[3830] ARRLDX CW W3EF SOAB LP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: W3EF
Operator(s): W3EF
Station: W3EF

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: MD
Operating Time (hrs): 42
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   44    36
   80:  117    63
   40:  617    87
   20:  387    79
   15:  539    81
   10:  229    58
-------------------
Total: 1933   404  Total Score = 2,341,584

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Antennas:
160: Inverted L with two elevated radials
80: Wire GP w/4 elevated radials, SE Sloper
40: Wire GP w/4 elevated radials, KLM 40M4 @ 125’
20: Wire GP w/4 elevated radials, A3S @52’
15: 40GP, A3S
10: A3S
700’ NNE beverage

Equipment:
Twin IC765s and Top Ten SO2R Box (with mods)
One venerable PC running CT v10
WX0B Six Pak

W3EF Summary (Long)

What a great contest – and unexpectedly good conditions, particularly Friday
night and Saturday.

Obvious Lesson: major improvements in the station can mean major improvements in
the score.  I was thrilled to (claim to) break the third call area record for
SOABLP set by K3PH in 2001.

Since moving to this QTH two years ago I have been very slowly building up the
station.  Last year I did the contest with a 3-element tribander (A3S) and wires
(GPs on 40 and 80 and Inv-L on top band) and still managed to finish third in
SOAB LP – but I think it was the magic snow reflector that did it.  This year I
added a tower with a KLM 40M4 at 125 feet (tnx W0UN for the excellent mods) –
what a difference to have a strong signal into EU on 40!  Had my best first few
hours ever….(Who am I kidding; I had my best contest weekend ever!).

BIG differences between Saturday and Sunday of course.  I would have been lost
without the 700’ EU beverage (the only one up so far -- fortunately my property
runs in this direction).  Thanks to Dave G4BUO for convincing me to build this
antenna before any of the big metal.  Low band conditions were, as people have
said, superb on Friday night, but things did not stay so quiet later on,
particularly on 40.  Also as others have said, a big beam up high is great for
punching through, but ain’t so great for receiving in a noisy environment.  Not
wanting to be an alligator, I crossed my fingers and attempted to deal with the
noise on 40m on Sunday by using the beverage – intended for 80 and 160 – to copy
my EU run.  Extremely low signals, of course, but the vastly better S/N made it
possible to CQ on 40 right up to the end of the contest.

I had more dupes than ever in this contest – some sixty or more.  I have long
since stopped giving them grief and just log them all – it’s much faster and I
would guess probably half of them actually worked—or think they worked—somebody
else the first time, since the bands were really crowded and I’m sure I was
accidentally “in sync” with closely adjacent stations a few times.  I didn’t
want to put the 250Hz filter in since so many stations call slightly off freq.

Best rare ones: OX on 40, SU on 15, 8Q on 20 and 40, EL on 20,  SV9 on 10 and
40, TF on 10, 15, 20.

Heard but not worked:  JT1 on 80 (didn’t even try!), V51 on 10.  Missed some
bread and butter stuff as well: KH6 on 20, JA on 10, VK on 10 and 15, ZL on 15
and 20.

There’s still plenty to do on the station.  I want to be able to CQ on 80 but to
do this with much success in the LP class I think will require multiple
elements, and although I have bought the Comtek box I just did not get time to
finish building the four square before this contest.  I also need a NW beverage
or other receiving antenna to pick up KH6/VK/ZL/JA on the low bands.

There’s plenty to do on the op as well(: I’m embarrassed to say I still haven’t
figured out when and where to look for the 15/20m JA runs and the 40m LP mults –
10 years living in Europe has “skewed” my sense of NE US propagation and I’m
only just starting to recover!  Also, hats off to Scott W4PA for the tremendous,
sleepless effort from Randy K5ZD’s QTH.  I thought I did well to get by on 1.5
hours sleep the first night and 3 hours the second – and I’m still barely
functional 24 hours later!

It was exciting, not to say moving, to work J7OJ on six bands, just as I worked
K4OJ on six bands in the FOC marathon two weeks ago.  Jim, we love you and we
miss you….

And thanks to all the DX for your tremendous efforts in the perennial “Ws/VEs
are the center of the universe” contest….

73, 
Maury W3EF / G0UHK
Silver Spring, MD and London, UK


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