CQWW WPX Contest, CW
Call: KY4AA
Operator(s): N4GN
Station: N4GN
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: KY
Operating Time (hrs): 30
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 4
40: 440
20: 1089
15: 424
10: 40
------------
Total: 1997 Prefixes = 758 Total Score = 3,808,950
Club: Kentucky Contest Group
Comments:
This was the first time I intended to make a full effort in this contest since
1991 (when I set the QRP world record from VP2MU--since blown away by W2GD at
P40W). I really thought going in that I had an outside chance at making the top
ten box, particularly if 20 held up most of the night.
I didn't really get enough sleep in the days before the contest (why is that
always the case?!), but did manage a quick nap just before the start. Things
looked pretty good at first--312 QSOs after three hours, with a good run going
into Europe on 40, and the six-point Qs adding up fast. I started to convince
myself that I was doing pretty well, and the notion was only reinforced with
every big gun that I'd work who had a lower QSO total than mine.
To make a long story short, I took way too much off time in the first half of
the contest because I was so sleepy. Then things really started to fall apart
the second night. I couldn't copy much on 40 due to very high QRN levels. I
knew there were some thunderstorms out to the west, but I thought they weren't
supposed to arrive until Sunday afternoon. At least the QRN was tolerable on 20
(only S5-S7 or so), and the signals were mostly quite loud, so I could work
through it without having to ask for too many fills.
Finally, at 0545Z Sunday (0145 local), the static on 20 had climbed to 40 dB
over S9, and I could see the lightning flashes in the sky. So even though the
band was cranking to Europe, I figured I had no choice but to shut down and take
some off time. I still had six hours left to burn, so I figured I'd be O.K.
Little did I know that I'd be off the air for more than 7.5 hours in just that
one window!
For the rest of the contest, I had to shut down several more times as one super
cell after another passed over my QTH. Throw in a couple of power outages, and
I was not a happy camper! And it's not like I could get any sleep during these
forced off times with the lightning crashes all around. When I did finally get
back on the air, it was always after one of these big cells passed to my
northeast--right in the path to Europe! So my apologies to all you guys that I
just couldn't copy through the static. I'm sure I busted a lot more Qs than
usual this time, too.
The culmination of the whole event was when I got to watch from my bedroom
window as a tornado passed about 1.5 miles north of my QTH. It was a very
strange sight watching vinyl siding, small tree branches and all kinds of trash
falling out of the sky! All in all, we had more than a dozen funnel clouds and
tornadoes in the area Sunday afternoon. The town of Marengo, Indiana (maybe 35
air miles from here) suffered considerable damage. So I guess I shouldn't
complain too much about some static on the radio--I'm sure those folks whose
homes were destroyed would like to trade places with me tonight!
By the way, the first 30 feet of tower number two are now vertical, and all the
remaining tower parts and antennas are either in my garage or on order. So with
any luck, I'll have a new three-stack of C31XRs in my arsenal before the contest
season starts again. And you can bet I'll be back to give this contest an even
more serious effort next year!
73 de N4GN
n4gn@n4gn.com
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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