[CQ-Contest] K3WWs Excellent Adventure (CQ WW CW notes)
Charles Fulp
k3ww at fast.net
Sun Dec 13 04:37:19 EST 1998
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K3WW Single Op Assisted CQ WW 1998 Contest notes.
I've been reading the contest write-ups, and since this was my best ever, I
thought I would give it a try. DISCLAIMERS: (1) I don't use the note
feature much, if I have a great frequency for a long time and someone jumps
on me and doesn't move, I make a note of it, but I don't look at the notes
after the contest. (2) I operated in the handicapped/assisted class, so
there probably won't be anything useful to serious guys, although if you are
interested in shooting fish in a barrel without getting wet, this might be
for you.
I made my usual preparations, resting up starting Sunday evening. No full
time SS efforts for me the weekend before the CQWWCW. I did put up the
Christmas lights before the contest, breaking my precedent of not doing that
except when the contest does not follow Thanksgiving by 1 day. Our
Christmas Vacation class light show didn't seem to cause too much noise on
the bands, something I used to fear. It also gets my wife in a tolerant
mood.
As always I worked Friday, knocking off a half hour early around 5 PM, ate a
light supper, took a shower and got into my jogging suit. I never wear
street clothes for a 48 hour event.
I started on 40, like I always do. My low 40 meter antenna (Cushcraft 40
2CD at 77 ft) works best early. Knocked off 120 the first hour. I couldn't
find a hole in the bottom 2 kHZ which I prefer, but didn't have to go too
far up the band. The run started to falter a good deal after an hour and I
was lured to grab multipliers on 5 bands (all but 10 meters) during the
second hour. I ended up with 179 QSOs and 117 mults after 2 hours. At that
point I was ahead of last year (and last year was my best ever) Throughout
the night S&P making and using packet spots put me ahead at 1100 z by 60
QSO's and a fair number of mults. I couldn't get a real run, just perhaps
30 on one 80 meter run. I tried 160 for running, but in spite of hearing
great signals, and no noise, I couldn't get answers. I am afraid I failed
to try to generate another 40 meter run. My normal tactic is to hit 40 in
the late afternoon, when the low antenna does well, and when most guys are
running JA, which with my hillbottom QTH, is usually very unproductive.
W2UP was sharing his totals with me when he went to bed he was possibly 200
QSOs ahead of me and had a good multiplier. I didn't sleep and started to
increase my rate around 1100Z with 25 Qs on 20 before moving to 15 at
1142Z. The rate picked up with 36 Qsos in the last 18 minutes of the hour.
1200z things were humming and I tried to keep the rate meter above 200 for
the full hour. At the end of the hour I had 178 QSOS, the next hour I went
to 10 just as the clocked turned to 1300 and had a 188 hour. Usually things
drop back and above 150 rates had been pretty rare for me. I ended up with
a 151 and a 136 on 10 and started to grab the occasional mult on other bands
as things slowed down a little.
One hour dropped to 97 and I went back to 20 where I had 173 151 104 123
106 hours.. This put me well ahead of last year and I saw a shot at 2000 Qs
the first day. I keep picking targets and RATE became the objective for the
rest of the contest. I didn't get back to 40 until 2300, and ended the
first day with 2079 Qs and 620 mults. 4000 Qs seemed like a good target,
but I knew I had to do more at night to get the Q totals up.
Again by 0100 40 became tough to run, and again only short spurts of runs on
80. I was more persistent, and did some band sweeps, which rolled up Qs as
well as some mults. Instead of pushing 80/160 which still seemed great, I
hit 40 around European sunrise. from 5 to 8 Z I had 196 Qsos and 11 mults.
The first night I had 71 Qs and 37 Mults. I did the math, and assuming I
could have added as many QSOS and lost an equivalent number of mults, my
score would have dropped. Apparently at the rates I can run at night,
grabbing extra mults didn't hurt me too much. On the other hand 4000 Qs
would have been neat.
