[CQ-Contest] Rare Canadian mults

[Art Boyars]

N7ZG asked "During SS, where do the rare Canadian mults hang out and at what time?"

As a certified SS CW (I say again, CW) Little Pistol, I've thought about that for MANY years.  Back around 1967 I asked W4KFC "How do you get a VE4?"  He replied, "I just point my beam that way and call CQ until one answers."

There is more wisdom in Vic's answer than you might think.  First, a lot of them will, in fact, be S&Ping, so you have to call CQ.  Second, it's sort of obvious, but you have to hit the band that is open to where you want.  However, the "what time" is a key part of the question.  The guys who are really rare are going to be the ones who are making only small or modest efforts.  They will be on when it's convenient for them to be on: Saturday night, Sunday morning, early Sunday evening, and Sunday night.

(Some of them might be on at the beginning of the contest, but it's probably not profitable to actually be looking for them during that high activity time.  However, if you really want the mults, and are willing so sacrifice a few minutes of rate -- which might be recoverable, if you are a Little Pistol -- you might take a quick look at the high bands.  I do not start until about 00Z Saturday night, and some years I have, in fact, begun with a quick tour up and down 15M or 20M to try to get a few mults like WY or MT in the bag.)

Backing up, what's rare for you might not be rare for me (East Coast).  E.g., Is QC (VE2) rare for you?  If I stay alert on 40M, I can expect to run across one (it could also be on 80M, except my antenna is too short; or on 20M if the skip gets short).  OTOH, when I ask my West Coast friends about VE8/VY1 or KL7, they say "Oh, he called me on 40M."  Gee, I have to be constantly checking 20M or 15M when they are open up that way.  And I usually do not find one (so maybe I should be looking more on 40M in the late evening or early AM, eh?).  And it's often Sunday evening before I find a VE4 or 5 or 6 who can hear me, usually on 20M or 15M, even though there is usually at least one big effort from those mults.

Backing up even further, I would wonder why you focused on Canadian mults (unless Hockey Night in Canada takes a lot of guys off for a few hours Saturday evening).  I'll bet NNY is just as difficult as MAR, and some years I've wondered if the Florida Panhandle (NFL) has gone QRT.  The same rationale would apply: be on the band open to those areas, at the time when the modestly active guys will be on.

And always remember to trade your mult hunting for rate as best suits your goals.

Hope this helps.  Even if you do not agree, perhaps it will stimulate your thinking.

73, Art K3KU
One op; one 100W radio; one antenna
"Tune for maximum fun"