[3830] W2A M/S 1997 CQWW SSB

[w2xx at cloud9.net]

               CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1997


      Call: W2A (@ KE2NL)            Country:  United States
      Mode: SSB                      Category: Multi Single



      BAND     QSO   QSO PTS  PTS/QSO   ZONES COUNTRIES


      160       29       71     2.45     11      28
       80      349      989     2.83     21      82
       40      322      906     2.81     29     110
       20     1304     3638     2.79     39     151
       15      984     2771     2.82     34     153
       10      160      437     2.73     25      89
     ---------------------------------------------------

     Totals   3148     8812     2.80    159     613  =>  6,802,864


Operator List:  W2XX (W2A), N2TX, KE2NL
Club Affiliation:  Yankee Clipper Contest Club



A few highlights to relate to the group.  The 1 X 1 call was a lot of
fun, although
it was somewhat confusing in the multiplier pile-ups, particularly on
160 meters.
Our Mult station would break the pile-up, the DX would come back, the
band would fade
and the DX always kept asking for the rest of the call.  Since the 160
signal is
certainly the weakest point of the station, this happened rather
frequently on that
band.  On the higher bands, they heard it but didn't believe it.

The funniest 1 X 1 disaster was when the Mult station broke the pile for
KG4QD
on one of the bands only to be told "I'M ONLY TAKING FULL CALLS...QRZ!"
Hah...would have paid to have video of KE2NL's face after that one!!!

Several stations commented on the call, and many wanted to know who I
paid
off at the FCC. The upside of it was that the call was hugely popular
with
the DX stations...can't wait to start filling those QSL requests. :-)

During a late Sunday afternoon run on 20, a persistent voice kept
yelling at me
"W2A, are you ready for a new multiplier?"  I figured it was some pig
farmer (TM)
and just ignored it.  Well, after about 5 minutes of this, I finally
said "sure,
who's calling me?" I damn near fell off the chair when TT8JWM came
back!!!

Also on Sunday evening, I was CQ'ing on 20 with the high antenna over
the pole
when a JA called in.  Then another...and another. Well, it was the
beginning
of a 35 minute run of JA's that netted 67 QSO's.  Now, you west coast
types
might sneer at that, but for this easterner it was one of the most
exciting
moments of this event...the CT rate meter went to over 110 for the last
100
number, and the second to last hour of the contest was good for 92 QSO's
logged
on 20!!  We looked at the JA cluster on the internet after the contest,
and
saw we had been posted twice during that period.

Another highlight, for me anyway, was a personal best clock hour rate,
according
to CT, of 172.  I haven't run QRATE on this log yet, but I suspect that
the
actual best 60 minutes will turn out to be slightly higher.  This
occured
during the Sunday morning 15 meter european opening. During that run,
the last
10 rate meter went over 400 while the last 100 went up to 215!!!  This
is
the stuff that keeps me going!  Come on sunspots!!!


Equipment Description:

The antenna farm of KE2NL, located on 1/3 acre in suburban Long Island.
      160       80 foot center-loaded vertical
       80       2 el. phased array @ 60 ft (NE/SW switched)
       40       3 el. Force 12 @ 70 ft
       20       4 over 4 Force 12 @ 48/85 ft
       15       5 over 5 Force 12 @ 35/60 ft
       10       8 el Force 12 @ 50 ft

Stealth beverage, running NE/SW, along the property line of a few
neighbors :-)

2 x FT-1000MP, Alpha 87-A (Mult), Alpha 91b (Run)


73, J.P. W2XX/W2A

 PS. Rate sheets will be posted if anyone is interested.





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