[3830] ARRLDX SSB WD6T(@N6RO) SOSB/80 HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2020

Call: WD6T
Operator(s): WD6T
Station: N6RO

Class: SOSB/80 HP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 18
Remote Operation

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:  164    58
   40:           
   20:           
   15:           
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  164    58  Total Score = 28,536

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

For various reasons, we couldn't do a multi this year at N6RO, so I had an
opportunity to do a single bander on 80, using the impressive wire quads and
wire four-square.  I had a bit of a rough start, with several problems with the
remote, but then settled in and had a great time.

You *do* have to be slightly crazy to do an 80m single bander from California. 
The numbers say it all. . . Number of hours operated = 18.   Number of hours
with single digit rates = 13!

But what a thrill to be able to work Europe on 80 meter phone from California!
Surprisingly, the band was open to Europe both nights for the entire period from
our sunset to their sunrise.  There were, of course, some stations I couldn't
hear, and many of the pileups were fierce, with those further East or North
winning out, but I worked quit a number of them with persistence.  Although
operating unassisted, I would mark the band map with each station I found so
that I could easily skip over it while scanning; as well as marking the ones I
couldn't work, so I could quickly return to them from time to time. Several such
tough nuts were cracked at the EU sunrise enhancement; after trying fruitlessly
over the course of several hours, it was a blast to get them at last.

The second half of each evening was mostly about running JAs, always a welcome
friendly experience after hours of the EU S&P struggle. Overall, 42% of the
stations I worked were JAs (69 of them), but much fewer turned up than in the
ARRL CW contest.  Several Asian countries were completely absent on 80m:  no B*,
no 9M*, no HS, no YB.  Perhaps they are more active on CW.  South America seemed
sparse on 80m.  

While I am now 98% contester and 2% DXer, that ratio used to be reversed, and I
need only 80m to complete 5BDXCC.  This contest took me a lot closer, with 14
new (or unconfirmed) entities, and 18 entities that I don't have confirmed in
LOTW.   So, DX stations, please do upload your logs there!

Thanks to N6RO for reminding me about the JA windows (which got quite crowded),
rebooting the Flex and PGXL when necessary, and cheering me on.

Continent Summary:
Asia            44.5%
North America   22.6%
Europe          14%
Oceania         10.4%
South America    7.3%
Africa           0.06%

Entities worked

JA,KH6,KP4,I,VK,KP2,XE,HI,EA,PY,KL,DU,9A,ZF,F,TI,J6,LU,HC,UA9,G,PJ2,V4,VP5,UR,DL,CM,HR,P4,CU,FM,FG,8P,VP2M,HA,C6,HP,EA8,T32,TO0,PJ4,HK,V2,OA,ZL,J3,KH2,EU,CT,6Y,OM,OE,LY,E7,HL,V8,VR,V3


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