[3830] RTTY WPX P49X(W0YK) SOAB HP
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webform at b4h.net
Mon Feb 10 00:45:29 EST 2014
CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest
Call: P49X
Operator(s): W0YK
Station: P49Y/P40L
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: FL52al
Operating Time (hrs): 30
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
80: 403
40: 780
20: 321
15: 1235
10: 1209
------------
Total: 3948 Prefixes = 952 Total Score = 14,593,095
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
Another great contest weekend! High participation and “exciting” solar
conditions. Elevated SSN and SFI are not without risk and we saw that
throughout the contest. During my operating hours here in Aruba there were no
total blackouts, but short-term signal levels varied greatly on all bands
throughout the contest. I wasn't able to complete a number of QSOs when the
other station faded into the noise floor within seconds. Even 40 and 80
behaved that way. On the other hand, there were times when the low band signal
strengths were unbelievably high.
Propagation
My trusty propagation forecast model (www.k6tu.net) was severely challenged by
the current actual conditions. Having listened to the first week of the FT5ZM
expedition from California, I was interested (and, optimistic) in how they
would sound down here. The forecast looked really good from P4 to FT5Z.
Surprise! When the forecast showed S9+10dB signals levels, they were either
absent completely or very weak. That was my first hint that this week’s
solar conditions were not going to fit the forecast model that is based mostly
on SSN.
Propagation uncertainty making this game interesting and challenging. My goals
for this weekend were to beat my previous best in WPX RTTY while breaking 4000
QSOs and 1000 mults. The number of mults was almost the same at 952, while the
QSO total increased more than 6% to 3953, also shy of my goal. But, due to the
lower ratio of low-band contacts (double QSO points in this contest), the score
is down 4%. The entire weekend was spent trying to minimize the unavoidable
deficit.
Operating
The biggest change I made was in the allocation of my 30 single-op hours over
the 48-hour contest period. In the past, I've always emphasized the low-band
rate and then filled in the remaining hours with the highest rates on 10-20
meters. I front-loaded the hours as a contingency for unforeseen problems with
equipment or propagation. If I had a station failure, I still had time to take
a break, fix things and still get my 30 hours in. Or, if there was a complete
blackout, as there was one year, there would still be operation time left if
and when the bands came back. As a result, I often finished by 18-19z. My
experiment this year was to dispense with the front-loading and space my breaks
out so as to capture a diverse and somewhat balanced mix of openings throughout
the weekend.
For example, instead of forgoing the first couple hours of the EU opening on
Saturday and Sunday mornings until the bands were solidly open, I shortened my
nap break to be running on 10 and 15 by 12z. I was betting that the higher
solar levels would open the bands much earlier and as my prior week operating
confirmed, this was the case. By 18z when I would normally be running out of
my 30 hours, I still had 4 hours left. Instead of powering through, I took a
much needed meal and nap break and moved the last 4 hours to the end of the
contest when I could catch the JA opening and all their great prefix mults. I
was apprehensive about this deviation from my previous schedule, but it was
very successful this time at least.
The run rates at the end of the contest, given my 3-4 hour break mid-day
Sunday, were as high as or higher than if I had simply run out my operating
time earlier in the day. And my anticipated JA openings on 15 and 20 meters
fully met my expectations in the 21-22z hours.
My 30 hours timed out at 2250z, so I opted to continue running until the end.
A common misunderstanding about the 30-hour limit for single-ops in WPX RTTY,
is that you must turn off the radio at 30 hours. All the 30 hours means is
that the first 30 hours in your log determines your contest score. But, you
can operate the entire 48 hours if you wish. Of course, all QSOs, whether they
count for your score or not, must be left in the log. Otherwise, the stations
you worked, but didn't log, with get NIL penalties in their score. And that
time in the contest is most enjoyable. The initial feeding frenzy is over and
all the casual stations are giving out contacts just to enjoy operating their
station. So many of them graciously moved from 15 to 20, or vice versa, to
keep the QSO total running up. It was also gratifying to have so many JAs call
in when it is early Monday morning in Japan.
Compared my personal best in 2013 in this contest, this weekend yielded 300
less low-band contacts or the equivalent of 600 high-band contacts. There were
200 less QSOs on 20 and 650 more on 10 and 15, largely due to 10 being equally
productive as 15 this year with over 1200 contacts each. The net was 240 more
QSOs this year, but a 4% lower score due to the shift from 6-point low-band
contacts to 3-point high-band contacts. WPX levels the playing field across
the range of solar activity.
RTTY Decoders
This contest strongly confirmed the value in running multiple decoders on each
audio stream. As for ARRL Round-Up, I configured 12 decoder windows, 4 on each
of the two main receivers and 2 on each of the two sub-receivers. This
diversity paid huge dividends. I’d estimate that my need for repeats
decreased by more than 20x compared to using a single decoder on a receiver.
