[3830] CQWW SSB N2IC SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: N2IC
Operator(s): N2IC
Station: N2IC

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: New Mexico
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   15    10       11
   80:   86    19       37
   40:  606    31       82
   20:  345    32       87
   15: 1051    38      120
   10: 1463    35      122
------------------------------
Total: 3566   165      459  Total Score = 6,196,320

Club: 

Comments:

Score is up 4.3% over last year, but I really can't understand why.

Conditions seemed down compared to last year, especially on 80 and 40 meters. 

Starting the contest, I wasn't in the right mental state to deal with a phone
contest. The first 3 hours on 10 and 15 were great to Asia - over 500 Q's. Then
the bottom fell out. 40, 80 and 160 were just terrible on Friday night. Had to
work hard for almost every EU QSO on 40. Only 2 EU on 80. 160 ? Hah ! I had a
20 minute period of 0 QSO's on Friday night. That has never happened in the
first 24 hours of CQWW before. It wasn't that I wasn't trying - I was calling
and calling, and everyone was CQing in my face. Even 40 to Asia was not good.
Only 1 JA on 80 Friday night. I considered changing my category to single-10.

Thank goodness the sun did rise, and all was fine in the land of CQWW again.
Back-to-back big hours on 10, which is FB by New Mexico standards. My mind was
still not where it needed to be. Plenty of good mults called on 10, and I
consciously did not move them to 15. With the wall-to-wall signals on 15, where
could I move a weak MI0 ? And while I was doing that, I was certain to lose my
coveted 28790 run frequency. As is normal, 20 was poor. There are simply no
running opportunities from here at this sunspot level. During the afternoon,
the absorption is too high to EU for my 5 elements. There is about a 10 minute
window to run JA around 0230Z, but no rate - they are all still on 15 working
W6/7.

Saturday Night came, but 40 was much improved. 80 was a little better to EU,
but still way down compared to last year. 160 ? Hah ! Slept from 06Z-09Z and
felt great when I woke up. Absolutely zero drowsiness for the rest of the
contest. Had a 10 minute mini-run to JA on 80 around 11Z, then the curtain
again descended. To my amazement, YB1AR could hear me on 80. I believe that is
the first YB I have worked on 80 in Phone CQWW, ever. I hear them every year.

Sunday daytime was just ok. EU closed early, then spotlight-reopened to just
Poland. I felt more into the contest by Sunday and did move mults from 10 to
15. Even muscled my way into a decent run frequency on 15. 15 is the new 20.
Blech.

Thanks for all the QSO's. It turned out to be a great contest !

73,
Steve


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