[RSM] CQWW 2017 VE4VT recap - Long

Tue Oct 31 23:16:56 EDT 2017

Thanks for the tips.

A few more to add to the list:

Check 40 around 4-5 P.M.  I find I can work EU stations for an hour or
two.  After that, I tend to loose them until much later.

For 10 meters, I read a story where the sun needs to warm things up, so I
start checking around lunch, and things get better later in the afternoon.
It almost seems like we get the odd opening, then things disappear again
<sigh>

I was at VE3JM, and finding a spot to run was hard.  I typically settled
just above 7.200.  Problem being - the top end of 40 in EU is 7.2
Later on at night, I sat down after VE3JM was running on 40, and he was
running EU <big smile>.  He was around 7149.  The trick?  Using his EU
beverage for RX with the yagi for TX.
I know - not a trick everyone can use, but if you can muster a RX antenna
to use on 40 (helps cut down on QRM) and can find a hole, it is surprising
how many Q's you can add to your log.

Tom - VE3CX

On Mon, Oct 30, 2017 at 5:50 PM, Ed <ed_richardson at shaw.ca> wrote:

> I look forward to this contest every year. However this year murphy seems
> to
> have struck at least three times.
>
> Propagation seemed to improve as the weekend went along. I saw a weak
> opening to Europe on 15m Saturday morning and Sunday morning it was much
> better and longer.
>
>
>
> Saturday there was a short and weak opening to Argentina and Chile on 10m.
> Sunday, the opening was much stronger and included Brazil and a couple weak
> Carribean stations.
>
>
>
> This contest is about balancing mults (zones and Countries) with rate. When
> you get a chance to run Europe, take it. My attempts this weekend didn't
> work well. Every other Canadian was stacked below 14.150 and the guys out
> east got there first. You would start rung only to discover there was
> someone on the same frequency already there. DX stations were calling the
> "hidden" station.
>
>
>
> I always advocate a complete contest  check of all the stations operating
> features several day before the event. I completed my check last Tuesday
> and
> Thursday. So I was surprised that when I flipped to 80m, I was greeted with
> total silence. No antenna. I ended up spending an hour Saturday afternoon
> up
> on the tower  replacing the jumper from the antenna switch to the feedpoint
> of the 160/80m sloper.
>
>
>
> Murphy had actually struck earlier in the week when I was setting up my
> winter vertical. I install a SteepIR vertical in the backyard and run 40+
> radials all around it. Went through all the effort only to discover that
> the
> antenna didn't tune. I suspect that the spindle that holds the copper tape
> has broken.
>
>
>
> The third Murphy event occurred with three hours to go Sunday afternoon.
> Suddenly the lights started to flicker and the flourecent tube burnt out
> plunging the shack into darkness. So right in the middle of a 200W/hr run,
> I
> was left typing by the monitors glow.
>
>
>
> So my lessons learned:
>
> 1.       Check 10m from time to time. An SDR and spectrum scope is handy
> for
> doing this quickly
>
> 2.       Just because the sun has come up and all the world east of you is
> on 20 (or 15m) don't forget to check 40m. I picked up some real good mults
> 2
> hours after local sunrise.
>
> 3.       Point north around noon local time. There is often some strong
> Asian stations to be heard. This year it was a VU, and AH0 that were the
> surprises.
>
> 4.       Check 40m about 2 hours before sunset. Often you will find good
> conditions to EU and less competition from other NA stations
>
> 5.       Work as many Zone 7,8,9,10 stations on 20m in the morning as you
> can find. Just a 20m is opening, these zones start to pop open. Most US
> stations are aimed at Europe .Less competition and good conditions. The