As to the ongoing debate about 2Tone vs. MMTTY vs. other decoders (I also use a
Hal DXP38 hardware decoder), I continue to see value in this decoder diversity.
Yes, there are times when 2Tone is amazing, but there are other times when it
prints nothing useful, yet MMTTY and/or the DXP38 print clearly. I’d be very
uncomfortable without all three, especially in a serial number contest like
WPX.
There are other decoder attributes that are important in contesting besides the
basic decoding accuracy. MMTTY decodes several characters sooner than 2Tone.
While an absolutely very short time, it seems like forever in a contest
situation. OTOH, being able to 100% decode a signal buried in noise or QRM is
a tremendous asset of 2Tone. The DXP38 decodes signals further off-frequency
than either MMTTY or 2Tone and, again, this is a big advantage in the
contesting environment.
Thanks
I’m forever grateful to the multitude of contest participants, most of which
aren't “competing” at all, for making radiosport so enjoyable. Thanks for
each and every QSO! And especially to those who move to other bands or take it
on their own to try and work my call on every band. I’m also very fortunate
to be able to escape the home QTH in CA and operate near the equator for a
number of contests. Thanks to Andy, P49Y/AE6Y, and John, P40L/W6LD, for making
it possible here at their Aruba QTH.
Now looking forward to ARRL DX CW next weekend as P40L!
Ed P49X/W0YK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CALLSIGN: P49X
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CONTEST: CQ-WPX-RTTY
OPERATORS: W0YK
-------------- Q S O R a t e S u m m a r y ---------------------
Hour 160 80 40 20 15 10 Rate Total Pct
--------------------------------------------------------------------
0000 0 0 39 76 0 0 115 115 2.9
0100 0 10 66 40 0 0 116 231 5.9
0200 0 47 65 0 0 0 112 343 8.7
0300 0 49 85 0 0 0 134 477 12.1
0400 0 38 76 0 0 0 114 591 15.0
0500 0 52 86 0 0 0 138 729 18.5
0600 0 25 71 0 0 0 96 825 20.9
0700 0 34 53 0 0 0 87 912 23.1
0800 0 5 6 0 0 0 11 923 23.4
0900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 923 23.4
1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 923 23.4
1100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 923 23.4
1200 0 0 0 0 54 74 128 1051 26.6
1300 0 0 0 0 75 85 160 1211 30.7
1400 0 0 0 0 85 82 167 1378 34.9
1500 0 0 0 0 89 99 188 1566 39.7
1600 0 0 0 0 77 92 169 1735 43.9
1700 0 0 0 0 88 90 178 1913 48.5
1800 0 0 0 0 73 98 171 2084 52.8
1900 0 0 0 0 103 75 178 2262 57.3
2000 0 0 0 0 74 64 138 2400 60.8
2100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2400 60.8
2200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2400 60.8
2300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2400 60.8
0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2400 60.8
0100 0 4 2 0 0 0 6 2406 60.9
0200 0 27 41 0 0 0 68 2474 62.7
0300 0 30 71 0 0 0 101 2575 65.2
0400 0 31 40 0 0 0 71 2646 67.0
0500 0 35 53 0 0 0 88 2734 69.3
0600 0 16 26 0 0 0 42 2776 70.3
0700 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2776 70.3
0800 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2776 70.3
0900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2776 70.3
1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2776 70.3
1100 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2777 70.3
1200 0 0 0 0 50 83 133 2910 73.7
1300 0 0 0 0 61 75 136 3046 77.2
1400 0 0 0 0 59 70 129 3175 80.4
1500 0 0 0 0 61 58 119 3294 83.4
1600 0 0 0 0 62 79 141 3435 87.0
1700 0 0 0 0 23 23 46 3481 88.2
1800 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3481 88.2
1900 0 0 0 0 9 11 20 3501 88.7
2000 0 0 0 22 63 50 135 3636 92.1
2100 0 0 0 102 70 0 172 3808 96.5
2200 0 0 0 81 59 0 140 3948 100.0
2300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3948 100.0
------------------------------------------------------
Total 0 403 780 321 1235 1209 3948
Gross QSOs=3997 Dupes=49 Net QSOs=3948
Unique callsigns worked = 2427
The best 60 minute rate was 191/hour from 1449 to 1548
The best 30 minute rate was 204/hour from 1447 to 1516
The best 10 minute rate was 228/hour from 2008 to 2017
The best 1 minute rates were:
6 QSOs/minute 4 times.
5 QSOs/minute 29 times.
4 QSOs/minute 218 times.
3 QSOs/minute 469 times.
2 QSOs/minute 561 times.
1 QSOs/minute 378 times.
There were 2487 bandchanges and 1644 (41.6%) probable 2nd radio QSOs.
