[3830] CQWW CW K0XP SO(A)SB40 LP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: K0XP
Operator(s): K0XP
Station: K0XP

Class: SO(A)SB40 LP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 28.8

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:   19     9       11
   40:  141    29       79
   20:                    
   15:                    
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total:  160    38       90  Total Score = 54,656

Club: Southern California Contest Club

Comments:

(Long) I finally got the tip of my little 59-foot sloping "random"
wire up near the top of the pine tree behind my house Wednesday night but wasn't
able to finish putting up the wire until Thursday morning. Family affairs kept
me from testing it until Thursday night. Tests then were inconclusive but not
very encouraging. When the contest started Friday night, things started so
slowly on 40m that I switched to 80m. All I was doing was S&P and looking
for new countries to finish my DXCC from this location since July 28; with only
a random wire tossed up in a pine tree and 100 watts, it was obvious there was
no point in trying to run, especially long before the band opened to JA. I'd
intended to do an all-band effort in any case; however, 80m quickly showed that
the wire didn't perform all that well, especially with only 100 watts, so I
wound up going back to 40m after a few QSOs. Even that wasn't fun but while
slugging it out amongst the multi-KWs, surprisingly, the band changed, the wire
started getting through, and the mults started piling up. I wound up going back
to 80m twice more during real slow times but each time, the going was so
difficult I finally settled on 40m only. I'm submitting my log with both bands
(per the rules) but claiming only SO(A)40. I've done many 80m-only efforts while
living in Virginia and Connecticut over the past few decades, working as many as
82 countries using inverted vees and a KW, so this effort using a sloping random
wire in a pine tree with only 100 watts, working 79 countries plus 29 zones on
40m, really surprised me. What really sticks in my mind is when I got through to
E2A after only 10 minutes of calling, then BV1EL after only a minute, then DU1EV
after just a couple minutes of calling, and then finally XV9D after nearly half
an hour of calling. I've been trying to work those four countries for over half
a century, and finally do it with my "weakest" antenna and lowest
power yet! At some point around those times, I came across BY3GA in zone 23,
strong at around 57/89. This initiated frantic calling to no avail 8-( I
seriously thought of  quitting and going to bed after he disappeared,
particularly since 9V1XX had already come and gone, but decided to stick it out
the remaining few hours until sunrise in the hope he, a JT or another zone 23
would show up (none did). I also needed zone 18 but never heard one that I'm
aware of.

Sunday afternoon, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I was able
to work a couple of Europeans in broad daylight (although there were many, many
other loud ones that I couldn't get through to). In Europe, I especially wanted
any UK, zone 20, 9H1TT or P33W but just couldn't get through to any of them. M6T
wouldn't stop CQing long enough for me to slip in my call at 35 wpm 8-O P33W was
probably a lost cause anyway since they were always so weak here.

A35 was an almost total washout for me throughout the contest, 
especially after having so-easily working E6Y, VP6D and YJ0GC the previous
months on 7, 9 and 6 bands, respectively. They were never much more than a very

weak occasional peep way down in the noise on 40m, especially during the 
contest; did they enter as QRP?? They've been much, much louder up to the
contest, especially on their first day.


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