[3830] CQWW CW 7J1AAI(W1NN) SOSB/15 HP

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Mon Dec 1 21:32:18 EST 2003


                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: 7J1AAI
Operator(s): W1NN
Station: JH1GTV

Class: SOSB/15 HP
QTH: Tokyo
Operating Time (hrs): 23

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:                    
   40:                    
   20:                    
   15: 1135    35       94
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total: 1124    35       94  Total Score = 392,676

Club: 

Comments:

This was another operation from the station of JH1GTV, Shige Ohsawa, located in
the western suburbs of Tokyo.  I am grateful to Shige for giving me a chance to
operate from his superb station on many occasions over the past 5-6 years.  

This contest was basically a shakedown cruise for Shigefs new 5 X 5 X 5 stack
for 15 Meters.  Shige modified this antenna from the 10 Meter stack he has been
using for the past 2-3 years by lengthening the length of the elements and
making other appropriate changes.  The top antenna is at about 42 meters and
rotates fully, while the other two antennas rotate for around 120 degrees from
60 degrees to around 60 degrees west of north.  This covers most of N. & S.
America, the Caribbean and Europe quite nicely.  There is no switching box so
there no way to use any of the antennas by itself.  Shige also has a 5-element
two band (20 & 15) beam at about 20 meters, which came in very handy for
stations to the south and long path.  Shige just finished work on the antenna a
few days before the contest and we were anxious to see how it played.  Our
impression is that it may need some more work, as turning the top antenna
didnft seem to make very much difference in reception.  Shige said he wondered
if the top antenna was even working at all.  

(If anyone remembers how strong I was compared with other JA stations, we would
both really appreciate the signal reports.)

Normally 15 Meters in Japan begins with a good run to the US and this year was
no exception.  The first hour produced 125 Qs, mostly W1-W4s with excellent
signals.   The polar path was very good and the 1s were considerably stronger
than any other US stations except the West Coast.  Things slowed to 84 in the
second hour and even further to 53 for the third hour, following the normal
pattern. 

Once the West Coast fades out, things become extremely slow until Europe starts
coming in, which usually isnft until 0500 (2 PM local) or later.  The first
Zone 15 went into the log at 0421 but it wasnft until an hour later that I
worked another.  Over the next for hours, 81 Zone 15 stations were worked,
enough to pick up most of the important mults but not enough to get the rate up.
 The first zone 14 was worked at 0643 and a total of 43 were worked over the
next two or three hours.  Again, this was enough to work the main mults, but not
quite good enough to build a decent score.  Between 0500 and 1000 my rate
averaged only about 51, with the best hour being only 64.  Of course, in between
the Zone 15 and 14 stations are lots of welcome Zone 16 contacts, but if Zone 16
is all youfre working from Japan, youfre probably not doing very well.    

It wasnft that the EU signals were weak.  In fact, it was quite the opposite. 
Many signals were well over S9 but there was a terrible echo on most of the Zone
15 and 16 stations on Saturday and the same thing for the Zone 15 stations on
Sunday.  Short path signal strength was often +10 or more, but long path signal
strength was not far behind, producing a horrendous echo.  I tried all the
normal stuff but I just couldnft mitigate the echo no matter what I tried.  It
was extremely difficult to copy a lot of calls, and Ifm sure it led a lot of EU
stations to simply go somewhere else (and to a lot of dupes).  It was quite
interesting as a propagation phenomenon, but itfs not what you want in the
middle of a contest.   The last European on Saturday Japan time was worked at
around 1030Z (7:30 PM) and I decided to knock off soon thereafter.  There were
still weak signals from various parts of the world coming in but I needed to get
some rest.  I have no idea what I might have missed during the night. 

Sunday is usually a better day in Japan because you have the benefit of the
entire US opening instead of just half an opening like on Saturday.  Last year
operating 10 Meters single band I had 505 contacts on Saturday and 678 on Sunday
(Japan time) plus 200 or more on Monday morning.  Starting off on 15 this year
with 618 contacts on the first day, I had hopes of doing substantially better
than I had done on 15 last year, and my goal was a minimum of 700 contacts on
Sunday.  Adding in a couple hundred more on Monday morning, that would get me up
to 1,500 or so contacts.  But that just was not to be.  Things got off to a good
start with 133 Qs in the 2200Z hour, but the rate slowed to 69 in the second
hour and went further downhill from there.  When Europe started coming in around
0500 the infernal echo was back and there just werenft very many new stations
on.  My best hour during the afternoon EU opening was only 36, and the entire
day produced only around 541 contacts (including dupes).      

One big problem you face in Japan is the 9 AM Monday morning ending time.  Those
last three hours can easily produce 200-250+ contacts given a decent US opening,
but many JA ops just canft take off time from work to operate those last hours,
not to mention staying up all night Sunday night and starting off the work week
as a wreck.  I had kept Monday morning open but I had some appointments in the
afternoon.  Had I not had such a lousy Sunday, I probably would have operated on
Monday but given my discouraging performance on Sunday afternoon, I threw in the
towel on Sunday night and decided to go home and get some sleep.    

In spite of the echo (and some intermittent S9 noise that must have made me an
alligator at times), conditions were nevertheless a lot better than we had a
right to expect.  As always, it was great to spend the weekend with my friends
from around the world in our biggest virtual get together of the year.  Hope you
all have a nice New Year and I look forward to more contacts and fun next year. 


  
73,

Hal 7J1AAI/W1NN


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