ARRL DX Contest, CW - 2022
Call: PJ2T
Operator(s): W0CG W9VA NF9V N0VD W9NJY N7IR
Station: PJ2T
Class: M/M HP
QTH: Curacao
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 674 53
80: 1127 60
40: 1988 60
20: 2049 60
15: 2122 60
10: 1928 58
-------------------
Total: 9888 351 Total Score = 10,403,640
Club: CCC
Comments:
GIANT THANKS to our five operators who chose to travel.
Without people willing to undertake international travel, use work vacation,
spend a week away from families, and devote resources to big overseas station
operations, there would not be all these fun, loud, and easy to work DX stations
in the contests. PJ2T would be silent. W9VA (Bill), N7IR (Gary), W9NJY (Andy),
NF9V (Rudy), and N0VD (Kelly) took up the challenge when many, many others opted
out, and we doubled down with a small team and managed to stage a reasonable
multi/multi weekend here at Signal Point, Curacao. We recruited very
aggressively for months and were fortunate to recruit these five contesters, but
four beds on site were empty this week, and lots of people missed out on the
fun. The final exclamation mark on our recruiting difficulty was that one of our
ops cancelled (work conflict) on the day of the contest, only hours before we
were to collect him at the Curacao airport. This forced an unwelcome last-minute
rework of all of our planning, but we got through it.
This run of ARRL DX CW was somewhere between the best and the worst in our 21
years here. Conditions on Saturday were a bit better than Sunday, when the SFI
dropped to 96. 10 and 15 were “here” but never quite solid, and 10 on Sunday
sounded like the bottom could fall out at any moment. But the bottom more or
less held up, and we posted a score we’re proud of. The low bands were
generally quiet (for the tropics), but participation seemed down from past
years. Special thanks to VE4GV who apparently got out the Manitobans and filled
our VE4 160 square for the first time in many years.
It was a thrill to welcome back some old friends this weekend. Bill (W9VA) made
his return after a couple years of COVID interruption, and at just short of age
85 he “ran with the best of ‘em” and showed us that we need not fear
becoming seniors. Bill is my longest living associate in CCC, having been
involved and active and supportive since 1998. Gary (N7IR), the Station
Equipment Lead for PJ2T returned after a long time away owing to COVID
restrictions and fighting a medical problem. He’s doing great now, and it was
a delight to see him back here. Andy (W9NJY) has also been away for several
years, during which time he wrapped up a long career in internal medicine
retiring last October. This was his first high-intensity operating for awhile,
and he was a great asset to the crew here. N0VD (Kelly) has been contesting here
and there around the globe, but with job changes and relocations that have
somewhat distracted him from contesting, this was his first time at PJ2T in
years, and it was a great reunion. His mornings at Signal Point started with a
multi-mile run on hills and over distances and in heat that would cripple a
normal human, but he’s superhuman and showed that in long shifts pounding the
pavement and in long shifts pounding CW in the contest. Finally, super-op Rudy,
NF9V, was back again here for his favorite PJ2 contest, after moving house and
recalibrating life. So in a sense, this contest weekend was a restart/reset for
nearly all of us, all in slightly different ways.
The PJ2T station held together well all weekend with only the most minor of
problems, and we got through it with solid commercial power. We had been spooked
by a 14 hour power outage the day before the contest, and that somewhat
compromised our preparation, but the weekend was fine. Our challenge going
forward will be surviving major construction next door as a major resort hotel
is being built on the property immediately adjacent to ours. Some of our
Beverages and other antenna infrastructure are being threatened by heavy
equipment. I am doing my best to negotiate with the equipment operators and
protect everything as they work, but it’s a battle. Also, we are facing a big
disruption to our connectivity as the neighborhood converts from DSL to fiber
direct to the house. The eventual outcome will be great, but it will be a lot of
work for me to install the conduit runs that are being required by the providing
company, and to get it all configured and secured. In the meantime, we will be
offline for a time.
Thanks again to Jason (NR0X) for the August 2021 donation of his Commander
HF-2500 amp, which is now our mainstay at Station 1 and has successfully
supported its fourth large contest effort here. Thanks also to N7NR for donating
a K3, and to many other members of CCC for their ongoing support of this place,
details of which are too numerous to mention here.
We miss our Silent Keys Keith (WA9S), Marty (K2PLF), and Mal (NP2L) who have
left us since the 2019 pre-COVID running of this contest. They are constantly in
our thoughts, and they would be proud of the contest effort this weekend.
Thanks for working us, and see you soon in the SSB portion when we will have a
larger team and hopefully fewer challenges all around.
73, thanks for the fun weekend and for all your QSOs,
- Geoff, W0CG, PJ2DX for the entire PJ2T family
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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