[3830] CQWW CW ZL1AZE SOAB(A) HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: ZL1AZE
Operator(s): ZL1AZE
Station: ZL1AZE

Class: SOAB(A) HP
QTH: ZL
Operating Time (hrs): 41

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:    5     4        4
   80:  131    21       40
   40:  569    28       76
   20:  303    28       73
   15:  618    27       53
   10:  103     9        9
------------------------------
Total: 1729   117      255  Total Score = 1,869,300

Club: Wellington Amateur Radio Club

Comments:

This year I decided to have a reasonable serious attempt in the Single Op All
Band category from my suburban QTH in Wellington city. The station consisted of
an FT1000MP radio, AL80A amplifier and a series of wire dipoles for 160M to 10M
– all supported by a 13 metre tall pole located in the centre of my 1000 sq
metre property.

Compared to my previous experience at ZL6QH, it was considerably more difficult
to make QSOs from the home QTH. The limitations of a small backyard antenna
farm, a high level of local man made QRN, and a steep uphill slope on the
western side of my property, were all contributing factors. The uphill slope
effectively blocks the short path for signals from Asia and Europe so the
majority of my QSOs were made in the opposite direction - towards the short
path to America and the long path to Europe. It was frustrating to hear other
ZL stations running Europeans via the short path that I could often not even
copy.

I had planned to complete the erection of the antennas on the Friday and the
Saturday morning immediately prior to the contest. However a combination of
gale force winds and rain meant that this task took much longer than
anticipated, and delayed my start in the contest until 0230z on Saturday. I
also had to take another hour out during the contest to investigate a problem
with 20M transmissions causing the house security system to make a buzzing
sound and keeping my XYL awake at night (not a good idea!). I found that the
problem only occurred with one of the antennas so ending up deciding not to use
that antenna at night.

KEY LEARNING – Plan to complete all antenna work at least a week before the
contest, so there is adequate time to work around the uncertainties of the
Wellington weather and thoroughly test the antenna systems before the contest!

I ended up operating for about 41 hours over the 48 hour period, including a 1
hour nap on Sunday afternoon and meal breaks. The nap definitely helped me to
stay awake and reduced the severity of the hallucinations that normally kick in
on Monday morning!

Propagation on the low bands was only average on the Saturday and well below
average on Sunday. There were also high levels of lightning QRN on both nights.
The best DX on 160M was N7UA and AD6C. Fortunately, the higher bands were in
much better shape, with 10M producing a good number of QSOs to Asia and North
America, and some excellent runs to North America on 15M. I made 150 QSOs in
one hour on Sunday morning, which is getting close to ZL6QH rates. The biggest
thrill was being called by EA8URL and EA8TH on 15M over the long path during
the middle of the day (when the band is normally closed to Europe). I did not
make any 6 band QSOs but it was good  to catch K1TTT and K3LR on 5 bands.

Overall I am pleased with the raw score of 1.87 million points, considering the
limitations of operating from my home QTH. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to
everyone for the QSOs.


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