[3830] CQWW SSB GM5X(GM4YXI) SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: GM5X
Operator(s): GM4YXI
Station: GM4YXI

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Ellon
Operating Time (hrs): 43
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  267    12       48
   80:  827    20       75
   40:  935    29       92
   20: 1700    32      101
   15: 1216    29       95
   10:  149    12       46
------------------------------
Total: 5094   134      457  Total Score = 5,586,723

Club: North of Scotland Contest Group

Comments:

Great to be back on for CQWW SSB after missing last year, and being able to use
my new contest call, issued under new regulations here in the UK. Our club call
GM7V will now only be used for multi-op events. I confess, though, that in the
heat of battle this past weekend I said 'GM7V' by mistake a few times so
apologies for any confusion. Old habits die hard.

Preparations were ongoing right up to the last minute as usual but most things
were ready on time. I replaced a lot of feeders with better hardline but the
usual antennas and shack hardware were in use. The WX was too bad on Friday
evening, when I got home 9pm from a business trip, to haul up the C3 tribander,
so that had to wait until Saturday in daylight and calm(er) conditions, when I
took an enforced break to deploy this 'second' antenna before going on 20m. 

160m: Terrible the first night I thought. Very little non-EU stuff, even just
before sunrise. Second night was a little better though I did not spend much
time. Conditions clearly better towards Sunday sunrise. Managed a few NA plus
zone 8 and even TI0RC. Called KV4FZ many times to no avail. Top band was
useless on Sunday night.
80m: Pretty reliable and steady. Nice opening to NA after my sunrise on
Saturday and probably stayed here too long. Probably less good on Sunday
although XE1QQ close to SR was good. Disappointed in the mults worked,
especially to the East and South.
40m: What to say about this band! Plenty of QSOs possible this year with the
higher MUF keeping it open to EU all night, but that means QRM too. First night
was quite productive and some good mults came along, including Antarctica and ZS
but little NA - indeed I was underwhelmed by NA stations all weekend on 40m (a
recurring problem). Did not do well on 40m thereafter, although NA was probably
at its best on Sunday night. 7125-7200 is not enough space!
20m: Noisy and very hard to find a run frequency but good runs to NA,
especially Saturday. I was late to the band on Sat morning and missed a lot of
mults, many of which I failed to find on Sunday. JA was OK on Sunday, perhaps
because I made it to 20m earlier.
15m: Great to hear 15m open at last. Not great to the East but well open to NA,
although the West Coast was not super-strong like days of yore. 
10m: Sitting up here listening to weak guys running pile ups. Very patchy and
selective openings - probably quite expensive QSOs in terms of contest time. No
NA in here and maybe one or two near Asian stations and an occasional African,
but frustrating.

Second radio amplifier went QRT mid contest, which was bad for morale and I had
to sleep a little more than I intended over the early hours of Sunday morning
but otherwise survived OK - no hallucinations or dysarthria this year, I just
had to remember to use the correct callsign!

Really enjoyed the contest and cannot wait for next year. First time I have
broken 5k QSOs in any contest but I was disappointed in the mults this year,
despite my attempts/strategy at running vs mult hunting/passing being largely
unchanged from previous years.

Looking forward to CW in a few weeks.

Best wishes 
Keith GM4YXI (GM5X)


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