[3830] ARRLDX SSB K7RL SOAB HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB

Call: K7RL
Operator(s): K7RL
Station: K7RL

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Camano Island, WA
Operating Time (hrs): 41

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   14    11
   80:   67    31
   40:  413    60
   20:  957   112
   15:  492    88
   10:   86    32
-------------------
Total: 2029   334  Total Score = 2,033,058

Club: Western Washington DX Club

Comments:

The biggest challenge in a contest like this, under these conditions, is staying
in the chair!  That was a battle I almost lost the second night… 

00:30Z Saturday:  I had 95 q’s in the log on 15m before the bottom fell out.  I
hated the thought of moving to 20m so early, but it had to be done, 15m was
fading fast.  Surprisingly, 20m was in good shape with almost twenty-four hour
EU and Asia the first night.  Several stations told me I was the only U.S.
signal on the band – just what every contester loves to hear!  At this point,
the reality of operating near the bottom of the cycle hadn’t fully hit me yet.  
 
  
After a decent Friday/Saturday night of low band activity, Saturday morning
brought good EU runs on 20m, with a surprisingly good opening on 15m that lasted
about two hours.  After the first twenty-four hours, I had about 1,300 q’s and
1.3 million points. Somehow, I was on pace to equal last year’s total, which
kept the motivational juices flowing.  But later Saturday afternoon, I noticed
heavy flutter on the W2’s, W3’s, W8’s, and W9’s, including the few remaining EU
signals – NOT a good sign!

The last twenty-four hours of the contest proved to be the hardest.  The low
bands were horrendously noisy Saturday/Sunday, and the strong EU stations I
heard on 40m the night before sounded weak and hollow.  Only EA8 and EA9 had
good signals.  The one highlight was working CU2CE on 160m.    

At this point in the solar cycle, one would reasonably expect an increase in low
band totals, but mine decreased.  In 2004, I was 703 by 124.  This year:  494 by
102 (quite a drop).  Was it all because of poor low band conditions?  Or did
fewer stations show-up?  Maybe both?  

By now, I wasn’t sure this contest was worth finishing.  Poor conditions; lack
of sleep; and heavy QRN took its toll.  I decided to sleep a couple of hours
Sunday morning hoping for another good EU run on 20m.  But when I returned to
the shack at 13:00Z, 20m was dead – the day before it was full of signals!  So,
back to sleep for another two hours.  This time the band wasn’t dead, but
almost!  After a short ragchew with K7RI and K7ZSD to compare notes and complain
about conditions, it was back to work!    

Most of the second day was spent S&P because the rate was higher than running;
which is why I was almost equaled last year’s mult total:  334 this year vs. 340
last year.  2004 raw total q’s was 2,691 vs. 2,029 this year.

Thanks to everyone for the q’s!


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