[3830] ARRLDX CW 7J1AAI(W1NN) SOSB/40 HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: 7J1AAI
Operator(s): W1NN
Station: JH1GTV

Class: SOSB/40 HP
QTH: Japan
Operating Time (hrs): 23

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:           
   40:  527    43
   20:           
   15:           
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  527    43  Total Score = 67,983

Club: North Coast Contesters

Comments:

Thanks to Shigeki JH1GTV for inviting me to operate from his station and try out
his brand new two element quad.  The antenna seemed to work quite well.  If
anyone recalls how my signal compared with other JAs, your observations would
be very welcome.

40M single band from Japan in the ARRL DX is a fairly easy contest to operate
as it does not require staying up all night.  For this contest, I commuted by
train from my downtown Tokyo apartment out to the `GTV QTH, making one trip on
Saturday and one on Sunday.  Since the last train leaves around midnight Japan
time(7AM PST), I missed an hour or so of operating each night when the band was
still open to the west coast.  At my age I am not often riding the trains at 1
AM on Saturday night.  It's quite an interesting experience!

Day one was a lot better than day two for me.  I ended up with 358/41 at the
end of the first day, but could only add another 162/2 on day two.  I operated
about 11 hours each day, so the rates were pretty poor.  For my first hour
(0400Z) on day two, I had exactly one QSO and it was a dupe.  This was followed
by a massive 12 QSO hour for the 0500Z hour.  

Signals on day two seemed a lot weaker, especially those from the east coast. A
lot of Qs were almost at ESP levels.  Fortunately, there was not a lot of local
noise this time. On day two, the only new mults to enter the log were SD and YT
(thanks to a very loud VY1JA).  Missed mults: VT (N1UR please fix your beam!),
RI, ME, DC, KY, SC, WV, IN, ND and all VEs except for VE3, VE7 and VY1.  It's
difficult to tell if conditions were just bad or if US/VE stations were merely
busy working EU (or just sleeping).  Overall I worked a surprising number of
FL, AL, NC and VA stations, and the Caribbean and SA stations were very loud
throughout the weekend.  The ZLs sure seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The two strongest signals from the east coast were K1ZZI (operating from W8JI)
and NQ4I.  I heard both stations frequently throughout the weekend.  K3LR was
probably the next strongest signal from the east.  K1TTT, W3LPL, K1AR, K1KI and
W3BGN were all were quite weak when I worked them, but their antennas may have
still been on EU.  K8AZ was a little stronger than these stations and the
strongest signal from 8- and 9-land.         

A couple of other stations commented on the large number of dupes.  I had 33
(about 6%), about half of which were from the big MS or MM operations.  I'm not
sure why so many of these stations duped me but it does not take much time to
work them and with my terrible rates I was happy to have the company.

It's always fun to operate from Japan, even if it is one of the toughest places
to operate this contest from.  Maybe someday we'll have good conditions on both
days and we can work half of what the European stations work.

Thanks for the contacts.  It was fun.

73,  Hal W1NN/7J1AAI


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