CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: N1UR
Operator(s): N1UR
Station: N1UR
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: VT
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 52 8 24
80: 334 17 77
40: 638 29 96
20: 883 32 102
15: 517 25 91
10: 46 12 26
------------------------------
Total: 2471 123 418 Total Score = 3,748,230
Club:
Comments:
Well that was interesting. And fun, no really....
Its amazing to watch the propagation effects of geomagnetic disturbances. This
weekend
had lower K indicies than the SSB weekend however the type of solar wind that
still existed has devastating for the more northern paths. VOCAP ray tracing
is very interesting for this. K3LR's path to DL goes over Montreal for
instance. Thats 100 miles north of my path actually. So I ws not surprised
to see no Sat 40M 05 - 07Z EU run on K3LR's rate sheet this morning.
W3LPL's post really nailed the effect of the "finger of death" as I
call it on
stations that have a more Northerly ray tracing of the signal from thier QTH
to the desired QSO generating spots. 50 - 100 miles of difference as that ray
crowns over the atlantic and flirts with the "finger of death" makes
all the
difference in the world. Look for high wind speed and Bz on your favorite
prop monitor to flag you for this epic battle. This year's CQWW both modes
were literally worst case scenarios for that effect. And when you then take
10M off the table and shorten the 15 and 20M hours where you can run Europe
it really changes the game for the weekend.
So after starting off on 40 and seeing the rate drop from 150 to 40 after the
first 15 mins. And from 0230 - 0330 having EU statation after station CQ in
my face on 80 while S & Ping what is normally a 100 rate sweep to pick up
mults, I knew it was going to be "one of those weekends".
So I decided to change the character of the contest a bit and try to push
some SO2R techniques as well as do a few things I don't normally do just to try
them.
Its hard to do that if you are trying to stay competitive in the event.
An example was to try CQing to JA on 20 even though there were not many calling
people but a few that were calling were reasonable in stength - S7. Can a
loud W1 generate some interest and do a low signal level run? Answer? No.
A few calls but not a good use of time. I then decided to sweep the noise
floor on 20 pointed north and picked up a few nice double mults on VERY low
level signals. This is an art form that is quickly becoming lost on the
assisted crowd.
Got in one extra 45 min nap given the nature of the contest up here.
Nice to see AA1K have a good score. DE was an almost ideal place to be
for this one. W3LPL and WE3C also were in good spots I believe. Great
work by W1KM exploting the more southeast New England location and
stretching the legs of that outstanding low bands antenna set up.
I am realizing that the peak and the bottom of the cycle are actually the
best times. The transitions can be frustrating from here.
So I got in 44 hours, really enjoyed an amazing 40M run from 1930 - 2200
(only had 150 Qs on 40 before I started that run - talk about crazy),
had some very nice SO2R at combined rates of 130 - 170 for a bit, and
really enjoyed running on 20M Sunday morning while trying to SO2R harvest
needed Asian mults for a combined 170 rate (that was hard because EU
re-appeared
at that time so it was more than just Asia coming through).
Always fun, always interesting, I love this game. And not one equipment or
antenna
issue. Maintenance and re-builds are paying off.
Ed N1UR
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