[3830] CQ WW RTTY VA7ST SOAB LP

webform at b41h.net webform at b41h.net
Sun Sep 26 22:34:00 PDT 2010


                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

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

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 29

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------------
   80:   76   147       31       7     7
   40:  172   390       42      37    19
   20:  376   931       48      61    21
   15:  173   372       34      22    15
   10:    2     6        0       1     1
------------------------------------------
Total:  799  1846      155     128    63  Total Score = 638,716

Club: British Columbia DX Club

Comments:

* FT-2000, N1MM Logger + MMTTY
* 3-ele SteppIR at 47'
* 40M SteppIR dipole, mostly at 47'
* 80M two-vertical array (SE-NW, broadside NE-SW)
* 80M Beverage 270' aimed due east
* No cluster

2010 Flux: 83  | Ap: 13>7  | Kp: 3>1
2009 Flux: 72  | Ap: 2>9   | Kp: 2>0
2008 Flux: 67  | Ap: 3     | Kp: 1
2007 Flux: 65  | Ap: 26>13 | Kp: 4>1

Another low-power entry to prove to myself that power isn't everything. But it
sure is something. Could have landed a few more juicy multipliers with a bit
more oomph over the pole, but overall I was quite happy with what 100W can net
from the far left in this contest. Thanks to a somewhat revitalized 15M, I went
far beyond all my previous bests, even the high-power scores from 2008 and
2007.

Highlights: Saudi Arabia on 20M, a bunch of Europe on 40M, and a handful of
Europe on 15M.

Lowlights: 80M -- every inch of it. The ones that got away (F6BEE on 15M, 4Z4
on 20M)

The contest was a tale of extremes here. Every band had its moments, except
80M. The most pronounced extreme was 40M on Saturday evening, when the Europe
window was so wide open the auroral curtain was almost ripped off its hooks.
Perhaps others have heard 40M better than that, but I sure haven't. CQing
produced little but I walked the band working everything I could hear, which
felt a little magical with just 100W on RTTY to a dipole at only 47'.

40M Dipole +
------------
The new wire reflector I hung 30' behind the SteppIR dipole worked just fine.
Not a lot of F/B, but noticeable gain when the dipole was aligned with the
wire. Flick a switch and the reflector becomes a director. The calculations for
pattern are complex, so naturally I haven't done them. But I did model (in a
rudimentary way) the rotary dipole with a fixed ref/dir so I could gauge where
I was sending RF. ( http://www3.telus.net/va7st/steppir_hybrid40.shtml ).

        Band    QSOs    Pts   Cty   ZN   Sec
2009 >>    7     172     390   37   19   42  LP rotary dipole @ 47' w/ passive
element
2009 >>    7     160     339   26   17   42  LP rotary dipole @ 47'
2008 >>    7     204     441   34   19   42  HP twin half-squares
2007 >>    7     145     296   13   11   36  HP Single half-squares, EW/NS

80M --------------------------------------

Here's where things went from the sublime to subliminal. When the frenetic 40M
band was worked out both evenings, I made tracks for 80M. Wish I'd stayed on
40! Last year, also with low power, I was able to squeeze 110 Qs and 36
sections out of the twin vertical array. This year, just 76 Qs and 31 sections.


Noise wasn't bad at all, and the Beverage really helped hear through it. I
simply found very few stations to work. Perhaps I stayed on 20M too long into
the evening Friday and Saturday. Working 40M for a couple of hours pushed my
arrival on 80M well into the night. The band was best after 0700z, but by then
it's the hard-core contesters and fewer casuals. All-in-all, not a good weekend
on 80M.

        Band    QSOs    Pts   Cty   ZN   Sec
2009 >>  3.5      76     147    7    7   31  LP twin verticals
2009 >>  3.5     110     214    8    9   36  LP twin verticals
2008 >>  3.5     205     398    9   10   46  HP twin verticals
2007 >>  3.5     106     209    7    8   37  HP delta loop

20M --------------------------------------

The only place I felt a bit weak was 20M to North America. This band is where
my powerline noise is worst (all those big signals swamp the noise blanker,
letting the crud through). Had some good hours to Europe both mornings, and
decent JA runs both afternoons.

