[3830] WPX CW NE4AA(K1TO) SOAB HP

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                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: NE4AA
Operator(s): K1TO
Station: K1TO

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: FL
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    1
   80:   75
   40: 1218
   20: 1471
   15:  257
   10:   21
------------
Total: 3043  Prefixes = 911  Total Score = 8,154,361

Club: Florida Contest Group

Comments:

+ Score is up about a million points from last year's claimed score.  Looking at
the numbers, it's hard to say why.  A few more prefixes, a few more 6-pointers,
but nothing obvious.  Comments about condx are very mixed.  Some think they
were better than last year, while others think they were dreadful.  My
impression is that they were slightly better.  Activity levels might also be up
somewhat.  

+ Nice to see activity from K1ZM who is chasing WRTC qualifying points.  Based
on the radio-sport.net comment that Jeff was "handing out serial numbers over
three thousand late in the contest", I suspect that Jeff will be the USA winner
this time.  Congrats to Jeff for successfully trying a new contest for him, one
that requires a much different strategy than the traditional winter-time DX
contests.  Jeff was running European stations on the low end of both 80 and 15
that were inaudible down here.  
Also, congrats to N3KS for his excellent SOABHP WM3T score.  

+ Worked the 2nd rig real hard again this year for probably ~300 QSOs.  There
were some stretches when there wasn't much on another band and I did manage to
listen a bit on the same band with some success.  

+ Got off to a quicker start than last year.  But serial number exchanges slow
down the rate and make a few QSOs impossible that would otherwise be logged as
a valid contact. 

+ Actually ran for a bit on 15.  Usually, the "fringe bands" (anything but 40 &
20 for me in WPX!) are not worth the time. 

+ Signals from Scandinavia and UA9/0 were solid.  VY1EI was also doing well
from way up north.

+ I've seen 3830 posts for 80 Meter operations from 7X0RY for years, but I
actually heard and worked him this time, right at his SR.  

+ Heard 4L0A for the first time late in the contest and we exchanged serial #s
well over 3000 to each other.  K5ZD commented about this same phenomenon.  

+ Skimmer-free operation here (to go with the sunspot-free weekend).  It will
be interesting to see how Skimmer users perceive and describe the impact of
their potentially powerful tool, and how contest sponsors handle this topic.  

+ Thunderstorm activity stayed far enough away from here.  The forecast all
week was for storms during the contest and many others here in Florida were
affected by them.  Summertime contests are always at risk here in Florida.  At
least in WPX, there is a chance of altering the off-time strategy.  

+ CQ WPX allows the entire FCG to compete as one club and not worry about club
circles that include lots of water.  We are very grateful for that.  Good
showing by the FCG again this year.  


- The "NE" part of NE4AA comes too fast for many.  I often get either
deer-in-the-headlights silence or a simple "?".  This also has the unfortunate
consequence of leading to more dupes than typical.  

- More equipment issues cropped up than I've ever experienced.  They were all
minor enough to cause short delays and minimal score impact.

- Seemed like I asked for more repeats of numbers than normal.  Was that due to
condx/QSB, or just operator failure? ;<)

- Missed whatever small 10-Meter opening there was to Europe.  NF4A and KD4D
both mention working some, and OK4RQ mentions working W/VE.  

- Still can't figure out when JA is available on 20 Meters.  Worked a few late
each night, but I see that a few JAs spotted K1LZ, including one QRPer, just
after East Coast SR.  

- 8361 CQs.  

Thanks for the QSOs and hope to work everyone again during the IARU HF
Championship in July.

73, Dan


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