[3830] CQWW SSB P40A(KK9A) SOAB(A) HP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: P40A
Operator(s): KK9A
Station: P49Y/P40L

Class: SOAB(A) HP
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 44.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   70     8       14
   80:  475    18       63
   40:  835    29       88
   20: 1627    32      109
   15: 2307    36      125
   10: 2236    35      116
------------------------------
Total: 7550   158      515  Total Score = 15,000,000

Club: 

Comments:

After removing the towers, antennas and all of my belongings in March from the
home that I owned, I did not think that I would be returning to Aruba again
this year. Andy, AE6Y / P49Y had planned on operating this contest from the
station that he and W6LD / P40L own. Andy cancelled his contest plans to spend
time with his daughter who was expecting a child and he became a grandfather
just days before the contest. Congratulations on your new grandson!  Andy asked
me if I wanted to operate the station and before he could complete the sentence
I said YES! I had operated the CQWW Phone contest 9 times in the last 10 years
from Aruba and it is one of my favorites.  My wedding anniversary occurred on
the day after CQWW Phone and my wife was able to join me making for a perfect
vacation.  W0YX / P49X had used the station for the CQWW RTTY contest and
everything was in great condition except for one broken wire on the 160m
antenna. During my last trip, I was unable to bring home my Yaesu FT1000-MP
Mark-V and AI6V / P49V was nice enough to store it for me.  So, shortly after
arriving in Aruba I picked up my transceiver at Carls home and set up the
shack.  Just prior to the trip I purchased a new laptop and I brought my
MicroHAM Digi Keyer to interface the computer with the Yaesu FT1000-MP Mark-V. 
I had one small problem, for some reason my transceiver was not supplying 12
volts to the Digi Keyer.  Fortunately, I was easily able to solder a wire to
the unit and use one of the power supplies  in the shack.  It took me a little
while to get used to the laptop keyboard.   The 160m antenna was also pretty
easy to fix from ground level so I had plenty of time to enjoy my vacation time
with the XYL prior to the contest.  We enjoyed snorkeling at Baby Beach and the
fish all enjoyed feasting on a loaf of bread that we brought them for lunch. 
Apparently, these fish were not aware of that old saying “Don't bite the hand
that feeds you.”  We also enjoyed dining out and shopping in town prior to the
weekend. 
  
About 15 minutes before the contest began, a gecko ran across the wall of the
living room. I tried, unsuccessfully, chasing it out of the house as my wife is
not fond of these critters. So much for her relaxing weekend! We finally
captured it on Monday and released it outside.  For CQWW Phone I decided to try
operating SOAB (A), which is a category that I had never tried before.  Since
CQWW is a strategic contest with so many countries active, I thought that this
category would give me the most fun over the 48 hour period.  I had only one
radio set up and thought that the packet spots would keep me aware of the
activity outside my passband.  My setup was pretty basic using a manual amp and
antenna switch. The contest starts very late in Aruba, at 8:00PM, but signals on
15m were still strong so I knew that conditions were going to be good.  20m was
in great shape the pileups seemed never ending late into the first night,
however I had to leave the high rates and switch to 40m, 80m and 160m while
those bands were still open to Europe. 40m was very crowded and 80m and 160m
were noisy so I fought the crowds on 40m as long as I could while working a
number of different countries.  I later tried 80m, where I could hear P40W
running Europe on his 80m beam, but I did not have his success using the
shortened dipole. 160m seemed almost dead every time I listened, where was
everyone on top band? At the end of the first night I was happy with my
progress, except that I had only worked 29 countries on 80m. Obviously my
strategy of multipliers finding me was not working, at least on the low bands. 
I tried to pick up multipliers using the packed spots during slower times or
when I needed a little break, but I had a lot of problems keeping the system
connected, especially while operating the low bands where I needed it most.  So
while it was useful for picking up multipliers at times, it was also a
tremendous distraction. I tried making some adjustments, but I was never
successful at keeping the spots coming.  I believe that there were some
problems with the DSL line, some RF issues and there was likely a better way
for me to set up packet on my computer.  On the second night I worked much
harder tuning up and down the bands and I was able to greatly improve my 80m
multipliers. I then took a three hour nap hoping to have enough energy for the
pileups that would start after sunrise. Amazingly the second day seemed just as
busy as the first and I ran stations all the way to the end.  In fact I made 318
contacts in 60 minutes late on Sunday.  This CQWW Phone contest was a blast. 
Conditions were so good on so many bands that it was difficult for me to figure
out how to operate this one. In hindsight, I should have spent more time on 10m.
 My neighbor down the street, P40W who has 25 years of experience operating from
Aruba made over 1000 more contacts on 10m than I did.  I did have some rain
static and the 10m monobander had only two elements, but certainly more QSOs
were possible.  I did well on the rest of the bands and came close to the 2003
Assisted record. Afterwards the XYL and I met with W2GD / P40W and W5AJ / P40P
for a nice dinner and conversation. The following day was our anniversary and I
had a great time with my wife Leslie.  We were married in Aruba 9 years ago,
just after a WW contest. This was another great trip and I would like to thank
AE6Y and W6LD for the use of their home and station.  I would also like to
thank everyone for the QSOs.  Please QSL via WD9DZV

73,
John KK9A / P40A


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