[SCCC] Random thoughts on CQWW SSB

[W6ph at aol.com]

I don't think that conditions were as good this year as last year.   Many 
years ago a respected DXer told me that band conditions move up one octave  
at the sunspot peak.  We witnessed this during the weekend.  80m  conditions 
were similar to the 160m propagation of recent years and 40m was  similar to 
80m.  There were very few 160m signals.  The only DX that I  heard was 
HK1NA and PJ2T (both worked) even though I checked the band  often.  The 80m 
signals were weak and reminded me of 160m.  Every  European contact on 40m was 
difficult with a lot of repeats to get through  (40-2CD at 60 feet).  I 
concentrated more time on 10m on Saturday with the  thought that 10m could be 
tougher on Sunday.  I believe this was the case  as I detected more 
atmospheric noise on Sunday.  Generally 10m to Europe  was done by 11 am except for 
the southern tier (I and EA).  No zone 16  which wasn't a surprise.  15m was a 
money band for me where I have my best  antenna (5 el 23 ft boom at 55 
feet) where I made 40 per cent of my contacts  (Thank you Asia) with 34 zones 
and 102 countries (non-assisted).  Despite  this I increased my score this 
year by 15 per cent with a little less chair time  (38 hours).
 
The big question at the end is why does one enjoy this so much at age  70?  
More later.
 
                                       73, Kurt, W6PH