CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: K7KU
Operator(s): K0KR
Station: K7KU
Class: SOSB/20 LP
QTH: Wyoming
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80:
40:
20: 752 37 114
15:
10:
------------------------------
Total: 752 37 114 Total Score = 315,439
Club:
Comments:
In 2013 and again this year, I experimented with 20m single-band low power in
CQWWDX SSB. With those recent experiences in hand, I thought it might be fun
to take 20 CW LP out for a spin around the block.
I had in mind the conventional wisdom that LP is less of a handicap on CW than
it is on SSB. My 2014 SSB results were weaker than in 2013. So I figured that
I'd have no trouble on CW beating my SSB results from October. Imagine my
surprise then, when -- 12 hours deep into the contest -- I found myself 26 Q's
BEHIND my relatively weak SSB pace. As others in the U.S. 7th call area have
observed, Friday night was not especially productive on 20 this time.
To my delight, by Saturday morning things were much better. The final 36 hours
on CW produced an average rate well more than double my final 36 hours on SSB in
October. Indeed, my QSO total in the final 24 hours very nearly matched that of
the first 24 hours. And my best full hour of the entire weekend, by a huge
margin, was 1500-1559Z on SUNDAY! How often do those things happen in any
contest, DX or otherwise? Rarely if ever, at least in my experience.
Let me offer just a couple of technical observations, one of which might be of
value to other ops who try the LP category.
First, I monitored my power output continuosly with an external meter. I
happened to use a Bird Model 43P peak-reading unit, the accuracy of which I've
had checked. This meter revealed that, when I had the internal antenna tuner
in my Kenwood XCVR engaged, the internal wattmeter overstated actual power to
the feedline by a substantial margin. In fact, the internal meter showed
identical output (even into a flat line) irrespective of whether the antenna
tuner was in or out of the circuit. The external 43P readings, though, showed
that the internal tuner introduced a substantial loss of output power relative
to the straight-through figure. One surmises, then, that the internal meter
takes its measurement upstream from the internal tuner. Lesson? Reliance upon
an internal wattmeter that shows 100W output might cause an LP op to short
change himself somewhat in actual power out. I'm glad I had the Bird unit!
Second, my only 20m antenna right now is a 5EL monobander on a 44-foot boom at
130 feet. That's a good-news, bad-news item. The good news is that it gets
the most out of a paltry 100W when the target is on axis. The bad news is that
the beam width is so narrow that one must ride the rotator control. One will
also lose Q's, as I did several times, when it takes so long to swing the
antenna that the target station disappears. This is a double problem in
central Wyoming, where wind bucks the rotator much of the time. And the
narrow-beamwidth handicap was magnified during this particular event because,
for much of the contest, propagation was good over a width range of azimuths
simultaneously. Lesson, as if any were needed? If one wishes to do his best,
even in a single-band DX contest, with a primary antenna that has a narrow beam
width, it behooves one to have one or more secondary antennas for the same band,
instantly selectable by switch. I've been saying this to myself for some time
now, but haven't yet managed to do much about it. Shame on me!
With low power, one expects to wait longer in pileups and to leave plenty of
Q's and mults on the table, even with an above-average antenna. That, of
course, happened to me this time. But there are plenty of compensations to
offset those frustrating occasions. What can be accomplished with 100W and a
good antenna still seems like an utter miracle to me, just a much as it did
when I began contesting over 50 years ago! 8Q7 over the pole on 20m, first
call? YES! My far better overall results on CW, compared to SSB in October,
seem to add at least a smidgen of weight to the conventional wisdom about LP on
CW.
I'm afraid I've indulged in an overlong commentary. So let me just say THANKS
for the many QSO's! It was a fine contest.
73,
Bob, K0KR (operator at K7KU in Wyoming)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|