CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
Call: 6Y4W
Operator(s): 5B4WN
Station: 6Y5WJ
Class: SOAB(TS) HP
QTH: St Elizabeth
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 111
40: 469
20: 1463
15: 1560
10: 1845
------------
Total: 5448 Prefixes = 1210 Total Score = 16,883,130
Club: Nicosia Contest Group
Comments:
Ya man! That was awesome!
Only read the story below if you are otherwise bored!
In my current year of working in the USA I had in my “to do list” to visit
and operate a major contest from the Carribean! I have never done it before
and it has always been my childhood dream! I kept looking at possible places
but good places are booked well in advance! At WRTC Nick, VE3EY, mentioned
Josh, 6Y5WJ, and his amazing location, so when 2 months ago Josh told me that
WPX SSB was available, I immediately booked it!
Escaping from work for any length of time was going to be tricky! In my head I
had planned to turn up last minute with my K3 and just operate aiming for
maximum QSO total! Luckily, all my WRTC radio gear was with me in the US ready
to go. The only addition to my hardware was a homemade boomset adaptor for my
GC15 headphones which I 3D printed and used to rehouse the Heil BM10.
In a true 5B4WN tradition, I did some different type of operating at work for
14 hours on the Thursday before the contest, went home just before midnight, I
packed my stuff, slept for 4 hours before departing for the airport first thing!
I had planned to use the on-board wifi, to do some propagation planning and
decide where to go for maximum QSO totals! I used the geographic propagation
tool that I wrote for club log
(https://secure.clublog.org/charts/?c=-1&a=gc) to work out when to changes
bands and familiarize myself with band openings! This turned out to be very
accurate!
I got in Montego Bay at 17:00Z (2 hours late) along with 7 other flights from
the USA and waited for 2 hours to pass immigration! I was greeted by Jen and
Josh with a big Jamaican smile. The air temperature was pleasantly warm.
Josh drove me to his QTH through the Jamaican pothole laden roads, a journey
that lasted around 3 hours. On arrival, I had a quick shower and started
setting up the station….. and when my laptop PSU which I had tested the week
before the contest, decided to pack in, Josh came to the rescue with one of his
own. I had just 15 minutes to spare before the start of the contest and I
already felt exhausted…. I started on 20m and with my first CQ I had some
amazing pile-ups. The pile-ups continued throughout the first day. Whenever I
would change band, there was about a 10 minute delay before I could get going
and then suddenly the pileup would just take off (the magic of the cluster!). I
finished the first day with almost 3000Q in the log. The second day was
completely a different story. I just could NOT get a decent run until 20Z. I
suspect that’s where aluminium and max power helps. I ended the contest with
5500+ QSOs (incl dupes) and 1209 Mults. There were no technical issues and the
shack is well organized and engineered. My European QSOs were only 22% of the
QSO total and I suspect this accounts for my lower multiplier score. I tried to
maximize my EU qsos by beaming to Europe at the right times. I had a few good
rates to JA. Despite the QSO total, the lower final of score 16.8Million is
partly due to the 2 point disadvantage of being in NA.
Josh and Jen are simply amazing hosts. They looked after me and fed me well
throughout my stay! Their QTH is on top of the hill and the view is magical. I
had a blast and I enjoyed the pile-ups immensely! It was great working friends!
I kept smiling when the rates were good which was most of the time. My best hour
was 221 which is I guess respectabe for a serial number contest. What makes it
even more amazing is the fact that I made 5500 QSOs with a 2 element wire
antenna and some verticals for 40 and 80 and 700W out of a TL922! I guess
it’s a lot about “location location location”!
My wonderful hosts took me back to the airport on Monday with a few stops on
the way including a quick dip into the warm Jamaican sea and a visit at the
local restaurant for tasting some authentic Jerk chicken. There is no doubt
that Jamaica, “the land of wood and water” is a beautiful place to visit. I
wished I had some more time to explore….
I had an amazing time and I would definitely return to 6Y in the future. Josh
is planning some antenna improvements which will make the station even more
competitive!
Thanks to everyone for the QSOs and congratulations to all those with better
scores!
I am waiting for my LOTW certificate and I will then upload the logs to LOTW.
If you are desperate for a paper card you will be able to use my online OQRS
page on Club Log: https://secure.clublog.org/charts/?c=6Y4W
Equipment:
K3
TL922
Win-test
2 element Quad
vertical for 40m
vertical for 80m
73s Marios
W3/5B4WN aka
W3/G0WWW
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|