[3830] WAE CW VY2ZM(K1ZM) Single Op HP

webform at b4h.net webform at b4h.net
Tue Aug 15 07:22:35 EDT 2017


WAE DX Contest, CW

Call: VY2ZM
Operator(s): K1ZM
Station: VY2ZM

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: PEI
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  QTCs  Mults
-------------------------
   80:  267   267   140
   40:  511   510   120
   20:  888   888   102
   15:  185   185    64
   10:    0     0     0
-------------------------
Total: 1851  1850   426  Total Score = 1,576,626

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

First - Congrats to Nate N4YDU and to the RHR team for their fantastic station
near Eastport, ME - in clear view of both CANADA and the Atlantic Ocean from
the top of the rotating towers.  This is the NEW WAVE of the future in a new
form of "DX-Pedition Contesting" - where you do not even have to
leave the comfort of your own home to experience the BEST OF THE BEST - and
W2RE and WW2DX and their RHR team have only scratched the surface so far in
their creation of this super station.  Their plans for the future are bolder
still.  If you worked WU1ITU on 6M this summer, (and the 6M signal was MASSIVE)
- you already know what I am saying here.

Okay now - back to VY2ZM.  I enjoy WAE in August and September because it is a
warm up and pre-test as I start to think about CQWW SSB in October.  It is a
dry run to see what works and what does NOT.  This year I had just returned
from my wife's father's funeral in NYC and I had very little time to get ready
for even WAE.  On Friday morning I had a few issues:

1) My Packet laptop had a bad hard-drive - and had to be swapped out
2) A second laptop used for recording had a bad hard drive and I decided not to
address this right away - but this needs to be done for CQWW of course

All seemed okay with the rest of the station - and we started off on Friday -
and I was pleased as to how things were going when I took my first off time.

However, on Saturday morning - the LEFT radio (used for SO2R and mult chasing)
was showing a high SWR and the amp was not auto tuning and switching.  Ouch!

So Saturday was spent operating SO1R because I needed more time to figure out
what was wrong and I did not want to take another off-time.  Every time I
listened to NR3X on 21011 or so it was DEPRESSING as Nate was running EU at
will and I could not even hear what he was working!  OUCH AGAIN!

Truth be told - being far North and East in the Canadian Maritimes is a real
blessing on 160m and 80m but it can and often IS a real CURSE under a weak
solar flux - because even a 225 mile distance South and West from PEI can mean
the difference between an OPEN band and a DEAD band on 10 and even 15M.  So
here I was checking 15m on my one operable radio and finding NR3X just running
EU hand over fist and I could not hear SQUAT!!!!  Depressing YES - big time! 
And I knew he had to be at W2RE/1 Eastport based on the massive BACKSCATTER
signal I was hearing - he was like a local coming in on ground wave and
probably he was reaching me on a combination of scatter and ground wave.  All I
could do was try to keep up on 20m which was open for me - but I knew he was
KILLING ME on 15m mults and, if this continued, he was going to win this thing
for sure.  I have lost at least 3 WAE CW contests due to being just too far
North on 10M in August and September - and I was feeling like it probably was
going to happen yet again.

I kept going and had a pretty good night on 40 and 80 - at least I was still in
the game.  As I took my mid-evening off time, I decided to check out what was
wrong with the second radio and as luck would have it, it was either a failed
BANDPASS filter - or BAND DECODER on the Bandpass side of its output - there
are two one sinking and one sourcing - but no matter, one side was not
switching and following the BAND DATA.  I bypassed the BPF and the second radio
and AMP came alive again.  I was QRV for DAY 2 - now with SO2R!!

Sunday presented better condx for me for sure.  I kept watching 15m and it
seemed that NATE and I hit it at nearly the same time - but this time I could
HEAR Europe - and I had a chance to get back in the hunt on 15m.  I spent a lot
of time there and went from 28 qso's on Day 1 to 185 total for both days in
combination - I also seemed to match Nate's 15M multiplier count - which was
critical to have any chance to make a high score.

10M - Congrats to Nate and K1GQ for somehow managing to hear and work F6HKA. 
To be honest I might have tried a pass or two but since 15M had been SO DEAD on
Saturday, I did not have much hope for 10M.  Maybe I might have had a chance but
who knows - all I ever heard on 10M was NP2X running Eu stations that I could
not hear on any path - direct or skew - on high antennas or low - NADA!

Anyway, it was a fun contest - especially saying hello to P33W (LZ2HM) and
Krassy K1LZ at LZ5R on each of the bands as I rolled across them.

High point?  80m for sure - where my WW2Y designed 6 el broadside/endfire array
really talks - with almost 6db more gain than my backup 4SQ - it is probably my
strongest band - but activity was well down - so only so much was possible on
80m - pity.   My multiplier count was definitely down from previous years on
80m.


Thanks to all my old friends and FOC mates who called in -  G3XTT and others,
and MD0CCE who will visit VY2ZM in September - Miriam and I are really looking
forward to Bob's coming to be with us then!  I think he may enjoy listening to
what 80m and 160m sound like from this place - HI.

73 JEFF   VY2ZM (K1ZM)


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