[3830] ARRLDX SSB KQ2M SOAB HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB

Call: KQ2M
Operator(s): KQ2M
Station: KQ2M

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 7.8

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:           
   40:           
   20:  596    61
   15:  397    54
   10:   60    23
-------------------
Total: 1053   138  Total Score = 434,700

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

I like phone contests.  At least I think I do...  Maybe.....  Well, I used to
anyway, when conditions are GOOD.  :-)

After completely missing ARRLDXCW (one of my favorite contests) with a really
vicious virus, and still dealing with the after-affects which included lots of
throat pain and a greatly reduced voice, I was determined to get on and try to
have some fun.

I got on 20 right at the end of the Eu opening on Saturday ~ 2147z and V51YJ
called in.  I tried 15 and worked NH0S/KH2, but JA was almost non-existent and
the line noise was very bad.  Without low band antennas, there wasn't much to
do except try to resuscitate my voice and get on early on Sunday.

There must have been a big flare ~ 11z, because I heard very little EU on 20
and nothing on 15.  I staked out a run freq. on the low end of 20 and, being
"fresh meat", expected some nice action.  Sure enough a pileup ensued although
there was very little in the way of Asian stations calling over the pole, just
a few UA9/UA0, and not very loud.  Things picked up toward the end of the 11z
hour with YB0COU and HS0ZJU calling in at 1154z and 1159z.  BD7IS followed
@1206z and BH7PFH and UP5P @ 1226/1227z.  

At ~ 1210z, it was interesting to watch my 20 meter pileup disappear in about 1
min.  I assume that's when 15 opened.  :-)  Less amusing was a loud KF2O who
decided that he liked my run freq. and called cq in my face for about 5 minutes
despite my polite requests for him to qsy.  I really don't understand this very
aggressive and rude style of operating.

Normally I would have been on 15 by now, but the signals were way down and the
line noise was horrendous and unfilterable.  I stayed on 20 and was rewarded
with JE1ZWT @ 1229z, UA9MA @ 1244z and VK5ZK longpath @ 1247z.  Finally at
1253z I qsy'ed to 15 which had decent signals now, but killer line noise.

I played with all the filter combos, Notch, Noiseblankers, IPO, IF Shift, etc.,
but nothing would help. It was very frustrating.  Then there was the qrm and
splatter as well. It was truly painful operating; both to my throat and my
ears.  The rates were excellent but almost every q was a struggle of one sort
or another.  Rather than being fun, it really was literally, quite painful.  I
was thinking about how much easier and more enjoyable this same weekend would
have been if it were on cw.  Oh well.  With the rates now dwindling on 15 @
1445z, I thought that I would try 10. 

Normally, in years past, I would be able to continue to run on 15 with no
problem, but with the higher flux/higher muf and, as a result, the higher level
of late morning absorption, in the Northeast you needed to have 15 meter
antennas that were lower than mine at 109' and 90'.  My 60', normally great at
this time, has been stuck SW since the October 2011 CQWW blizzard.  The 30',
damaged in that storm, was still on the ground.  So instead of having "all the
right angles" to continue running on 15, I had all the wrong ones.  That meant
no 15 meter rate and I was forced to qsy to 10 ~ 1415z.

10 really did try to open to EU, and, after a decent but short run of a few
loud, mostly I and EA stations interspersed with FR1GZ, ZS1JY, V51YJ, 5B4AIF
and a few others, I decided to take a short break.  At 1527z, I was back on 10
with a brief run of 4 ZS stations plus SV9COL and 9J2BO. I did work some EU,
but not much, it was basically "game over" for 10.  Back to 15 at 1550z where
the line noise was worse than ever.  I tried rotating my antennas and found
slight dips in the noise at about 10 degrees (instead of a normal 50 degrees),
but the signal strengths also dropped, so the S/N was not much better. 

Since I was "fresh meat" on 15, there were quite a few loud stations that
called in that I could hear over the noise.  The rate picked up again into the
150+ range and SV9COL, VP9I and GD0AMD were some nice mults that called in
during the 16z hour.  The line noise was peaking now well over S9 and the
signals were dropping thanks to what I assumed was another and larger solar
flare.

Back to 20 at 17z with high line noise and qrm.  WE3C decided to drop in on my
run freq. and start calling cq almost zero beat. When I asked him to qsy, he
told me that I should qsy and asked ME to move.  What nerve! It took several
attempts to get the op to qsy, and he did, but only to about 800hz away where
the op continued to qrm me despite several requests to qsy down more.  When I
asked why he persisted in staying practially on my freq. instead of moving, he
said that there was no where he could move.  Apparently it did not occur to
this op. that 1) 800hz is TOO CLOSE on SSB, and 2) there was the entire rest of
the band to find a freq. to call cq in.  I never seem to have this problem with
the operators at W3LPL, K3LR or NQ4I, to name a few well-known multis.

As the qrm worsened, thanks to WE3C, JA3YBK called in early at 1709z and I was
optimistic for a nice Northern EU and "over-the-pole" run.  NOPE!  A loud TF4M
called in at 1721z and lots of loud Italian and German stations with some
PA/G/EI mixed in for a good rate, but not much else.  5B4AIF called in at 1801z
followed by HZ1DG at 1814z and TF3AI at 1826z.  At ~ 1837z I tried 15 again but
the signals were weak and the line noise fierce.  I then took another break to
have some tea and hot soup for my throat.

Back to 20 @ 2043z for 20 min of EU and then qrt.

I wound up with 1053 q's in 7.8 hours, for an excellent rate, but it was truly
punishing, between the incessant strong line noise, qrm and splatter, and the
pain to my throat.

I'm glad that I got on.  I would have felt worse if I had missed both ARRLDX
weekends.
 
Thanks for all the q's!

73
Bob KQ2M

kq2m at kq2m.com
www.kq2m.com
www.rlsfinancialgroup.com


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