ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB
Call: WB0TEV
Operator(s): WB0TEV
Station: WB0TEV
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NTX
Operating Time (hrs): 21:03
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 217
40: 409
20: 476
15: 70
10:
------------
Total: 1172 Sections = 83 Total Score = 194,552
Club: DFW Contest Group
Comments:
Rig: TS-590SG
Amp: Aging Dentron MLA-2500
Antennas: Mosley PRO-67B @ 63 ft., 40m Vertical with 24 radials, 80m Inverted
Vee at 55 ft.
Another frenetic Phone SS albeit under very different band conditions from just
the year before! The QSO count this year was almost identical to 2015 (4 fewer
this year) but this year 10m was kaput, 15m was puny but made almost 3X as many
QSOs on 80m as the year before.
After the CW SS I shortened up the legs of the 80m Inverted V to get it
resonant around 3700 kHz, made a new exchange .wav file for N1MM+ and got
things set up for SO2V as I'll typically hop off my run freq briefly when
things slow down a bit to go snag another Q up or down the same band.
Usually I start off running on 15m (or even 10m a few years ago), but I figured
it would be better to try and grab a spot on 20m right from the starting bell
and that worked well. I found a spot on the low end of 20m a little before
2100Z and rag chewed a while and shook down the station before stepping on the
gas at the top of the hour. Then it was off to the races! Kept that run
going for a little over 2 hours with 116 Q's in each of those initial hours.
Before heading to 40m I followed a couple of spots to snag VY1AAA and K7IR to
scratch NT and EWA off the wanted list.
Upon arriving on 40 I answered a couple of CQing stations for a couple more
mults then found a spot on the low end of 40m to run. Switching between the
PRO-67B and the vertical helped, but the difference usually wasn't dramatic
except for cases where the vertical would fill in the null off the side of the
beam. Can't quite put my finger on it but 40m had a different feel that I
remember. The rate wasn't bad but wasn't as stellar as I remember it being
from years past. Only stayed on 40 for just under an hour before the XYL put
out the supper call, so I followed some spots to KS5Z/VY2 (MAR) and AA5B (NM),
then took a brief 29 minute QSY to the dinner table.
Back in the shack I went down to 80m just before 0100Z to chase spots to snag
W1SJ (VT), W5JJ(AR), and KI1G (RI). I think that's the earliest I've ever gone
to 80m and while the east coast bemoans 80m going long and skipping over all
those eastern sections and high population centers, for me it was a blessing to
be able to reach out and touch someone in 1,2,3 land more easily on 80m from
here in the central time zone.
Went back to 40m thereafter out of force of habit, as in years past I hadn't
found 80 to be that productive until much later. Couldn't seem to get a run
going (or just couldn't find a hole) on 40m just sort of wandered around doing
search and pounce until heading to 80m again just before 0130Z and managed to
get a modest run going on 3676 kHz with intermittent quick QSY's to work other
stations nearby before going back to 40m again. Spent the rest of the night
going back and forth between 40 and 80 with some good runs on each band. When
the run would peter out I'd search and pounce that band before QSYing to the
other band, chase whatever spots there were for new mults and easy Q's then
find a spot to run again. As 0700 Z approached the QSO rate and my stamina
were both headed down hill so the decision was made to QRT, set an alarm for
1230Z and assume horizontal polarization for a while. At that point there were
679 QSOs in the log. Better yet, I lacked only 1 section (NL) for the sweep!
One of the nice things about living in Texas (aside from no state income tax
and a 75 mph speed limit on the interstate in my county) is that we're well
situated in terms of being able to make a sweep. Far south Texas is probably
ideal, but up here in NTX isn't so bad either. This year the close in sections
(OK is usually a tough one for me) went to 80m earlier and in greater numbers
(likely due to 20m expiring so soon in the evening) making them easier to find
and work early.
A little voice in my head (past experience? premonition?) said that a VO1 might
show up early Sunday AM.... and sure enough that turned out to be the case! I
was up and back on the air (on 20m) at 1252Z shortly after the sun rose here.