The bands didn't open quite as quickly the second day, and since I neglected
15 a little, I stayed there longer Sunday morning with a 73 hour then a 139
on 15 only then a 128 split between 15 and 10. then I put together a string
where I tried to stay above 100 per hour. I thought I could break 4000 Qs
if I kept above 100/hour. The 1900 to 2000 hour dropped to 76 and I
couldn't get super rates again. 40 was OK but never as fast as some rates
I've had in the past. The second day produced 1757 Qs and 159 new mults for
3836 QSOS and 779 total mults.
I don't recall any serious frequency fights, I stayed in one spot and even
when chasing a few mults here and there, was never quiet for more than 10
seconds. I followed my day time policy of only working EASY mults. I try
to work all the easy stuff on all bands, I don't go into pileups where our
big guns are spending time trying to get through. I can honestly say I was
beaten in every pileup I can recall by K3NZ, W2UP, N3RR, K2NG, N3AD and
several other SOAs, as well as all the Multi Ops in the area. My packet fed
multiplier total gave me more mults and a bigger score than all the US
single op guys posted so far (K1ZM is still lurking out there). So far 3
Single ops have posted bigger Q totals. It is interesting to note that HUGE
Q Totals have been posted from 1,4, and 9 land.
After the contest, I noted a lot of posts mentioned that we had GREAT
conditions, and propagation is just getting good, and things to the effect
of how much better it will be over the next few years. I do my favorite
events as flat out hard as I can, year after year. These conditions were
the best I can remember. 160 through 10 were all very productive, and quiet
here. My station is designed to be loud into Europe, and has serious
deficiencies to the west and north. The great rates into Europe were far
and away more than I expected. As conditions get "better" it is entirely
possible that the advantages I had hearing and being heard into Europe may
not be there for me. Other areas may get the best openings at the heavy
population centers. The record setting year is not always the one with the
best numbers. At sunspot peaks it is pretty common to have a half day of
poor propagation from flares and disturbances and poor going on 160/80.
Getting 48 great hours into areas full of good operators is not a
predictable thing. I'm glad I was in there full bore, I would hate to have
missed this opportunity.
I guess I should go over my operating schedule and diet. I had a jug of ice
water and a large glass with a straw for sipping. I never refilled the
glass. My wife brought me a large (almost double size) mug of real coffee
(I'm decaffeinated the rest of the time) around
11 PM and another around 10 AM. I did feel a little sleepy Saturday morning
while having a 16 QSO hour, but recovered when the rates came. I got up
during that hour, fed my fish, hit the bathroom for the first time and was
back in the chair in under 2 minutes. I ate some toast and jelly with the
late morning coffee, and hit the bathroom between band changes
late in the afternoon. I had a plate of canned pasta around supper time
Saturday, and
another late night coffee. The good rates the second night masked the
usually WEE HOURS of Sunday morning sleepiness...missed it completely. I
also skipped my traditional 5 to 10 minute break to wash my face and shave
and stretch. I do stand up at the rig once in a while. Sunday AM I fed the
fish, hit the bathroom and was back in my seat for the
duration. I had my coffee and jelly toast late Sunday morning and the most
of the coffee went cold... too busy. I consumed far less coffee and water
than usual. Lots of adrenaline when the rates are great.
A final comment on "cut numbers" Europeans are using them more and more.
TRlog even interprets them and logs them as NUMBERS even when you type
letters. I translate them myself, but I am READY for them. If Europeans
continue to provide faster rates for those of us who are ready for whatever
they send us, East coast Single Op scores will be hitting 10 Meg (still
don't know about K1ZM) before long, and the big world Multi Multi records
will be broken before long. Having LOTS of guys working at speeding up
their rates, makes for a lot of excitement. If you want to practice cut
numbers, give the WAE contest a try, you will get plenty of practice.
One last thought, the latest version of PED is very good. It really
disciplines you to get the calls right and to time your responses properly.
