[3830] CQWW SSB ES6Q(WS4T) SOSB/40 QRP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: ES6Q
Operator(s): WS4T
Station: ES6Q

Class: SOSB/40 QRP
QTH: SE Estonia
Operating Time (hrs): 32

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:                    
   40:  320    20       79
   20:                    
   15:                    
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total:  320    20       79  Total Score = 47,619

Club: 

Comments:

Station: FT-817 + 2-element 40m quad at 20m height

Murphy paid me a visit, but it turned into a fantastic opportunity along with a
very useful linguistic/logistical discovery. I was planning to make my
first-ever attempt at an all-band QRP operation using my hexbeam and some wires
for the low bands. But we had a tremendous wind storm about 10 days before the
contest and it damaged my hexbeam. I was really unhappy since my roof is very
steep and the tiles are old, so any access to the antenna is physically risky
and can also damage the roof (and in a place with snow on ground for 4 months,
the last thing I need is roof damage just before winter). 

I wrote ES2TI with a picture of my hexbeam and he had a couple of ideas for
other places to operate. Then, the next day he wrote me again and said I could
operate 40m QRP from a station in Southern Estonia using a 2-element quad at
20m height.

Now, in a year when the high bands are blazing and everyone is up there, that
might not sound so great. But for me it was a tremendous experience. I’m used
to operating 40m from Tallinn with a ground-mounted vertical, so a 2-element
quad really opened up the bands. At home the gray line doesn’t matter because
there’s no way to crack the pile-ups with 5W. But this antenna helped me to
work some real DX on 40m for the first time, including AH2, YB, C5 and plenty
of the Caribbean stations. I definitely had to work hard to get a lot of them
and I missed many too (8Q, VK, PY and many Chinese stations CQed in my face
with nobody calling them).

The only real disappointment was perhaps not working more stations, but I guess
40m just had less appeal this year with the high bands so hot.

My incredible discovery for the season: I figured out how to say bucket truck
(US: cherry picker) in Estonian (“korvtõstuk”) and found an 18m truck with
operator. Instead of risking life and roof to remove the hexbeam, I got in the
bucket and had the hexbeam off the roof in 25 minutes. What a brilliant
invention! Now I can take down/put up/maintain antennas with ease. 

Now onwards to CQ WW CW, perhaps 10m QRP from home with a 3-element yagi. Goal:
100 countries. Hope to work you then.

Many thanks to Tom and the gang!

Gary, WS4T


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