[SECC] Claimed Score, K4TD, CQWW CW - 2005

[Rick Walker]

CQ WW Score Summary Sheet

CallSign Used :     K4TD

Operator(s) :         K4TD

Band :                  ALL

Power :                HIGH

Mode :                 CW

Club/Team :          South East Contest Club

Operating Time:    25.65 Hours

 

Band   QSOs        Pts       Cty        ZN

3.5            49       137         45        13

 7            347       874       118        35

14           394      1090       125        38

21           222        632       102        25

28             23         62         23        13

Total       1035     2795       413      124

 

Score :                                1,500,915

 

 

I didn't get to devote as much time to this effort as I would have liked.
My son got last minute leave from the Army and managed to get home in time
for Thanksgiving.  He had to leave going back early on Saturday morning so I
didn't really get cranked up until around 1100 CST.

 

I don't normally say too much in these emails, but I feel like I need to
make one comment.  I was appalled at the operating habits of some of the
contesters that I listened to in the pileups.  In most of the pileups I
noticed that the operators would repeatedly send their calls over and over
sometimes even while the DX station was transmitting.  That makes it
especially difficult to complete the exchange with a weak DX station.  On
numerous occasions, I was the station selected by the DX station from the
pileup.  The DX would send his response, but I wouldn't know it since I
couldn't hear him for the 599+20dB guys repeatedly sending their calls over
the top of his transmission.  This resulted in the DX having to retransmit
when the QRM finally died down, which really slowed the whole process.  It
reminded me of a study I did in designing a server for a communications
intercept system many years ago using queuing theory.  The throughput of the
queue is clearly hampered when the server doesn't operate with maximum
efficiency, which was the case in these pileups.  I'm surprised that these
operators haven't been able to figure this out yet.  When I quit contesting
in the late 1970s the important thing was to develop a good sense of timing
as to when to send your call in a major pileup.  Also, it was considered
poor operating practice to send your call more than two times in a big
pileup.  It seems that the strategy has changed from good timing to simply
trying to wear the DX station down by repeatedly sending ones own call until
the DX responds.

 

On a completely different note, I spent some time listening to 40 meter
pileups being run by NQ4I (and K4XS).  At times they were working EU
stations that I couldn't even hear on my 4 element yagi at 140 feet.  My
compliments to Rick on his station and to the guys operating it.  I was
beginning to get the feeling that north Alabama might be an RF hole, and now
I think it might be true.  Guess I'm going to have to put up another yagi
and see if a stack on 40 helps me hear any better.

 

73,

 

Rick

K4TD