[3830] CQWW CW PJ2T M/M HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: PJ2T
Operator(s): GM4AFF, N4QQ, K8LEE, K8ND, W8WTS, WI9WI, N0YY
Station: PJ2T

Class: M/M HP
QTH: Curacao
Operating Time (hrs): 48

Summary:
 Band  QSOs   Zones  Countries
-------------------------------
  160:  1063    23       89
   80:  1843    28      109
   40:  3318    35      120
   20:  2927    39      130
   15:  2884    34      125
   10:  1491    23       81
-------------------------------
Total: 13526   182      654  Total Score = 33,366,432

Club: 

Comments:

Plan the Work and Work the Plan!

Another great outing for the Team at PJ2T.  This year’s operation was
conditioned by Curacao being a new DXCC entity which created high hopes among
team members hoping to beat all previous records at Signal Point by responding
to the “throngs” looking for a CW contact.

This year also saw a major technological advance at PJ2T.  K8ND and W8WTS
developed a Skimmer that was installed the week before the contest in the city
of Willemstadt.  There was some high intensity work the days before the contest
getting the networking installed and stable to make the PJ2T Skimmer available
to the world using the Reverse Beacon Network.

And as creature comforts go â€" the Team got to enjoy the new air conditioner
in the operating area.  Signal Point has had air conditioners in the bedrooms,
but this was only the second contest for the operators to enjoy reduced
humidity and temperatures.  (Before the installation of the air conditioning it
was not uncommon for the operating area to be 100+ Degrees Fahrenheit from all
of the amplifiers belching their hot exhaust.  Humidity was high and the
operator fatigue was quite evident at the end of the contest.)

The Team started to arrive the week before to take on the manual tasks like
erecting the various receive antennas, making sure all the computers were
configured the same way, making sure we had all of our contingency plans in
place, etc.

This year’s Team consisted of N0YY, N4QQ, K8LEE, K8ND, W8WTS, WI9WI, and
special guest â€" GM4AFF.  Over the past several years we have included at
least one European team member to help with overall low band planning and
execution.  This year Stewart indicated his interest during WRTC and was
invited to participate with our team.

Things looked very promising earlier in the week when we had several days of
openings on 24 and 28 MHz for several hours a day including strong openings
into Europe.  So not only were we a new DX entity, but it looked like ‘ol Sol
might cooperate this year â€" but more on that later…

As has been done for several years for the major contests the team lead
develops a plan and strategy for how to approach the contest.  This year was no
different â€" our plan was based on a M/M effort based on the four operating
positions at Signal Point.  We established “Team Captains” who were
responsible for staffing their positions and to refine any last minute
adjustment to the plan and strategy.  Station 1 was chosen for our 160/15 Meter
operations and was staffed by K8ND and W8WTS â€" both with long standing
experience on 160.  The 80/10 Meter position was led by GM4AFF with K8LEE as
his teammate.  The 40M station was handled single handedly by WI9WI and finally
the 20M station was manned by N0YY and N4QQ.

As the contest approached we watched the SFI go into free fall and land in the
low 70s quite a difference from the mid-80s from just days before.  We took a
deep breath and hoped that all the RF in the ionosphere would stimulate some
propagation.  On Thursday we held our team meeting and ironed out any last
minute questions and made final decisions.  It was time for a well deserved
rest.

At 00Z we heard the starting gun and we were off to the races.  It only took a
few minutes to recognize that 40M was going to be the money band.  The higher
bands closed quickly and for the first few hours our success or failure would
fall in the hands of the low band operators.

Over the course of the next 48 hours we watched bands open and close (sometimes
in the same hour â€" only to open again later).  We got some interesting
surprises like European openings on 20M late in the night.  But the two days
were very different in how they progressed.

When the dust settled there were many surprises in the results.  This contest
resulted in an all time “best performance” on 160M and 80M.  This again
validates our strategy to have a European member of the team that understands
the “local” conditions back home.  40M was indeed the “money band” and
also set an all time record for PJ2T â€" more amazing was that this was done my
WI9WI operating as the single 40M operator.

The high bands were plagued by weak openings, but the ray of sunshine was that
they were open.  10M was not as open as hoped, but we took advantage of every
glimmer it allowed.  20M had the greatest footprint with 38 Zones, but the
openings were typically weak punctuated with sharp high intensity openings.

Our previous best was in 2005 with a score of 27.4M with 11,854 QSOs so this is
indeed a new “record” for Signal Point.  (As I recall, there were things
called sunspots in 2005…) All we can hope to do is to continue to improve and
outperform ourselves.  If we remain on top of the listings after the dust
settles, then that is an added bonus.

In all we had a blast!  It is always fun to test yourselves as individuals and
your team against the other world class operators engaged in a contest like
CQWW.  We did our best and now it is time to let the results speak for
themselves.

We had several visits from Mr. Murphy in the form of a failed T/R relay in the
160/15M station amplifier but a replacement amplifier was on line in about 5
minutes.  We also lost our Skimmer Network multiple times during the weekend. 
We had to rely on the help of our local sponsors to help re-boot the system to
make sure the tools were available to everyone.

There were two practices that were observed and that require some thought.  The
first is the increasing number of stations creating deliberate interference with
contest operations.  We are quite fortunate to have many tools at our disposal -
like directional receiving antennas - so we have a capability to avoid their
impact, but it is annoying to be followed around by these individuals.  For
example, Jim â€" WI9WI was followed by the same interference source outside the
US every time he changed frequencies on 40M.  It only happened during certain
band openings so it was regional in nature and could be avoided, but it is BAD
PRACTICE.

The other is the increasing number of duplicate contacts.  We had a very high
number of them this year.  One reason may be DXers that want insurance contacts
because of the new entity status of Curacao, but some happen minutes after a
contact.  We did not see the typical “busted spot” until right at the end. 
But we need to be more careful.

A special note of thanks goes to Jean Claude, PJ2BVU who went to the Skimmer
location numerous times to reboot the machines during the weekend.  Without his
help the contesting community would have lost one if its new resources and one
of the operators would have had to drive across town to make the necessary
adjustments.

And last, but certainly not least, thanks to all those that provided QSOs for
without you, there would be no contest.


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