I'm ready to do a little practicing now.
Antenna: inverted L max 60 ft 160
1/4 wave vertical 80 shares radials with 160 antenna
40 2CD Cushcraft 40 at 77 ft
TH6 90 ft TH7 60 ft TH6 30 ft.. any combination... best rates all 3 this
year
C3 Force 12 at 50 ft.. all Southern QSOs and many Pacific and Africans
this year
73 Chas K3WW
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BREAKDOWN QSO/mults K3WW CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST Single Unlimited
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM =
TOT =20
0 ..... ..... 120/42 ..... ..... ..... 120/42 =
120/42=20
1 1/2 6/11 30/30 20/28 2/4 . 59/75 =
179/117
2 6/10 16/17 12/14 . . . 34/41 =
213/158
3 10/12 15/18 5/6 1/1 . . 31/37 =
244/195
4 3/2 38/19 5/4 . . . 46/25 =
290/220
5 6/6 21/6 3/3 . . . 30/15 =
320/235
6 5/5 16/7 4/6 3/4 . . 28/22 =
348/257
7 . 6/8 13/2 4/5 . . 23/15 =
371/272
8 ..... 4/3 17/6 9/10 ..... ..... 30/19 =
401/291
9 5/1 4/3 7/7 9/10 . . 25/21 =
426/312
10 . 6/2 7/0 3/4 . . 16/6 =
442/318
11 2/4 3/0 2/3 25/7 36/22 . 68/36 =
510/354
12 . . . . 178/26 . 178/26 =
688/380
13 . . . . 2/0 186/38 188/38 =
876/418
14 . . . . . 151/12 151/12 =
1027/430
15 . . . . 2/2 134/18 136/20 =
1163/450
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... 75/22 22/21 97/43 =
1260/493
17 . . . 164/13 6/8 3/2 173/23 =
1433/516
18 . . . 144/8 3/3 4/6 151/17 =
1584/533
19 . . . 101/11 1/1 2/2 104/14 =
1688/547
20 . . . 113/7 7/9 3/5 123/21 =
1811/568
21 . . . 102/8 3/4 1/1 106/13 =
1917/581
22 . . . 51/10 22/10 3/5 76/25 =
1993/606
23 1/1 1/1 76/2 3/4 5/6 . 86/14 =
2079/620
0 ..... 2/0 64/6 ..... 2/3 ..... 68/9 =
2147/629
1 11/10 20/1 . 4/3 . . 35/14 =
2182/643
2 7/2 29/2 1/1 1/1 . . 38/6 =
2220/649
3 4/4 24/3 1/1 2/3 . . 31/11 =
2251/660
4 9/4 20/0 12/0 1/1 . . 42/5 =
2293/665
5 2/2 . 67/3 . . . 69/5 =
2362/670
6 3/3 . 82/1 . . . 85/4 =
2447/674
7 . . 90/2 . . . 90/2 =
2537/676
8 ..... ..... 65/1 ..... ..... ..... 65/1 =
2602/677
9 1/1 1/2 13/6 13/3 . . 28/12 =
2630/689
10 . 3/3 10/1 4/2 . . 17/6 =
2647/695
11 . 3/6 . 7/1 63/3 . 73/10 =
2720/705
12 . . . . 139/6 . 139/6 =
2859/711
13 . . . . 92/8 36/3 128/11 =
2987/722
14 . . . . . 109/8 109/8 =
3096/730
15 . . . . . 104/5 104/5 =
3200/735
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... 82/2 26/2 108/4 =
3308/739
17 . . . . 109/2 1/2 110/4 =
3418/743
18 . . . 122/1 2/0 . 124/1 =
3542/744
19 . . . 73/4 3/4 . 76/8 =
3618/752
20 . . 21/1 10/5 13/3 4/4 48/13 =
3666/765
21 . 2/3 52/0 . 3/3 2/2 59/8 =
3725/773
