKs. This time there were several counties: 3D2, 5W, FK, VK, and ZL.
Interestingly, I found it easiest to work them by pointing one X7
short path for transmitting and the other X7 long path for receiving.
Reversing this pattern or going in just 1 direction seemed less
effective.
Since I have 2 tribanders, I arrange to have them both feed the
receivers in the K3 in diversity mode. I can't say that this has
enabled any QSOs I might have otherwise missed, but it feels nice to
have both ears in use with different information.
I used K3LR's cluster telnet thingy routed to my logger and set the
spotter filter to select spots originating only from Ohio. During the
2nd day I also watched DX Summit, since I noticed that I could work
stations spotted on DX Summit that did not get reported via the
filtered telnet connection. For example, BV1EL on 20 meters was
spotted on DX Summit but did not show up in the 'spots' window of my
logger program.
The surprise multiplier was 5Z4/LZ4NM who was a nice loud responder to
my other wise bored CQ on 20 meters during the 20Z hour.
I worked TZ4AM on 40 on the first call in the 21Z hour. I was able to
work every country I heard without wasting too much time. Why do I
need a 40-meter beam?
Even though I worked 2 more multipliers on 40 in the last 4 hours, I
missed my main goal by 'that much'. Even thought the QSO count was
lower than last year (1789 versus 1862) the total multiplier count was
higher (431 versus 399) resulting in a higher score. The 'always do
better than last year' goal was achieved.
DX worked: 3D2, 4X, 5B, 5W, 5Z, 6Y, 8P, 9A, 9H, 9V, BV, BY, C6, CE,
CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D4, DL, DU, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI,
ES, EU, F, FK, FM, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HC, HH, HI,
HK, HL, HP, HS, HZ, I, IS, J3, J6, JA, K, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA,
LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OZ, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4,
PY, PZ, S5, SM, SP, SV, SV9, T8, TA, TF, TI, TK, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UN,
UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, VE, VK, VP2M, VP5, VP9, XE, YL, YN, YO, YU, YV,
Z3, ZB, ZF, ZL, ZS, and Z6 for a total of 121 entities wich is only 5
more than last year. Only 9H, HI, HZ, TA, TZ, and ZB were not worked
on 20.
I worked 2 D1 stations which I assume don't count as any country. Or
do they count as Ukraine? It does not affect my multiplier count
either way.
The following stations were worked on 6 bands: P40W, V26M, PJ4A, V47T,
TI7W, P49Y, CR3DX, PJ2T, P40E, NP2N, KP4KE, VP2MSS, FM5BH, ZF9CW, and
PS2T. 22 stations more were worked on 5 bands, almost all missing
either 10 meters or 160 meters.
Equipment: Elecraft K3/100; Alpha 8410; Elecraft K3/10; Hardrock 50;
ETO 91B (thanks Jeff); homebrew SO2R stuff; homebrew SDR stuff (beam
steering RX antennas on 160); Cushcraft X7 at 60 feet; Cushcraft X7 at
100 feet; full sized verticals on 40 and 80; 65-foot "tee" on 160.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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