[3830] CQWW CW KQ2M SOAB HP
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Thu Dec 19 17:48:21 EST 2013
CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: KQ2M
Operator(s): KQ2M
Station: KQ2M
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 40.9
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 45 12 32
80: 519 21 75
40: 944 31 103
20: 950 33 102
15: 934 37 116
10: 1151 30 108
------------------------------
Total: 4543 164 536 Total Score = 9,233,000
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
The day after CQWWSSB ended, I began work to build an 80 Meter 4-square. I had
used one for many years, but it fell into disrepair six years ago, when I first
became seriously ill. I knew that it was beyond fixing so I created a new
design and built it. It took 4 days to complete the work and put up all the
elevated radials in their proper places. During the last day of building, I
was wearing a Holter heart monitor to record the erratic heart beat over 24
hours. My body got quite a workout walking on and around all that jagged ledge
stringing elevated radials, and the printout had a lot of interesting sections!
Once the 4-square was built, I discovered that it was not working properly and
it turned out to be a malfunctioning Comtek relay box. I sent it to DX
Engineering and they determined that the malfunction was caused by an
improperly soldered relay on the pc board (that Comtek had built) and they
fixed it the next day and then shipped it back IMMEDIATELY at no cost! WOW!
What INCREDIBLE SERVICE!
With 80 meters resolved, it was time to fix the 40 wire beam and 4-square.
Fighting with the trees and using a slingshot to restring many different ropes,
took several days. Then it took another day of chain sawing to remove trees and
branches that had grown into the antennas, entangled them badly.
Then I began work on the 160 meter INV L. First I had to clear the trees. My
chainsaw died. UGH! So I rented a chainsaw and chain sawed for most of the
day. Then that died too with many trees still to be cut down. So I spent the
next day hand-sawing down the remaining trees. UGH! More jagged ledge to deal
with in dense forest. Exhausting, cold and frustrating work for the next three
days in the 25 degree and very windy weather. But then it was done, and it
worked. I was even able to break the Z81X pileup on 160, a good sign.
Then it was time to reroute coaxes, rebuild part of the inside station, fix
connectors, cables and battle with the computers to get them to work, which
included replacing multiple hard drives, reinstalling the OS and files several
times (as one hard drive would fail necessitating starting the process over on
the next hard drive!). With that resolved, I then got both amps and radios
working. I would now be able to operate some SO2R in CQWW for the first time
since 2005.
By the week of CQWWCW, I had done everything necessary to get the station ready
except to replace the broken elements on the low 10 and then mount it on the
tower. There was no time left to do that and I paid dearly for it during the
contest.
I had lost 8 pounds during those 3 weeks of intensely physical work and I
wasn’t sure how far to push myself during the contest. In healthier years, I
would operate 46-47 hours, but now it was more imperative that I not exceed 35
�" 40 hours of operating and get sleep both nights. So I lowered my
expectations of how I might do and, like the pro sports teams, decided to call
this a “rebuilding year”.
Cndx seemed very good before the start of the contest but not like in CQWWSSB.
I found a good freq. on the low end of 40 and settled in.
0000z. The contest starts and there is no pileup but a few steady callers
including SV9COL at 0000Z! I took that as a good omen. The rate was steady
until 0010z when the first of many “CQ without listening” stations opened
up on top of me, one after another, hurting the rate. Then 10 minutes after
that, a well-known loud NH Multi op started calling CQ less than 70 hz from me,
and refusing to leave. He keeps asking the EU stations for repeats so it was
obvious that he was hearing me quite well but persisted in calling cq on top of
me anyway! This was intentional and demonstrated very poor sportsmanship.
After 10 minutes he left and the rate went back up. Toward the end of the hour
the EU stations got very loud on 40 and 20 also improved. I began to S & P
with the 2nd radio picking up 9M2SM, one JA and several Carib mults. Z6/S56A
called in on 40 at 0051z and the first hour ended with 130 q’s. I am happy
under the circumstances, but it could have been so much more! The 01z hour
continues the good EU run and the last 10/last 100 rate soars to 210/148 ! but
then begins to dive as the propagation begins to change and I am not being
heard as well. S & P on 20 is productive with lots of Carib/SA mults and
9J3A and 3DA0ET. UA9W calls in on 40 but he is in z16 so he is not a double
mult. I realize that I am losing the ability to run on 40 but now with a
4-square, 80 should be productive. I stay on 40 a bit longer and complete a
120 hour while I bag mults on 160, including some EU, EF8R, D4C and, a
wonderful surprise, 4L5O for z21! WOW! That was a shocker and a double mult!