> other reason you want to work thjem early is that when Europe closes in the
> afternoon, all of NA is searching for new signals. All the cluster shooters
> will be creating very deep pileups for these stations.
>
> 6.       Just before the European sunrise, watch for a bump in propagation
> on 40/80m. Signals suddenly appear several dB stronger and many are now
> workable.
>
> 7.       Just because the European signals are 20/9, don't give up when
> they
> CQ endlessly in your face. Apparently QRM is high in Europe on 40m.
>
> 8.       and most importantly, no matter how good the band is, never, ever,
> ever, start calling CQ on a frequency between K3LR and W3LPL. These power
> houses, despite being fierce competitors, don't like anyone else muscling
> in
> on their frequencies. They seem to separate themselves with a nice guard
> band that gives them a QRM free environment.  A SSB signal should be
> between
> 2.8-3.0 kHz wide.. So when these two stations are 5.6 kHz apart. There
> should be room for one station in between them. Apparently not!. How upset
> they were when they turned their beams from Europe to point at Asia and
> little old me has his beam pointed at the North East USA. Despite all 3 of
> us coexisting for over an hour, an antenna change on their part now made me
> the enemy. Their coordinated QSY's slowly moved their frequencies  together
> destroying my run. By the time I threw in the towel, These two stations
> were
> now 3.4 kHz apart. I think I can still hear them laughing.
>
>
>
> Personally this was my worst performance in this contest since 2009.
> Without
> 80m Friday night, I slept 3 hours. Saturday night after European sunrise, I
> couldn't find anyone to work so slept another 3 hours. With the repair of
> the antennas, and the light, plus 20 minutes watching the end of the bomber
> game (what a waste!), I was well rested by the end of the contest.  As we
> do
> a tailspin on propagation in this sunspot cycle, the next couple of years
> will be a challenge as 20m becomes crowded and 80/40 will become more
> important.
>
>
>
> On the positive side, worked all 40 zones, just not on a single band. Also
> got a single band DXCC with 101 countries on 20m. Worked 114 unique DXCC
> which is not great for this contest.
>
> Hope everyone had fun and continued to learn.
>
>
>
> The rest of this is just boring statistics so feel free to stop reading and
> hit  Delete now.
>
>
>
> Ed
>
>
>
>   Band    QSOs     Pts   ZN  Cty  Pt/Q
>
>    1.8       8      15    5    4   1.9
>
>    3.5      94     182   10   14   1.9
>
>      7     287     622   23   56   2.2
>
>     14     953    2120   31  101   2.2
>
>     21     389     980   24   82   2.5
>
>     28      35     100    8   10   2.9
>
> Total    1766    4019  101  267   2.3
>
> Score: 1,478,992
>
> 1 Mult = 4.8 Q's
>
>
>
> Maximum run rates
>
> 6.0 per minute  (1 minute(s)), 360 per minute
>
> 4.5 per minute  (10 minute(s)), 270 per 10 minutes
>
> 3.6 per minute  (60 minute(s)), 218 per hour
>
>
>
>
> Zone
>
> 1.8
>
> 3.5
>
> 7
>
> 14
>
> 21
>
> 28
>
> Tot
>
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
>
> 2
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
>
> 3
>
> 1
>
> 18
>
> 28
>
> 93
>
> 67
>
> 0
>
> 207
>
>
> 4
>
> 4
>
> 23
>
> 94
>
> 191
>
> 36
>
> 1
>
> 349
>
>
> 5
>
> 1
>
> 38
>
> 78
>
> 365
>
> 35
>
> 0
>
> 517
>
>
> 6
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 1
>
> 4
>
> 0
>
> 7
>
>
> 7
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 8
>
> 9
>
> 1
>
> 19
>
>
> 8
>
> 1
>
> 3
>
> 19
>
> 18
>
> 22
>
> 1
>
> 64
>
>
> 9
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 13
>
> 18
>
> 22
>
> 1
>
> 56
>
>
> 10
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 2
>
> 2
>
> 3
>
> 9
>
>
> 11
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 7
