WM2C (@N6RO) M/M WPX SSB Results

[Ken Silverman]

                       CQ WORLD WIDE PREFIX CONTEST -- 1996
     
     
           Call: WM2C @ N6RO     Country:  United States (QTH California)
           Mode: SSB             Category: Multi Multi
     
           BAND     QSO   QSO PTS  PTS/Q PREFIXES
     
     
           160        4       16   4.0        0
            80      663     1848   2.8      101
            40      603     2516   4.2       88
            20     1694     3293   1.9      565
            15      789     1399   1.8      187
            10      108      270   2.5       18
          --------------------------------------
     
          Totals   3861     9342   2.4      959  =   8,958,978
     
     
     Club:  Northern California Contest Club
     
     Operator List: WM2C, N6RO, K3EST, N4TQO, N6IP
     
     Equipment Description:
     160:    Inverted-V @ 120'
     80:     4 ele wire inverted-V yagi to Japan on 160' boom @ 100'
             2 ele wire inverted-V yagi to Carib @ 100'
             2 ele quad fixed on EU/PAC @ 100'
     40:     4 ele @ 130'
             4 ele fixed on Carib @ 70'
     20:     5/5 @ 130'  (flashlight rotor indicator)
     15:     6/6/5 @ 130'  (Bottom fixed East)
     10:     6/5/5 @ 130'  (only used top ant - with only 4 ele working)
     
     Stations:  4 Total (not all manned 24 hrs); 
     TS930, TS930, FT990, TS950 running 800-1500 W
     
     General Comments:  
     
     This was essentially a 4 man M/M with N6IP offering some greatly 
     needed relief on Saturday... so we likely missed some QSOs by not 
     manning all 4 stations 24 hours.  
     
     Band by band summary:
     
     160:  I had no idea that we even made 4 QSOs!  Didn't spend much if 
     any time here
     
     80:  N6RO sole operator.  4 ele yagi to Japan works well!  Friday 
     night was the better night.  Only one EU worked, not too many heard.   
     Japan was very loud, and workable an hour past sunrise (I think the 
     traditional SAKE helped with too)  Saturday evening was very noisy 
     with thunderstorms from the east.  Surprised at the number of Pacific 
     station worked
     
     40:  N4TQO main op, WM2C backup.  If the FCC ever decides to fine 
     someone, their sentence should be operate a years worth of SSB 
     contests on 40M - Steve, you're a saint for taking this band!  Almost 
     no EU heard/worked the first night.  Second night it was easy S&P to 
     EU, and worked many on the first call.  JA was strong as usual, but 
     activity seemed down from previous years.  Overall we thought 
     conditions and activity were poor.
     
     20:  K3EST main op.  Top rotor indicator was broken, so we used a 
     flashlight (didn't seem to hurt the score that much).   The start of 
     the contest went well, with a late night Pacific opening.  Saturday 
     was a decent run to EU.  Saturday evening was the highlight for this 
     band, with a great over the pole run into deep Asia, followed by an 
     over the pole opening into East Eu a few hours later (0730z).  Sunday 
     EU opening was a bust, and Bob had to S&P for almost every QSO on 
     Sunday.  Fried one amp early in the contest.
     
     15:  WM2C main op, N4TQO and N6IP as backup.  Started the contest with 
     a great JA/PAC run, and the best hour for any single band (142/hr).  
     Band died shortly after sunset.  Saturday had some great USA/SA rates, 
     with the last 10 hitting 350/hr for a while.  On Saturday afternoon, 
     N6IP was waiting for JA to open, and it did big time at their sunrise. 
      Band was in and out all Saturday afternoon and finally closed an hour 
     past sunset.  Sunday was mainly S&P into SA, with a short run into JA 
     2 hours before the end of the contest.  Highlights were better JA runs 
     (Incl. SE Asia and Pacific) than expected, and being called by a 
     number of loud Africans on Saturday afternoon.  USA out to W5 was 
     strong on Sunday, but very few stateside callers.
     
     10:  Manned by who ever was awake.  Saturday opening to SA was strong, 
     but CQing didn't yield much.  Didn't spend much time here on Saturday 
     since a bunch of us were sleeping.  Sunday SA opening was weaker, but 
     N4TQO had a good run to SA Sunday afternoon.   Then Steve was 
     surprised with a few ZL's calling with the beam to SA, and finally a 
     VP8 called in!  This band did a little better than expected for DX, 
     but we only had 1 or 2 non-California domestic QSOs - we were 
     expecting some sporadic-E, which never showed.
     
     
     
                      160   80   40   20   15   10  ALL   percent
     
     North America      4  408  213  672  367   18 1682    43.1
     South America      0   11   14   17   89   83  214     5.5
     Europe             0    1   29  376    1    0  407    10.4
     Asia               0  218  331  496  265    0 1310    33.6
     Africa             0    0    2    5    6    0   13     0.3
     Oceania            0   27   19  127   81    8  262     6.7
     
     
     To N6RO:  Thanks for hosting the gang at your spread!  I'll trade you 
     another contest dinner of pasta primavera for the keys to your 
     station.
     
     73, Kenny WM2C
     
     ken.silverman at airtouch.com