[Fourlanders] W4ZST EME contest results

[Bob Lear]

Finally got all the logs together and correct and submitted tonight.  
Brian NX9O was with me for the first weekend when we had 38 total Q's.  
We stayed up pretty much all night for both nights the first weekend and 
slept during the day.  I ended up doing the second weekend by myself as 
Brian was unavailable.  That was a mistake as it's just too difficult 
for me with the three stations. I should have looked for someone else to 
come and help out.  Just wasn't thinking straight.  I was on from the 
beginning of the contest second weekend on Friday night 7 PM until 2 AM 
Saturday morning when I just couldn't do anymore and on Saturday from MR 
around 5Pm until 4 AM on Sunday morning.  There was too short a window 
on Sunday afternoon to get back on for that as the moon would have been 
low in the west and I can't get that low there.  I was really wasted at 
3 AM Sunday morning.  I had waited for a JA station that wanted to work 
me as his MR wasn't until around 4 AM my time but I did easily make that 
Q and he was happy for an initial with me.   Then I crashed.  Took a day 
or two to recover for me.

Score last year was 115k and this time 326k so quite an improvement.  
I'm pretty happy with the results and hope to get another certificate 
this year.  All digital JT65b except for one Q using Q65-60a with W7GJ 
in Montana on 2m.  That may have been a new state on 2m for me.

144 MHz        38 Q's        13 states        14 countries             
             one Q to South America

222 MHz         5 Q's         5 states                                 
     Marshall had 6 Q's.  He sneaked one in when I wasn't paying 
attention or I would have worked that one too

432 MHz         26 Q's        7 states         8 countries        1 
province         JA and VK only Pacific countries.  Tried with Thailand 
but he lost moon before we completed

Total                69 Q's        25 states        22 countries      1 
province        for 6900 points and 48 multipliers.   331,200 according 
to ARRL raw score

Conditions were strange both weekends.  Seems that we had polarity 
lockout for long periods that we didn't make any Q's.   I copied many 
with good traces and decodes and tried calling with no luck. Both on 144 
and 432.  Others around the world were complaining on the chat pages 
also about the conditions.  I only had to touch up tracking a time or 
two.  Good thing since many times total cloud cover so I couldn't check 
visually.  Thank goodness for the big guns.  No problems with the 
stations this time but did have to reboot WSJTx and the computers more 
than once.  And had to change some settings on 222 station.  I was still 
running V2.4.2 but it appeared folks were having even more problems with 
the 2.5 releases.   They say they've fixed the problems so I'm going to 
upgrade all to 2.5.3 soon as that's the latest.

Making the cabrillo file was a PITA as usual as no logging program 
supports the EME contest.  Much gymnastics with spreadsheets and 
converting to text but sent in and accepted.  Wish I had written down 
what I did last year as it seemed easier than this time.  Much 
consternation around the EME community about this problem.  It's only 
been 3 years since they allowed computer log submissions. Before that it 
was always on paper and some complained about that!

I had gone to get take out for Brian and I the first night of the first 
weekend and when I was driving home I thought that maybe I could hear 
him trying to make a 144 QSO as he had mentioned planning to work HB9Q 
first. So I was listening on the radio in the truck on 144.111 and heard 
good JT65 tones when I was about halfway between Cleveland and Dahlonega 
right at the beginning of the contest. Well, when I got back to the 
shack, Brian said he hadn't yet transmitted on 2m!!  I still haven't 
figured out who I heard. Surely not HB9Q off the moon with a mobile whip 
although he would be a candidate.  I contacted him and he said he wasn't 
TXing either at that time.  I've asked a couple of other fairly close 
stations that I thought it might have been but no luck so far.  I do 
want to know who it was.  And no, it wasn't Ray!  He was only on 222 for 
the contest and BTW, he made 222 EME to Hawaii last week for his 222 WAS 
after 30 years.  A couple of other guys around the country also made 
their 50th state for WAS recently and one was HI and the other was MS.  
Some happy 222 EME ops around.  Only 13 WAS certificates issued for 222 
so far.  Can't do it without EME.  I don't expect to make it though.

Haven't gotten as far as figuring out how many new states and countries 
I got but working on that.  I'll upload to lotw also and see what 
changes there.

No fancy food this time but the Mexican food from Cafe Cancun in 
Cleveland was great and took care of Brian and I for two nights. Judy 
fed me well the second weekend.

73, Bob