[CQ-Contest] Very basic question on 80M for upcoming CQWW SSB

[Franki ON5ZO]

 > So where do I want to be to be able to work EU, VK, JA, etc,
 > simplex and not be in the big boy's domain?
 > Thanks,  N0UU

I did a casual SB80 (or 75 if you will) last year. I am not a big gun and was surprised to log 1500 contacts from 82 countries and only 15 zones with 1200W into a copper wire 
sloping down from my tower with two elevated radials (tuned and cut for CW though) about 3m above ground. I used a small loop and my 40m dipole at 21m AGL for RX when needed. These 
data just as a reference.
The 2:1 SWR bandwith of the antenna is fairly wide which might not be good news from the Efficiency Dept. but hey: it works.

I mostly ran (i.e. called CQ) and worked most Americans on 3662. My runs typically were between 3640 and 3695. Some contacts as low as 3610 and of course when tuning the band a few 
of the Usual Suspects in split mode who were sending above 3800 and listening low (36xx).

I worked mostly EU of course but still: 179 USA stations, 22 VE's and many Central America and Caribbean double mults, most of them called me (hurrah!) between 3640 and 3695.

I do remember working split a couple of times for short periods, listening above 3800 but I don't find a way to extrapolate that from my log.

Last year I did not work any JA nor VK/ZL on 80. I have done so before with this antenna but a) only in CW and b) mostly during the low band prime time years 2009-2010. Propagation 
and local QRN are a key factor too.

Of course all this is seen from a EU point of view but I don't see why centering the antenna around 3700 or a tad lower would be a bad deal? That would cover 3660-3740 or a bit lower.

I don't know what the ratio EU/JA would be on 80 from your side. For JA a bit higher in the band may be better but from here, USA is easy and plenty active while JA is quite a bit 
harder.
I was looking for a JA band plan and came across this link:
http://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/contest/80m.php

I hope this helps.
73 and GL in the contest.

Franki ON5ZO / OQ5M