At 0226 I move to 80 and I am running but it is a bit early and the volume is
low. 80 is wide open but there are few callers. No point for me going back to
40 because I am not being heard well now with the low wire beam. Without an
actual 40 meter yagi, much less one a rotatable one at a good height, my
competition is crushing me. But I knew that �" I have never had one at
my qth and it hurts my scores. 80 begins to pick up and I end the 02z hour
with 96 q’s.
The 03z hour starts with 4L0A calling in at 0302z and later, after a burst,
RA2FAC. I start working mults on 20; D4C, XT2FCJ and more Carib/SA. SO2R is
tough without good receive filtering. The cross-mod and inter-mod that I am
experiencing on the 2nd radio is making it almost impossible to hear anyone.
Years ago I had a nice system of phased beverages located 1000’ out in the
woods which made it much easier to hear on the 2nd radio, but now without any
beverages, I just have to do the best I can. The 03z hour ends with 96 q’s
and I start hunting mults on 40. In the 04z hour I continue to run on 80 and
pick up ZD8M, Z81Z, 9J3A and TC0A for double mults and then find 3DA0ET on 20.
TF3AM calls in at 0433z and XT2FCJ calls in @ 0457z �" both double mults
and I end the 04z hour with 103 q’s. I continue to run on 80 and pick up
4L0A skewpath on 20 at 0539z and some more Carib on 160 ending the 05z hour
with 101 q’s. 80 has gotten very noisy as the storm outside has turned
quite violent with 60+ mph winds. As the trees violently shake and twist, my
“tree-based” 4-square starts getting noisier and noisier and the tuning
constantly changes. It is getting very hard to hear anything and with 160 in
poor shape and without a sunrise opening, both the running and the tuning for
mults in the 06z hour is disappointing.
I stay on 80 and CN2AA calls in at 0702z but the rate drops and then I begin to
tune to pick up the EU/Carib/SA mults and then try to run some more. 80 stays
productive but I know that 40 must be much better for rate if your have the
right height antenna. I leave 80 at 0721z and begin to tune 20 and 40 looking
to run. It looks like 20 wants to open and I make my decision to stay up all
night rather than get the sleep that I really need. I try 20 and pick up RV9UP
in z18 and GU4YOX but then the band dies. I alternately run and tune on 40
picking up Carib/SA mults and ZM4T and then the same in the 08z hour as I
establish a good run freq. on 40. The rate picks up and PR7AB and VK3OT call
in for double mults. Eu is still fairly strong but I am not being heard well
as I wait for 20 to open. At 0918 I attempt to run on 20 while I tune 40 and
80 for mults. Stations are weak on 20 and extremely auroral �" some even
without any tone on their signal. This is a very poor opening and the rate is
disappointing. More productive are the mults I am working on the 2nd radio on
40: N8A, ED6A, and Carib/SA. While JF1KML calls in on 20 @ 0942 and RT0R @
0945, there is little else of note. I tried to work RT0C on 40 but the
multipath echo and aurora is so bad that I can barely understand him and he
can’t copy my call, similar to what is happening when I call other deep
Pacific and Asian mults.
In the 10z hour I continue to try to run on 20 with limited success while
picking up HC1WDT and 3D2R for double mults. Remarkably, I am still hearing
D4C on 40 at 1011z, that is 5:11 AM local or 1 hour before dawn! UN6LN and
XP2I call in for double mults on 20 at 1020 and 1027z and then the band starts
to die again! I pick up XE2S, JF1SQC and KH7XX on 40 for doubles and then
KH6/WB4JTT, HD2T and VK2DX on 80 for doubles. Unbelievably, I can’t find a
ZL on 40 or a JA on 80!
