[UK-CONTEST] CQWW WPX Contest, G6PZ

[Paul Beecham]

                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: G6PZ
Operator(s): G6PZ, G0CKP, G0RTN, G3TJE, G4MJS, M0CLW
Station: G6PZ

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

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:   63
   80:  146
   40:  886
   20: 1678
   15:  548
   10:    5
------------
Total: 3326  Prefixes = 1069  Total Score = 9,067,258

Club:

Comments:

Station - Ten-Tec Orion and FT-1000MP MkV, 2 x Acom 2000 amplifiers,
4 ele SteppIR, Cushcraft X-7, Cushcraft 40-2CD (all at 30 m), Titanex
vertical for 80, full size quad loops on 80 and 160.

Paul was seriously considering cancelling this event due to regular 
operators being
otherwise engaged, meaning we would have been unable to try and defend our
#1 EU multi-single result from 2005. As it turned out, Gerry G0RTN, Peter
G4MJS and Steve G0CKP came forward in response to Paul's request for
operators on the UK-Contest mailing list and at around 1pm on Friday, the
contest was "go" from G6PZ after all.

We think our score of just shy of 9.1 million, only very slightly down from 
9.3
million claimed last year, is a pretty good attempt, although we seemed to 
have
got the stiff competition we expected from stations like EI7M and OM7M.

15 metres was strange here - some very strong signals from West Coast USA 
and
East Asia, but no depth.  Only the big guns were really coming through on 15
and 10 was almost a complete wash.  There were signals there, but it just
wasn't worth spending valuable run station on.  Indeed, this year's contest 
had
a startling lack of Sporadic E from G-land.  We saw plenty of 10 meter Es 
packet
spots further East though, and hope that won't make or break the contest for
us.

While conditions were often poor during the daytime, both 40 and 20 rocked 
at
night with excellent signals from all corners of the globe, great runs to 
both
the USA and Asia, sometimes at the same time.  At one stage on 40 metres on
Saturday morning, we were even working QRP W6s.  This rocked.

Despite a great Saturday night/Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon was shocking
here, and by teatime on Sunday we thought we were looking at a 1 million
deficit on last year's score.  But, suddenly the runs started appearing for 
us
on 20 and 40 (including a VK (!) run on 40), and we dragged mults from 
wherever
we could find them, with some gruesome final hour intra-Eu packet pileups.
Certainly, ZL4PW seemed to be surprised to finish the contest working G
stations on 15 metres long path.

Given we are in the pits of the sunspot cycle, we were pleased to see our 
QSO
total decline by only 400, a higher points/QSO ratio and, best of all, 
grinding
hard work on the mult station produced more mults from fewer QSOs.  So will
it be enough?  We wait for the great oracle of 3830 to pass on news from our
competitors.

73

Gerry G0RTN / Simon M0CLW
On behalf of the G6PZ Contest Group