Glad I checked propagation the day BEFORE the contest. With a K of 8
and A of 40 I knew that the time would be better spent on other
pursuits like time with my wife Barbara and chainsawing a path through
the felled trees for a backhoe to dig tower and guy holes and for the
concrete truck.
Operated 12.9 hours and had a LOT of fun. No question that it is more
fun to operate when you feel like it rather than to have to grind it out
for the remainder of the time. 24 hours would have been much too long
anyway. Besides when the contest was limited in operating time to 24 or
30 hours (I forget which) many years ago, it was AWFUL! Only one shot
at 40 and 80 in August with bad band conditions and thunder static is
not a way to measure skill but rather how lucky you are as to who has a
lower noise level! Anyone can run on 15 + 20, but the low bands and
digging through the noise are really what counts!
I like the QTC element too although a few of the EU operators can be
real OBNOXIOUS about how they ask for it. One UU4 station kept
pestering me for 15 minutes straight! He refused to accept my "NO QTC"
and refused to qsy. As a result I refused to work him for the rest of
the contest on ANY band and he deliberately got NO qtc from me.
Another station wanted qtc from me only 9 minutes into the contest!
This is silly! In the US we want to work RATE for the first few hours
and then ONLY when the rate dies does sending qtc make sense. It is a
balance and without the rate there is no qtc to send anyway. I
understand that the EU stations make the largest percentage of their
score with QTC, but NOT in the US where at maximum it can only be 50%
and for many other stations they only want to make qso's and NOT qtc.
To save time all the way around, let me suggest the following:
When a EU station wants qtc from a station he (or she) has already
worked, he should send his call followed by qtc? For example:
TEST KQ2M KQ2M TEST
G3SXW QTC?
G3SXW QTC 32/10
Why send the call and qtc? Because the call lets me immediately see if
I have sent him qtc before and the QTC? means he wants qtc. Stations
that DO NOT use format above waste valuable time as follows:
TEST KQ2M KQ2M TEST
QTC?
WHO?
WTC?
QTC UR CALL?
G3SXW QTC?
G3SXW QTC 32/10
This series of exchanges is MUCH longer and wastes time. The station
asking for QTC should ALWAYS guve their call and then ask for qtc.
I agree with those who have said that there should be separate
categories of packet vs. no packet operations. I DISAGREE however with
the statement that you can't be competitive without packet. This is
NONSENSE!
Not only do I use wire antennas that do not rotate (which should make me
NON-competitive) but I also do NOT use packet. Therefore I should be
DOUBLY NON-Competitive. Instead, I was able to win North America in the
WAECW in 1997. I had a higher score than several very competitive
stations in the Northeast who were also on and operating seriously. I
don'r know if they were using packet or not but it was not a factor in
my decision to operate.
I am sure that packet could have helped my score if I used it but I did
not want to. The belief that one "needs" to use packet to be
competitive is just an excuse. You can certainly be competitive without
it, perhaps even do better without the distraction.
WAE is a fun contest and best in the 36 of 48 hour format. You also do
not need to operate all 36 (SO) to be competitive either. Last year I
only operated 33 hours and won.
I think the contest is just fine the way it is and might only suggest
adding 160 with a multiplier of 5. Let's make it a 6 band contest like
all the other dx contests.
Regarding activity level, I don't understand those who say there is a
lack of activity. I now work as many stations in the first 18 hours as
I used to in the full 36 more than two sunspot cycles ago ago.
Multipliers like EA, EA6, CT1, F, I etc. on cw were just as tough then
as now. Seems to be no difference except now I work a few MORE
multipliers on each band than I used to! Seems like activity is BETTER
today than it used to be. Perhaps some of today's high-rate ops. are
MORE impatient than they used to be so if the are not doing high rate
they get bored and want to shorten the hours of the contest?
I enjoy this contest very much and encourage all to participate. Thanks
for the qso's and 73!
Bob KQ2M
DARC WORKED ALL EUROPE CONTEST -- 1998
Call: KQ2M Country: United States
Mode: CW Category: SO High Power NO PACKET
BAND QSO QTC Cty Mult Operated 12.9 Hours
160 0 0 0 0
80 29 26 10 40
40 214 210 29 87
20 300 299 39 78
15 230 229 31 62
10 0 0 0 0
================================================
Totals 773 764 109 267 = 409,845
All reports sent were 59(9), unless otherwise noted.
Equipment Description:
Club Affiliation: FRANKFORD RADIO CLUB
This is to certify that in this contest I have operated
my transmitter within the limitations of my license and have
observed fully the rules and regulations of the contest.
Signature _________________________________
MAILING ADDRESS:
ROBERT L. SHOHET KQ2M
51 SCUDDER ROAD
NEWTOWN, CT 06470
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