[3830] WAE CW C4Z(5B4AIZ) Single Op LP

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                    WAE DX Contest, CW

Call: C4Z
Operator(s): 5B4AIZ
Station: 5B4AIZ

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Cyprus
Operating Time (hrs): 30

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  QTCs  Mults
-------------------------
   80:   33     0    52
   40:  243   130    93
   20:  501   618    76
   15:  387   304    70
   10:  351   200    68
-------------------------
Total: 1515  1252   359  Total Score = 993,353

Club: Chiltern DX Club

Comments:

Occaisionally, fortunately not too often, one is left to ponder after a contest
-  what if, or, what would my score have been if this or that had not happened?
Whether it be Murphy or outside interruption, it sure is frustrating when the
contest is going well. As the saying goes 'stuff happens' so no point in
looking back - we must look forward to next time.

In recent years the 'one size fits all'  rule of 'assisted' class had put me
off making a serious entry. It's my choice to take part unassisted but no
chance of hitting one of the top spots, especially with the extra multiplier
for low bands. On the other side of the coin the organisers can say 'it is
there if you want it' and there is no doubt that the move does eliminate the
cheats at one stroke! 

Right up to the start of the test Saturday morning (0430z for me) I intended
the usual few hours here and there but found that I was enjoying it so much and
decided to stay around thinking 'what the heck, i can give it my best shot and
compare results year on year'.  The day before i had created a dummy file to
have a play around with the qtc's. That was a real learning curve aspect of the
contest for me. One or two bugs in the prog plus rather more from the hamfist op
got me into some tangles early on but it got better, nevertheless apologies to
those ops who I messed up.

The day went well right through to evening with good rates and all qtc's
despatched. Being east and south of eu things don't happen on 40mtrs until late
and 80 even later. They still have daylight and propagation to the west so they
are hammering stateside for all that it is worth. So when I moved to the low
bands at 22z local time (z+3hrs) I was anticipating a few run q's on 40 and
some S&P mlt's on 80 over the next couple of hours, my wet noodle antennas down
that end are none too impressive. Murphy nr 1 appeared in the shape of the xyl
giving me grief that her internet connection was being continually interrupted
and was it due to my radio? Not a problem encountered on 40 before but it was
undoubtdly due to RF getting into the telephone line, even though only 100w
output from the rig.

I decided to switch to 80mtrs and then found Murphy nr 2 came a knockin', sky
high swr.
My plot is postage size and I use a 'stealth' ant for 80. Basically i use a
quarter wave sloper from the top of my mast and tied off onto my car which I
park on the other side of the street! Not quite so hairy as it sounds as I live
at the end of a cul-de-sac, so no through traffic, nevertheless I roll it out
after dark and coil it in again as soon as I finish on the band. It was a bit
windy when I tied it off an hour before and I didn't do the job properly so
there it was, wrapped around the mast and out of reach!

On the hoof I had decided to take a break for 7/8 hrs bed at midnight local to
make the 36 hour limit, so I did a deal with the xyl for just one hour bash on
40 and fix the RF problem tomorrow. I was feeling more than usual tired
anyway.

In a 2 hour break next day i sorted the RF prob but only partly disengaged the
tangle of the 80m wire, it was firmly jammed two thirds way up. I was still
strangely tired and did not have the energy to lower the 40m dipole, tie off
the ropes and wind down the mast, so later it would just have to do what it
could. It didn't matter a deal as during the evening I felt very 'rough' ,
sweating and shivering by turns. With three and a half hours remaining before
the end I called a halt. Not even being so close to 1M claimed pt's could
motivate me to stay longer, whatever that virus may be it sure has  knocked me
for six!

As for the contest? - it was great, lot's of skilled ops and plenty of
activity. Very impressed at the turnout from the DL boys, I know it is DARC run
but the organisers could not have wished for or received better support.from
their own guys. There were far fewer eu Russian and Ukraine stations than we
see in many other contests, considering, Russians especially,  they are eu's
top op's both by skill and numbers,.this was surprising.

Band cndx were great for dx, I heard JA, VK3, W1 being worked on 10 mtrs plus
strong sigs from usa on 15mtrs and some sigs from usa 2 hours after sunrise
here, day 2, on 40 were unbelievable. 10 & 15 were good both days, especially
Sunday when it stayed open for the afternoon too. Sorry to the guys from US,
VE, CX, PY etc who called me but Cyprus is in Asia

A disappointing finish for me for sure, including the fact I had a shedload of
unsent qtc's which I had banked on sending in those final hours. First day i
had sent qtc's on demand but had noticed very often on 10 & 15 that the band
had died for several minutes at a time, so I decided next day to hold off the
qtc's and run as much as poss whilst propagation was there and qtc in quieter
times, that didn't work out! Another interesting fact emerged - when I did get
on 40/80 very few guys asked for QTC's, mainly first bounce places like LZ, YO,
UY show on the QTC list down there. I hadn't taken into  account that my 100w
and poorish antennas would suffer from the noise and fading and not inspire
confidence in guys who needed to complete a 10 station list and not take all
night over it!  Something to remember for next time.

73   Brian  C4Z  (5B4AIZ).


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