[3830] ARRL 10 K4HQK SO CW HP

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ARRL 10-Meter Contest

Call: K4HQK
Operator(s): K4HQK
Station: K4HQK

Class: SO CW HP
QTH: Alexandria, VA
Operating Time (hrs): 4.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
   CW:   55    18
  SSB:           
-------------------
Total:  220    18  Total Score = 3,960

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Monitoring 10 meters' propagation at this point in the sunspot cycle was my main
interest, so I did a lot of listening over the weekend and worked a few. My
available time was Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday. Station is an
IC-7410 and a 10m vertical.

Friday night consisted of regional QSOs (MD, DC, VA) and one surprise, N8OO in
Louisiana (Es?), around 8pm EST.

Saturday afternoon starting around 3pm EST: Skip was strongly to the Midwest
(KS, IA, MN, WI, IL). At 4pm EST I worked CA, then at 4:30-5:00, two PYs, a CX,
and a YV, probably via TEP.

Sunday morning I heard only regionals. Then at 2pm, there was a brief opening
to the Midwest and I worked AZ, KS, and MO. At 4:30, there was a very short TEP
opening to CX. I worked two and they faded away. For another hour and a half I
heard nothing but regionals. Then at 6pm--long after I thought the band should
have died--a path opened (Es?) to the NE. I heard and worked VE2FK, then two
stations in Maine and three in New Hampshire, the last NH QSO just minutes
before the contest ended at 7pm.

Summary: With a limited antenna I never heard any DX other than central South
America. I thought I might have heard EU in the morning but did not. Skip was
mostly one-hop, which wouldn't get signals across the Atlantic. Skip at my QTH
was heard only within the US, during the afternoon. But at least there was
some. The 10-meter band may be getting long in the tooth, but there's still a
little life remaining. It's too bad so few use it outside of the contest.


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