With 15M in the mix this year, I poached time away from 20M. I really wanted to
surpass last year's 408 Qs on 20M, but in the final half hour, with Europe
played out and domestic Qs getting thinner, I headed to 40M instead and added
four more valuable states on 40M -- so it was a good move.

        Band    QSOs     Pts  Cty   ZN   Sec
2009 >>   14     376     931   61   21   48  LP SteppIR 3-element 
2009 >>   14     408    1027   64   22   41  LP SteppIR 3-element 
2008 >>   14     358     876   64   22   39  HP Mosley CL33
2007 >>   14     320     726   48   20   39  HP Mosley CL33

15M  --------------------------------------

Stonger on Sunday than Saturday, but pretty good both days to NA. Caught what
must have been the tail end of a European opening on Sunday around 1750z...
lasted all of 5 minutes because by 1754z I had my six EU countries in the log
and there were no more. Well, I did return in the 2000z hour and first thing I
did was call CQ over the pole. Only G0ORH heard me, so that was EU #7 on 15M.

        Band    QSOs    Pts   Cty   ZN   Sec
2009 >>   21     173     372   22   15   34  LP SteppIR 3-element (It's
alive!)
2009 >>   21      25      63    9    7    7  LP SteppIR 3-element 
2008 >>   21      17      35    4    4    8  HP Mosley CL33
2007 >>   21      28      64    6    7    7  HP Mosley CL33

10M  --------------------------------------

Days of the living dead. Listened on 10M occasionally, but it was empty. Except
twice, with two Zone 13 stations worked. When this baby wakes up, it'll be a
whole new game.

        Band    QSOs    Pts   Cty   ZN   Sec
2009 >>   28       2       6    1    1    0  LP SteppIR 3-element (It's
alive!)
2009 >>   28       0       0    0    0    0  
2008 >>   28       0       0    0    0    0   |-- dead to the world
2007 >>   28       0       0    0    0    0  /

What would I have done differently? 
-----------------------------------

My 29 hours on was nicely distributed, and I slept from 0830z to nearly 1400z
both nights. Wish I had gotten up earlier to get more out of 40M to the Pacific
and Asia. The band was still useful to JA at 1400z (late in the grayline) but I
think I missed the real action by an hour or two. 

I also would have stayed in the chair Sunday afternoon instead of feeling
compelled by a warm sunny fall day to go out and weed-eat the front yard with
1.5 hours to go. Took only 30 minutes and I enjoyed the break. But in the final
five minutes before 0000z, I realized I was just four Qs shy of 800. With two
minutes left, I was at 799. I left my unproductive CQ slot on a broad-daylight
40M band and searched for a station. Everyone I found was B4. Twenty seconds
left, I found a new one to work.... and lost the jump-ball. There's always next
year. I hate fescue.

That's a wrap on CQWW RTTY 2010. Had a great time, as always, and wouldn't have
missed it. On to the next one. See you in the fray!

73, Bud VA7ST
http://www3.telus.net/va7st

Year-over-year comparison:

TOTALS         QSOs     Pts  Cty   ZN  Sec  Score
2010 Total >>   799    1846  128   63  155  638,716  29.0 hrs
2009 Total >>   703    1643  107   55  126  473,184  26.5 hrs
2008 Total >>   784    1750  111   55  135  526,750  29.0 hrs
2007 Total >>   599    1295   74   46  119  309,505  23.0 hrs

----------------------------------------
              Qs  Mult Score
----------------------------------------
2010 SOABLP  799  346  638,716
2009 SOABLP  703  288  473,184 SteppIR 
2008 SOABHP  784  301  526,750 
2007 SOABHP  599  239  309,505 1st HP entry
2006 SOABLP  561  242  300,322
2005 SOABLP  365  221  189,840 
2004 SOABLP  760  220  482,062 1st contest w/tower
2003 SOABLP  257  168  101,304 


Be sure to check out the new Orca DX and contest club
http://www.orcadxcc.org


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