[UK-CONTEST] WPX SSB G6PZ M/S HP

[Simon Pearson]

Call: G6PZ
Operator(s): G6PZ M0BJL M0CLW M3CVN G4OJH
Station: G6PZ

Class: M/S HP
QTH: Somerset
Operating Time (hrs): 48

Summary:
  Band  QSOs
------------
   160:  136
    80:  312
    40:  627
    20: 1494
    15:  291
    10:   48
------------
Total: 2908  Prefixes = 1033  Total Score = 7,309,508

Great contest, as always, although conditions from here in G were 
not so good. 15m was very poor, rending only 291 QSOs.

15m on Saturday was frustrating, with very few Far Eastern stations 
heard and only a few dozen North Americans worming their way into 
the log. On Sunday, conditions were better, with a nice opening to 
the Far East in the morning, but unfortunately many could not hear 
the G6PZ callsign. Not quite sure why, as many where S7+ - either 
lack of receiver, or maybe eastern Europeans creating a 'wall' 
between us and the Far East. It was most frustrating! Again, a 
serious lack of North Americans worked on 15m, most were South 
Americans and Caribbean stations.

Having said that, there was an unusual opening on 10m some two hours 
after sunset on Sunday evening - just by chance I decided to check 
10m on the multiplier station, jokingly saying 'there may be some 
signals up here!', but in actual fact the band was literally full of 
South American and Caribbean stations! The loudest signal was FY5KE, 
a true +20dB S-Meter reading. Most odd, but very exciting! The run 
operator went to 10m, worked a few stations S&P, and decided to call 
CQ - quite a few South Americans worked, most of which were new 
multipliers! Excellent stuff, so close to the end of the contest.

Overnight LF runs were quite slow at times, with the worst hour 
generating only 40 QSOs. Ugghhh. 160m was certainly more active than 
previous years and a couple of North Americans in the log. 80m was 
fun on Saturday night, with a number of UA9's calling in as well as 
North Americans and the Caribbean, all at the same time - but one 
QSO which really stood out was P43E, who was really booming through! 
Congrats, Emily. We hope to improve our LF situation yet further by 
erecting a Titanex vertical (V160HD) - hopefully we can get it in 
the air before WPX CW. We also currently have no RX antennas on LF, 
which can make things quite tricky at times, but that too will soon 
be rectified. The station is undergoing constant improvements.

Our 'money band' was definitely 20m, with some really exciting runs 
into North America. West coast booming through on Sunday afternoon! 
The rate meter hit 240/hr, which, incidentally, was the best rate 
for the entire contest.

The only frequency fight we experienced in this contest was with a 
DL station, who decided to come on our QRG and start CQing... When 
he realised that he was getting no response to his CQs, he decided 
to get one of his mates on frequency and started having a good ol' 
ragchew. That had no effect either. So, eventually, he tried it - 
"this frequency is in use, QSY". No, no. He was politely told that 
the QRG had been in use for two hours, he came on *our* QRG and knew 
it, and was told to QSY. Fortunately he did so. Pathetic behaviour!

Great to see so many WWYC'ers on in this event, and indeed, so many 
high scores on behalf of the WWYC club. So, as a result, our score 
contributes to WWYC as well :-)

Many thanks to all the stations who co-operated with us upon asking 
to QSY up/down. And of course, many thanks to all of you who called 
in - I hope we were of use supplying the 'G6' mult. Software used 
was yet again Win-Test, which performed flawlessly. Not one crash 
for the duration, on either station.

Next contest is likely to be WPX CW. The G6PZ website is almost 
ready for launch - will appear at www.cqtest.co.uk very shortly!

As always, a big thank you to Paul and his XYL Jo for their 
fantastic hospitality. Another great weekend!

73,

-- 
Simon Pearson, M0CLW
* CDXC * WWYC * UKYC