[UK-CONTEST] WPX CW M2W(G0RTN) SO(A)AB LP

[Gerard Lynch]

I hadn't even planned to be more than casually active in this contest until Friday evening, when I decided to have a fairly serious play with the club's contest call.  This meant I hadn't as much sleep as I would have liked coming up to the contest, and I actually drifted off in the middle of a QSO with an SP station about 8.30 on Saturday morning - which meant someone was telling me time for beddie-byes!  Held up OK the rest of the test.

I miscalculated the score before it went on 3830 - actually 1.492M.  Given the lack of aerials here I am as chuffed as can be.  Not having a proper 20m aerial really hurts.  I wonder can I sneak a wire/bamboo vertical up on the roof?

CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: M2W
Operator(s): G0RTN
Station: M2W

Class: SO(A)AB LP
QTH: London
Operating Time (hrs): 33.25

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  149
   40:  538
   20:  233
   15:  188
   10:   90
------------
Total: 1198  Prefixes = 536  Total Score = 1,490,616

Club: Worldwide Young Contesters

Comments:

Equipment - IC7400 barefoot and an 40/80 inverted-vee on top of a block of flats
and an ATU.  Tribander/Wires?  I'd give my eye teeth for a second wire, let
alone a beam!

Given the lack of aerial power and an A index that often seemed to be higher
than the serial numbers I was giving out, I was well pleased with the result -
I'd set out for 1000Qs, 500 mults and 1M points, so I should have a bit of a
cushion even with adjudication to come.

Highlights:

I could RUN - mostly Eu (but a fair sprinkling of DX on 40) - didn't work on 15
or 20, no surprise with a far from optimum antenna.  I'd always wondered what it
was like to run at the bottom of the band.  Well, I found out on 40 on Saturday
evening.  It was great!

Being a unique prefix.

Being called by S9SS on 40m.

Working ZL4AA long path on 15 close to local midnight on Saturday - you don't
expect that long path with flux under 100, but contests make their own
conditions as always.

Lots of great ears, especially W3BGN's exceptional patience to give me one of 2
USA QSOs on 80 - it took me a while to convince him I was DX and not W2WM!  I
must have been puny weak with him.

That great Sporadic-E opening on 10m on Sunday afternoon.

Double points on 40m.  What a good idea - for me anyway!

Being able to bang some inband mults from packet without losing a prime bottom
of the band running frequency.

Lowlights:

Difficult conditions in the early hours of Sunday - some nice signals from deep
into North America on 40, but could they hear me? - No!  And even worse just
after lunchtime on Sunday.

Much less rare DX than in the SSB leg.

I was praying someone would spot me on packet in the last hour, when I had a
nice run on 40 mostly from stations who were working me for a new multiplier. 
The packet pileups in the last hour were enormous!  But I'd no luck as usual.


-------

73

Gerry G0RTN
Vanity Page at http://www.gerrylynch.co.uk