[SCCC] W4EF CQ 160 CW SOHP Assisted

[Michael Tope]

                  CQ160CW Summary Sheet

        Start Date : 2023-01-27

     CallSign Used : W4EF
       Operator(s) : W4EF

Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
Assisted Category : ASSISTED
              Band : ALL
             Power : HIGH
              Mode : CW
  Default Exchange : CA


              Name : Michael Tope
           Address : 11018 Cardamine Dr
    City/State/Zip : Tujunga  CA  91042
           Country : UNITED STATES

      ARRL Section : LAX
         Club/Team : Southern California Contest Club
          Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.9778.0

         Band     QSOs     Pts  StP  DXC  Pt/Q
          1.8     431    1123   55   14   2.6
        Total     431    1123   55   14   2.6


             Score : 77,487
               Rig : Elecraft K-3 and Alpha 87A (operated 100% remote)

        Tx Antenna : 55ft Top-loaded vertical
        Rx Antenna : SAL-30 Shared Apex Loop Array


According to N1MM I operated about 16 hours in total. I stayed in LA, so 
my operation was 100% remote. I was a bit too spent to see it through 
until daylight on Saturday morning (per the log, I knocked off at ~1340 
UTC). If there was a good sunrise opening to Asia I missed it.

I was unassisted throughout most of my time on the air (it's about the 
only time I get to actually tune the bands like an old school DXer). 
However, there was a decent opening from here in Southern California to 
Europe on Saturday night around 0500 UTC that lasted approximately two 
and a half hours. The first station I heard was 9A2AJ. Jersey and 
Lichtenstein were both supposed to be active during the contest. I still 
needed them both on 160, so after I had bumped into several strong 
European signals, I decided to pull up DX Summit and filter on GJ and 
HB0 so as to be only "partially assisted". Over the course of the 
opening, I heard stations from 9A, OM, YU, S5, DL, PA, G, GW, E7, and 
GJ. I was able make QSOs with DL and GJ (and I had a "maybe" QSO with E7).

I was hoping that similar circumstances would materialize for the Sunday 
morning opening to Asia. When I heard K0DI in Florida work a JA station, 
I became even more convinced that we were in for a JA bonanza later in 
the morning. Unfortunately it was a huge bust. It was as if someone 
dropped a huge D-layer cloud over Japan. Strangely enough, several BY 
stations seemed to be unaffected by the poor propagation, in particular, 
BY4SZ who had a massive signal in Southern California. Unfortunately, 
they seemed to be hearing impaired. I think W6YA might have gotten 
through to them, but I certainly didn't. I heard one DU station, but 
they also couldn't hear me.

Heard but not worked (the ones that got away):
9A, BY, DU, EA8, G, GW, HL, OM, PA, S5, and YU.

73, Mike W4EF..........