CQ Worldwide VHF Contest
Call: K2DRH
Operator(s): K2DRH
Station: K2DRH
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: EN4vr
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 486 203
2: 73 27
-------------------
Total: 559 230 Total Score = 145,360
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
This was a weird one for sure. But truly a CQWW contest with a lot of DX.
Started slow with 6M barely perking on FT8, but even so very few locals were on
2M ready to contest, so it was necessary to pry them off 6M FT8, one at a
painful time. Chasing rovers took some time but it’s a bit harder to find them
in this contest since we can only access APRS. At 1900Z Eu came in on FT8 and I
broke one of my contest rules and worked a few when I saw some new ones,
especially since everyone seemed to be trying for EU and ignoring domestic calls
anyway. Made for another slow hour though. When it did open for a couple hours
to the NE around 2000 it was relatively weak so the rates were spotty and uneven
as it faded up and down and came in spurts.
About 2100 I started to get some FL and a few would pop in from time to time
from the W and even occasional double hop, but switching to antennas pointed
that way only brought short spurts and never any depth. These widely scattered
openings all over the compass continued as the afternoon progressed, but none of
them were sustained or brought any great rate. I saw some JA being worked on
FT8 but didn’t hear much of them myself so I ignored them. It continued with
really spotlight and spotty Es like that well into the evening before slowly
fading out.
I seems like fewer stations were doing MSK after the “action” died off
completely even on FT8. But I was able to add a lot of mults to the log mostly
on 6M. 2M rox seemed less prevalent and early attempts at listening for and
initiating 2M CQs failed. Later on it seemed to get a lot better but by then
there were only a handful of stations on haunting the PJ page. I really think a
tweak to the rules for initiating Ms CQs would be helpful allowing you to
specify more parameters such as direction, use of SH messages etc. since there
are so many variables anymore.
I didn’t have to fix anything before this contest so I should have realized
something was doomed to failure. Sure enough after working K5QE on 2M MSK-144
around Midnight Saturday I went to call AC0RA/R and nothing. Switched to my low
2M ant and worked him fine. A bit of troubleshooting revealed a dead short on
the main 2M coax to the 18 el antennas at 140’ and 154’. Everything checked
out fine on the ground so I went with the low antenna for the rest of the test
(a 9 el at 25 feet). I’m totally sick of having to climb and fix stuff in the
middle of a test, especially in the middle of the night and just refused to do
it this time.
My 2M Ms sked with W9RM in the morning may have taken a while longer as well as
my tropo sked with K0AWU 400 miles away, but they were still successful.
Considering the miserable band conditions on 2M and the almost total lack of
stations listening there anyway my limited 2M antenna probably only cost me a
few Qs and mults. After the contest I found a coax connector at the rotor
jumper on the main 2M where the center pin apparently disengaged slightly, arced
over and cindered the pin in the N bullet. It had been fine for over a year and
there was no moisture in it, so who knows why?
Sunday started off slow again but there were a few rovers to chase including
AC0RA/R and K2EZ/R who came into range on one of her insane mega grid roves.
Around 1330 or so I could hear my neighbor 90 miles west N0URW banging away at
the FM grids but I had no sign of them. However I did hear some more Eu on FT8
and worked a few including another new one. Around 1400 the NE came in, but
again with no great rate or depth and a lot of QSB. I finally started hearing
the FM grids at the end of that hour and got some decent, but short, runs as the
band started to do its rock around the clock tricks again. That didn’t last
and by the mid 1700 hour it was back to slugging it out again for the rest of
the contest. Had some success sniping for grid mults on FT8 and good results
following the rovers but the last few hours the contest pretty much ended with a
resounding thud.
A little bit on the FT8 debacle. Really more stations need to pry themselves
off their FT8 addiction and get into the contest. You’d really think that when
I send QSY 144210, and it’s slow on 6M anyway, that more than the station I
just worked would get the hint and go there for a Q with me (and maybe each
other) too. Damn few were even in contest mode, flawed as it is. I finally
pretty much gave up on contest mode and a few of the actual stations that know
how to contest operate rather than be in drone mode all the time may have been
surprised at that. Contest mode works wonderfully IF you use it during a
CONTEST (just ask the Ms guys who really know how to operate), but the present
incompatibility with the funny numbers drone mode makes it almost impossible,
especially for the clueless who just seem to get angry when they don’t get it.
And the rover problems still need to be solved too!
73 de Bob K2DRH
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