[3830] CQWW CW KA1IS SO(A)SB40 HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2022

Call: KA1IS
Operator(s): KA1IS
Station: KA1IS

Class: SO(A)SB40 HP
QTH: ME
Operating Time (hrs): 34

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:                    
   40: 1857    35      120
   20:                    
   15:                    
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total: 1857    35      120  Total Score = 828,320

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

After WPX CW, I dismantled the Witt Hill station removing coax and control
cables. Anticipating a real shack for this contest season. Excavation is done.
Foundation poles in. But no shack. So... back to the ice-fishing tent. To keep
things simple I went with 40 meters.

It's been some time since doing SB40. Before the contest I was looking at 3830
notes to glean advice from my former self. It seems I'm obsessed with weather
and didn't really offer strategy or insights. Along those same lines, there was
light rain and drizzle leading up to the contest. Just around 0000z, the wind
picked up a bit. Then a bit more, until gusts were howling loud enough to drown
out the generator. It stayed like that until sunrise. The tarp over the
generator was gone. There were sticks everywhere. Plastic buckets littered all
around. Best of all, the antennas are unscathed. Not what I expected.

Saturday night was beautiful. Clear skies. Moon and planets. Extraterrestrial
surveillance drones. Sunday was cloudy, punctuated by occasional gunshots from
the bog. By 2300z it was pouring rain. Since I neglected to put a tarp over the
tent... (which is snowproof, not rainproof) I noticed there was water dripping
down the computer screen. Whoah, thats not good. Made adjustments and got
through the last hour. Decided to just cover up most of the stuff and leave it
'til tomorrow.

I wasn't certain about choosing the Assisted category. But it meant more time
operating. Less time checking signals for duplicates. Nothing like turning the
dial, typing in a few letters, and oh yeah, I worked that guy. Turn the dial, oh
yeah I worked that guy too. Over and over and over. And over.

Most of the time was spent running EU stations. I should have grabbed more
multipliers early in the contest, but usually leave it to the end.
Unfortunately, by Sunday, there was not much activity to be heard from anywhere
except Europe. I didn't work any multipliers during the last 16 hours of the
contest. It was making me crazy, because, by the end of the contest, one
multiplier equaled 12 QSO's. There were opportunities in Asia and the Pacific,
but they were either unreachable or inaudible under EU pileups. Fake multipliers
appeared on the cluster from time to time. Where were all the stations from SA
and Africa that were so common on Saturday?

Wondering about how to get those Asian multipliers next year, the only thing
that comes to mind is "secret Italian elephant gun".

Saturday around 2300z, in the course of a few minutes I worked E2A, B0A, UA0DAR,
and 3B7M. That helped the score for sure. 

I know the 40 meter EU antenna is good because I worked PC5C at 1620z Sunday
(11:20 am local time). Actually, just occurred to me that "1620 Zulu"
could be the name for one of those ubiquitous Cannabis stores.

According to Skookumlogger, I called 2,574 CQ's. Definitely way more than
necessary, but its ok to be an optimist and a dreamer. Stubborn too.

Worked my favorite Arctic regions, OX, TF, VY1, KL7, and JW. That's only because
of the ice fishing tent.

A quick note on the FTDX10: It's great for weak signals. APF is super effective.
CW filter works well. Low noise floor helped during times when the band was
coming in or going out. But... lots of controls packed into a small area. Yes,
suddenly you're on a different frequency - how did that happen?

If you live in Europe, thanks for all the QSO's. The contest was way way more
fun that I expected. Didn't really miss the other bands. That much. Well maybe
15 and 20. Also a new personal record: 83 Dupes.

73,
Tom

Station:

4 wire beams in trees (at various heights less than 50 feet)

4 elements, NE
3 elements, SW, SE, NW

FTDX10 + KPA1500
Skookumlogger


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