7J1AAI 1997 WPX CW Results (SOAB)
704 QSOs, 352 Mults, Final Score: 621,632 points
Comments:
This was a 14 hour effort from JH1GTV's very nice QTH in the western
suburbs of Tokyo. It's difficult to devote the entire weekend to
contesting during a business trip, so one day is usually the limit. I
arrived at Shige's place on Saturday at 8 AM local to get ready for the 9
AM start and threw the switch at about 11:30 PM local just in time to catch
the last train back downtown.
Things got off to a dismal start with very punk conditions on both 15 and
20 meters. Only a few West Coast stations were coming in and a majority of
contacts during the first three hours were zero pointers (but some good JA
mults). DX contests from Japan are usually pretty slow after the U.S.
stops coming in the the morning and until the Europeans start coming in in
the afternoon, and this contest was no exception. After the first five
hours of operating there were only 230 Q's in the log and I was beginning
to think about returning early in the evening.
Things picked up somewhat around 0600Z when the Europeans began coming in
on 15 Meters but signals were consistently weak and the rate maxed out at
only 64 in the 0600 hour and then fell to 50 during the next. But it was
certainly better than the morning and I decided that I might be able to
reach 500 contacts for the day. 20 failed to deliver a European opening
in the afternoon and rates stayed in the 45-50 range for the late afternoon
and early evening hours. Conditions on 40 and 80 were actually quite good
but there just weren't that many stations to work.
Then at about 1300Z, 20 opened with actual S-9 signals from the East Coast
and the Midwest, and the fun began. I found myself with a real pileup and
the rate meter soared. What a pleasure after 12 hours of drudgery. The
rate stayed at over 100 for lengthy periods and a 91 hour was followed by
an 83 hour. Most of the callers were handing out fairly low numbers and
there was a decided absense of big gun calls. I suppose those folks were
busy on 15 meters. The 500 Q goal was quickly adjusted upward to 600 and
then to 700. As the W's faded, European signals picked up and it looked
like a good opening might be in the offing. But Japanese trains don't run
much past midnight and I had to QRT.
It was fun and I'll look forward to seeing the other scores. Many thanks
to Shige for the use of his excellent station. Maybe someday I can operate
a whole contest from here!
Hal Offutt, 7J1AAI / W1NN
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