Hi Tim,
The Bay of Fundy separates Nova Scotia from New Brunswick. Maine is on the
Atlantic Ocean, not the Bay of Fundy.
If you are really looking for fun and to improve your skills, there is NOTHING
like being DX. A trip to ANY Caribbean island will put you in high demand with
only modest antennas necessary. There are many ham radio contest and DX
rentals available. Plus you have the advantage of actually being there for the
sights, history, sun and camaraderie when you are not operating.
Or, if you are not that ambitious, guest operating another station is a GREAT
way to learn and have fun. Not only can you enjoy the company of another
operator and learn from their experience, but you can learn about station
building, choices of equipment and antennas, etc., all of which will help you
become a better operator. Remote operating can’t give you that.
I have guest operated from many stations in DX contests over the years: K1RX,
W2RQ, W2YV, KM1H, N2RM, W3EA (KY3N), KR2N (WB2FZO), and many more stations in
many states. The list is long and I learned from each of them – many of whom
became very close friends. My equipment and antenna choices are entirely a
result of what I learned from where I operated and who I operated with. Remote
operating doesn’t give you that. Nor does it give you the lifelong memories of
visiting and experiencing other countries and cultures and the chance to make
new US and overseas friends.
73
Bob KQ2M
From: Timothy Coker via CQ-Contest
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2018 3:53 PM
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] WRTC Qualifying
This is absolutely helping me want to try out that remote station of W2RE's on
the Bay of Fundy... I regularly notice the difference in propagation between my
QTH and San Diego some 80 miles. I can only imagine what it must be like there!
Well this conversation and of course Chris's claimed win in ARRL CW kind of
helps motivate too... :)
Tim / N6WIN
On Monday, July 9, 2018, 12:17:04 PM PDT, Bob Shohet, KQ2M <kq2m@kq2m.com>
wrote:
Hi Jeff,
The examples that I cited are not common but they are not “abnormalities”.
They would certainly be more common had the same group of excellent ops
operated from similarly big stations outside of New England in ALL the major DX
contests. As a result there would have been many more “outside New England”
wins and fewer “New England” wins.
N2IC’s CQWWSSB win in 2013 makes that point clearly. Had I been able to
operate more than my Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB) shortened 38 hours in that
contest with at least some time spent on 80 and 160, I would have won easily,
not Steve. But that would be expected since I am ~2200 miles closer to EU than
he is. But Steve still beat everyone else in New England that weekend that DID
operate full-time! If Steve didn’t get on then someone in New England would
have won and we would have continued to hear the chorus of “You can’t win if
you are not in New England” nonsense. This again proves the point that I was
making earlier.
We also know that the density of world-class ops and BIG stations is GREATER in
New England than in any other part of the country. That adds to the
lopsidedness of W1 victories. And when a great op from somewhere else in the
country moves to W1, that just adds to the total. There are lots of reasons
why W1 is by far the most competitive place to be in ANY DX contest. You have
to be a great op at a really good station just to finish in the top three in
New England in most DX contests!
With K5ZD, K1DG, KQ2M, NN1N (before he moved), K0DQ, W1KM, N1UR, K1AR, K1ZZ and
many other fine ops getting on in CQWWCW SOABHP NON-assisted, Top 3 in New
England is a heck of an accomplishment! And that doesn’t even include KL9A
remoting in or some of the other FB ops! And remember, that is just the
competition from WITHIN W1 !
We all know that New England has an outsize advantage to working EU that varies
on any given weekend with propagation, the particular contest and the point in
the sunspot cycle, and that this advantage is not reciprocal with the
advantages outside of New England to JA/Asia/Pacific - considering the
disparity in qso totals.
But all of this misses the original points that I was making; namely that 50
miles matters in DX contests, especially when that 50 miles puts you close to
the Coast and a water path to a high volume target like Europe. AND, that 50
miles matter much more under cndx of high absorption and/or in the lean years
of the sunspot cycle.
And it is especially true at the higher latitudes of New England, the Pacific
NW and the Great Plains.
I have a 3 stack of 5L yagis on 20 and I routinely get stepped on by stations
in ME with far less aluminum, especially when cndx are poor. This is even more
noticeable on the low bands, especially 80 and 160. On 80 I have a 4-square and
am pretty loud but guys on the coast can blow right through me in the EU
pileups with a high inverted V regardless of cndx. On 160 it is even worse.
