CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
Call: P49Y
Operator(s): AE6Y
Station: P49Y
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 155
40: 401
20: 757
15: 1322
10: 1207
------------
Total: 3842 Prefixes = 1048 Total Score = 13,657,536
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
Having operated HP from P49Y in this contest a number of times, I though I'd
try low power if condx seemed to be good enough to open up 15 and 10, since LP
on just 20/40/80 will give anyone a headache in this contest. Fortunately,
condx did cooperate. It was really fun to be back on 10. The stations worked
there were qualitatively different than on the other bands: many more casual
ops, mobiles, and stations not in the contest. Whenever a guy was not in the
contest, I would ask if I could take a number 1 from him, with the result that
my log is full of number 1's on ten. The propagation also was very
interesting, particularly on Sunday. Lots of US, but also a strong but very
limited opening only to the Mediterranean, featuring S9 signals from southern
Italy, Greece, Israel, Morocco, but just about nowhere else.
Propagation certainly was more fun than in my last effort in 2008. For
example, I actually opened the contest with 157 Qs on 10 meters! I can't
recall the last time 10 was open at that time of night. And 20 still had
strong EU signals at 0200 or so local time Saturday morning.
Aruba was very well represented in this contest, with P40V (AI6V, AI6YL, K6KLY,
P43A) as M/S, P41M (DK1MM at P43JB) HP, P43E TS LP, and my first ever try at
SOAB low power. P49MR also handed out mults.
Operating low power from here is a humbling experience! A big difference with
low power is that it is harder to keep a freequency, particularly on 40 and 80.
HP from here usually blows out a little space to live in, but LP does not. To
show the importance of the condx, 10 and 40 were equally productive in a points
per hour (413 on 10 versus 411 on 40), but it was a lot more fun on 10. On HP,
40 and 80 always have a higher points per hour from here, thanks to the double
points.
There seemed to be some very high contact totals out there. Also more prefixes
than in the past (love all those new German ones). I should mention the good
sportsmanship of KL7RA and VE3EJ and a PA whose call I didn't note, all of whom
opened up right near me, then moved when asked politely.
Of course, no Aruban contesting experience ignores the wonderful camaraderie of
the contest community here, exemplified by the delightful post-contest dinner
catered by Joop, P43JB, with libations and wife Yvonne with food at their
house, attended by Carl P40V (AI6V), Sue P40YL (AI6YL), Joop P43JB and Yvonne,
Jean-Pierre P43a and Chris P43C, Russ P40LY (K6KLY), Martin P49MR and Truus
P49MRS, Stefan P41M (DK1MM) and myself. Also a nice dinner with Lisandro, P43L,
and his Lissette. In John Crovelli's (W2GD, P40W, not being here this week)
honor we went to the old Tony Roma's location in Oranjestad, as John is a great
fan of that place. Fortunately for the rest of us, who have never been TR fans,
it has closed and got turned into "Peanuts", a nice place serving Aruban and
Dutch food.
Thanks are also due to my co-owner John, W6LD, P40L, who left the house in
great shape from ARRL CW, and who along with Ed, W0YK, P49X, also fixed the 80m
antenna switchbox on top of the tower and rewired the 160 "C" dipole to much
better working condition for future contests.
I used the K3 almost exclusively as a run radio, but often had to switch to the
Pro2 to use the bandscope. It's so useful for checking band openings and
identifying interference and relatively quiet spots on the band. Can't wait for
the promised P3 for the K3. After quite a bit of experimenting, I got the K3
AGC settings to work so that I could leave the AGC on, but use the RF gain
control to separate signals quite effectively in the pileups. As usual, the K3
performed flawlessly, barely getting warm, even when run at full power all
weekend.
Rigs: K3, 756 Pro2
Ants: 2 el 10, 5 el 15, 4 el 20, 2 el 40, 1 el 80 (all Force 12), C31.
Software: CQPWIN ver. 12.0
73 and thanks for all the QSOs,
Andy, AE6Y, P49Y
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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