22 . . 58/1 . 1/1 . 59/2 =
3784/775
23 1/0 . 15/0 4/2 21/1 11/1 52/4 =
3836/779
DAY1 39/43 136/95 301/125 752/130 342/117 509/110 ..... =
2079/620
DAY2 38/26 104/20 551/24 241/26 530/36 293/27 . =
1757/159
TOT 77/69 240/115 852/149 993/156 872/153 802/137 . =
3836/779
=0CBREAKDOWN in mins/QSO's per hr K3WW CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST =
Single Unlimited
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM =
TOT=20
0 ..... ..... 60/119 ..... ..... ..... 60/119 =
60/119
1 3/20 9/42 28/63 19/63 1/96 . 60/59 =
121/89=20
2 12/30 27/35 21/34 . . . 60/34 =
181/71=20
3 18/34 28/32 12/24 3/20 . . 61/30 =
242/60=20
4 3/52 43/52 12/26 . . . 58/47 =
301/58=20
5 22/17 32/39 6/30 . . . 60/30 =
361/53=20
6 12/25 36/27 5/44 6/29 . . 60/28 =
420/50=20
7 . 20/18 35/22 8/30 . . 62/22 =
483/46=20
8 ..... 7/36 19/55 17/32 ..... ..... 42/43 =
525/46=20
9 6/50 20/12 21/20 16/33 . . 63/24 =
588/43=20
10 . 18/20 18/23 5/35 . . 42/23 =
630/42=20
11 9/14 6/29 3/41 24/63 18/117 . 60/68 =
690/44=20
12 . . . . 60/179 . 60/179 =
750/55=20
13 . . . . 1/118 59/190 60/189 =
810/65=20
14 . . . . . 60/151 60/151 =
869/71=20
15 . . . . 1/200 60/134 60/135 =
930/75=20
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... 41/109 19/69 60/97 =
990/76=20
17 . . . 52/188 3/108 4/48 59/175 =
1049/82=20
18 . . . 58/149 1/196 1/253 60/151 =
1109/86=20
19 . . . 59/104 1/84 1/94 61/103 =
1170/87=20
20 . . . 55/122 3/131 1/220 59/124 =
1229/88=20
21 . . . 58/106 1/152 1/71 60/106 =
1289/89=20
22 . . . 39/79 25/53 3/63 66/69 =
1356/88=20
23 1/84 1/95 40/113 5/36 7/44 . 54/96 =
1409/89=20
0 ..... 7/18 57/68 ..... 1/90 ..... 64/63 =
1474/87=20
1 28/24 23/51 . 4/55 . . 55/38 =
1529/86=20
2 17/25 25/70 1/61 2/24 . . 45/50 =
1575/85=20
3 21/11 39/37 2/30 4/30 . . 66/28 =
1641/82=20
4 21/25 23/53 12/61 1/88 . . 56/45 =
1697/81=20
5 1/129 . 59/68 . . . 60/69 =
1757/81=20
6 2/97 . 56/88 . . . 58/88 =
1815/81=20
7 . . 61/89 . . . 61/89 =
1876/81=20
8 ..... ..... 61/64 ..... ..... ..... 61/64 =
1936/81=20
9 2/27 2/31 23/34 22/35 . . 50/34 =
1986/79=20
10 . 10/17 33/18 15/16 . . 58/17 =
2045/78=20
11 . 3/64 . 21/20 35/107 . 59/74 =
2104/78=20
12 . . . . 60/140 . 60/140 =
2164/79=20
13 . . . . 43/129 17/126 60/128 =
2224/81=20
14 . . . . . 60/109 60/109 =
2284/81=20
15 . . . . . 60/104 60/104 =
2344/82=20
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... 40/123 20/79 60/108 =
2404/83=20
17 . . . . 60/110 1/97 60/110 =
2464/83=20
18 . . . 57/129 3/39 . 60/124 =
