[UK-CONTEST] M0BLF - CQ WPX SSB 2005

[m0blf@domsmith.co.uk]

Hi everyone,

Because WPX SSB coincided with Easter this year, I found myself doing a major contest from my home QTH for the first time.  My home is down the bottom of a valley on Dartmoor, so I have never considered it a great radio location, but I decided to take advantage of the contest to see just what I could work. 

This decision also meant that I would participate as SOAB/LP, and not SOSB/HP/15 as I had from GX6UW last year;  A wise choice, I suspect, given how poor conditions seem to have been on the higher bands.

Unfortunately, family committments meant that I could not be on during Sunday, so the challenge I set myself was 200 QSOs in 24 hours -- not normally very challenging perhaps, but bear in mind that during my first three years licensed from home (using a G5RV) I worked stateside once, and a total of 14 DXCCs!

The equipment was IC-706Mk2G barefoot to a Hustler 6BTV vertical.  There should have been a 40m dipole, too, for working closer in Europe, but Murphy struck by snapping the fibreglass pole I was using to mount it and then when it was up, as dusk fell on Friday, I discovered an SWR of >3:1, so I gave up on that idea.

One observation I made during the contest is that a lot of stations, and not just foreigners, were hearing '2's in my serial numbers as '0's.  I don't think my pronunciation is at fault as I've never had this problem before, so I can only put it down to a characteristic of the 706 fist mic.  Any other thoughts?

I reached 200 QSOs by early evening on Saturday, and so set myself the new task of reaching 100,000 points by midnight, which I sadly narrowly missed.  Nevertheless, it was good fun to contest without the wonders of the DX-Cluster, amplifiers or beams for once and to have several QSOs with other WWYCers. 

The final damage:

Claimed Score:  95344
Operating time: 24 hours
Band           QSO            Pts            Pref           
160m           0              0              0              
80m            37             85             28             
40m            65             154            46             
20m            154            206            116            
15m            15             27             12             
10m            0              0              0              
Total          271            472            202            

73 and see you in EU Sprint,

Dominic M0BLF

--
From:		Dominic Smith M0BLF
Amateur Radio:	http://www.domsmith.co.uk/m0blf
Contests:	http://www.domsmith.co.uk/contests