Number of letters in callsigns
Letters # worked
-----------------
2 1
3 10
4 1212
5 1666
6 1015
7 15
8 12
9 11
10 6
Multi-band QSOs
---------------
1 bands 1480
2 bands 557
3 bands 246
4 bands 104
5 bands 40
6 bands 0
------- S i n g l e B a n d Q S O s ------
Band 160 80 40 20 15 10
----------------------------------------------
QSOs 0 98 278 95 505 504
80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total %
EU 134 338 53 517 586 1628 41.2
NA 264 421 244 641 580 2150 54.5
AS 1 12 19 56 8 96 2.4
OC 1 0 3 5 5 14 0.4
SA 0 7 1 9 18 35 0.9
AF 3 2 1 7 10 23 0.6
QSO/Pref by hour and band
Hour 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total Cumm OffTime
D1-0000Z --+-- 39/27 76/62 --+-- --+-- 115/89 115/89
D1-0100Z 10/5 66/48 40/22 - - 116/75 231/164
D1-0200Z 47/19 65/40 - - - 112/59 343/223
D1-0300Z 49/13 85/36 - - - 134/49 477/272
D1-0400Z 38/13 76/37 - - - 114/50 591/322
D1-0500Z 52/14 86/32 - - - 138/46 729/368
D1-0600Z 25/9 71/39 - - - 96/48 825/416
D1-0700Z 34/4 53/25 - - - 87/29 912/445
D1-0800Z 5/2 6/4 --+-- --+-- --+-- 11/6 923/451 52
D1-0900Z - - - - - 0/0 923/451 60
D1-1000Z - - - - - 0/0 923/451 60
D1-1100Z - - - - - 0/0 923/451 60
D1-1200Z - - - 54/21 74/28 128/49 1051/500 14
D1-1300Z - - - 75/15 85/23 160/38 1211/538
D1-1400Z - - - 85/18 82/19 167/37 1378/575
D1-1500Z - - - 89/21 99/17 188/38 1566/613
D1-1600Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 77/14 92/18 169/32 1735/645
D1-1700Z - - - 88/14 90/20 178/34 1913/679
D1-1800Z - - - 73/10 98/14 171/24 2084/703
D1-1900Z - - - 103/14 75/7 178/21 2262/724
D1-2000Z - - - 74/4 64/12 138/16 2400/740 5
D1-2100Z - - - - - 0/0 2400/740 60
D1-2200Z - - - - - 0/0 2400/740 60
D1-2300Z - - - - - 0/0 2400/740 60
D2-0000Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 0/0 2400/740 60
D2-0100Z 4/1 2/0 - - - 6/1 2406/741 52
D2-0200Z 27/4 41/11 - - - 68/15 2474/756
D2-0300Z 30/2 71/10 - - - 101/12 2575/768
D2-0400Z 31/3 40/6 - - - 71/9 2646/777
D2-0500Z 35/1 53/7 - - - 88/8 2734/785
D2-0600Z 16/1 26/3 - - - 42/4 2776/789 23
D2-0700Z - - - - - 0/0 2776/789 60
D2-0800Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 0/0 2776/789 60
D2-0900Z - - - - - 0/0 2776/789 60
D2-1000Z - - - - - 0/0 2776/789 60
D2-1100Z - - - - 1/1 1/1 2777/790 59
D2-1200Z - - - 50/6 83/19 133/25 2910/815
D2-1300Z - - - 61/13 75/13 136/26 3046/841
D2-1400Z - - - 59/6 70/10 129/16 3175/857
D2-1500Z - - - 61/9 58/7 119/16 3294/873
D2-1600Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 62/7 79/8 141/15 3435/888
D2-1700Z - - - 23/2 23/1 46/3 3481/891 35
D2-1800Z - - - - - 0/0 3481/891 60
D2-1900Z - - - 9/0 11/1 20/1 3501/892 51
D2-2000Z - - 22/2 63/5 50/6 135/13 3636/905
D2-2100Z - - 102/12 70/14 - 172/26 3808/931
D2-2200Z - - 81/7 59/13 - 140/20 3948/951
Total: 403/91 780/325 321/1051235/2061209/224
Pts by hour and band.
