CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
Call: P3F
Operator(s): M0DXR
Station: 5B4AGN
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Paphos
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 84 8 38
80: 364 11 51
40: 1367 26 86
20: 1695 30 101
15: 1321 27 85
10: 2215 26 88
------------------------------
Total: 7046 128 449 Total Score = 11,937,553
Club:
Comments:
Firstly I would like to express my thanks to Bob 5B4AGN and Karen for their
hospitality over the weekend. They were wonderful hosts!
Having been at work on Thursday morning and driving to Gatwick for my flight, I
arrived at Paphos on Thursday evening and was collected from the airport. On
arrival at the QTH Bob and I discussed tactics for the contest. We set up the
log and I made some QSOs as 5B/M0DXR to the USA on 10m which, propagation wise,
was a good sign of things to come. The station impressed me - it is set up very
well indeed. Bob has clearly thought carefully about the set up of the shack as
everything is where it should be - instinct takes you to the controls you need.
On Friday we did a check of the hardware to make sure all was functioning as it
should be and it became clear there was a problem with the YCCC SO2R control
box. Using it with wintest, we could switch between radio 1 and 2, have both 1
and 2 out of each headphone ear, but we could not have audio received from
radio 2 whist radio 1 was in TX mode. The 'latch' facility could not be
selected within wintest. Don G3BJ spared time trying to help us which was very
much appreciated. Bob and I were confused, seeked help, but in the end it was
just too late to investigate any further. We went out for dinner to a Taverna
not far away and had a lovely meal with other locals including Alan 5B4AHJ (aka
P3J). We got back to the QTH about 10am when I then went to bed. Got 3 hours
sleep before getting up for the contest which was a very good thing. At 3am
local time the contest started and I began in the low segment of 40m to Europe.
It was great to be 'semi' rare - and also being in Asia all the Euros are 3
pointers. The first night was super and it was quickly clear this was going to
be a fun contest. I was concerned that I may get tired and need sleep - both
were true! I hit 80m and worked a bunch of stations, but it didn't produce much
propagation to the states so it was mainly EU. I decided not to touch 160 for
the first night. At 4am UTC went to 20m and had a great run to the USA -
fantastic signals from the west coast at this time. When the sun came up. so
did 15 and 10. Boy were these bands in good shape! 10m was wide open with
signals up to around 29MHz - just how I remember it years ago :)
Breakfast arrived - a lovely bacon sandwich with a cuppa. This boosted the
energy levels and allowed more energised operating. So I kept going all day. It
was getting a little frustrating not being able to use the second radio
effectively. Every so often I'd use it to quickly swtich to another band to do
a quick sweep and work a mult that I've passed from radio 1 but it was not true
SO2R. It was great to work so many UK stations, so thanks for the QSOs!
I was interested to read the comments about Sunday not being as good (such as
that from M4A). I found it the opposite - Sunday produced some amazing runs on
all bands. My best clock hour was on Sunday with a 256 on 10m to Europe which
was very satisfying.
It got to midday on Sunday and I felt really quite tired. Being so tired,
strange things started to happen to my mind and I had spells of losing the
concept of the contest. QSO structures became difficult to grasp and I was
operating purely out of memory/instict rather than thinking about the real QSO
taking place. Quite a unique experience! But I still knew that this was quite
normal having been awake for such a long time. Also I was thinking that I'm
three quarters of the way through this contest with just 12 hours to go. I was
determined to keep going without any sleep at all. I decided to take a shower
to freshen up which took 15 minutes out of the contest. This turned out to be
my only break for the duration of the 48 hours. I had a QSO with UP2L and he
asked if I was single op. I said yes, and he said "me too". I asked him "how
many QSOs so far". He said "over 6000". I said "me too" and we left it at that,
with a small laugh from each of us! I knew I had competition from Asia. I wasn't
too concerned about the QSO totals, but multipliers worried me.
Five minutes before the end, Bob came in to the shack and placed a cool beer
next to me, which was a real sight! At the end, I could not quite believe I'd
done it with no sleep. I really did not think I could do it. At the end, Bob
and I chatted about about an hour whilst we enjoyed our beer.
So, after 50 hours I remember going to bed and my head hitting the pillow but
was then out light a light. I woke up sharply 9 hours later at 12:30 local time
Monday afternoon! Congratulations to UP2L - he got me! He claimed 12.6 meg. I
had over 500 more QSOs, but he had 105 more multipliers. My fear was realised!
Having said that, I am in line for the Cyprus record which was previously set
in 2003 by Marios 5B4WN (C4W). I apologised to Marios, but he is pleased as he
can beat it next year :)
Thank you to everyone for all the QSOs. See below for summary. It was so much
fun for me. We have the best hobby in the world!
Good luck in CQWW CW next month for those taking part. I'll be on as usual on
20m from K3LR (going with G4BUO and G4TSH).
Cheers,
Mark M0DXR (P3F)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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