[3830] WPX CW AB1HZ(K5KG) SOAB HP

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                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: AB1HZ
Operator(s): K5KG
Station: K5KG

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: WCF
Operating Time (hrs): 35

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:   88
   40:  692
   20: 1035
   15:  344
   10:  160
------------
Total: 2319  Prefixes = 748  Total Score = 4,105,772

Club: Florida Contest Group

Comments:

What a contest!  Condx were reminiscent of the good old days, especially on
Saturday where 20m was open late into Europe with excellent rates.  On Sunday
mid-day it got slow, but then later in the afternoon, 20m opened nicely into
Europe again.  We managed to work 10 Euros on 10m in the 1400z hour on
Saturday.  In the 2200z hour on 15m on Saturday, we worked a handfull of Euros
LP out over the Pacific.  Overall, 10 and 15 were reasonably good with
consistent Stateside runs at times.  80m was somewhat limited by the QRN where
we had to listen on our transmit antenna.  However, we did manage to pull
through a few Euros in spite of the QRN.

The AB1HZ call sign proved to be problematic on CW.  A check of DX Summit now
shows that we were spotted many times as AB1HZ.  However, we were also spotted
as A61HZ and AB1SZ.  These faulty spots, of course, produced runs of dupes
which was reminiscent of the J7(zero)J spots from two years ago as J7OJ!

The SO1R equipment performed faultlessly.  We used a new IC756Pro3 on loan from
K8DSS.  (It's DSP is improved over that of my Pro2.)  The Acom 2000A never
missed a hitch, and ran a consistent 1500 watts without complaining. (It auto
tunes and band switches instantly with a "dit" from the transceiver, making
frequent band changes easy.) The new 2el M2 40m yagi @75 ft. did its job, as
did the old C31XR @60 ft.  On 80m, we used an inv. vee.  Unfortunately, we
could not find our KD9SV 160/80 preamp that is buried somewhere in the rubble
of the shack, so we could not use the K9AY rx loop on 80m.  We have been having
daily power interruptions, but none happened during the contest.  Also, local
noise got washed away in heavy thunderstorms earlier in the week and, as a
result, the band noise was very low...what a relief!  There were no storms or
rain during the contest.  Logging was done with Win-test, and keying/radio
control with a MicroHam CW Keyer.

Congrats to Dan, NE4AA (K1TO) and Jeff, K1ZM on their fine scores.  It will be
interesting to see who takes top honors in their shoot out.

73, Geo...K5KG aka AB1HZ

PS.  Tnx to W7SE, Trustee of the Dhahran ARC of America - HZ1AB - for the use
of AB1HZ in the contest.


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