[3830] ARRLDX SSB PJ2T M/M HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2022

Call: PJ2T
Operator(s): W0CG N1ZZ K8PGJ K5LD K4JC AF4Z AD4ES AK4R
Station: PJ2T

Class: M/M HP
QTH: Curacao
Operating Time (hrs): 48

Summary:
 Band  QSOs   Mults
--------------------
  160:   214    45
   80:   679    54
   40:  2165    59
   20:  3556    59
   15:  2970    60
   10:  2967    59
--------------------
Total: 12251   336  Total Score = 12,632,256

Club: CCC

Comments:

Conditions were very different from the CW weekend. The SFI reached 120 and the
A index 33. For us that translated to much healthier numbers on 20 and 40, but a
disaster on 160 where we only managed a couple hundred QSOs. Top Band signals
were very, very weak. 80 was better, but participation seemed down. The band was
supportive,  but the stations just were not there. We adapted and pressed on and
managed a good outcome.

This is several years in a row now that ARRL SSB has been run here primarily by
a team organized by Dan, N1ZZ, and comprised mostly of operators from the
Platinum Coast Amateur Radio Society, Melbourne, FL. N1ZZ, AF4Z, K4JC, K5LD, and
AD4ES from the club were supplemented by AK4R (down from Tennessee), and CCC
mainstays K8PGJ and W0CG. Dan continues to mentor and grow contest operators,
and these guys did an excellent job, many of them running rates with the best
contesters on the bands. K5LD was the rate king this weekend in the second hour
on 20. In contrast, some of us struggled to make 5 QSOs/hour in the 0900Z hour
Sunday. It’s always a contest of extremes. 

We were fortunate that the electricity stayed on all weekend, the DSL was solid,
and there were absolutely zero equipment or software glitches. The PJ2T facility
continues to perform very well, and we are fully equipped with excellent gear.
The challenge going forward is not equipment but people. We continue to search
for people who are willing to staff these contests, to pitch in on station work
projects, and to help with maintenance of the QTH. Perversely, the better this
place has gotten the harder it has become to find people to come and play. If
you’re interested in becoming part of the PJ2T adventure drop an E-mail to
W0CG. It’s fun, the weather is gorgeous, and we need you. 

COVID was a non-event again this weekend for us. The ops got PCR tests in the
States the day before traveling, and all results were negative. In-processing at
the Curacao airport was very fast and courteous. The 3rd day rapid antigen test
has been dropped, simplifying things considerably. Monday after the contest a
lab tech came to the PJ2T QTH, administered seven rapid antigen tests, results
were provided within two hours, and travel back into the U.S. was cleared with
the help of VeriFLY. It’s all easy and cheap, and will become more so as
restrictions continue to be relaxed here and in the States. 

As always I’m very grateful to all the members of the PJ2T group who
contribute the annual dues that are essential to the continued survival of this
place. We even have two members who do not come to Curacao but generously
support what we do, quietly and mostly anonymously. I’m awestruck by their
attitude of generosity. 

In the coming months and years we are facing huge challenges imposed by the
construction of a major resort hotel immediately west of the station on the
grounds of the old Coral Cliff and Sunset Waters Beach Resort hotels. There will
be massive infrastructure changes, some welcome and some not. The disruption to
our activity here has already been massive, but we’re holding on. On the plus
side, we will soon be getting a fiber drop direct to the Signal Point house,
with obvious massive benefits for speed and reliability. 

Please join us in celebrating the 83rd birthday of long term PJ2T member Dan
Gravereaux, N1ZZ, on March 3. We did a cake and sang badly for him on Thursday.
He’s the founder of West Mountain Radio and inventor of the Rigblaster and
many other clever projects. He continues to pump out innovative gadgets from
Paradan Radio and other marketing names. He’s fit, very sharp, tireless, an
accomplished engineer and artist, and absolutely indomitable at 83, an
inspiration to all of us. 

I profoundly thank my partner Dorothy Dahlgren for her patient and tireless
support on site and for the love without which my life would bleak and cold.
It’s a gigantic effort to put together all these people, all the gear, manage
all the logistics, and keep a house and big station maintained in a DX location.
She’s instrumental in all of that. 

See you in WPX SSB with a team led by famed DXpeditioner K4UEE. 

   Thanks for the contacts, 73,
-	Geoff, W0CG / PJ2DX for the entire PJ2T gang


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