I am technically in New England, but if I drive 10 miles West I am in W2. My
qth is ~ 140 miles from the Atlantic across land. Guys within 20 miles of the
Atlantic in EMa or Eastern NH routinely walk through me on 40 – 160 with less
in antennas than I use.
I’m not complaining; I’m just making it clear to everyone that mileage to water
matters and that being in “New England” isn’t everything. It matters WHERE you
are whether it is New England or anywhere else and how close you are to the
water for the high volume areas that you can work.
73
Bob, KQ2M
From: Jeff Clarke
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2018 11:53 AM
To: Bob Shohet, KQ2M ; cqtestk4xs@aol.com ; cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] WRTC Qualifying
Bob,
The examples you mentioned are true but they are abnomallies. K4BAI and myself
did a multi-single from WW4LL for ARRL DX SSB maybe five years ago and won the
US. The event that helped us win was a tremendous middle of the night opening
Sunday morning to EU on 20 meters. Even the QRP guys were loud. Never realized
there were so many PC, PD and PD stations. I think that is some type on novice
class in the Netherlands. Maybe they didn't get this opening up north? In the
past I've heard K1TO working EU on 20 meters a couple hours before our sunrise
and I couldn't hear any of stations he was working. I think that everyone can
think of a time where they had some openings similar to this that helped out
their score.
I think the point that Bill was trying to make is the advantage the East Coast
enjoys to Europe is the norm. I contested from Ohio for 25 years and had the
opportunity to operate from the East Coast a couple times so I have a good idea
about the propagation differences up there and down here in the southeast.
I have to admit I enjoy doing domestic contests from Georgia. We have a very
good skip zone on 20 meters and somtimes 15 and 10 meters to high population
areas of the US and enjoy an advantage. Although 160 and 80 meters can be a
struggle compared to what I enjoyed in Ohio.
Jeff KU8E
Jeff Clarke
Information Technology Professional
Ellerslie, Georgia
http://www.ku8e.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-clarke-ga
-------- Original message --------
From: "Bob Shohet, KQ2M" <kq2m@kq2m.com>
Date: 7/8/18 10:30 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: cqtestk4xs@aol.com, cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] WRTC Qualifying
Bill,
I didn’t forget anything. My response was generalized because I couldn’t
possibly express all the differences by band, by antennas and by qth region
that I have seen and experienced in more than 300+ SOAB efforts plus another 50
or so single band efforts encompassing CQWW, ARRLDX, WPX, IARU, WAE and the 10
meter contests over the past 45 years. Nor did I want to have to address the
changes in propagation by region from one mode to the other between CQWW,
ARRLDX and ESPECIALLY WPX. Of course I left stuff out. It is impossible to
address all the relevant similarities and differences in one brief contest
reflector post – it would take an entire BOOK!
Having said that, I can’t even count the number of times that I listened to you
(from Florida) run EU on 20 and 40 during openings when I couldn’t even hear a
whisper. I also remember listening to KR0Y run EU on 20 during EU sunrise at
the top of the cycle from WM5G (or N5AU) that KC1F operating from K1EA and I
operating from KM1H couldn’t even hear! Jeff won ARRLDX SSB because of that
opening. K3LR milked a similar opening from K3TUP the year he won ARRLDX SSB
(1991 I think). K4ZW has won CQWWSSB twice I think and Bill KM9P won CQWWCW
from GA. N5RZ won WPXCW in the early-mid ‘80’s twice I believe.
Yes, these guys are great ops and most were at great stations, but they also
had propagation better than I did from W1, or W2 where I was operating from
that weekend because they were running EU stations for hours that I could not
even hear during EU sunrise when the band was closed for New England!
And then there was the extraordinary and likely never to be repeated CQWWSSB
win by WA6VEF from AI6V in 1983.
And then there were the CQWW and ARRLDX wins from the mid-Atlantic states in
the mid – late ‘80s – K0DQ operating from W3GRF, and others.
Before all of those wins, I remember ~35 years ago talking to KR0Y, KM9P and
maybe WC4E outside an elevator in the Crowne Plaza at Dayton and I told them
that I KNEW that CQWW, ARRLDX could be won outside of New England and the
Northeast – that all it would take was a highly motivated and highly skilled op
operating from a top-notch station on the right weekend, and that the ONLY
reason that it had not happened yet was because everyone thought it was
impossible, so therefore the right ops hadn’t bothered to operate with the
right mentality to WIN. They thought I was nuts and told me so. Funny though
how it was only a few years later when all the non-New England wins started.
