[3830] CQ160 CW W5MX Single Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW - 2020

Call: W5MX
Operator(s): W5MX
Station: W5MX

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: ky
Operating Time (hrs): 28
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1391  State/Prov = 58  Countries = 77  Total Score = 745,470

Club: Kentucky Contest Group

Comments:

I scheduled a day of vacation at work for Friday in an attempt to get some rest
before the contest this time... it just never happens. Some issues at work found
me putting in about a 1/2 day. Commercial power not quite done yet so still
running generator power and wood heat. By the time I got all set up, it was
about an hour to contest start.

Conditions to EU at contest start were not the greatest here. I did hear a few
under me cq'ing at contest start for about 1/2 hour, then they faded away. They
came back in around 01:00 UTC or so and built up to quite strong the rest of the
night. Ended up with around 80 in the log the first night, not a record for me
for sure. Domestic runs kept things hopping most of the night, heard EU calling
at times but were buried under all the NA stations. I hit the wall at around
02:00am local time, too tired to continue... falling asleep in front of the
radio. Swept up and down the band and worked a few mults and went QRT. I awoke
around 05:30 local time for sunrise propagation. Ended up with some good mults
including KL7,KH6,JA and a few Caribbean's. Heard a DS station on until well
after 08:00 local! He peaked loud for about 5-10 minutes, I called in vain with
no luck which was surprising as they were s6 on my NW beverage and very loud.
Swept the band and back to bed.

Saturday afternoon, back on in early afternoon with some slow rates. Kept
listening around for mults or new stations to work and noticed no EU to speak of
at all, even after local sunset. I thought oh man, this is going to be a slow
night and I was quite disappointed. Things changed from there quite rapidly
around 23:30 utc when the band started to open back to EU. Little did I know
this would later become one of the better nights ever for me to EU and even as
far as the Middle East and Asia. Like many contesters, I started as a dx'er
(still am to a degree). When dx starts coming through I almost start losing
focus on contesting and it becomes a dx event for new ones. It definitely helps
the country count but of course the Q count suffers. I ended up with 290 EU
stations in the log during this contest! I was also called by some great dx /
mults while running. After EU finally closed after 08:30 or so UTC, I swept the
band for mults and new Q's and ended up QRT again for a few hours. Sunday
morning saw minimal JA and no other good mults to the west. Worked a few Q's and
decided to tear everything down and pack up and head home. I set the radio back
up at the home QTH with a simple L and a beverage to the NE. Ended up working
around 30 more Q's in all. Enough to make it worth it rather than calling it
quits early in my opinion.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. Only two times that stations started
CQ'ing about 100hz away from me that pretended not to hear me, I find it a bit
amusing. They were in the NE and were no doubt primarily using NE beverages for
EU but I know they can still hear me. But in any case, so many great ops and
good ears out there it will not overshadow a few exceptions. This was one of the
better top band contest experiences ever for me, and I thank you all for the Q's
that made it possible(along with some help from mother propagation :-)

Until the next one my fellow contesters!
Bryan 
W5MX


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