[3830] CQWW CW VE2IM(VE3DZ) SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: VE2IM
Operator(s): VE3DZ
Station: VE2CSI

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Sept-Iles
Operating Time (hrs): 43
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  407    15       57
   80: 1191    22       84
   40: 1402    26      102
   20: 1452    32      103
   15: 1341    30      103
   10:  530    20       64
------------------------------
Total: 6323   145      513  Total Score = 10,467,464

Club: Contest Club Ontario

Comments:

People tend to believe in miracles. Me included.
When I arrived on the spot after driving 1630 km one way in 1.5 days a bit over
than 24 hours before the start of the Contest, I was hoping that miracle would
happen and I would be able to set up my semi-field day style station, solve all
technical problems and have enough time to get some rest in order to operate
full 48 hours.
Well, miracle didn't happen. 
By the time I managed to get almost everything going (including recording)
there was only a bit more than 1 hour left before the start. The biggest
disappointment was my limited SO2R - no matter what I tried, I still had
cross-band interference. 2 sets of filters reduced interference a lot but did
not completely eliminate it.  There are no 2nd radio antenna for 20-15-10 so I
was using 2nd radio only on 40 m (with 40 m beam) and on 15 m, where I used...
same 40m beam, just with the tuner. :-)
The 160 m Inverted L also disappeared in one year.
Anyway, there was nothing I could do to cure that.
Another problem was lack of rest which resulted in fatigue winning our usual
battle on the 2nd night. I decided to take a 3 hour break, but instead
overslept (second year in a row) and lost 5 hours of the Contest in total.
Diagnosis: getting old.
Low bands were pretty good, and I believe my 160 m score is the best in all 16
years of my Zone 2 trtavels, despite having pretty simple antennas - low
dipoles for 160 and 80. I think I could do much better on 40, but had to limit
myself because 40 m radio was constantly interfering on 20 and even on 15...
20 and 15 were good as always, just 15 m was "shorter" than usual
this time. There were no JA's on the first evening, but I managed to work few
on the 2nd night. NO JA's on 10.
The biggest disappointment was 10. I finally managed 500 Q's, most of - with
our friends south of the border. Very few Europeans and overall 10 m multiplier
is way down from last year.
Aurora didn't help either.
So, the score is about 800 Q's down from the last year.
Another observation - the pile-up behavior continues to be on decline... People
never stop calling even if you already replied to someone else... I had to send
exchange twice many many times...
Kudos to WRTC champion N6MJ who put TO7A/UT5UGR's dual-CQ'ing technique to a
good use at ZF2MJ and showed everyone what can be done if you combine perfect
skills with young age.  :-) 
So now we old folks need to get a lot of training or... retire! :-)
Good showing from Jose and Andy as usual. Congrats, guys! Way to go...
And me... As usual, I am just happy to give this rare Zone to as many people as
possible...
It was pretty difficult year for me...

Equipment used: FT1000MP, K3, ACOM 2000 and SB220.
Antennas: Mosley CL37, KLM 2 el. 40 m beam and dipoles for 80 and 160.
N1MM classic logging software.
RigExpert USB Interfaces. :-)
Mazda 6 2013 - 3269 total kilometers driven in 3 days.

Thanks to Victor, VA2WA and his wife Elena for hosting me in Montreal.
Thank you all for great fun and see you next year!


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