80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total Cumm OffTime
D1-0000Z ---+- 234 228 ---+- ---+- 462 462
D1-0100Z 60 394 120 - - 574 1036
D1-0200Z 282 390 - - - 672 1708
D1-0300Z 294 510 - - - 804 2512
D1-0400Z 228 456 - - - 684 3196
D1-0500Z 312 516 - - - 828 4024
D1-0600Z 150 426 - - - 576 4600
D1-0700Z 204 318 - - - 522 5122
D1-0800Z 30 34 ---+- ---+- ---+- 64 5186 52
D1-0900Z - - - - - 0 5186 60
D1-1000Z - - - - - 0 5186 60
D1-1100Z - - - - - 0 5186 60
D1-1200Z - - - 161 222 383 5569 14
D1-1300Z - - - 225 252 477 6046
D1-1400Z - - - 255 246 501 6547
D1-1500Z - - - 266 297 563 7110
D1-1600Z ---+- ---+- ---+- 231 274 505 7615
D1-1700Z - - - 264 264 528 8143
D1-1800Z - - - 219 290 509 8652
D1-1900Z - - - 308 225 533 9185
D1-2000Z - - - 220 190 410 9595 5
D1-2100Z - - - - - 0 9595 60
D1-2200Z - - - - - 0 9595 60
D1-2300Z - - - - - 0 9595 60
D2-0000Z ---+- ---+- ---+- ---+- ---+- 0 9595 60
D2-0100Z 24 12 - - - 36 9631 52
D2-0200Z 162 242 - - - 404 10035
D2-0300Z 180 424 - - - 604 10639
D2-0400Z 186 240 - - - 426 11065
D2-0500Z 210 318 - - - 528 11593
D2-0600Z 96 152 - - - 248 11841 23
D2-0700Z - - - - - 0 11841 60
D2-0800Z ---+- ---+- ---+- ---+- ---+- 0 11841 60
D2-0900Z - - - - - 0 11841 60
D2-1000Z - - - - - 0 11841 60
D2-1100Z - - - - 3 3 11844 59
D2-1200Z - - - 150 249 399 12243
D2-1300Z - - - 183 224 407 12650
D2-1400Z - - - 177 209 386 13036
D2-1500Z - - - 183 174 357 13393
D2-1600Z ---+- ---+- ---+- 186 237 423 13816
D2-1700Z - - - 69 69 138 13954 35
D2-1800Z - - - - - 0 13954 60
D2-1900Z - - - 27 33 60 14014 51
D2-2000Z - - 66 187 147 400 14414
D2-2100Z - - 304 208 - 512 14926
D2-2200Z - - 243 176 - 419 15345
Total: 2418 4666 961 3695 3605
80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total
4L 1 1
4X 1 1 2
5B 2 2
9A 2 1 4 8 15
9X 1 1 2
9Y 1 1
A6 1 1
A7 1 1
BY 1 1
C3 1 1
CE 1 3 4
CM 2 3 1 5 3 14
CN 2 1 3
CP 1 1
CT 1 2 2 1 6
CT3 1 2 3
CU 1 1
CX 2 2
D2 1 1 2
DL 30 51 3 111 130 325
E7 1 1 2
EA 9 9 7 31 38 94
EA8 3 2 2 3 10
EA9 1 1
EI 2 2 4
ER 1 2 3
ES 2 1 1 4
EU 4 8 13 8 33
F 9 20 5 18 34 86
FG 1 1 2
FP 1 1
G 5 14 7 32 42 100
GI 1 2 3
GM 1 2 4 4 11
GU 1 1
GW 2 1 6 9
HA 4 10 3 11 17 45
HB 1 1 3 4 9
HB0 1 1
HH 1 1
HK 1 1
HS 1 1
HZ 1 2 2 5
I 10 23 3 50 63 149
IS 1 1
IT9 2 5 8 15
JA 2 14 35 51
K 246 382 221 585 542 1976
KH6 1 1 1 3
KL 2 1 4 7
KP4 3 3
LA 1 2 2 8 7 20
LU 2 6 8
LX 1 2 1 3 7
LY 2 5 5 4 16
LZ 5 5 1 5 4 20
OE 1 3 3 6 13
OH 3 8 3 10 9 33
OH0 1 1
OK 4 12 10 10 36
OM 5 9 8 5 27
ON 4 7 3 11 10 35
OZ 1 2 3 2 8
P4 1 1 2
PA 2 5 14 24 45
PJ2 1 1
PY 2 4 5 11
PZ 1 1
S5 5 7 1 11 9 33
SM 1 4 2 15 7 29
SP 10 21 2 28 24 85
SV 4 4 3 11
SV5 1 1 2
SV9 1 1 1 3
TA 1 1
TA1 1 1
TF 1 1 2
UA 5 31 3 35 26 100
UA2 1 1
UA9 1 3 4 11 1 20
UK 1 1
UN 1 3 2 6
UR 6 33 1 35 38 113
V3 1 1
VE 16 29 20 43 32 140
VK 1 1 2
VU 1 1 2
XE 1 2 2 5
YB 1 4 2 7
YK 1 1
YL 1 5 1 5 2 14
YO 2 12 11 7 32
YU 2 7 1 2 7 19
YV 1 1 2
Z3 2 2 4
ZL 2 2
ZP 1 1
ZS 1 1 2
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