2524/84=20
19 . . . 56/79 5/35 . 61/75 =
2584/84=20
20 . . 23/54 12/52 21/37 6/41 62/47 =
2646/83=20
21 . 3/46 46/68 . 5/37 4/28 58/61 =
2704/83=20
22 . . 61/57 . 2/39 . 62/57 =
2766/82=20
23 1/92 . 19/47 7/34 16/79 14/47 57/55 =
2823/82=20
DAY1 1.4/27 4.1/33 4.7/64 7.1/106 2.7/126 3.5/147 ..... =
23.5/89=20
DAY2 1.5/25 2.2/46 8.5/64 3.4/72 4.8/109 3.0/97 . =
23.6/75=20
TOT 3.0/26 6.4/38 13.2/64 10.4/95 7.6/115 6.5/123 . =
47.0/82 =0C
BREAKDOWN in kilo-points by hr K3WW CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST Single =
Unlimited
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM =
TOT=20
0 ..... ..... 429 ..... ..... ..... 429 =
429 =20
1 18 96 222 234 36 . 606 =
1035 =20
2 84 124 113 . . . 321 =
1356 =20
3 93 145 45 7 . . 290 =
1646 =20
4 20 160 27 . . . 207 =
1854 =20
5 45 57 20 . . . 122 =
1976 =20
6 44 56 49 31 . . 180 =
2156 =20
7 . 68 26 38 . . 133 =
2288 =20
8 ..... 27 64 72 ..... ..... 163 =
2451 =20
9 10 20 69 77 . . 176 =
2628 =20
10 . 21 7 37 . . 66 =
2693 =20
11 36 2 25 74 188 . 324 =
3017 =20
12 . . . . 385 . 385 =
3402 =20
13 . . . . 2 464 466 =
3868 =20
14 . . . . . 260 260 =
4128 =20
15 . . . . 13 282 295 =
4423 =20
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... 237 161 398 =
4821 =20
17 . . . 264 61 14 340 =
5161 =20
18 . . . 229 20 49 298 =
5459 =20
19 . . . 195 7 19 220 =
5679 =20
20 . . . 172 69 42 283 =
5962 =20
21 . . . 172 31 7 210 =
6172 =20
22 . . . 137 108 42 287 =
6459 =20
23 6 7 98 31 44 . 186 =
6645 =20
0 ..... 2 112 ..... 24 ..... 139 =
6783 =20
1 74 28 . 27 . . 129 =
6912 =20
2 19 45 7 6 . . 77 =
6989 =20
3 32 45 6 25 . . 108 =
7097 =20
4 37 23 14 7 . . 81 =
7178 =20
5 14 . 90 . . . 104 =
7281 =20
6 20 . 98 . . . 118 =
7399 =20
7 . . 119 . . . 119 =
7519 =20
8 ..... ..... 80 ..... ..... ..... 80 =
7599 =20
9 6 18 60 38 . . 122 =
7721 =20
10 . 25 17 16 . . 58 =
7778 =20
11 . 54 . 13 90 . 157 =
7936 =20
12 . . . . 206 . 206 =
8142 =20
13 . . . . 158 64 222 =
8364 =20
14 . . . . . 170 170 =
8534 =20
15 . . . . . 149 149 =
8683 =20
16 ..... ..... ..... ..... 106 41 147 =
8830 =20
17 . . . . 139 18 157 =
8987 =20
18 . . . 145 2 . 147 =
9134 =20
19 . . . 113 31 . 144 =
9278 =20
20 . . 29 39 36 27 130 =
9408 =20
21 . 25 60 . 20 14 118 =
9526 =20
22 . . 70 . 7 . 77 =
9603 =20
23 1 . 16 16 29 18 80 =
9683 =20
DAY1 357 783 1195 1770 1201 1340 ..... =
6645 =20
DAY2 202 264 779 444 849 501 . =
3039 =20
TOT 559 1047 1974 2213 2050 1841 . =
9683 =0C
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