[3830] ARRLDX SSB K4HQK SOAB HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2023

Call: K4HQK
Operator(s): K4HQK
Station: K4HQK

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Alexandria, VA
Operating Time (hrs): 13

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:           
   40:   48    26
   20:   22    13
   15:   28    19
   10:  109    45
-------------------
Total:  207   103  Total Score = 63,963

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

>From the many PVRC postings and my own experience, it’s clear the star of this
contest was the 10 meter band. Once I gave 10m a try, I could not bring myself
to put much effort in the other bands. 

Of the 207 QSOs made from my modest station*, 11% were made on 20m, 14% on 15m,
23% on 40m, but fully 53% on 10m. Thanks to Old Sol, we’re all back in love
with 10 meters.

And yet that doesn’t mean I could work anything I heard on that band—or
other bands, for that matter. The less common a DX entity, the taller the pileup
(directed to that frequency en masse by spotting?). I could not begin to
penetrate them, especially on the low end of 40m, failing to reach 5Z4VJ, P3C,
4U1A, CN8SG and C37N. But with patience I did nab V55Y, TF3T, V31XX, ZM4T,
JH7MQD, CU2AA, Z35T, AL7LO, VP9I, C6ANM, HB0A, KH7M, CQ3A, CU2AF, IS0BSR, EA8TR,
a variety of Caribbean stations (including surprise appearances by HH2AA and
PJ7AA  Sunday afternoon), and several brave Ukrainians. 

Annoyances: Stations that go on and on QRZing without giving their ID, wasting
my time; the inability of many ops to comprehend the “Q” in my call letters
when spoken phonetically as “Quebec;” stations with prerecorded CQ messages
in which one letter of the call is incomprehensible no matter how often you
listen to it; and operators who begin CQing immediately after your exchange
without confirming reception.

Despite exhaustion from hollering hour after hour, one benefit to this CW
operator was being recognized by someone who knew me, usually a PVRC member.
That was a pleasant difference from CW contests. My thanks to all of them.

73,

John Fuller
K4HQK
Alexandria, Virginia

*Operation was 100% S&P via an IC-7410, ALS-600 amp (500w except on 10m,
where a high SWR drove me down to 100w on that band); dipoles, Cushcraft R6000
vertical.


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