The N2IC/0 CQWW CW story ....
2350Z - Checked out 15 meters. Some South Pacific - No JA. Start the
contest on 20 running JA. No surprise here.
0000Z - The contest starts with the usual eruption of JA's. This is fun.
At 0001Z, W4NXE/DU3 and 3W5FM call in - this is already better propagation
than I had for CQWW SSB. HS0ZAA calls me at 0012Z, followed by
9M2HQ at 0019Z - Neat ! The band folds promptly at 0032Z - I'm depressed.
I have 6 hours of low band S&P through the east coast wall before 40 opens
to JA.
0046Z - 86 20 meter QSO's in the log. Time to slug it out on 40. The band
isn't bad - lots of loud EU. It takes me 3 minutes to make sure I get
YL3IZ/MM call correct for Zone 34. I hit 15 briefly at 0100Z but not
much cooking - work 2 weak JA's and VK4EMM.
0150Z - 80 meters - I work EA6IB, LA9GX and DF0HQ. Nothing else in Europe
hears me.
0225Z - 40 meters kind of punk to Europe now. RZ9UA/0 in Zone 18 is at
least 20 dB louder than any European.
0301Z - Work 3DA0NX on 80 with no pileup. Did I find him before the east
coast ?
0348Z - Back on 80 after excursions to 40 and 160. A few of the big gun
Europeans hear me now. Maybe the band will get even better as Europe sunrise
approaches. Find KH0DQ on 20 at 0419Z. TK5NN on 80 at 0439Z is a nice
mult. JA7YAA first 40 meter JA at 0455Z - that's early.
0510Z - G3RBP worked on 160 - the only European heard or worked all weekend
on 160. 80 meters dies to Europe as their sunrise approaches. Disappointing.
0606Z - 20 is kind of interesting. Some VK's and VK9NS go in the log.
0614Z - Settle in on 40 meters for hours of CQing to JA. I have decided
to CQ on 40 continuously until 1300Z, using the 2nd radio for all other bands.
The JA rate is good, but not outstanding all night.
0824Z - KH8/N5OLS calls on 40. I successfully move him to 80, but not 160.
VS6BG calls on 40 at 0848Z. Thanks Brett ! BV2QM calls on 40 at 0929Z.
YB1AQS calls on 40 at 1015Z. Thanks Joerg !
1029Z - My NE and SW beverages are suddenly dead. They are fed with the same
feedline. I kill 30 minutes discovering the severed coax (coyotes ?). My
XYL is less than thrilled about standing outside at 3 AM holding the flashlight
while I splice the coax. Gotta love that woman !
1130Z - C21BH worked on 40 and 80 within a few minutes. OI1JD first Europe
worked on 20 at 1204Z. OI5N first long path EU on 40 at 1235Z.
1307Z - JA7BXS worked on 160. Not a good JA opening on 160 and I have terrible
power line noise on all beverages due to heavy ice fog. UN5G worked on 40
at 1333Z - long path. VQ9IE on 40 at 1335Z peaking around 285 degrees (not
true long path).
1355Z - The past 8 hours work on 40 netted 424 QSO's - nearly all JA.
1355Z - Time to settle in on 20 for a Europe run. Rate is good, but not crazy
like last year when I felt like I was at K1EA !
1443Z - OK5W worked on 15. I spend a few minutes doing S&P on 15 but the band
isn't good. If I leave my 20 meter frequency for more than a few seconds
I lose the frequency. This 2nd radio stuff isn't as easy as it sounds !
I only spend 5 minutes on 15, waiting for a better opening.
1523Z - 15 is better. I abandon the 20 meter run, and S&P like crazy on
15. It's not runnable ! First 10 meter QSO at 1553Z (3G1X). Back to
20 at 1556Z. I use the 2nd radio on 15 over the next 90 minutes, but I
frequently get beat out by east coast, and lose my 20 meter run frequency.
Last 15 meter EU at 1655Z. I keep checking 10 for Africa, but nothing
heard. At least there's some Carribbean and South America on 10 - that's
better than CQWW SSB.
