[3830] CQWW CW VK9DX SOSB40 LP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2021

Call: VK9DX
Operator(s): VK9DX
Station: VK9DX

Class: SOSB40 LP
QTH: Norfolk Island
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:                    
   40: 1590    34       94
   20:                    
   15:                    
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total: 1590    34       94  Total Score = 595,000

Club: 

Comments:

Before we go any further: a full credit for discovering the magic of low power
contesting goes to SPE Expert amplifier makers. I am genuinely grateful that 1K3
went in smoke a week before the contest, rather than in the middle of action.  

Left with just 100Watts and 10meters of aluminum tubing, I've set my contest
goals with a healthy dose of realism: to attack the VK6LW's all time Oceania 40m
LP record set  all the way back in 1992. The record stands at 1,453 QSOs and
31/93 mults and this fine score was a testimony to a decent antenna system and a
fine operating skills. While my humble vertical was not much of an antenna,
there was a small detail that made some difference: this antenna is located on a
hilltop of an island which happens to count as a DXCC with no other active
amateurs.

I am not going to bore you with details. Let's just say that after the first
night 1,130 QSOs were in the log. I was completely blown away: for almost 10
hours there was not a single pileup of any kind, only a steady stream of one or
two callers at the time. And thanks to the fact that I was siting in the middle
of Pacific, on a superbly quiet location, pulling those callers was almost
effortless. For the entire night, the S meter was sitting on zero, only to madly
swing away by a signal, then revert back to some unmeasurable noise level.  No
noise, no QRN, no interference. Pure magic.

On the second night, band remained closed until almost local midnight.  It
finally opened at the time of US East Coast sunrise. Japanese, US and Europeans
were pouring in, all at once, loud and plentiful. Amazingly, even holding a 
frequency was not a problem.  Of course, chasing multipliers with low power from
VK is a character building exercise, but luckily, most double mults called in.
JW7QIA for zone 40, VE2IM for zone 2, XR3W for twelve.  There is a pipeline
between OH and VK9N: Fins were coming in from both short and long path. Yet
strangely SM's were watery and fluttery, barely auidble. And no, one could never
run out of Japanese callers.

There are two things I will be taking from this contest weekend: first, 
realization that I am a truly blessed man. Operating from such a special
location is simply humbling; an experience worth living for and waiting for over
30 years. The second thing is still a mystery: how would the band sound with a
'proper', directional antenna? And how much fun would be to spend a whole
contest weekend operating QRP?

As I type this, I am still unsure has the VK6LW's record been broken. The raw
score is 1590 / 34 / 94 totaling 595,00 points.  Yet I am already feeling as a
winner - thanks to your calls, this CQWW contest will be remembered and
cherished for a very long time.

73 Nick VK9DX


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/