20 begins to open again ~ 11z, but the heavy aurora is killing the run. The
K=3, the Bz= -8! And the auroral oval =7. UGH! At 1120z I leave 20 and tune
15 for mults. I know that rate matters but if you tune early in the opening
you can hear and work mults that you might now find again. Sure enough I
quickly find and work HZ1HN, A71BX, CN2R, 4L8A, IR9Y, ZS4TX, EL2DT, and then
start running @ 1133z and tuning on 10 where I find CN2AA, EA8/RC5A, D4C.
The rate soars and I stop tuning on 10 to concentrate. 11z ends with 108 q’s
and 12z follows with 173 q’s. RV9CP calls in at 1201z and UK7AL @ 1208z.
RK0AB in z18 @ 1217z and then BZ4DHI shortpath @ 1224z. I get excited about
what may call next and at 1227z it is XP3A for z40 and HS0ZAR z26 just one
minute later! 15 is ON FIRE but I have to go to 10 which I do at 1242z. The
rate explodes but the band is really not open to Asia. P33W calls in at 1253z
followed by GD4RFZ and RK9AD @ 1255/1256z and EX8M at 1302z.
In the 13z hour the rate soars to a peak 305.1/215.3 last10/100! RK2A and
4X1RF calls at 1319/1321z but there is little else of note. I can’t seem to
sustain a 200+ hour rate which should be possible on 10 early in the opening.
13z ends with 193q’s and I have high hopes for the next hour. VU2BGS is a
welcome z22 @ 1339z with TC0A at 1340z Z6/S56A at 1349z and P3N at 1357z, but
there is little else of note. I do not hear another z17 station. Propagation
changes and I am working most of the stations now with the lowest 10 meter
antenna at 37’. This is a bad sign for me as it means that soon the opening
will go very high angle with even the 37’ antenna being too high. The 14z
hour is a solid 177q’s with a great opening to Russia but I am concerned
about the steadily dropping rate. R9TO and R9SG call in at 1402z and 1404z but
they are both in z16. SV9COL is welcome at 1411z and ZS1EL for z38 at 1450.
Z31A calls in to end the hour. My 10 meter mult is very low and the rate is
dropping with my 37’ antenna now becoming too high. Even listening on the
higher 10 meter antennas causes stations to disappear!
The 15z hour begins with LX1NJ followed by GU4YBW at 1519z. Russia has almost
disappeared and with the rate dropping (171q’s in the 15z hour), I look to
pick off some 2nd radio mults. I find Z81X on 15 for z34 and then 3DA0ET.
6Y7W calls in for the 4th band followed by Z81R for Z34 @ 1554z!
16z sees a precipitous decline in rate to 103 q’s but with 30 mults and it
occurs to me just how much I am losing out by not having my low 10. I continue
to run on 10 and tune 15 picking up D4C while CT7AEZ and ZF1A call in on 15. 2
q’s later, T77C calls on 10 and I pass him to 15, one of my few mult passes
during the weekend. The rate drops further on 10 but mult hunting on the 2nd
radio is very exciting now �" with all the Carib/SA mults with good
signals, I catch 20 mults in 20 minutes including XT2FCJ, D3AA in z36 and then
5H3EE in z37. OY1CT calls in on 10 @ 1640z and I am having loads of fun!
Earlier I was having trouble with “micro-sleeps”, those pesky 1 �" 3
second involuntary naps which are just long enough to realize that you only got
part of a call or forgot to log the station that you just worked. This happened
a lot between 09z �" 12z and it hurt my rate, but when 10 opened that
problem went away. Now that I am running on 10 and working lots of 2nd radio
mults, I am wide awake! But I have two BIG problems. My hourly 10 meter rates
were way too low and my mult total on 10 is ridiculously low �" this is
bad combination!
I know that 10 is still wide open but I also know that I don’t have an
antenna at the right height, so I look to qsy to 15. But I have to finish
working the 15 meter mults first before I reverse everything and run on 15
while I tune on 10. With stations as high as 21150, tuning the band carefully
takes a very long time. After finding TF3CW at 1705z, I think that I can tune
10 more quickly and productively if I don’t try to run on 15 at the same
time. I am working stations and mults on 10 at a 120/hr rate and good mults
like OC4CW, ED6A, V5/DJ4SO, GJ2A, 3DA0ET, TO7A, EF9O, CN8WW, ZD8X, CE3CT and
V49J are quickly worked. Although I only had 97 q’s during the 17z hour, I
worked 32 mults! A good trade-off. Having covered the 10M band, at 1750z I
begin my 15 run and start to tune on 20.
