[TOEC] RUS DX. SOAB Mixed HP A61QQ (SM6LRR).

[Mats Strandberg]

Hej!

Tack alla skandinaver för QSO och mults!

73 de Mats



Call: A61QQ
Operator(s): RM2D (SM6LRR)
Station: A61QQ

Class: SO Mixed HP
QTH: Khalifa City
Operating Time (hrs): 21

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Countries  Oblasts
----------------------------------------
  160:     0      0       0         0
   80:   210      0      42        48
   40:   361    232      68        61
   20:   176    192      45        49
   15:   294    481      59        58
   10:   162    501      68        53
----------------------------------------
Total:  1203   1406     282       269  Total Score = 9,835,901

Club:

Comments:

An incredible contest weekend from every single aspect!

This year I wanted to work RDXC "from the other side" and was looking
for a suitable QTH several months before the contest. The main criteria for the
selection were:  Outside of Europe but still close (for easy contacts with 5
points), semi-rare call for sufficient but not excessive pile-ups, interesting
country where I had never operated from.

The choice was finally made for UAE (Abu Dhabi) and the station belonging to
Obaid, A61QQ.

Travelled Friday morning before the contest with Etihad Airways from
Moscow-Domodedovo and was met at Abu Dhabi International Airport by Obaid. 10
minutes drive and we were at his home and his excellent shack. Obaid already
had a great Optibeam 13-6 for 10-40 meters, but for multiplier reasons I wanted
to put something up for at least 80 meters CW. A dipole had been made at home
and with the help of Obaid, this was installed slightly below the Optibeam, at
15 meters height and then sloping down on each side following the roof and
ending up at the perimeters of his landplot at the height of 3 meters. I was
not sure how this antenna would work on this relatively low height for 80
meters, but eventually it proved to be a good solution for at least mults as
expected.

Friday evening was spent trying the radio out and being invited by Obaid to an
excellent restuarant. Imagine coming from minus 10 degrees C Moscow and then
ending up in +36 degrees Abu Dhabi, sitting and enjoying a delicious dinner
outside at 10 PM!  Too good to be true.

I had been to UAE before 20 years ago, and also used the excellent air
connections with Emirates for onwards connections to Asia, but I had never
experienced Abu Dhabi before. What a pity! Because this is truly a fantastic
location to visit and I can recommend a visit here to anyone interested in
seeing a perfectly clean, beautiful, interesting and greatly organized city in
the middle of the desert.

Back to the contest then...

The days before the contest had been exposed to the most magnificent sun
activity show of this sunspot cycle. K-values approached 9 only fews days
before the contest and fantastic mid and high latitude Aurora gave excellent
visual shows as far south as Bavaria. The pessimists told me I was crazy to
travel for a contest in such conditions, but I replied that if any location is
good for Russian and European contacts (the bulk of RDXC piles), it would be
A6. I was definitely right...

I can not complain on any band at all. Rates were great with a few hours
exception when I focused on 80 meters. Best hours approached 200 QSOs per hour
and the total result of 2600 QSOs in 24 hours proves that RDXC is one of the
most exciting contests. Operator skills on average excellent and activity from
Russia and Europe very high on both Phone and Code. It was easier to create
higher rates on SSB than CW due to the fact that A6 still is pretty popular on
CW. Almost always 5-10 stations were calling ALWAYS on CW and very few had
heard about off-beat advantages.... Almost all were zero-beating on my
frequency,which reduced rates both because of bad reception from my side, and
also that my reply was covered in QRM when people called 2-3 times...  Guys,
there are few things that annoy me much, namely people sending their call more
than once (2, 3 and in rare occassions even 4 times) + people just using 2
letters when giving a partial callsign. Nothing new, but why people never
learn?  Call ONCE , use FULL call, and try to OFFBEAT with 100-150 Hz on both
sides of the frequency... This would increase rate and the pleasure also for
semi-rare stations.

I was aiming for 10 million points and 2600 QSOs based on half time statistics,
and almost reached the target. QSOs were fine but with only one radio (TS 590
S), it was impossible to both keep rate and hunt for mults. With a SO2R setup,
I would have had same QSO-number, but maybe 10 more oblasts and the same amount
of more countries on most bands. Instead of 10 million points, this could have
been something like 14M instead of 10M...  This is not a bad excuse, but just
stating an abvious fact that no matter how rare a prefix is, one needs to use
SO2R to be really competitive... Congrats to all stations who beat me with
special attention to OH6KZP, Kim at OH0X! Great score for a northern location
and with just one of the two shorened 40 yagis working.

I am extremely happy to have made this small expedition and already mentioned
before, without the help and incredible co-operation and support from Obaid and
his family, this would not have been possible. I have not only had a great
contest weekend, but honestly even more important, I have made a true friend in
a fantastic person like Obaid. He taught me so much about his culture and his
wonderful country, that I decided to bring my family to Abu Dhabi next time to
explore this oasis in the middle of the hot desert!  Thank you Obaid &
family for letting me visit and operate from your station, as well as feel
perfectly at home since the first minute we meet. Looking forward to
reciprocate your hospitality here in Russia!

73 de Mats RM2D (SM6LRR) @ A61QQ