[3830] CQWW CW AE0EE SOAB Classic LP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2022

Call: AE0EE
Operator(s): AE0EE
Station: AE0EE

Class: SOAB LP
Class Overlay: Classic 
QTH: MN
Operating Time (hrs): 21

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:    6     3        2
   80:   10     3        2
   40:   43    13       25
   20:   65    17       39
   15:   73    17       34
   10:    5    18       24
------------------------------
Total:  253    71      126  Total Score = 127,262

Club: Minnesota Wireless Assn

Comments:

100 W, dipoles up 5-7 m, keyed on a Vibroplex bug.

I got the 80/160 m fan dipole up Friday with reasonably good weather (sunny, 10
C/50 F), but found when I put the analyzer on in that it wasn't ideal: 80 m was
resonant around 3875 kHz.  Unfortunately, fixing it would likely mean taking the
whole thing down and putting it back up again, which is several hours of work
minimum, and I had just finished doing it the first time.  So I left it as-is.

The low bands were a real weakness for me.  The dipole doesn't DX well even on a
good day, and not being resonant for 80 CW meant that it would take very good
conditions for me to get much DX in the log---and we did not have those good
conditions.  I managed a few VEs and a K on each band, so I at least filled the
easy zone/country multipliers, but even some of those were a struggle!

Higher bands were in better shape.  I had success early in the contest on 20 and
40 m, then much of Saturday was good on 10 and 15 meters.  Around mid-contest,
the bands really dropped.  I could barely hear anything, and a quick check of
the solar weather indicated very favorable conditions for aurora (and doing
things that aren't HF radio).  I struggled through a few more contacts late in
the evening local, before getting some sleep overnight.  I got up early to catch
the low-band opening to the west, but conditions still were very tough.

After a long nap, I was back on the air and at least the higher bands toward the
south seemed to be okay.  I had to take down the 20 m and 40/15 m antennas
before the last few hours of the contest, and got stuck in the awkward position
where 10 m was rapidly fading (I couldn't work the many JAs I heard and needed
for a double-multiplier) but 80 and 160 m weren't in good shape just yet
especially for my antenna.

Another challenge that came up is my trusty earbuds have, after several years of
use, finally begun to die.  One of the pair has a flaky connection and cuts
in/out, so I'll need to get those replaced soon.

Overall I had fun, worked two all-time new ones (3B8, 3B9), and probably filled
in some bands for other entities.  I heard 5R on 40 m around the 0230z Sunday
which would have been a third, but didn't have the power to get through.


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