[UK-CONTEST] CQWWCW the G3LZQ Saga

[John Dunnington]

                             2003 CQ World-Wide DX Contest

CALL: G3LZQ     MODE: CW        LOCATION: Gilberdyke East Yorkshire
CLASS:          Single Operator  High Power Single transmitter
Operating Time  24Hrs.

        QSOs    QSO points      Zones   Countries       Multipliers
Score
160m:    183    227      9       50
80m:     207    324     15       60
40m:     201    386     18       61
20m:     210    414     21       61
15m:     353    826     21       67
10m:     351    933     17       56
Totals: 1505    3110    101     355     456          1,418,160

Equipment: FT1000MP + 87A after burner. 260Meg Pentium-2 Running Writelog.
Antenna(s): Cushcraft X-7 (45ft),  90ft Vertical (160m), 80m
4-Square(80/40).

                   Missed my usual alternative options and had no chance to
get the Pennants up
                   as had been laid low for almost 2-weeks with the current
Flu Virus Bug.
                   Had things worked out medically Andy G3AB had sort of
planned an 80m assault
                   Real disaster had it happened given the storm damage. I
can at least smile and
                   think what might have been as only missed a couple of
CQWWCW since 1957.
                   Just another year onward to next year.

Remarks:-
Tough as I lost 10ft + top loading from 2-80m Verticals Saturday evening in
the worst wind storm
so far this year the 80m dipole had gone open in last weeks storm. This was
a real South East
blow our worst direction felt like back door was about to take off. For
those who know my location
we found the plastic garden wheelbarrow (normally shelters by the garage) at
the far end of the
paddock having scaled 2-4ft three rail fences and 450ft from it's home.

Went to bed at midnight but having seen Bob's list from 160m wish I had
stayed the course.
PY,LU,5U all new AT Countries missed, and  include TF that would have been
101 for the current
year. HC8N was 579 here Sat am at 03z but no joy as QRL running USA.

Based my decision to rest on very poor conditions on Friday night. On Sunday
PM fog reduced
visibility to 50 yards and increased QRN to S9+ 80/160m through to the end
of contest. Waste
of time reconnecting 4-sq as a phased pair. As the song says what a
difference a day makes.
It did prove the worth of my new toy "Timewave DSP-599zx" Sunday evening on
80/160m as even
the strongest signals were hard without the DSP. Could say in old telegraphy
code signals were
QSD if my memory serves me well. Signals mutilated or something like that?

Most stupid event...falling asleep at 05z Saturday morning. Must remember
not to work the day
before a contest and get some rest before hand. Then I repeated the event at
20z so concluded
getting too old for this sort of thing or was it the medication..

Used Writelog for only the second time in anger and worked a treat.

Nice to read so many UK stories keep em coming..

73 John