[SCCC] ARRL DX CW VP9/W6PH SOAB LP

[W6ph at aol.com]

 ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: VP9/W6PH
Operator(s): W6PH
Station:  VP9GE

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Bermuda
Operating Time (hrs): 39.7
 
SO1R

Summary:
Band  QSOs   Mults
-------------------
160:  345     54
80:  626    55
40:   899    56
20: 1090    58
15:  837    50
10:   53     15
-------------------
Total: 3850   288  Total Score =  3,326,400

Comments:

Rig:  IC-7000 CT9.92

Antennas:  160m Inv L (50 feet vertical)
80m Dipole at 25 feet
40m Dipole at 25 feet
20-10m  A4S (A2S) at 25 feet

This is my eleventh year of operating the ARRL DX  Contests from VP9GE.  I'm
still enjoying it.

Lowlights:   Gales all weekend with winds continuously 40 to 50 mph.  One
extreme  gust on Sunday took out electricity and turned the A4S into an A2S 
when
the  reflector half of the boom broke.  I didn't notice any change in  
performance
though.  The commercial power went out for about three  hours.  Ed and I 
pulled a
generator out but I missed an hour of a great  run on 15 meters.

Highlights:  Working many of the people that I  have met over the years.   
For the first time in at least five years I  had several six band contacts. 
N5AW, N4KG, NR5M, K0RF and K0SR come to mind.  
My only 10m SoCal contact was Craig, N6ED.    10 meters  was not very 
strong as compared to the Caribbean, just a few good signals from  Texas and the 
west.  Fifteen meters was much improved from the past few  years.  I didn't 
hit 40 meters until the European sunlight.  There  just wasn't any frequency 
available from 7.0 to 7.1 before then.  But 80  and 160 were great the 
first few hours where I was louder compared to the  Europeans than I would have 
been on 40m.
 
Great signals from W6YI, N6WIN, N6QQ, and K6ZZ that I recall.

I  missed a couple easy multipliers which I couldn't move at the right 
time.   

Analyzing the cost per contact, it comes out to be about 16 cents per  
contact
not including the cost of a QSL.  

I will be back in VP9  for the Phone contest.  Special thanks to Ed, VP9GE, 
for
his great  hospitality and friendship.

73, Kurt,  W6PH