CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2022
Call: NU5A
Operator(s): K5GN
Station: W5KU
Class: SOAB HP
Class Overlay: Unassisted
QTH: STX
Operating Time (hrs): 36
OpMode: 2BSIQ
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 84
40: 980
20: 1376
15: 1056
10: 158
------------
Total: 3654 Prefixes = 1007 Total Score = 8,427,583
Club: Texas DX Society
Comments:
After a most excellent weekend at the Dayton HamVention (and that's an
understatement), I began to feel ill Monday afternoon and had a fever by Tuesday
morning. A home test showed positive for COVID-19. That scrapped all plans for
antenna maintenance and improvements for the week. With good medicine and lots
of rest I was fever free by Thursday and feeling stronger every day so I chose
to get out of the house and isolate at the radio station, with thoughts of maybe
getting on in WPX. Dennis mostly stayed away and I just stayed inside the
shack.
My goal was to finally take the plunge and install DXLog.net and give it a good
thrashing. I've been using Win-Test now for decades with good results but
struggle to make 2BSIQ work the way I want. Several have recommended the change
but I've been reluctant to face the learning curve. I didn't commit until after
lunch on Friday, so it was a bit of a race. Which I lost, not beginning to make
QSOs until an hour into the contest. But there were enough similarities between
WT and DXLog.net that I was able to get the out-of-the-box features mostly right
and had a very good time with it.
Starting late and planning to have lots of software stoppage time, and expecting
low stamina, I took a casual approach. Finding condx had completely crapped out
wasn't a happy thing, either. So I slept at some odd times hoping things would
get better. As I got the hang of using the new software and seemed to be
getting better, I had a lot of fun and so it became more like a K5ZD Casual
event. I almost slept through the end of the contest - I was planning to run
out of on-air time before the end but only just happened to wake up in time to
finish out.
WPX CW seems badly star-crossed when it comes to propagation. Great condx the
week before then wham-o, aurora on Friday. But every major or almost major
contest is a great time on the air regardless! Condx recovered in parallel with
the op, here, but the damage was done to participation and what could be logged
the first day. 80 was a noise-fest, so hardly did anything there. 160 was
never hooked up. 10 had some Es, but not enough to get to intercontinental
points other than the usual southerly paths. 15 showed glimpses of what could
have been; so did 20, which was much better Saturday night. 40 was terrible
Saturday night, with hardly any answers, except for some really loud YBs before
sunrise.
I went UNASSISTED, as usual. Most of the 20m tower antennas are on the ground
for rebuilding and tower painting. What is still in the air and everything else
seemed to work, OK.
My XYL tested positive today, so the fun continues.
73 to all,
Dave K5GN
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