[3830] CQWW VHF WW2Y SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - 2022

Call: WW2Y
Operator(s): WW2Y
Station: WW2Y

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: FN24
Operating Time (hrs): 20

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
    6:  168    80
    2:   47    26
-------------------
Total:  215   106  Total Score = 27,772

Club: Mt Airy VHF Radio Club

Comments:

I experienced relatively decent 6m sporadic Es conditions into AR, LA, MS, Al,
FL, GA, SC, and southern portions of TN and NC for at least 8.5 hours from the
start of contest. Midwestern stations were coming through a lesser extend. The
lack of activity on SSB, and particularly CW and FT4 was more evident compared
to my previous outing at this NNY location two years ago with worse 6m
conditions.

A good portion of stations I've worked throughout the day had S9+ signals and I
was unsuccessful in establishing any kind of rate by calling CQ. It was
frustrating to say the least. Several stations would reappear on SSB throughout
the day and well into the evening just to tell me the band is still open. In
order to make progress, I had to resort in using FT8 mode extensively to help my
overall score, because that is where the action is.

On multiple occasions, I tried using FT4 without success.  Why hasn't FT4 caught
any traction since its inception years ago? It's a superior mode compared to
FT8, particularly during periods of rapid QSB. And it's fast.

On Sunday, operating the MSK144 mode on 6 and 2 meters was productive in making
QSOs with the usual suspects, N4SVC, K2DRH, K8ROX, W9VHF, and particularly AC0RA
who had a rock crushing signal on both bands operating from his portable
station!

 As for sporadic Es on 6m, or lack thereof, it was quite poor for the entire
time all the way to the closing bell. All day, the band would tease you into
thinking the band would cut loose towards the southeast and mid-west, only to
notice that signals had disappeared into oblivion. The signals would bubble up
above the noise floor for one sequence, and then disappear for the next. I'd
called numerous stations only to not hear them again as if you're playing the
Whack a Mole game with the mouse cursor inside the WSJT-X receive window. John,
N2NC who was at N2NT observed this phenomenon as well.

2m conditions were predominately flat during the contest, except for
midafternoon on Sunday. I tuned across W3SO in FN00 on FT8 who had a +8 dB
signal for roughly 8 minutes, then faded back to normal levels.

QSOs per mode analysis:

6m:    SSB           CW         FT8          MSK144       FM
       33%           3.6%       59%           2.4%        0%

2m:     SSB          CW          FT8         MSK144       FM
        23%          0%          74%          4.3%        2.1%

73,
Peter


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