CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: ON3DI
Operator(s): ON3DI
Station: ON3DI
Class: SOAB(A) LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 38u46
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80: 630 9 54
40: 498 14 71
20: 150 13 36
15: 16 8 11
10:
------------------------------
Total: 1294 44 172 Total Score = 346,248
Club:
Comments:
Hi
My last contest of the year, after a good CQ WW RTTY (new WR) and the CQ WW SSB
(disappointment), now the CQ WW CW. The goal was to having fun and when it was
possible to work Wyoming, the last state I miss. It is quit some time that I'm
practising CW. This contest was marked in red in my calendar, I really wanted
to know what I'm worth. My speed that I can handle is around 20 WPM, decent but
not enough to contest. The plan was to do some S&P and when I had worked
everybody I would try to call CQ.
I started the contest on 80m and did like I said S&P, the first hour I had
51 qso's, better then expected. Same thing on 40m, but soon the 'contester' in
me came alive, remembering a quote of my friend OQ5M, contesting is calling CQ
and I thought why not... It worked, guys came back to my CQ (even with my 20
WPM). I had some runs on 80m, most of the time Europe, but more UA compared to
SSB or RTTY contests. Another difference was that my rates were between 35-50
the first 10 hours, never experienced that before.
It was nice to work some big guns: D4C on 80m, ZF2MJ, HK1NA, K6ND, CN2AA, V26K
,W3UA, W3LPL, WE3C (last 3 came all back to my cq on 80m), ... Around 9u, I had
again a nice run on 40m. 50 qso's in a row, I had fun. After that I made a
little mistake, my antenna works great on 40m, but I wanted to work some
JA/ZL/VK on 20m or 15m, so I went to those bands, but they weren't in a good
shape. 10m was even completely dead. I worked some UA9, even 9Y4, JY, ... But I
haven't heard any JA the whole contest. I called a bit CQ on 20m around noon and
some USA came back, nice! Another mistake was that I went to bed then, I slept
for a few hours and the period after that I was hard to work USA on 15m-20m, I
did but only a few. I went back to 40m-80m, and yes again rates around 50 WPM.
It helpt that a friend, OR5T, worked me and then spotted me with the text QRS,
guys came back with lower speed. So bye bye S&P, I had to much fun and was
to busy. Around midnight I slept again for a few hours, had already 750 qso's
in the log, never done better on 1 day! I knew the magic barrier of 1000 qso's
would be possible! After my nap of three hours I searched for some multipliers;
I worked A45XR, 9H6A, P40C, PZ5V (all on 40m). I went back to 80m, and calling
CQ. Rates were again high (for my station and skills) with a top of 53 qso's.
Later 20m and 15m were in better shape then on Saturday, they were more
crowded. I couldn't call CQ, but I worked more then enough (CN2AA, VY2TT, ZD8W,
PX2V, ...). Went to bed again and after that I worked a few hours USA on
20m-15m, they copied me all so well. I was wondering what the last hours had in
store. I was switching again between 80m-40m, calling CQ and working a lot of
UA, OK, YL, ... Highlights were working A44E followed by W1TO on 80m at 21u42
UTC. Strange to work USA at that moment, lovely! There was no time to feel
tiredness, execpt the the last hour. I couldn't hear the difference anymore
between a R or a L. Despite that the 3 hours I made 120 QSO's. Even the last
minute I made 3 qso's, unbelievable.
So was it a blast, yes indeed, way better then expected. The conditions weren't
good, but I could count on my decent antennas on 40m (vertical) and 80m
(dipole). 1294 qso's is a personal best. Three years ago I made 1099 qso's
during the CQ WW RTTY and 1158 qso's during the CQ WW SSB. In my first real cw
attempt breaking that record means a lot to me. Oh ON3DI loves CW...
Decoding was sometimes hard, so I opened also CW get on my screen, anyway I
tried to decode as much by my ears, sometimes with more succes. Many OM's
reduced there speed, some didn't. It took a bit more time to decode them. Did I
lost qso's because I couldn't copy them fast enough or quick enough, yeah but
that gives me some opportunity to increase my skills and to set a new personal
best next year.
It was fun to work some friends: OQ5M, OR5T, ON7GR, ON7AA, ON5YX, a very weak
ON6NL (congrats on your QRP score) and international friends like SK3W, WX3B,
2W0WOD, DL1A, ES9C, HG6N, ...
Conditions were hard, but the fun factor was high, enjoyed the contest so I
will be qrv more during cw contests. Tnx for all the patience, really
appreciate all the efforts! One small pitty thing, I haven't worked Wyoming,
that will be for another time...
Last but not least, some special thanks to:
-All who spotted me; it helped a lot (you always feel the effect)
-My parents: my dad checked all the antennas and my mom gave me delicious food.
-My greatest gratitude goes to ON5XY, Peter, he is my teacher of CW. Every
Tuesday and Thursday, we try to improve our skills with him. He became a friend
and I want to dedicate this score to him. Tnx for all the efforts that you have
already done!
73
Pieter ON3DI
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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