[3830] ARRL 10 W3EP SO Mixed Unlimited HP

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ARRL 10-Meter Contest

Call: W3EP
Operator(s): W3EP
Station: W3EP

Class: SO Mixed Unlimited HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
   CW:  377    68
  SSB:  271    50
-------------------
Total:  648   118  Total Score = 241,428

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Friday night was the slowest of any 10-meter contest I have operated over the
past 20 years or so. Made only 54 QSOs and did not work several close-in
states, like NJ, MD, VT, RI, ME, that are the staples of Friday evening. (DE
and DC are always tough--awkward distance and low activity.)  Did not work any
meteor-scatter either, which usually yields OH, IL, KY, MI, TN,and such at
least. Thought this was going to be a tough contest and blamed it on the high
A- and K-indexes and of course the very low solar flux index.

Activity perked up about 1300 UTC Saturday morning and was sustained through
the entire day, mostly with midwestern stations. 2100 hour was the standout
with more than 100 Qs. Conditions were quite variable in terms of signal
strength, geographic coverage, and activity level. I assumed it was mostly
sporadic-E with some meteor scatter thrown in. Still amazing that there was
some skip most of the time, but activity seemed low. 

Activity was slow to get started on Sunday and the general signal strengths
seemed suppressed. Thus it was a surprise that I worked CT, EA8, and V5 during
the 1400 hour. I probably spent too much time searching for other
trans-Atlantic stations, but did not even hear any. Worked a surprising number
of AZ QSOs and 45 of the 48 states by the end of the contest, missing only MT,
WY, and ND. Must have been 2-hop sporadic-E into W6 and W7. Worked only VEs 1,
9, 3, 5, and 7 and single QSOs at that. Of course, everyone in North America
worked the strong and persistent Caribbean, South & Central American
stations. 

Was limited by unusually high noise level most of the time, especially to the
West. At times, it was S9 on the meter and the K3 could only push that down to
S3 or so on SSB. The K3 worked wonders on CW though and the noise mattered
little. I know I missed a number of QSOs for that reason (and thanks to ops who
stuck with it until I could pull our their calls.) At times, it made SSB
unusable. The noise may have come from neighbors' outdoor lighting decorations.
Oh well, could not do much about that.

Very slow rates on Sunday afternoon gave me time to search for KH6, VK, and ZL,
but I never heard any of them clearly enough to try a QSO.

Prediction for next year: More of the same!

K3, ACOM 1000, 5-ele Yagi at 60 feet.

Holiday cheers to all,
Emil W3EP.


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