CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: N7WA
Operator(s): N7WA
Station: N7WA
Class: SOSB/40 HP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 30
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80:
40: 652 28 80
20:
15:
10:
------------------------------
Total: 652 28 80 Total Score = 190,512
Club: Western Washington DX Club
Comments:
The propagation forecast left me worried about this test but you play the cards
you're dealt. I knew it would be a 20M or 40M single band effort. (I could
sleep days or nights but I do need sleep - none of this 48 hour madness at this
point of my life.) In the end, since my attempt last year was aborted by a
failed 40M beam, I decided to check out it's replacement.
The first night (Friday), it was evident that Europe was not going to be big
factor in this test. Only Tier 1 stations were evident and they weren't very
strong. Fortunately, South America and the Caribbean were fairly decent and I
gathered up quite a few multipliers. There was no running though, it was all
Search and Pounce. The big question was, as I watched the grey line advance
towards Asia, would there be any action from the west? I avoided a real desire
to go take nap and I finally found my first JA calling CQ. At this point, I
pointed the beam at 300 degrees and started calling myself. I was rewarded with
a slow but steady stream of responders from Japan and across the Pacific. It was
a pleasure going from 15-20 Q's an hour over the first 8 hours to over 50. Maybe
there was hope for this test yet? As morning neared, I wondered if the Long Path
to Europe and Africa would provide any action. At 1400, I pointed the beam way
south to LP Europe. There were stations heard and I even worked a few. But like
the night before, it was all Tier 1 action and they were a challenge to work.
Nothing heard from Africa or the Middle East. I went to bed.
I started listening at 2200 on Saturday. Most of the SA and Carib stations
calling were repeats. My hopes laid with Europe but it didn't seem any better.
In fact, as the sun set between 0000 and 0100, the 40M band got quieter.
Usually, on my spectrum display, I can see a noise floor running at fairly
specific level. The noise floor actually dropped about 10dB as I watched.
Unfortunately, this didn't bring stations out of the noise, they just
disappeared and I heard nothing from Europe and the band seemed pretty empty.
I was stuck chasing VE's and the occasional South American. This time, I did
not resist the urge to take a nap with contact rate of about 5 an hour. I set
the alarm and went to sleep hoping for a repeat of the prior nights action into
Asia and the Pacific.
Saturday DID repeat the participation by JA's but the rest of the Pacific
seemed lighter. The noise seemed higher by this time and there was a lot of
call digging required. I used the K3 noise reduction liberally. Still, it was
good to have something to do. Long path in the morning wasn't any better though
I did find A45XR calling a lonely CQ. It would have been a double mult if he had
heard me. I tried a long time to get his attention and he wasn't working many
others but it wasn't to be. That wasn't the only double mult I had to leave on
the table during that long path session. There was a LZ calling from Zone 20 as
well but he didn't hear me either. I don't know if it's worse to hear and not be
heard versus not hearing at all. The bed beckons me again.
With two hours left in the test, I gave Europe my last shot. I worked a few
more mults with difficulty. It burns me to know all the normally easy
"country" mults that laid unclaimed. Most of my European DX mults
seemed to be zone 15. Zone 14 and 16 are not well represented in my log and
neither was northern Europe. I heard very few DL's and the usual big guns were
deep in the noise.
I await to hear Dan/W7WA's report. I expect he may also have been 40M SB. He
usually spanks me good but he also gives me something to work towards.
It was fun... I think... let me sleep on it...
cheers
dink, n7wa
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