The rate soars again on 15 in the 18z hour climbing to 217/196 last 10/last 100
and ends with 6Y7W calling in for band #5 at 1859z, completing a 164 hour. I
want to stay on 15 but with almost no q’s on 20, I have to qsy there. At
1905z I find a good freq. and am quickly called by FW5JJ @ 1910z for z32 and @
1913 by ZL4AX, both long-path. VU2PTT (Z22) follows at 1920z and GZ3F in the
Shetlands at 1932z. I am pleased with the 152 hour but it could be better
given that I only had 150q’s on 20 before now. It feels like I am
consistently making 20 �" 30 q’s per hour less than I should (even
while tuning the 2nd radio), but I am not sure what I could be doing to improve
that.
The 20z hour starts well and the rate peaks at 248/150 last 10/last 100 but
then sees a rapid decline in conditions and volume. 5C5T and VK2PN (z30) are
welcome callers at 2002z and 2007z but the opening rapidly shifts to the UK and
NW Europe cutting off the rate. 4U1ITU calls at 2036z and I start tuning again
on 10 finding FJ/VA3RA, then KH6LC and 3D2R for double mults with some
additional Carib. I work 109 q’s with 13 mults and I decide to stay and run
on 20 while tuning for mults on 10 and 15.
This is a good decision in the 21z hour as TF3GB calls in while I find CE3CT,
HD2T, NH2DX, 5W1SA, JA3YBK, KH6LC all for double mults on 15 and KL7RA for a
double on 10. I also work several additional Carib/SA mults. There are few
things more fun in CQWW than running on one band while picking up clusters of
mults on other bands! 20 has been shutting down and the JA path is poor with
the high auroral oval numbers, so I qsy to 40 at 2144z. Moving up high in the
band above the qrm, I figure that I should be more easily heard there even if
the rate suffers. Eventually I am found and the mults begin to call in: ER5LL
and CN2AA at 2150z and 2153z ending a 21z hour of 93 q’s and 22 mults. I stay
on 40 and continue to tune 10 and 15 ending with 121 q’s and 14 mults. What
really intrigues me is how a band opening on one band often occurs almost
simultaneous with the same opening on a different band. Tuning 10 M, all of a
sudden, at 2213z, I hear the first JA, JA7BME and work him for a double mult.
I find UA0ZS (z19) for a double at 2115z and then RA9A calls me on 40 @ 2216z
for z17! I run on 40 and pickup AH2R for a double and then V6A and N3DXX/VP2V,
all on 10. I work ZM4M on 15 and then VK3TDX and HR2J for double mults ending a
22z hour of 121 q’s and 14 mults.
The 23z hour stays productive with 94 q’s and 20 mults as XP3A calls in for
z40 @ 2308z and 9H3TX at 2336 while I pick up RT0C (z19), VY1EI (z1), BY5CD,
BU2AW, NL7G, 9M6NA double. Mult and TX8B. Then I tune 20 and work double mult
DX1J, 9M8DX, 4O3A, VP2V/N3DXX, ZF1A and several others. There were loud JA’s
on 10, but in Western New England, this usually is a very short opening with
little else in Asia that I could hear and so I opt for the mults on 15
instead.
I ended the first 24 hours with 2744 q’s 143z and 434 countries for
4,575,610. This projects to approximately a 10 meg score, which would be a
record for my station but it will not be enough to compete for #1.
I know that that the 00z hour marks the beginning of the low rate hours and it
is easy to lose focus, especially when you have been up for 35+ hours since
Friday early AM. So I decide to continue to run on 40 high in the band and
then tune the 2nd radio vigorously.
