[3830] CQWW CW P40W(W2GD) SOAB HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: P40W
Operator(s): W2GD
Station: P40W

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 40

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  485    17       60
   80:  729    24       93
   40: 1315    29       94
   20: 1660    31       84
   15: 1230    29       79
   10:   25     7       14
------------------------------
Total: 5444   137      424  Total Score = 9,020,000

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

Station:  IC756ProIII, ACOM 2000 - 1 KW, 1970's FRC Keyer
Software:  Win-Test 3.18
Antennas:  
160M:  55' high Vertical Dipole, Inv. V @ 70'
80M:  3 ele wire yagi (EU) @ 55', Inv. V @ 70'
40M:  4 ele wire yagi (EU) @ 55', 2 ele wire beam (US/JA)@ 60'
20M:  4 ele F12 @ 70', F12 C4 @ 60'
15M:  4 ele Cushcraft @ 79', F12 C4 @ 60'
10M:  5 ele F12 @ 75', C4 @ 60'
Beverages:  800' NE, 450' N/S, 450' NW, 500' E/W

I strongly concur with many of the comments posted by my Aruba shipmate Scott,
K0DQ/P40Q.  This was one fun contest.  

It had been a full year since last visiting P40W.  The local environment is
relentless and terribly cruel....and without regular maintenance, things
electronic exposed to the elements go downhill very quickly.  My worst fears
were realized when I arrived.

Landed on Aruba on Monday afternoon.  The weather was rainy....a continuation
of the WX pattern of the prior 10 days.  The plus side to the rain, the power
lines are squeeky clean of salt, so no noise.  The downside, its very tough
working on antennas and climbing towers under these conditions.  And vegetation
seems to grown leaps and bounds literally overnight.

By early Monday evening I'd put together the following inventory of antenna
problems:

Broken 80/160 Inverted V @ 70'- broken 160m half element
Missing 1/2 of the DE element on 40M 2el wire beam (NW) - element wire never
found.
Broken support rope, upper side of 160M vertical dipole (and the remaining rope
now buried deep inside an extremely thorny brush)
Broken balun connection to the same 160M vertical dipole
Erratic SWR readings on the same 160M Vertical Dipole after balun replacement
C4 40M rotatable dipole no longer resonant in 40M CW band.
15M 4el yagi sounds "very dead" and has a flat SWR 
Broken/missing portions of 800' NE beverage
Broken/missing sections of 450' NW beverage
Broken/missing sections of 500' N/S beverage
Broken/missing sections of 500' E/W beverage
Both rotators (HamIIIs) will not rotate - suspect cabling problems
TenTec Titan Amplifier Power Supply will not turn on.

So you thought you had station problems?  I was at my first decision point late
Monday....work my butt off to try to have sufficient functioning antennas for a
semi-serious SOAB entry, or settle on doing my first ever Single-Band effort. 
And if the decision ened up to go S/B, try to find an amplifier.

I had just 2 days to make repairs since I'd booked a trip to PJ4 on Wednesday
and Thursday to repair the F12 240N 40M beam at PJ4G aka PJ4A in this contest. 
To say I was somewhat discouraged by the situation Monday night is an
understatement.

Awoke Tuesday morning to more rain showers...which would persist with varying
intensity most of the morning and early afternoon.  But whenever the rain would
lighten up I ventured out to make antenna repairs.  By mid-afternoon I'd
recovered the 160M vertical dipole support ropes and had it strung out,
repaired the NE beverage, repaired the 160 inverted V, repaired the 160M
vertical dipole problems, and replaced the missing 40M 1/2 element on the 2el
wire beam.  Then the skies really opened up at 3 p.m.- a 3+ inch cloud burst in
less than 30 minutes.  My accommodations are very spartan, located under a house
porch.  During the storm the rain water backed up onto the porch floor above me,
and down it came into my room!  Instant flooding, onto my bed, a 20A switching
Power Supply which fortunately wasn't plugged in at the time, and of course
parts of the floor.  It was extremely fortunate I was there....and quickly
deployed some plastic to protect equipment and the bed from additional damage.

After the rain subsided, I went to the airport to pick up Pete, NO2R. The short
trip was complicated by 'lakes' at most every intersection, and gulleys on
unimproved roads that just 4 hours earlier had been totally intact.  They had
even held Peter's AA flight on the tarmac for 15 minutes before proceding to
the gate, until the intensity of the storm subsided. Fortunately, it was the
final episode of the really bad rain for the day.

Peter (also aka VU7ACY) was enroute to Bonaire, and would provide me with the
needed help for the 40M beam repair, as well as stay on to operate with the
PJ4A M/S team.  With Pete's assistance, my 3 el 80M and 4 el 40M wire beams, 
that are suspended from a catenary rope between towers @ 60 feet were erected
in about 2 hours.... we worked up until last light.  Then, after getting
cleaned up, we enjoyed a most delightful dinner with Scott K0DQ/P40Q.  Making
any decisions regarding entry class would now have to wait until Friday.  We
picked up W4OC at the airport at midnight.  His flight to Bonaire was cancelled
earlier in the day but he made it to P40 from Miami.  Pete, Don and I would fly
together over to PJ4 in the morning.

