CQWW WPX Contest, CW
Call: WC1M
Operator(s): WC1M
Station: WC1M
Class: SO(A)AB HP
QTH: NH
Operating Time (hrs): 20.75
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 30
40: 824
20: 888
15: 30
10: 0
------------
Total: 1772 Prefixes = 907 Total Score = 5,504,583
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
A little over half a contest is better than none!
Had intended to do a full 36-hour effort this year, entering as Assisted using
only my local Skimmer spots. Unfortunately, I lacked the usual motivation
leading up to the contest and didn’t prepare well. Didn’t get enough sleep
during the week, and though I tested the station on Wednesday, I procrastinated
on Friday to the point of getting on the air a few minutes late and then
running into some configuration problems with my complex SDR setup that cost me
the first 20 minutes of the contest, or about 40-50 Qs at the most important
time. That hurt the motivation as well.
Nonetheless, had a very good 6-hours or so and hit a decent number of Qs and
mults before 40 gave out after the EU sunrise opening. I was feeling very good,
not tired at all, and in retrospect I should have continued straight through the
morning runs. Always afraid to do that, fearing a collapse during the high-rate
first morning. Instead, I took a sleep break, even though I saw the unusual
late EU sunrise opening on 20. By the time I got back on at 1000z, 20 was
already wide open. Probably missed at least an hour of good rate.
That’s when the fatigue really hit. The rate suffered and I was feeling
really terrible. As the rate on 20 wound down late morning, I seriously
considered quitting, or at least converting to a casual operation. It was a
tough decision because I've always done very well in this contest and my score
was still pretty competitive. I took another 3.5 hour break, gambling that the
rest would outweigh taking a break during a potentially high-rate time, and
that I could make up the Qs later (generally not likely because participation
falls off dramatically on day 2.)
Got back on by 1800z, and had a decent two-hour run on 20, after which the rate
dropped through the floor. That was the start of the solar event that wiped out
most of day 2. I saw the K-index had spiked (I think it was 4 or 5), and
checked the propagation alerts, which reported a significant solar event. By
2300z 20 was virtually gone and 40 wasn’t open yet. Took another 1-hour
break, which used up all but about three hours of my remaining break time. Came
back to 40 at 0000z and had a mediocre run of 120 Qs in 2 hours. By that time
the K-index was up to 6, a level I’ve rarely seen. Conditions just didn’t
warrant knocking myself out all night with no workable EU on the bands, so I
pulled the plug, watched some TV with my wife, and went to bed for a good long
sleep. Figured I was done with the contest.
Woke up unexpectedly at about 6:30 AM local (1030z) and checked the band scopes
and band maps. 20 wasn’t open at all and the band maps were nearly empty, with
no EU at all. So I went back to bed. I was going to call it a contest, but when
I got up in the late morning 20 had opened and I decided to operate casually
and see if I could add enough to what was still a decent score to make the top
ten. I CQed on one radio, which didn’t produce much EU rate, and not as much
US rate as I’d expect. Grabbed mults and any new EU I could find on the other
radio. The K-index had come down to 2, and while conditions were better, they
still weren’t great and there weren’t many EU stations on. I suspect a lot
of earlier participants had pulled the plug. Lots of QSB and band noise made
copying the low power stations quite a challenge. Never considered dual-CQ, but
I’m not sure it would have helped the score as much as grabbing mults off the
band map. 20 and 40 were barely open at the same time anyway, and certainly not
to EU.
All that said, I still had quite a few hours of fun and enjoyed not having the
significantly greater fatigue that comes from operating SO2R unassisted.
Can’t say I’ve converted to Assisted permanently, but it’s a nice
alternative when I don’t have the motivation or stamina to be a boy and his
radio(s).
Next year our 25th anniversary falls a couple of days after WPX CW, so we might
be on the road that weekend. If not, will see you in that one!
73, Dick WC1M
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