[3830] ARRLDX SSB VE3VN SOAB QRP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2023

Call: VE3VN
Operator(s): VE3VN
Station: VE3VN

Class: SOAB QRP
QTH: 
Operating Time (hrs): 
OpMode: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:    0     0
   80:   19    16
   40:   90    49
   20:  147    64
   15:  304    75
   10:  326    70
-------------------
Total:  886   274  Total Score = 728,292

Club: Contest Club Ontario

Comments:

It almost feels like cheating to operate QRP with big gun antennas. It's a
little surreal to spin through the bedlam between 7200 and 7125 kHz and have
many stations answer my first call. That said, no antenna can truly compensate
for -23 db of signal attenuation.

Years ago I swore to never again operate QRP in a phone DX contest. But memory
fades and I figured: can it really be that awful? Yes, yes it can. Hopefully
I'll remember the lesson going forward.

Contacts came from about 10% running and 90% scouring the bands again and again,
with a VFO in each hand. That gets fatiguing. It's easier to run on one band at
a rate of a QSO every 2 or 3 minutes while hunting on the other radio. The rate
is slow but the numbers add up over the course of a weekend.

Despite the effort, I spent a lot of time away from the shack doing chores and
generally goofing off. The big guns will be there when I return, and there are
no runs of note anyway. My best run was on 15 meters. For some reason I couldn't
get a run going on 10 even with the stack pointed at Europe. I was amazed at
some of the rare multipliers that answered my CQs. I would ordinary never be
able to crack their pile ups while they were running.

I punched through a surprising number of pile ups. I ran across a few rare
multipliers CQing with no replies that were probably not yet spotted. In a few
cases I got them into my log. Many weak "kilo" stations copied me just
fine, while many stations didn't hear me at all. Often all it took was trying
them again 10 minutes later when whatever QRM they were suffering had abated.

One thing this weekend taught me was the extraordinary generosity of so many
competitive contesters. They'd hold the horde at bay while taking the time to
correctly copy my call and exchange, time they could have used to log 2, 3 or
even 4 other stations. Most gave up sooner but pretty well everyone put in some
effort to pull my signal out of the muck. Thank you!


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