Like clockwork, the rate dropped on 40 for me at 00z and after quickly finding,
9K2HN, VK6LW and CR3L for mults on 20, 20 died. Fortunately, TF3GB called in
at 0005z, but then 40 started to disappear for me too. I knew that the
stations with the 40 meter Yagis were having a great time on 40, but I was not
one of them so I had to qsy to 80. At 0039z I called CQ on 3517 and the rate
picked up. RM8W and UN7CW BOTH called in for mults at 0049z! but that was it:
74 q’s with 7 mults in the 00z hour. I ran on 80 and tuned 40 for mults and
P3N and ER3AU called in at 0101 and 0103z and then found SX8M and IG9W on 40.
NP2L called on 80 @ 0115z and I worked a loud JT5DX in z23 on 40 followed by
LX7I, HI3A, 4L0A double mult. I had some excitement at the end of the end of
the hour when XP2I called at 0158z and then Z81X for z34 @ 0159z! But it was a
slow 01z hour with 54 q’s and 14 mults.
Tuning on the 2nd radio, I noticed that 20 was opening back up and I worked
three double mults HS0ZEE, HR2J and KL7RA along with YN2CC. Meanwhile, Jim
N6TJ, called in from 9Y4W on 80. The rate on 80 died and 160 began to open so
I quickly pounced and worked 7 mults then qsyed back to 20 for double mults
XR6T and KH7XX and RT0C for z19. I closed the hour by working D4C on 80 for
band #6! And finished with only 33q’s but 23 mults. I took a brief
bathroom/meal break and came back to 40 at 0321z and started a decent run on 40
but then 160 began to open again and I worked another 6 mults in 10 minutes. I
was pretty sure that EU sunrise would be memorable on the low bands and that 20
would be runnable overnight into Asia and Europe, but I had been up for 41
straight hours and was completely exhausted and had to get sleep �" my
health demanded it - so I qrted at 0351z after 27 hour of operating with 2928
q’s and 627 mults.
At 1015z, 20 was marginal and not really open to EU, which was NOT what you
would expect with a solar flux about 130. Since I was unable to run on 20,
even with the aurora subsiding, it meant that I had to hunt mults. Not even a
KH6 was on 160 and weak JA stations had large pileups on 80 so 40 became a zoo.
I was able to work 5W1SA, KL7RA and AH0K for double mults and I found TX8B,
OA4SS RT0C (z19), HR2J and a few Carib mults, but with 19 q’s and 12 mults in
the 10z hour, I was not doing my score any favors. But at 1057z, the
propagation switch was flipped ON and I started a walk. The walk turned into a
run at 1102z and became a sprint at 1108z. I managed to work FS/WJ2O on 40
while working 3 a minute on 20, but mult hunting was too much of a distraction
now with 20 opening up. Z31WW and C4Z called in for mults at 1124 and 1129z
followed by RK2A and the Zone 17 stations at 1143z. FINALLY an opening to Z17
on 20! The 11z hour ended with 128 q’s and 2 mults but the last 10 rate
zoomed to 257 and for the first time all weekend I felt reasonably loud on 20.
20 was flying but at 12z I couldn’t stay there even after HS0ZIA called at
1202z, and I went low on 15 whereupon the band exploded into a massive pileup
at 1210z! I was having trouble being heard in Asia because RW0A moved in 100
hz below me. Although he was weak here and I was probably weak there, he was
obviously loud in Asia and much of Europe. So even though 15 was open over the
pole almost no one called from over there. UK8AR did call in at 1222z but
almost no one else from z17. 4Z5QQ and P3F called in at 1230 and 1231z and
then EI/W5GN at 1238z with S6/S56A and RK2A at 1241z. It was obvious when RW0A
left the freq. as the pileup immediately doubled in size. Signals were loud but
dammit, almost everyone was zero-beat each other making pulling a callsign out
almost impossible! I experimented with ways to break up or reduce the pileup
by changing my timing, moving slightly in freq. sending QRZ or ? while half
were still calling. It helped but the rate was still way below where it could
have been. P33P and RV9CQ called in at 1257z as the rate soared again into the
240’s for last 10 and the 12z hour ended with 172 q’s and 4 mults.
I was still missing almost all of deep Russia and Central Asia so I took a risk
and opted to stay on 15 even though I knew that 10 was screaming hot by now.
