[SCCC] K0XP SO(A) SB40 LP

[Steve]

                     CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2020

Call: K0XP
Operator(s): K0XP
Station: K0XP

Class: SO(A)SB40 LP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 32:03

Summary:
  Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
   160:
    80:
    40:  279    30       66
    20:
    15:
    10:
------------------------------
Total:  279    30       66  Total Score = 71,040

Club: Southern California Contest Club

Comments:

I'm amazed at what can be heard and worked on 40m from SoCal with 
just 100 watts and a 59-foot slanted wire held up by a pine tree. I 
never dreamed, 60 years ago, I could ever work over 50 countries on 
40m without a beam. Conditions seemed at least as good as last year, 
probably better. With the dirth of DXpeditions, it was tough working 
as many multipliers this year. But the number of participants was up 
due to the pandemic. CR3W thought we had worked; but if we did, I 
never heard him respond which means he did not listen for my 
acknowledgement. PT4C would not reply to my calls so I stopped 
trying. Thanks to all the Europeans who spent so much time pulling me 
out of the noise and QRM.

SCCC Additional Comments:
This was my first full-fledged CQWW effort since 2007, and I had to 
fight to not quit and go to bed sometimes while beating my head 
against the Europeans, CR3W and PT4C CQing in my face. CR3W 
eventually replied by calling me a "duper". Can't fight that; 
fortunately, he wasn't the only game in town. PT4C just flatly 
refused to acknowledge me at all; I don't know what his problem was. 
The pileups that descended upon 9V1YC, FK8IK and several others were 
astonishing in their unruliness; it seemed like every newly-licensed 
W6 was calling all the time, never stopping to listen. I finally got 
FK8IK but 9V1YC just said "stuff this crap" or the equivalent and 
went away, probably to 20, leaving a bunch of us calling into empty 
air for another 3 or 4 minutes.

I should have taken a hint for Saturday's afternoon 
get-back-in-the-chair hours from the fact I worked 7 Euros the first 
hour Friday afternoon. But as it was, I was so tired when I quit at 
1535Z Saturday morning that I slept until 2330Z. My last Q Sunday 
morning was 1547Z but I continued to search the band for another hour 
since E2A and E2ICOM were still strong until 1630Z. Sunday afternoon, 
I woke up around 21Z, had a listen, could only hear DR1D in there, so 
went and did other refreshing things for another hour. When I came 
back at 22Z, other Euros were already starting to peep through. My 
first Q was OK1MV at 2214Z, then 10 more followed, among which were 
FOUR new multipliers.

You cudda knocked me over with a feather when JT1CS came back on my 
first call Sat morning with half a dozen W7s and VE7s calling at the 
same time. JT5DX did the same thing earlier this year during the CQ 
160 test: replied to me on my first call. That just doesn't happen 
all that often with 100 watts and a random wire suspended by a low 
pine tree, and especially not Zone 23. I finally ran across BY3GA 
CQing religiously Sunday morning, but he wasn't responding to west 
coast callers other than a VE7 and WA6TLV; I don't know who that is.
I learned a lot this weekend, especially about my TS-890S, for which 
this was my first full-fledged contest (I used my FT-991A the last 
two years). I need new headphones; the cushions on these are worn, 
dried up and cracked.

And I need K6UYC's old 5-element full-sized yagi up 140 feet from 1973  8-P

SteveH K0XP