[3830] CQ WW DX SSB - VE6SV M/S

[Gord Kosmenko]

                    CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1998


      Call: VE6SV                    Country:  Canada
      Mode: SSB                      Category: Multi Single
      Zone: 04

      BAND     QSO   QSO PTS  PTS/QSO   ZONES COUNTRIES


      160       73      138     1.89      5       5
       80      172      339     1.97     16      30
       40      627     1282     2.04     21      41
       20      757     1711     2.26     35     107
       15     1059     2504     2.36     33     107
       10      693     1442     2.08     24      61
     ---------------------------------------------------

     Totals   3381     7416     2.19    134     351  =>  3,596,760

VE6SV Team: VE6AQE VE6AKY VE6BAB VE6EX VE6MRT VE6NAP VE6VW VO1CV
            VE6SV

It was another successful WW DX SSB, fun as always, new surprises
and some small disappointments. On behalf of the VE6SV operating
team I would like to thank everyone who took the time to call us
this year and see you in the CW event.

Mother nature (again) was the big hurdle to over come. As usual
the Aurora was out in full display in our southern skies. And
Europe was absorbed with it ! Yet, we noticed a greater represent-
ation of countries not worked or even heard in the earlier years
now in the log.

Our team strategy for the contest was "sound", but our vigilance
of "working the plan" at times was soft. This year the team really
enjoyed the socializing as much as time in the chair. The team had
a good crop of "newbies" who really meet the operating challenge
to learn alot new stuff in a very short period of time. This year
we really wanted to make logging accuracy a priority, and this may
have slowed some of the rates, but that will come in time. So this
year I am very confident that the raw score is a very accurate 
representation of the effort.

On the hardware/antenna front, everything worked (radios, amps,
computers and the networking) except for the 160M shunt fed tower
as it was quickly completed just before the contest, it was blown
out in the first hour of operation. Saturday morning technical guys
discovered that the designer/builder (station owner) in his haste
used to long of a screw to fasten some insulating material in the
matching network, causing RF to find ground! 

Also as usual, some new ideas always come out for station improve-
ments by the op's, and this year was no exception. The antenna
switching scheme worked well (the ability to send any antenna to
any operating position) performed, but requires improvement. That
will be on the bench this upcoming winter. As the radios and 
computers are "tied" together, automation of antenna selection and
options would greatly make the station "cool". So on the drawing
board is a automation project for antenna/option selection.
We have "flow diagrammed" the logic and the design goals and now
need to acquire the hardware (PLC and Graphical Operator Terminal)
more relays and write some PLC code.

Look for a upcoming VE6SV web site with station pictures, operator
and details on our new project.

73 from team VE6SV
________________________________

Gordon R. Kosmenko      Home 403-922-4331
ve6sv at oanet.com         Work 403-414-1266
ve6sv at rac.ca            Fax  403-414-1269
 

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