[3830] CQ160 CW DR1A Multi-Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW

Call: DR1A
Operator(s): DL3DXX DL6FBL
Station: DR1A

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: JO31CQ
Operating Time (hrs): 38

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1725  State/Prov = 49  Countries = 81  Total Score = 1,335,620

Club: Bavarian Contest Club

Comments:

We are unsure about a comment on the CONDX... The first night we felt like
propagation was VERY bad, because there was not much DX, and the W/VE signals
were only marginal. Heavy struggling on most QSOs across the pond. Yet after
the first night the log showed 215 W/VE QSOs (out of 850 total). But the only
states west of the Mississippi were MN, MO, CO, TX and NM (and N7DD AZ, but
that's another story... ;-). Other DX in the first hours included EY8MM, 3V8BB,
some 5B, UA9 and UN/UP stations. PS2T and EA8/IK1PMR called, followed by EA8CN.
T6LG, 7Z1SJ and EA9EU were bagged. 5N7M called in. The first US station was
K3WW at 00:55z. VY2ZM and VE1ZZ were worked much earlier, but they rather count
as some of the westernmost European stations... :-)
At 01:17z RI1ANF went in the log, followed by 4L5O and PJ2T. At 01:53z 4U1ITU
called in, but we are unsure because we never saw a cluster or RBN spot of that
call later. At 02:50z A92IO was found, and TA2FE, ZS6EZ and P49V followed just
minutes later. Around 03:30z "loud" US signals were at the ESP level (did K3ZM
work QRP again? ;-), and that gave time for queueing up in some pileups for
KV4FZ, FM5BH and HK1R who were worked within 7 minutes. Only minutes later 6Y3M
called in. V31YN came through at 04:40z, and FM5CD made it at 05:56z. Shortly
before sunrise XE1RCS was logged, and we stopped operating at 09:00z (1.5 hours
after sunrise).

After 5 hours break we started again at 14:00z (two hours before sunset), and
slowly started collecting nearby European stations. The first out-of-EU
stations were UD8A, RY9C, UN9LW and RT9S around sunset. At 20:00z JT5DX was
becoming workable, and later VU2BGS called in. It was a good sign that the
first W/VE station in the second night already showed up at 22:08z (K2QMF NY).
Yet it took several more hours before CONDX really improved. CE1/K7CA called in
at 00:05z (we had called him without success in the first night... ;-)
Around 03:00z W/VE propagation really improved, and we were able to put more
western states in the log: W5 and W0 got almost completed (ND and SD missing).
When sunrise was coming, the band also gave way through to W6/7: a total of 7x
AZ, 2x UT, 1x ID, 2x WY, and 2x CA (N6RZ and W6BH) were worked with other DX
like HK3O and ZF2BJ. The second night ended at 09:00z with 1603 total QSOs.

The last evening is always very painful: endless CQs with only a few scattered
answers. Every "new" (regular) station showing up on the band is creating a
tremendous pileup. It's becoming a matter of seconds to hop on a cluster or RBN
spot and catch the fresh meat (or have to wait 5-10 minutes... ;-) While CQing
and clicking European spots, 4X4DK and A65BP called in. Very fast clicks
allowed QSOs with TF4M and T77C before the crowd arrived...
My personal down-point was trying to get this obligatory JA contact in the log.
JH4UYB was good to hear, but we called with no success. Only tail-ending
stations found a way in his log. After 10 minutes we gave up, and tried JA3YBK
instead - who was worked on the first call. While struggling to find a hole in
the 1810-1825 JA windows, we came across VK6LW and got a good contact. In the
very last minute of the contest EA6FB called in for the last multiplier.

Multipliers heard, but not worked: HS0ZEE, A45XR, 4K6FO.
The W/VE total QSOs are 431, which is about the level of two years ago.

73 Ben
DL6FBL


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