Why? Because of the combination of highly skilled ops, operating from
World-class stations operating on the right weekend and then beating EVERYONE
in New England and everywhere else. Equally funny was the amnesia that they
had when I reminded them of what I had told them that night in Dayton just a
few years before. There was no magic – I had figured out what it would take to
win outside of New England – it was just a matter of other very talented and
motivated guys figuring it out too and deciding to go DO IT instead of making
excuses about why it couldn’t be done. That was the point. I would like to
think that I motivated those guys that night by (nicely) challenging them.
In EVERY sunspot cycle, the right op at the right station (outside of New
England) on the right weekend can win CQWW or ARRLDX, or WPX (especially WPXCW)
or IARU. BUT, it will be harder now than in the 1980’s of 1990’s because there
are more EU ops than ever before and the New England superstations are more
built up and further East than ever before. And we all know that there are far
fewer JA’s on now than back then. Advantage New England for sure! But I STILL
say that in EVERY cycle, the right op operating at the right station on the
right weekend can WIN one of those DX contests! But if no one good enough is
on, then it will not happen. Will it mean that it couldn’t have been done?
NOPE! Only that the right op didn’t try from the right station on the right
weekends.
BTW, the one less hour of darkness that you mention means one additional hour
of daylight – when the bands drop out here and we can’t work the Pacific or
Asian mults on on 20 or 15, and guys to the South and West do. And then they
could run for Asia/Pacific stations as a slow pace for 1 – 2 hours while we
have to fight to the death for a frequency and terrible qrn on 40 or 80. I
won’t even talk about 160 or the fact that by the time you get darkness the MUF
is already below 7 mhz in New England at this time of the sunspot cycle. If
you don’t have a big yagi on 40 or are near to the coast qth in New England you
might as well be watching tv for all the good it will do to operate. That is
when I used to sleep for a few hours.
Of course we GENERALLY get more Europe than anyone further away, we should, we
are closer. And yes that translates into more EU mults across all the bands.
But look at the CQWWCW mults – the highest mult totals are frequently NOT in
New England, and the highest zone totals are definitely not most of the time.
But also look at the stations that you are comparing against. Most of the
competitive New England stations are BIG – MUCH BIGGER than my station. And
their qth’s are MUCH BETTER than mine. That combination is significantly
better than most of the guys in the rest of the country who do SOABHP. And
most of the ops are REALLY good at running EU and maximizing mults and passing
them. It is NOT an equal comparison even BEFORE you get to differences in
propagation.
If it weren’t for KM9P, KR0Y, and K4ZW, a lot of contesters would STILL believe
that it was impossible to win the big DX contests outside of New England, even
though it was never really impossible at all – it was all in the perception -
“I believe that it is impossible for me to win, therefore it is impossible for
anyone else to win”.
A champion says “I can DO it – I CAN WIN”. And then he builds the station,
develops the skill and operates enough so that he is ready on that weekend when
the propagation gods shine on his qth.
73
Bob KQ2M
From: Bill via CQ-Contest
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2018 7:54 PM
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] WRTC Qualifying
Come on Bob, being in Al or FL is an advantage to work JA and VK, true.
However, no way can it make up for the multitude of countries and QSOs that are
available in EU, especially on 160 and 80. I'm only 4000 miles from JA out
here in KH6, and would gladly exchange the NY EU runs for my much slower JA,
BY, YB, HS runs from KH6. The quantity is just not there, even with my
outstanding location.
You forgot one other thing too. Being in AL or FL means that we get almost one
hour less darkness at the end of Oct and Nov to get all those 40, 80 and 160
mults and countries. Even the ARRL DX contests have that issue. The only time
AL, FL have equal darkness is for WPX SSB. And no, the extra hour of light is
not a big deal for AL/FL on 10, 15 or 20 especially at this point of the cycle.
I once had a big time contester come down from NY to do a multi-single. He
listened on 80 and wanted to know when the signals got better/stronger. I
broke the news to him. That was a strong as they got. He was quite
disappointed. End of story.
Bill K4XS/KH7XS
. The same way that being in Alabama should provide a BIG advantage vs. New
England to working Japan, Southeast Asia, UA9/0 and the Pacific even though
there are not as many stations to work.I’m sure that 100 miles North or South
makes a big difference on some DX paths in Alabama too but that it is less
noticeable until that 100 miles gives you a nice water path somewhere and then
you will REALLY notice the difference.
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