Although RK9CR called in at 1202z followed by mults UN5P and ER5LL @ 1310 and
1317z, it was slow for mults with A65BR and 4K8M calling in at 1319 and 1340z.
There were some z17 stations scattered in and I had a great freq. but stations
disappeared from the band like someone pulled out the stopper in a bathtub. 15
had gone long and the multipath echo, although interesting, did not help. I had
to slow down considerably in speed so that I could be understood through the
echo. After working 4K8M I knew that I had to qsy to 10. My mult total on 10
was terribly low and at 1342z I moved. 10 though was pretty marginal with lots
of rapid and deep qsb. A quick check showed that stations were already loudest
on the lowest antenna (uh �" oh!) which meant that soon even that yagi at
37’ would be too high. Without the low 10, I would be punished again. I ran
as fast as I could and 13z ended with 181 q’s and 4 mults. A nice pileup
developed of weak and very weak stations (mostly zero-beat on each other of
course) but I struggled to pull them out. Every so often a louder station like
4O3A would call in and it would give me a moment’s relief from the struggle of
pulling out S2 �" S4 stations. I did get the last 10/last 100 rate up to
213/199 and 1449 �" 1451z got exciting when CU2JT, CO2IZ and UK7F all
called in for mults. followed by VU2BGS at 1453z, ending the hour with 160
q’s and 5 mults. But 10 was disappearing fast for me and Russia was all but
gone, ensuring that the rate would drop further.
I was going to stay on 10 for as long as possible because I needed the q’s
and the mults. XE2AU called in for a double at 1504z but little else happened
except CT3AS calling at 1554z. 10 was noisy and the qsb was making it too
difficult to tune on the 2nd radio and the hour ended with 130 q’s and 4
mults. I stayed on 10 hoping for a post noon re-opening, but it was to no
avail and I had to qsy back to 15 at 1618z . YM2KK called in at 1639z and even
though the band was still open, no Russians or Northern Europeans called in. It
was clear to me that 10 and 15 were suffering from an auroral hangover, which
shut down the polar path and this was exacerbated by still dropping sunspot and
solar flux numbers. These were lousy conditions for the top of cycle and far,
far less than CQWWSSB! The 16z hour ended with 123 q’s and 1 mult and the
17z hour had 92 q’s 6 mults. I had begun to tune on 10 with the 2nd radio
and found 5R8IC and XE2B for double mults at 1748 and 1752z along with some
other Carib stations and then I qsy’s to 20 at 1800z. 15 began to disappear
and it was time to move on. Oddly enough, RV9XE called in on 15 at 1741z, the
only Russian station that I had heard for the past 2 hours.
My mult total had improved on 10 and 15 but 20 was pretty poor. With minimal
openings to EU on 20 thus far, I needed a lot of mults everywhere. I found a
good spot and had a good run in the 18z hour with 149 q’s and 6 mults with
6Y7W calling in at 1807z for the 6th band followed by a BIG pileup with VU3KPL,
P3F and IH9B at 1810, 1815 and 1816z, 4X2M @ 1825z all calling in. It was fun
to work another VU, VU2TS at 1829z and RV9XE (z17) and RL9Y (z18) both called
in at 1834z. A loud HS4DDQ called in at 1837z and CN2YM was the 3rd CN station
on 20 at 1845z. GJ2A followed at 1854z and he was kind enough to qsy to 15 for
me for another mult.18z ended with 149 q’s and 6 mults. 20 was opening well
and JA3YBK calling in early at 1903z confirmed it. As the rate slowed, I began
tuning on 15 again and picked up ZD8W, VC2R (z2), 9X0NH, YN2CC and several other
Carib mults. On 20, HS0ZLN and UP2L called in at 1928 and 1940z with NP2L
calling in at 1950z and then moving to 15 for me. VK2BJ and VK3FM called in
longpath at 1952 and 1955z and the 19z hour ended with 100 q’s and 8 mults.
