[UK-CONTEST] WPX from F/G3VQO/P

[Les Allwood]

Callsign      : F/G3VQO/P

Claimed Score : 119402 

 

                160m  80m  40m  20m  15m  10m  Total

 

    Valid QSOs:    0    0   43  177  104    6   330

   Total Ctrys:    0    0   30  136   60    1   227

  Total Points:    0    0  103  209  202   12   526

 

 

TX/RX      : FT847

Power o/p  : 50 watts

Antennas   : mobile whip

 

This was my first experience of being a "rare" multiplier, and it was fun. I went through the Tunnel on the 06:51 shuttle on the Saturday morning and returned on the 16:21 on Sunday, to be home for Sunday dinner! Part of the exercise was to activate some windmills for the French DMF award on SSB, so I operated from six different locations around the Calais/Boulogne/Le Touquet area. The resultant driving, SSB operation, sleeping and an excellent dinner rather reduced my contest operating time to ten hours, so the score was quite rewarding.

 

I was using an FT847 with a potential 100 watts, but I deliberately limited power to 50 watts for battery-life considerations. The antennas were single-band mobile whips with a mag-mount on the car roof. I haven't yet managed to radiate a decent signal on 80m, and I don't even try 160m, so I was limited to four bands.

 

The weather was less-than-ideal with near gale force winds and prolonged heavy showers, thus band changing was limited to the drier moments in order to replace the whip without getting drenched.

 

I operated S&P until Sunday morning when I switched to calling CQ. I was pleasantly surprised to generate some mini pile-ups and several times managed a "last 10" rate of 70+ (good by my standards).

 

My callsign of F/G3VQO/P was a bit of a handful, so I was glad of the ETM9 memory keyer to ensure perfect sending each time. Never-the-less, it did cause major problems for some stations, whilst others got it first time. I'm sure that I'll lose a lot of points when checking is completed because, in spite of my best efforts, some stations are convinced they worked G3VQO/P, F3VQO/P or other combinations.

 

One interesting technique I experienced three times, from three different 9A stations, whilst working my way up the band with S&P. Having completed a QSO and starting to tune HF, I heard my callsign being sent just HF - neat trick to catch the multiplier!

 

Overall it was a fun experience, and I'd love to try a future WPX with a rare prefix, but next time maybe from a more competitive station set-up on all six bands.

 

Best moments? Breaking the pile-up for A61AJ on 40m, and for R1MVF on 20m. Now to produce all those QSLs!!

 

73 de Les, G3VQO



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