[3830] ARRLDX CW VE7ASK SOAB LP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: VE7ASK
Operator(s): VE7ASK
Station: VE7ASK

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: 
Operating Time (hrs): 28

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:    2     2
   80:   22    16
   40:   61    33
   20:   48    27
   15:   61    29
   10:   41    15
-------------------
Total:  235   122  Total Score = 86,010

Club: 

Comments:

What a great way to spend a weekend!

This was my first ARRL DX since the early 1980s, and I went into it without any
high hopes. This is partly because conditions have been bad lately, and partly
because I don't have much for DX antennas. 

The contest started at 4 p.m. local, but I didn't get on the air till after 7
p.m. after playing with the G5RV too long into the dark, cold night. Still, the
extra several feet of G5RV altitude between the trees did wonders. Plus,
propagation seemed much better than it has been for the past few weeks.

In the previous two contest weekends (XE RTTY and WPX RTTY), my QSO counts were
OK -- probably a result of good high-angle performance :) -- but the multiplier
counts were dismal. I really believed I would be lucky to make 50 or 60 DX
contacts this weekend, but I didn't let that stop me from jumping in.

I was stunned to work the following mixed bag for 20 mults in my first 22
contacts, all on a sizzling hot 40M band with the G5RV:

0307 WP3R  
0323 HP1/DJ7AA    
0412 TI5N       
0414 RU1A         
0415 P4/K2LE     
0426 V47KP       
0435 HT4T         
0443 9A3IQ       
0446 BY0T          
0451 VP5LP        
0453 PU7EEL        
0455 CO2JD         
0501 9A7A        
0520 KL7WV    
0521 ZW5B     
0525 V31JP     
0527 KH7X  
0614 VP9/K9CC      
0616 XE2/W5WMU     
0627 ZL1GO        
0628 6D2YFM       
0631 FM5BH         

By the end of the contest, I had worked half a dozen new ones, and despite the
rapid exchanges, I can think of at least one that will stay in memory for a
long, long time. 

Highlights:
-----------

After an hour of little action Sunday morning I stumbled across and worked XT2WP
(Burkina Faso) all by his lonesome on 15M as the band was opening up here. Not
sure I'd heard the call right, I listened through one more CQ pass, forgetting
the ever-popular "work 'em first" principle. Yes, the call was XT2, not XE2. No
one else calling him -- he probably just came up. My heart raced as I
hand-cranked (paddled) my callsign and listened, convinced my 90 watts would
never cut all the way from western Canada to Africa. No one else above or below
us. No signal at all for a couple of seconds. He couldn't hear me, I thought...
well, I'm used to that. Then through the earphone hiss I heard my call strung
out between us in CW characters, "VE7ASK?" -- I sent my call one more time,
carefully logged our exchanges, and the contact was done. The signal wasn't
strong, but it was solid and seemed to really stand out on a very quiet band.
One more in the books thanks to seredipity and ignoring the odds. Ham radio.
What a hobby.

Worked D4B (Cape Verde) on a couple of bands -- getting into that part of the
world is never easy from this QTH so I was pleasantly surprised to hear him, let
alone work him.

Finally managed to break through the swarm over EA8BH (Canary Is.) late on
Sunday -- 2307z.

Worked TI5N on six bands. My only other 160M contact was KH7X -- but I missed
the Hawaiian crew on 15 and 10M.

Heard all those Caribbean signals booming into BC all weekend. Great job by all
the ops down there. What a great opportunity for anyone to build on a DXCC
total.

I actually heard a European opening and was able to take advantage of it to some
degree. Didn't set the world afire, but it sure was my best European visit in a
long while.

The rig plodded along with rates of five to 20 QSOs per hour for most of the
contest -- till the final hour when I closed things out with 30 QSOs, mostly
those great JA ops we West-coasters love to hear in the late afternoon. 

Most stations will post more impressive results than these, but I sure did enjoy
myself in this one. A big score would be great one day, when equipment, aluminum
and the stars all align just right. But for now I'm happy doing as much as I can
with what I've got up in the air any given weekend. Again, what a hobby. Thanks
to all the fine ops who stuck with me to make the contacts work!
 

73,
Bud, VE7ASK


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