I hadn't been to Bonaire since 1988 when I was a PJ1B team member in the CQWW
CW M/M at PJ9EE's place.  The growth of the island's population struck me
immediately, and then seeing the QE2 at berth was a total surprise (no cruise
ships stopping at Bonaire in the ole days).  Spent the next two days
refurbishing the PJ4G F12 240N and other antennas.  So far the PJ4A score is
high claimed.  Had Thanksgiving dinner with K4BAI, KU8E, W4OC and NO2R before
heading to the airport.  Unfortunately my flight ended up being significantly
delayed....and I eventually landed on Aruba at 1:20 a.m., just 19 hours before
the start of CQWW.  Spent an hour doing some station setup and worked 3X5A on
160M low power....then to bed.

Friday dawned sunny....thankfully!  On the list of problems the priority items
were repair the 160M and 15M antennas, complete repair of the remaining
beverages, and finally, get at least one rotator turning and indicating.  P49Y
stopped by to lend a hand Friday morning, thanks Andy!

Managed to implement solutions to each of the problems over the course of the
day and early evening, but it meant working right up to the contest bell with
no opportunity for the all important nap before the start.  

Earlier in the day, Jacky, P43P, offered his Acom 2000 for the weekend,  and I
gladly accepted, giving me some options in the event I didn't manage getting
the antennas adequately repaired.  

It was probably about 2330Z, after testing each of the antennas with the amp,
that I decided to go SOAB HP, knowing I wouldn't be at my competitive best
lacking adequate rest....but CQWW is the BIG ONE, and figured it would be more
fun HP than LP or QRP or S/B.  

I wasn't ready to start competing until 0010Z....but still had a respectable
first hour on 40M.  Quickly moved to 80...which was quiet and rocking!  But the
best part of the 1st night and probably the entire contest was the 3.5 hours of
straight running on 160 the first night.  The band was wide open, signals from
EU were super strong, and the QRN level was low.  Nearly fell out of my chair
when my friend Willie UA9BA called in over the EU pile....TNX OM....it had been
many years since I'd logged a z17 on 160M in the WW CW.  And as it turned out,
160M was terrible the second night.  The rest of the first evening bounced
between 40/80/160 with nice rate.  But by 09z I could no longer keep my eyes
open and took a 2 hour nap.  Awoke later than I'd have liked but found 40M
still wide open to the States and JA and stayed there probably a bit too long
before transitioning to 20M.

Checked 10M every 15 to 30 minutes, and it was tough finding anyone to work. 
Never heard z5, z4, or z3.  Never heard 3X5A, but worked D3C in z35, go figure.
 Conditions remained terrible on ten from beginning to end.

15M was marginally better, but the runs to EU were quite brief.  Plentiful W/K
runs made spending time on 15 worthwhile however.  The only JA worked was a
chance long path contact Sunday morning....would never have expected that one.

20M was the money band for QSOs but I'm still puzzled by my low country
multiplier.  The 257 QSO clock hour between 19-20z the first day was a total
rush....too bad it didn't last for a few more hours.

40M seemed productive whenever I went there, but missing sunrise the second day
hurt my multiplier total.  I slept 4 hours the second night.  Having some nice
LP contacts (VU, XW, VK) taught me a few new things about early evening
propagation on this band.

80M was better the first night than the second, but my 93C total was an all
time high at P40W.

Have you noticed how when a packet pileup hits, everyone seems to be on EXACTLY
the same frequency?  Well, they actually are on the same frequency.  Guys, if
you want to get through, remember to off set your TX frequencey just a little
before calling, you'll get a response much more quickly.  Also observed the
'two letter' calling technique had almost disappeared this weekend....now thats
refreshing!

Congrats to all the skilled operators who competed in SOAB HP catagory this
year.  Hats off to Andy N2NT and Tom W2SC for their outstanding z8 scores, and
of course Jose CT1BOH/CT3NT, who so far has set the standard of excellenct. 
I'm sure the results will be close in any event.

The traditional get together dinner after the contest is always a great way to
decompress and get a better feel for what actually happened over the prior 2
days.  It was great to see PJ3JB, P49Y/AI6V and their wifes, my neighbor on
Aruba Andy, P49Y/AE6Y, my friend Scott P40Q/K0DQ his XYL Donna, and Jackie P43P
and his YL.  The social aspect of these trips is too often overlooked....I think
we have it right on Aruba.

Did I make the right decision going SOABHP instead of LP, QRP, or maybe SB 80? 
In retrospect, I think so, since I wasn't really prepared to do a serous S/B
effort, I was dead tired, and running HP let me more readily feed my rate
addiction.

As always special thanks to Humphrey and Corrie, my hosts, for opened their
home to me once again.  

See everyone next year.

73,

John W2GD a.k.a. P40W


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/