[3830] CQWW CW K4HQK SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2021

Call: K4HQK
Operator(s): K4HQK
Station: K4HQK

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Alexandria, VA
Operating Time (hrs): 14.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:   48    13       29
   40:   87    15       43
   20:   74    17       42
   15:   48    13       30
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total:  257    58      144  Total Score = 141,602

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Fair-to-good propagation (per the N0NBH box on qrz.com) and plenty of foreign
stations to work made for an enjoyable contest. The plan: Via S&P, work as
many zones and countries as possible during my available pockets of time.

Friday night 40m was jam-packed with so many stations it was like yelling across
a packed stadium. I was mostly working EU and a few in the Caribbean, but to the
south it was hard; skip was almost nil and at 10 QSB crept in. No Africa. I
heard HZ1TT clearly but couldn’t crack the pileup. Heard nothing on 20m; NR4M
was the last to call CQ and then he shut down. We need sunspots, I thought, not
sun specks.

Saturday morning on 40m was interesting. Worked a pair of UA4s and OHs with
watery signals. Faint EY8MM had a mile-high pileup so I moved on. No VKs or ZLs
at first, but when ZM1A finally appeared, a two-mile-high pileup quickly formed.
WH7T popped up for an accessible contact, then old reliable KH6LC. No luck with
weak JAs.

Mid-morning I gave 15m a try and found it crackling with EU stations, but the
effort proved exhausting; the skip just wasn't favoring my location. Time for
lunch. 

Early afternoon I plunged back into 15m but now found fewer EU and more
Caribbean and South American stations, which were not hearing me. The skip
seemed to favor the 1st, 8th, 9th and 7th call areas. KL7RA arrived at 1500 EST
with a 579-589 signal and instantly drew a huge crowd, so I set him aside for a
later attempt. 

Next I switched to 20m but heard fewer stations. There were actually gaps of
silence throughout the band. Who should suddenly appear but ZM1A and I nailed
him. Then I dropped KL7RA into the sack, shut down, and went for a mind-clearing
walk with the XYL.

Late afternoon I tried 20m again and worked FY5KE in French Guiana, and as the
skip reached the Pacific, I picked up JH4UYB and KH6LC (different band from
before). Broke for dinner. 

Returning to the contest at 2000 EST I checked 80m and found lots of weak but
workable EU stations plus a few in the Caribbean. Western EU stations (zone 14)
were easy to work but central EUs (zone 15) struggled with my signal. 

Sunday morning at 0700 I checked back on 80m, found some activity and worked a
dozen before the D layer closed the store. WH7T was a nice catch for 80m. Then I
moved to 40m, where activity was noticeably down. Still, the JAs were coming in
with enough oomph for me to nab JF2QNM and JR2GRX. When DU1IST stepped up to the
plate, the crowd roared. Knowing my chances with him, I quietly sneaked away.

For the rest of the afternoon 15m activity thinned, and of those I heard, most
were dupes. QSB had become a pain. Worked KL7RA for 15m credit. With that, I
pulled the plug and called it quits at 1625 for a family dinner commitment out
in (groan) Ashburn, Va.

73, John K4HQK

Station: Icom 7410, Ameritron ALS-600 amp, Cushcraft R6000 vertical, dipoles.


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