I started the 20z hour by continuing to run on 20 and picking off 2nd radio
mults on 10 and 15 like FS/K9EL, ZP9MCE and HD2A on 10 with FY5FY, V73NS and
FO5RH on 15. GD6IA called in on 20 @ 2039z but EU was almost gone on 20 and it
was time to find a freq. to run on 40. Once again I went high in the band on 40
and began to run at 2046z. And the propagation changed. All of a sudden, EU
signals dropped down and were 1-2 s units louder on the 40 M 4-square than on
my wire beam. The wind was ferocious outside and I wondered if part of the
wire beam was torn down or a tree was blown over? Since it was dark there was
no way to know without walking 200’ in the dark on the jagged ledge; NOT a
fun idea to contemplate! I decided not to go outside and just make the best of
it. I finished the 20z hour with 90 q’s and 7 mults. 80 was not open and 20
was shut down. There was nowhere else to go.
The rate began to pick up in the 21z hour and a pileup formed. The rate meter
got up to 190 while cndx became less weird and the EU sigs once again became
louder on the wire beam than the 4-square. Anytime that EU sigs are louder on
my 40 M 4-square than the wire beam, it means either the wire beam has been
damaged by the wind/trees (most likely), or propagation has gotten very weird.
I remembered that cndx do change on 40 in the 20-21z hours as the band goes long
and often there are good long-path and skew-path openings to Japan, East Asia
and the deep Pacific. I was hoping for a few of those mults, but I did not
hear anything this year. However, the wind was so violent outside that it was
really shaking the antennas and creating a lot of noise in the receiver so
maybe someone called and I did not hear them. CO8DM called in at 2108z and
TA7I @ 2121z with TF3DX/M at 2144z and TF3DX was loud! I proceeded to tune on
10 with the 2nd radio and picked up VK2IM (double mult) and then ZM4T, AH0K and
several Carib. mults. ending the hour with 108 q’s and 7 mults.
I stayed on 40 and YY4DNN called in at 2206z while I picked up VP9I, EF9O and
J73A on 20. VK6LW was VERY loud on 15, making my 37th zone on that band. I
continued to work stations on 15 on the 2nd radio and this kept the rate up so
that I ended the 22z hour with 90 q’s and 5 mults. 40 was disappearing for
me and 80 was not really open and it was horrendously noisy as the 4-square was
continually yanked in every direction by the gale force winds. It was too noisy
for me to run on 80 so I called stations with the 2nd radio picking up a few
more mults. like IR9Y and T43T, then I moved to 15 to work some JA’s. The
last 10 minutes were fun as I worked the (now) loud JA’s on the 2nd radio
while running EU on the first radio. The contest ended with 4O4SM calling in
at 2359z on 40 for a new mult!
My final claimed score was 4,543 q’s 164 zones 563 countries = 9,233,000
in 40.9 hours.
This was my best CQWWCW score ever, and had I been healthier and operated my
normal 46-47 hours, I believe that I could have made 10.5 meg. Not quite
enough, but close enough to feel good. Under the circumstances, I was very
pleased with my effort and the score and most happy with the fact that my body
handled it well and without much help from coffee or caffeine. My caffeine
intake was limited to a cup at 3 AM Saturday and only two others during the
entire weekend).
Looking at the scores of others, it is apparent how much I give away by not
having a rotatable 40 M yagi at a good height, or automatic band/antenna/amp
switching or a 160 M 4-square. These are things to work on for next year and
give me room for improvement and something to look forward to.
And not having up the low 10 certainly hurt �" thankfully I resolved this
before the 10 Meter contest.
And, let’s face it, after 8 years of not doing it, I am also a rusty at SO2R.
The competition has certainly built up their stations and improved their skills
and those are good things; while mine went backwards. These are areas of
potential future improvement and something to look forward to.
I probably should also have run a bit more and hunted mults a bit less, but it
is hard to know that for sure. Those mults really add up and if you can get
them without compromising the runs, then you have earned a big advantage over
those who are less proficient at mult hunting.
This was a great contest and a lot of fun. It is also nice to keep learning
and trying new things after 40 years of radio contesting! It was really great
to meet and say hello to so many old friends around the globe. Thanks for all
of the q’s and qsy’s and most especially, thanks to all of the DXpeditions
ops who made all of those interesting mults available for the rest of us.
73 and Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Bob KQ2M
kq2m at kq2m.com
www.rlsfinancialgroup.com
www.kq2m.com
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