>
> 17
>
> 31
>
> 7
>
> 62
>
>
> 12
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 5
>
> 9
>
> 5
>
> 21
>
>
> 13
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 3
>
> 12
>
> 22
>
> 16
>
> 53
>
>
> 14
>
> 0
>
> 3
>
> 7
>
> 82
>
> 58
>
> 0
>
> 150
>
>
> 15
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 11
>
> 80
>
> 30
>
> 0
>
> 121
>
>
> 16
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
> 20
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 24
>
>
> 18
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
>
> 19
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
>
> 20
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 8
>
> 6
>
> 0
>
> 14
>
>
> 21
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
>
> 22
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
>
> 23
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
>
> 24
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
>
> 25
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 5
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 8
>
>
> 26
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
>
> 27
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
> 3
>
> 0
>
> 5
>
>
> 28
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
>
> 30
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
> 0
>
> 5
>
>
> 31
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 3
>
> 4
>
> 8
>
> 0
>
> 16
>
>
> 32
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 3
>
> 0
>
> 4
>
>
> 33
>
> 0
>
> 5
>
> 5
>
> 5
>
> 11
>
> 0
>
> 26
>
>
> 35
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
>
> 38
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 3
>
> 0
>
> 3
>
>
> 39
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 2
>
>
> 40
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> 0
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
>
> Total
>
> 8
>
> 94
>
> 287
>
> 953
>
> 389
>
> 35
>
> 1766
>
>
>
>
> CountryPrefix
>
> Tot
>
>
> 4L
>
> 1
>
>
> 4U1V
>
> 1
>
>
> 5B
>
> 2
>
>
> 6Y
>
> 7
>
>
> 8P
>
> 5
>
>
> 8R
>
> 1
>
>
> 9A
>
> 3
>
>
> 9Y
>
> 5
>
>
> A3
>
> 1
>
>
> A4
>
> 1
>
>
> A6
>
> 1
>
>
> A7
>
> 1
>
>
> C6
>
> 3
>
>
> CE
>
> 21
>
>
> CE9
>
> 2
>
>
> CM
>
> 11
>
>
> CN
>
> 11
>
>
> CT
>
> 6
>
>
> CT3
>
> 5
>
>
> CU
>
> 4
>
>
> CX
>
> 7
>
>
> D4
>
> 2
>
>
> DL
>
> 18
>
>
> E7
>
> 1
>
>
> EA
>
> 26
>
>
> EA8
>
> 8
>
>
> EA9
>
> 2
>
>
> EI
>
> 8
>
>
> ER
>
> 2
>
>
> ES
>
> 3
>
>
> EU
>
> 4
>
>
> F
>
> 26
>
>
> FM
>
> 3
>
>
> FY
>
> 4
>
>
> G
>
> 17
>
>
> GD
>
> 1
>
>
> GI
>
> 2
>
>
> GJ
>
> 2
>
>
> GM
>
> 4
>
>
> GW
>
> 1
>
>
> HA
>
> 5
>
>
> HB
>
> 4
>
>
> HB0
>
> 1
>
>
> HC
>
> 5
>
>
> HI
>
> 7
>
>
> HK
>
> 11
>
>
> HP
>
> 1
>
>
> HR
>
> 3
>
>
> HS
>
> 1
>
>
> I
>
> 39
>
>
> IT9
>
> 7
>
>
> J6
>
> 2
>
>
> J8
>
> 1
>
>
> JA
>
> 8
>
>
> JT
>
> 1
>
>
> K
>
> 1021
>
>
> KH0
>
> 3
>
>
> KH2
>
> 2
>
>
> KH6
>
> 16
>
>
> KL
>
> 3
>
>
> KP2
>
> 3
>
>
> KP4
>
> 6
>
>
> LA
>
> 4
>
>
> LU
>
> 46
>
>
> LX
>
> 2
>
>
> LY
>
> 4
>
>
> LZ
>
> 6
>
>
> OA
>
> 4
>
>
> OE
>
> 1
>
>
> OH
>
> 10
>
>
> OH0
>
> 2
>
>
> OK
>
> 5
>
>
> OM
>
> 4
>
>
> ON
>
> 8
>
>
> OZ
>
> 2
>
>
> P2
>
> 1
>
>
> P4
>
> 8
>
>
> PA
>
> 4
>
>
> PJ2
>
> 3
>
>
> PJ4
>
> 10
>
>
> PY
>
> 60
>
>
> PZ
>
> 3
>
>
> S5
>
> 15
>
>
> SM
>
> 10
>
>
> SP
>
> 3
>
>
> SV
>
> 3
>
>
> T7
>
> 1
>
>
> TA
>
> 1
>
>
> TF
>
> 1
>
>
> TG
>
> 3
>
>
> TI
>
> 8
>
>
> TK
>
> 2
>
>
> UA
>
> 13
>
>
> UA2
>
> 3
>
>
> UA9
>
> 3
>
>
> UR
>
> 5
>
>
> V2
>
> 3
>
>
> V3
>
> 4
>
>
> VE
>
> 54
>
>
> VK
>
> 5
>
>
> VP2M
>
> 3
>
>
> VP5
>
> 2
>
>
> VP9
>
> 3
>
>
> VR
>
> 1
>
>
> VU
>
> 2
>
>
> XE
>
> 7
>
>
> YL
>
> 5
>
>
> YO
>
> 2
>
>
> YU
>
> 7
>
>
> YV
>
> 11
>
>
> ZF
>
> 8
>
>
> ZL
>
> 3
>
>
> ZP
>
> 2
>
>
> ZS
>
> 3
>
>
> Total
>
> 1766
>
>
>
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