1825Z - Give up trying to run on 20 after 278 EU QSO's. Between the 40
meter JA run and the 20 meter EU run, I've been running and hitting the
2nd radio hard for over 12 hours. Phew - I'm tired. Time to get serious
about S&P on 15, with excursions to 10 and 20. Nothing exotic worked, except
EM1KA on 15. VY1JA worked on 15 at 1955Z - very loud. I find NL7G a few
minutes later - very weak - I can't break the east coast pileup. How can those
guys have such good propagation to KL7 on 15 while I'm shut out ?
2102Z - 5X4F worked on 20 - the only Zone 37 heard all weekend. Finally
work NL7G on 15 at 2115Z. 20 meter JA run starts at 2121Z with JE0UXR.
JE0UXR is also the first 15 meter JA today at 2140Z.
2159Z - 15 is hot to JA. I move there and work 89 in the next hour. Lots
of 2nd radio S&P on 20. We clearly have the 20 meter propagation to
Carrib and SA. 15 folds to JA around 2305Z, so it's back to 20 to work
the same guys all over again.
2325Z - VS6WO calls on 20, but won't move to 15. Thanks for the 20
meter double mult QSO, anyway, Steve.
Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, because BV2RR called 2 minutes
later. I keep checking 40, but it sounds unusually absorptive to Europe.
IG9/AC6WE worked on 40 at 0008Z for first EU tonite. XU6WV calls on 20 at
0023Z, and YB1AQS calls on 20 at 0032Z, just before the band died. I hit 40
for a few minutes, then crash for 4 hours of sleep at 0040Z.
0500Z - Awake and feeling rested. I look at the 40 meter rotor. How
did it get pointed SW ? It's not turning ! The indicator pot reads
50 ohms - wrong ! I spend the rest of the contest using the K3ZO stopwatch
method of rotation on the 40 meter beam and KT-34 S&P antenna.
0551Z - I blew 50 minutes dealing with the 40 meter rotor ! Where did all
that time go ? 160, 80 and 40 are horribly noisy thanks to thunderstorms
over Texas. Even the NE beverage is noisy. Under the noise I can tell
that 80 is hot to Europe. I quickly work YU, IG9, 9A, LY, GI, and UA2 - all
new multipliers. I jump to 40 and work some more good European mults, as
well as CN8BK. I start the JA run about 0740Z.
0807Z - KC4AAA loud on 20 for a double mult. TI1C also easy on 20.
0957Z - 9M6NA worked on 80. Not a bad signal for a normally tough QSO
with just my single vertical. V85HG and XX9X worked on 40 around 1015Z.
9M2/G3NOM calls us on 40 at 1151Z. 9V1ZB on 40 at 1243Z.
1300Z - It's an hour before sunrise, but good signals from Carrib and SA
on 15. I try 10 meters and there's K3LR for the Zone 5 mult !
1350Z - I'm determined not to misjudge 10 meters like I did in CQWW SSB.
I work P40W, 8P9Z, J39A and TI1C before sunrise on 10. Still nothing from
Africa. A little 40 meter LP after sunrise, but no new mults.
1412Z - I start S&Ping EU on 20, but the band is more fluttery than
yesterday. The band is not good, but J45T is a nice mult. 9U5DX worked
on 15 at 1508Z. 15 is not yet open to Europe.
1522Z - Bang - 15 is open to Europe for S&P. Another marginal opening.
DL1GGT is the only DL worked (1528Z). Back to 20 at 1545Z where I can
run a little. The 16Z hour is good - 62 EU on 20 and 2 more on 15.
I keep running on 20 until after 19Z, while S&Ping on 10 and 15.
1900Z - Spend the next 2.5 hours doing S&P on 20, 15 and 10. Lots of
new multipliers: 10 - NP4Z, ZM2K, VK9NS, WH6R. 15 - KG4ML, VP2E, VK9NS.
20 - EA6, 9U5, VP5, ZD7, 5N.
