[3830] ARRLDX CW DL3YM(@DF2PY) SOAB HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: DL3YM
Operator(s): DL3YM
Station: DF2PY

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: 
Operating Time (hrs): 41.5
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  176    32
   80:  373    44
   40:  724    53
   20: 1173    60
   15:   44    18
   10:    0     0
-------------------
Total: 2490   207  Total Score = 1,545,669

Club: Rhein Ruhr DX Association

Comments:

Operating the ARRL DX Contest is both a pleasure and a privilege. Good activity
and excellent OPs in a competitive yet friendly atmosphere made this year a
memorable event for me:
Got off to a pretty slow start on 40. I can not really tell, however, if
conditions were actually that bad because it was not before Saturday noon that
I found out I had operated the main radio all night with a fully engaged
attenuator – and -18 dB drastically reduce signal strength, hi. Funny thing
is this did not affect 80 and 160 very much – maybe resulting in a
comfortable signal to noise ratio there. Anyway – if you called me the first
night without success, you now know why, hi.
I think that I am gradually becoming more comfortable with SO2R and I was able
to pick up a good number of Qs and mults on 80 while running 40. 80 opened
early to the West with the first CO worked shortly before 0200 (first W6,
however, not before 0430). Did not get any further West than CO on 160
(probably missing the 3 S-units mentioned above …). Spent sunrise on 80 and
then worked 40 until the band dried out.
After a few hours of sleep came back to 20 and had some excellent runs there (4
consecutive hours over 100 Qs from 1300 to 1700) with radio 2 tuned to 15.
Switched radio 1 to 15 at 1700 for 30 mins but the band never really opened for
high latitude paths. Conditions there even deteriorated on Sunday: I was
listening to OE4A and some South-Eastern EUs on the second radio working
strings of stations when I could not hear anything at all. Frustrating yet
interesting to see what a few hundred kilometres to the South can mean
propagation-wise. 
40 was excellent Saturday night (and stations were so loud, hi), so I kept on
running until 0130 on Sunday morning. Found 160 was better the night before,
yet managed to work into CO again, but nothing further West.
Sunday daytime meant milking 20 big time, and thankfully the band was in good
shape again. I will likely remember the 1700 and 1800 hours for a long time as
it was just a thrill to work a very well behaved pile with lots of excellent
west coast signals. Had an extra dose of adrenaline when VY1JA, who I had heard
S&P-ing before, stopped by to give me YT on 20. I was even more delighted when
W7CA finally completed my lower 48 WAS single band 20 meters endorsed one
weekend (hi) giving me that precious WY mult. Went to 40 at 2000 and was
surprised to find the band already well open into the East coast and mid West.
Lots of dupes called in, too (worked 72 dupes over the weekend!) and I
understand that much of this resulted from bad packed spots – so please be
sure you work what you hear, not what you see on the screen (hi). Spent the
last 20 mins on 160 where W1ZK immediately gave me the last mult of the
contest.
It was good to see many familiar calls – guys I talk to several times a year
for just seconds yet feel very close to. Very happy to work KG5U and NR5M who
taught me contesting when I was an exchange student in Houston 20 years ago and
N7KA who I had the pleasure of meeting personally some years ago here in DL.
Contesting is much more about moments like these than about winning to me.
Very special thanks to my host Wolf, DF2PY, and family, for letting me occupy
the station. Without his outstanding technical expertise all this would not be
possible. And of course thanks to my XYL and the boys – I promise to be home
for the weekends now (i.e. until WPX-CW).


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