CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 32
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 4 3 3
80: 385 17 33
40: 390 20 66
20: 537 22 57
15: 363 22 47
10: 435 25 42
------------------------------
Total: 2114 109 248 Total Score = 1,725,024
Club: Orca DX and Contest Club
Comments:
* Unassisted -- FT-2000 + SB221 + N1MM Logger
* 3 ele. SteppIR at 27'
* 1 x 40M SteppIR dipole at 27'
* 2-element 40M diamond quad, apex 50'
* 2 x 80M elevated verticals (JA or US/VE)
* 1 x 160M inverted-L
* 1 x 270' bi-directional Beverage
2011: SFI=135 A=4 K=1, SSN=139
2010: SFI= 78 A=2 K=1, SSN= 22
2009: SFI= 73 A=2 K=1, no sunspots
2008: SFI= 68 A=2 K=0, no sunspots
=================================================
Goal for this one was 2,000 contacts and stretch target of 2M points -- a
doubling of 2010's score, based on more mults and contacts on 15M and 10M. Flux
had been much higher a few days before the start, so SFI=135 was disappointing,
but a far better situation than last year's 78.
A bad cold hit me Thursday morning and continued through the weekend. I hate
taking sick days, but I did on Thursday and had already booked off work for
Friday, so I slept a lot over the two days before the contest. My aim was 40
hours on, but I had my doubts about even managing 30 hours. Didn't even have
the energy for a once-around-the-yard antenna check. Though I did look out the
window and all looked fine.
We had strong winds the whole time, so I left the Steppir 3-element + 40M
dipole at 27' for comfort. It works fine at that height overlooking steeply
falling terrain (300') to EU and NA, so I wasn't concerned.
Turns out everything was fine -- the 80M twin elevated verticals worked their
charms. The new full-sized 40M wire quad to Europe worked well with high power
(first contest using it with HP).
Had one last 1.5-hour nap before the contest and woke up very ill but excited.
Talk about mixed feelings. A little "better living through chemistry" from the
folks at the DayQuil factory, and I was ready for action.
Using Athena by PC5M (http://kvgog.home.xs4all.nl/projects/athena.html), I keep
track of my N1MM Logger progress against last year, or any other year I choose.
This helps remind me of band choices, break times, and the pace I must keep to
one-up my best scores.
Despite being sick as a dog, with Kleenex piling up around me, I stayed on
until 1240z without a break (except to refill the blueberry tea a few times). I
was tracking very well against previous years.
Began on 40M -- not my usual procedure, but I was excited to see how the new
40M quad handled Europe. It played better than anything I've had in the air
before. When I moved to 80M, the twin verticals worked nicely as well for East
and West, but slightly off last year's pace (probably because nobody wanted to
leave 40M). I closed the first night with a quick run of 100 mostly NA stations
on 40M with the low dipole.
End of First Night
-----------------------------
2009 2010 2011
------- -------- --------
QSOs 405 520 620
DXCC 46 77 100
Zones 36 47 49
Score 70,028 140,120 201,299
Four precious hours of sleep later, I was back for more. Alas, Europe was
virtually a no-show on the high bands here. Could hit Spain easily, but nothing
further north on any band. Stayed that way through the day. Very disappointing
to see the 10M and 15M country totals sitting around 30 by the time I left them
for the day.
Saturday night was a new experience on 40M. Never before have I been able to
walk along 40M and work just about anything I could hear over the pole. The
quad -- full-size wire elements but bottom corners just 3' off the ground --
opened up whole new doors. By the end of the contest, 40M gave me more
countries than any other band, including workhorse 20M.
End of Second Night
------------------------------
2009 2010 2011
-------- -------- --------
QSOs 1,200 1,150 1,313
DXCC 120 169 188
Zones 76 88 99
Score 493,528 658,691 850,668
Slept for four hours before getting on at 1400z Sunday morning (6 a.m.). 80M
was still open to Asia so I landed what I could for an hour or so, then I
jumped straight 20M to see if Europe was workable.
Sure enough, the polar path was open but not great. The band opens like a light
going on, then almost immediately begins to shift. By the time it moves from
Eastern Europe to the UK, it's almost gone.
I added a bunch of much-needed countries as fast as I could, then jumped to 15M
to do the same before the path was lost for the day. Got about half an hour of
good EU conditions before Europe began to fade on 15M, and by then 10M was a
lost cause -- not sure if it ever opened to Europe from this side. It would be
mostly NA, SA, AS for the day. Did hear a loud EI for a while on 10M, but he
couldn't hear me pouring watts in his direction. Not a single Zone 15 or 16 on
10M here.
Passed my 2010 previous best score at 1630z Sunday. Enjoyed some great runs on
all three bands, including plenty of welcome JA activity. With mults few and
far between on 20M by late afternoon, in the final 40 minutes (3:40 p.m.) I
checked 40M and the band was full of huge-signal European mults I needed.
Landed several all-new ones for that band and even ran for a few minutes before
the closing bell. Wonderful fun.
Surpassed my 2,000-Q target, but only had 32 hours on the air due to sleep
breaks I could not live without.
So, next year: 2M points. But I'll not soon forget this contest.
-- Bud VA7ST
http://www.va7st.ca/home.html
The Orca DX and Contest Club...
http://www.orcadxcc.org
Claimed scores...
QSOs Ctry Zones Score
2011: 2,114 248 109 1,725,024 < HP 32 hrs
2010: 1,721 180 92 1,033,056 < HP 32 hrs
2009: 1,777 158 92 950,750 < HP 31 hrs
2008: 1,580 129 71 670,600 < HP 25 hrs
2007 1,470 129 69 615,582 < HP 32 hrs
2006 1,476 163 78 775,297 35 hrs
2005 1,014 126 61 411,587
2004 1,421 146 79 697,500
2003 865 115 73 351,936
2002 675 147 63 313,740
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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