2132Z - Start running JA on 20, but move to 15 at 2215Z. In addition to
JA on 15, work a bunch of PY's off the back of the beam. It's times
like this that I love the lousy F/B ratio of the KT-34XA ! OH0JJS and
7S0MG call on 15 at 2230Z for new mults - their signals are nothing but weak
auroral rasp.
2232Z - Still running JA on 15, but start to get some real goodies - BV8BW,
HJ6PPN, YB9BON, KH0DQ and 9V1YC (thanks, James). Where's HS0ZAA ?
2230Z - I'm at 2.9M. 3.0M is in reach but its going to take more 15 meter
JA's and more mults to make that happen. Work 5V7A and EA8CN on 40 for new
mults, and go on a mad scramble on 20 in the last 10 minutes when 15 dies,
making 8 QSO's. Finish with 2.99M. So close !
HR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOTAL SCORE
-- ----- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- ------ --------- -----
0 11/13 86/17 97/30 97/30 0.01M
1 4/6 5/8 16/17 4/5 3/4 32/40 129/70 0.03M
2 6/8 21/21 27/29 156/99 0.04M
3 6/4 11/11 13/12 30/27 186/126 0.06M
4 5/7 15/11 6/6 2/3 28/27 214/153 0.09M
5 5/5 8/7 7/4 20/16 234/169 0.11M
6 4/2 56/1 6/5 66/8 300/177 0.14M
7 2/4 4/5 76/6 82/15 382/192 0.20M
8 1/1 4/6 66/5 71/12 453/204 0.26M
9 3/2 3/5 72/3 78/10 531/214 0.32M
10 1/1 1/0 37/2 39/3 570/217 0.35M
11 2/1 61/1 63/2 633/219 0.39M
12 5/4 44/1 1/2 50/7 683/226 0.44M
13 1/2 7/0 12/5 10/9 30/16 713/242 0.49M
14 4/5 6/1 34/14 8/11 52/31 765/273 0.59M
15 69/14 19/12 3/6 91/32 856/305 0.74M
16 79/9 9/7 1/2 89/18 945/323 0.86M
17 75/6 5/8 3/4 83/18 1028/341 0.99M
18 11/1 20/23 31/24 1059/365 1.09M
19 16/5 20/11 7/5 43/21 1102/386 1.20M
20 14/10 8/4 1/0 23/14 1125/400 1.26M
21 23/9 18/4 1/2 42/15 1167/415 1.36M
22 8/9 89/5 97/14 1264/429 1.52M
23 1/1 68/5 13/0 82/6 1346/435 1.65M
0 3/3 58/2 61/5 1407/440 1.75M
1 1407/440 1.75M
2 1407/440 1.75M
3 1407/440 1.75M
4 1407/440 1.75M
5 2/2 1/0 3/2 1410/442 1.76M
6 1/0 12/5 7/2 20/7 1430/449 1.81M
7 28/6 28/6 1458/455 1.87M
8 2/2 54/0 2/3 58/5 1516/460 1.97M
9 3/2 8/2 11/4 1527/464 2.00M
10 2/1 32/2 34/3 1561/467 2.06M
11 22/2 22/2 1583/469 2.10M
12 2/0 21/1 23/1 1606/470 2.14M
13 3/0 23/0 6/5 32/5 1638/475 2.20M
14 5/0 27/3 32/3 1670/478 2.26M
15 30/1 14/5 44/6 1714/484 2.35M
16 62/0 2/3 64/3 1778/487 2.45M
17 22/0 4/0 1/1 27/1 1805/488 2.49M
18 32/0 5/4 37/4 1842/492 2.56M
19 10/5 2/1 1/1 13/7 1855/499 2.62M
20 4/3 1/0 10/6 15/9 1870/508 2.68M
21 32/1 3/1 35/2 1905/510 2.74M
22 8/3 38/5 2/2 48/10 1953/520 2.87M
23 2/2 9/0 41/5 52/7 2005/527 2.99M
D1 28/32 79/73 505/99 506/123 212/89 16/19 1346/435
D2 3/2 24/10 206/20 296/21 110/24 20/15 659/92
TO 31/34 103/83 711/119 802/144 322/113 36/34 2005/527
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