I had just been on the radio for a few minutes when I saw the spot for VO1MP
pop up. Gus was also on 20m and I quickly spun the beam to the northeast. He
had a big pile, and as the sun was barely up here, stations further east of me
had much better propagation to him. I joined the pile and after about 10
minutes he caught enough of my call to summon me forth from the cacophony and
give me the sweep.
Thereafter I could concentrate solely on rate. Found a spot in the middle of
the phone band and started a run that lasted for the next 2-1/2 hours (with
occasion quick QSY's to pick off others on the other VFO when things slacked up
for a bit). Went QRT from 1546 to 1840Z to go to church and have lunch. Upon
arriving back home I figured I'd finally take as stab at 15m. Had a good run
there for just under an hour with brief QSY's to pick off other stations that
showed up on the 15m band map. 15m was rather long and during that 15m run
it was almost all far west coast and AK except for KP2RUM in VI and some stuff
in the far north east (CT, ENY, NH).
By late afternoon I was bouncing around between 15, 20 and 40 trying to find
fresh meat, doing a combination of running at search and pounce letting the
available mults and Qs window in N1MM+ be my friend along with plain old
fashioned turning of the VFO knob and listening. In the final hours it got
harder and harder to find anyone new to work and by 0130Z I was really ready
for the contest to be over.
The last hour was brutal. The pretty decent run I'd had on the upper end of
40m fizzled and I went down to 80. After a few S and P QSOs, I saw fireworks
appear behind the multi-meter on the MLA-2500 (which I had set to read plate
current). The needle was pegged to the right (and bent!). It was still
putting out full power per my external power meter and the power meter on the
amp itself, but something was obviously suffering a grizzly electrocution. As
much fun as it was to see the flashes from behind the meter in sync with my
voice peaks, I knew that it was time to put it in standby and forget about QRO.
It was time to see what 100 watts on 80m could do. As luck would have it I was
able to poach a guys run freq that he abandoned when he got a tip about where to
find the last section he was needing so I took over 3758 kHz and had a 12 QSO 20
minute run that just.... died. After that it was just real slim pickin's.
Unlike previous years where I had a blistering run going on 40m right up to the
closing bell, I only managed to eke out 5 QSOs in the last half hour, with
nothing after 0248. For those last QSO's I was fighting through pileups on
stations with low QSO counts (that everyone else was scrapping for as well)
with just 100 watts. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to work WE5TM,
KA9FOX, N0YL, WE0Q, K3LID and KM4DAY in those final minutes. Tried to work
W1QS as well but he was in Maine, I was in Texas and his pile was a mile deep.
I couldn't work anything AT ALL at the very end and last QSO was logged at
0248.
It was great fun, but I was ready for it be over! Thanks for all the QSO's and
especially to those who make it a point to get on the air from rare (or formerly
rare) sections. With the exception of VT and NL, I managed to work each section
at least twice. Aside from those and PR, ONN, and MAR, each section was worked
at least thrice.
Stats follow. I recall that a few years ago I analyzed the Checks received and
found that the median year for the checks was 1976, the same year I got
licensed. I did a similar look at the data from this years log and found that
1976 was once again the median. (Queue up the old Steeler's Wheel tune: Clowns
to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with
you!)
See you in the next contest. Next year I hope to be on from Belize as V31VP in
the CQ WPX RTTY and/or ARRL SSB DX contests.
