[3830] Makrothen RTTY VA7ST SO/Single Xcvr HP

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                    Makrothen RTTY Contest

Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST

Class: SO/Single Xcvr HP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:   76
   40:   74
   20:  100
   15:    0
   10:    0
------------
Total:  250  Total Score = 1,156,332

Club: British Columbia DX Club

Comments:

Things started well, opening with:
SFI= 69 |  A=2 | K=1 Conditions good to very good

Things ended badly, with fast solar wind arriving Saturday, resulting in:
SFI= 71 | A=25 | K=2 (5 at one point)

Makrothen is one of my favorite RTTY contests. Distance-based scoring somewhat
levels the playing field for East vs. West locations, assuming West can even
hear Europe and more than a handful of JAs turn out. 

80M was great for US/VE but 40M was oddly behaved (not good), and 20M was as
bad as it gets for DX. In fact, I earned just about as many points on 80M (with
the 4x multiplier) as I did on 20M.

My first 66 Qs on 40M (last year's total) netted 300,000 points -- last year
that many Qs earned 330,000 points so DX was off a bit this year. Getting 66 Qs
on 40M took 3 minutes longer, too -- 0241z vs. 0244 this year.

Ended up with 74 Qs and 350,000 pts. on 40M, and would characterize the band as
lousy, with little DX and even domestic signals mostly poor-strength, especially
Saturday and Sunday.

Hit last year's 80M total of 188,000 in 1.5 hours' less time, at 0400Z with 37
Qs -- vs. 41 Qs at 0532z last year. The verticals and Beverage really did well
for the cross-continent FM/FN/EM guys. The array continued to outpace last
year's delta loop early Sunday morning, as I finished with a most-ever 76 Qs
for 399000 points on 80M.

Someone snuffed out 20M with a pillow -- got up for the 1600Z (9 a.m.) start
Saturday morning and heard virtually nothing. Europeans didn't appear here
until 1700Z, and they were very weak and raspy. Europe/Africa was limited to
one or two each of of F, I, EA and 5C5W.

Sunday morning was dead on 20M -- no Europe at all. My final QSO was #250 (and
#100 on 20M) with VE7CC with a few minutes left, for a whopping 308 pts. But
now I know how far apart we are, hi. Was happy to work Lee as nobody else could
hear me at all.

Last year, I had 267 Qs and 1.5 million points on 20M, so this year's 400,000
pts. is an indication of how much worse conditions are.

Points per Q comparisons

         2005    2006   2007    2008     Delta 07/08
80M     3,139   3,015  4,534   5,251     +   717  keep antenna
40M     4,168   3,860  5,026   4,732     -   294  keep antenna
20M     4,703   4,174  5,745   4,071     - 1,674  same %$#& yagi
15M         0   3,820      0       0           0

Total score comparisons

      Qs    Points      Hrs
2008  250   1,156,332   10  
2007  374   2,051,462   13  
2006  220     876,480   11  
2005  184     809,920   10  
2004  272   1,522,626   19 

Had sufficient fun to do it again next year. And with this weekend's emergence
of a real Cycle 24 group (#1005) making promises that might actually be kept
this time, there's a good chance the bands will be much more alive than they
have been over the past three years of nothin' to write home about.

See many of you in CQWW SSB and CW coming up. Now, on to Canadian thanksgiving
turkey at the in-laws' free-for-all this afternoon. Try snagging a drumstick
with 10 people at the table :) Bigger dogpile than if a P5 showed up on 20.

Thanks for the Qs and see you in the fray!


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