73, Victor
CALLSIGN: WB0TEV
CONTEST: ARRL-SS-SSB
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
OPERATORS: WB0TEV
-------------- Q S O R a t e S u m m a r y ---------------------
Hour 160 80 40 20 15 10 Rate Total Pct
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2100 0 0 0 116 0 0 116 116 9.9
2200 0 0 0 116 0 0 116 232 19.8
2300 0 0 50 26 0 0 76 308 26.3
0000 0 3 32 0 0 0 35 343 29.3
0100 0 19 36 0 0 0 55 398 34.0
0200 0 1 71 0 0 0 72 470 40.1
0300 0 72 3 0 0 0 75 545 46.5
0400 0 49 0 0 0 0 49 594 50.7
0500 0 7 26 0 0 0 33 627 53.5
0600 0 17 34 0 0 0 51 678 57.8
0700 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 678 57.8
0800 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 678 57.8
0900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 678 57.8
1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 678 57.8
1100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 678 57.8
1200 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 680 58.0
1300 0 0 3 44 0 0 47 727 62.0
1400 0 0 0 56 0 0 56 783 66.8
1500 0 0 2 34 0 0 36 819 69.9
1600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 819 69.9
1700 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 819 69.9
1800 0 0 0 0 32 0 32 851 72.6
1900 0 0 5 13 25 0 43 894 76.3
2000 0 0 12 12 6 0 30 924 78.8
2100 0 0 11 10 7 0 28 952 81.2
2200 0 0 39 4 0 0 43 995 84.9
2300 0 14 3 42 0 0 59 1054 89.9
0000 0 11 30 2 0 0 43 1097 93.6
0100 0 4 52 0 0 0 56 1153 98.4
0200 0 19 0 0 0 0 19 1172 100.0
------------------------------------------------------
Total 0 217 409 476 70 0 1172
Gross QSOs=1173 Dupes=1 Net QSOs=1172
Unique callsigns worked = 1172
The best 60 minute rate was 123/hour from 2109 to 2208
The best 30 minute rate was 128/hour from 2137 to 2206
The best 10 minute rate was 138/hour from 2115 to 2124
The best 1 minute rates were:
3 QSOs/minute 50 times.
2 QSOs/minute 261 times.
1 QSOs/minute 500 times.
There were 44 bandchanges and 7 (0.6%) probable 2nd radio QSOs.
Number of letters in callsigns
Letters # worked
-----------------
3 1
4 492
5 461
6 212
7 3
8 2
9 1
------------ M u l t i p l i e r S u m m a r y ------------
Mult 160 80 40 20 15 10 Total Pct
-------------------------------------------------------------
MDC 0 17 16 24 0 0 57 4.9
VA 0 11 11 32 0 0 54 4.6
IL 0 13 23 17 0 0 53 4.5
MN 0 8 13 28 0 0 49 4.2
OH 0 12 18 17 0 0 47 4.0
MI 0 8 9 27 0 0 44 3.8
AZ 0 1 11 18 0 0 30 2.6
NC 0 2 12 14 0 0 28 2.4
WWA 0 2 6 12 8 0 28 2.4
SV 0 1 10 11 5 0 27 2.3
SCV 0 4 11 6 4 0 25 2.1
WNY 0 1 11 11 1 0 24 2.0
IN 0 4 17 3 0 0 24 2.0
ENY 0 0 5 15 3 0 23 2.0
CT 0 5 5 11 2 0 23 2.0
WI 0 5 7 10 0 0 22 1.9
EPA 0 2 7 10 0 0 19 1.6
OR 0 2 2 7 7 0 18 1.5
UT 0 1 8 9 0 0 18 1.5
TN 0 2 14 2 0 0 18 1.5
ORG 0 0 3 14 0 0 17 1.5
MO 0 9 8 0 0 0 17 1.5
EMA 0 2 4 6 4 0 16 1.4
LAX 0 0 12 3 1 0 16 1.4
KY 0 9 7 0 0 0 16 1.4
EB 0 0 7 3 5 0 15 1.3
SNJ 0 1 8 5 1 0 15 1.3
NNJ 0 3 5 7 0 0 15 1.3
NTX 0 9 2 4 0 0 15 1.3
NFL 0 5 1 8 0 0 14 1.2
WPA 0 3 3 8 0 0 14 1.2
AL 0 7 7 0 0 0 14 1.2
CO 0 4 9 1 0 0 14 1.2
WCF 0 3 3 7 0 0 13 1.1
SJV 0 2 6 3 2 0 13 1.1
BC 0 1 3 6 3 0 13 1.1
SDG 0 1 8 4 0 0 13 1.1
NV 0 0 4 7 2 0 13 1.1
SFL 0 1 3 9 0 0 13 1.1
GA 0 4 7 1 0 0 12 1.0
ONS 0 1 3 7 0 0 11 0.9
KS 0 6 5 0 0 0 11 0.9
OK 0 9 2 0 0 0 11 0.9
NLI 0 0 5 5 0 0 10 0.9
MT 0 2 3 5 0 0 10 0.9
SF 0 0 5 1 4 0 10 0.9
NH 0 1 4 4 1 0 10 0.9
SB 0 0 1 6 3 0 10 0.9
ID 0 1 2 3 3 0 9 0.8
SC 0 0 3 6 0 0 9 0.8
EWA 0 0 2 2 5 0 9 0.8
AB 0 0 1 5 2 0 8 0.7
WMA 0 2 3 3 0 0 8 0.7
WV 0 0 3 5 0 0 8 0.7
MB 0 1 3 3 0 0 7 0.6
GTA 0 0 1 6 0 0 7 0.6
SD 0 1 3 3 0 0 7 0.6
IA 0 4 2 1 0 0 7 0.6
STX 0 3 4 0 0 0 7 0.6
ONE 0 1 2 3 0 0 6 0.5
NM 0 2 3 1 0 0 6 0.5
AK 0 0 1 2 2 0 5 0.4
ME 0 1 2 2 0 0 5 0.4
AR 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 0.4
ND 0 0 1 3 0 0 4 0.3
WY 0 1 2 1 0 0 4 0.3
NE 0 3 1 0 0 0 4 0.3
MS 0 3 1 0 0 0 4 0.3
VI 0 0 1 1 2 0 4 0.3
LA 0 1 3 0 0 0 4 0.3
DE 0 0 1 3 0 0 4 0.3
SK 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.3
QC 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0.3
PAC 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.3
NT 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.3
RI 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 0.3
NNY 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 0.3
WTX 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 0.3
PR 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.2
ONN 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0.2
MAR 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.2
VT 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.1
NL 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.1
------------------------------------------------------
Total 0 217 409 476 70 0 1172
Sweepstakes Checks
Check QSOs Pct
----------------------
00 13 1.1
01 15 1.3
02 12 1.0
03 7 0.6
04 4 0.3
05 5 0.4
06 11 0.9
07 9 0.8
08 13 1.1
09 14 1.2
10 11 0.9
11 14 1.2
12 13 1.1
13 19 1.6
14 21 1.8
15 21 1.8
16 24 2.0
17 0 0.0
18 0 0.0
19 0 0.0
20 0 0.0
21 0 0.0
22 0 0.0
23 0 0.0
24 1 0.1
25 0 0.0
26 0 0.0
27 0 0.0
28 0 0.0
29 0 0.0
30 0 0.0
31 3 0.3
32 1 0.1
33 1 0.1
34 0 0.0
35 0 0.0
36 0 0.0
37 0 0.0
38 1 0.1
39 1 0.1
40 1 0.1
41 0 0.0
42 0 0.0
43 0 0.0
44 0 0.0
45 0 0.0
46 0 0.0
47 1 0.1
48 0 0.0
49 1 0.1
50 1 0.1
51 0 0.0
52 8 0.7
53 9 0.8
54 13 1.1
55 17 1.5
56 18 1.5
57 22 1.9
58 32 2.7
59 32 2.7
60 24 2.0
61 26 2.2
62 26 2.2
63 29 2.5
64 23 2.0
65 22 1.9
66 20 1.7
67 17 1.5
68 27 2.3
69 33 2.8
70 26 2.2
71 33 2.8
72 24 2.0
73 19 1.6
74 27 2.3
75 24 2.0
76 37 3.2
77 39 3.3
78 17 1.5
79 22 1.9
80 13 1.1
81 15 1.3
82 13 1.1
83 20 1.7
84 12 1.0
85 8 0.7
86 11 0.9
87 12 1.0
88 11 0.9
89 23 2.0
90 8 0.7
91 16 1.4
92 28 2.4
93 16 1.4
94 6 0.5
95 11 0.9
96 14 1.2
97 8 0.7
98 13 1.1
99 10 0.9
U.S. Call Areas Worked
Area QSOs Pct
--------------------
0 122 10.4
1 89 7.6
2 108 9.2
3 97 8.3
4 150 12.8
5 53 4.5
6 147 12.5
7 122 10.4
8 110 9.4
9 107 9.1
--------------------
Total 1105 94.3
Sweepstakes Precedents
Precedent QSOs Pct
----------------------
A 469 40.0
B 241 20.6
Q 37 3.2
M 111 9.5
U 305 26.0
S 9 0.8
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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