[UK-CONTEST] CQWW RTTY G0HVQ

[Darrell G0HVQ]

G0HVQ, single-op, all-band, low power.

 Band    QSOs    Pts  Cty   ZN    Sec
   3.5      40      84   23    7    1
     7     141     311   45   12   10
    14     237     584   54   17   33
    21      32      75   16   12    0
 Total     450    1054  138   48   44

Score: 242,420

Rig : Icom IC7400 80W
Antennas : Hustler 4BTV ground-mounted with buried radial system (10m-40m), low dipole (80m)
Software : MMTTY and N1MM Logger

Contest got off to a bad start. Despite checking everything the day before (or so I thought), on getting up at 4am I found I couldn't work anything. It was my first outing with a dipole on 80m so I didn't know what to expect, but the vertical usually works reasonably well on 40m. I gave up and planned to tackle it later after more sleep. Back into the shack at 8am and still no luck. I eventually tracked it down to an obscure setting in N1MM/MMTTY - it was TXing and RXing on different audio freqs, about 500Hz apart. I hadn't spotted it because I move that bit of the display off screen, and just leave the visual tuning aid in the bottom left corner of the screen.

No idea why it had happened - I'm a 'veteran' of this setup, and this was my 7th RTTY contest this year....only thing that changed was I upgraded N1MM over the summer. Grrrrrrrr ;-)

Once I got going, the QSOs came pretty fast. Most QSOs were S&P, with a few short runs on 40m and 20m. I tended to do and hour or two on, then take a break. Despite the lack of sunspots, condx weren't as bad as I was expecting.

10m - nothing heard, not surprising given the solar condx but it did open briefly in several of the RTTY contest last winter, but not a peep in this one.

15m - open in the mornings/early afternoons, highlight was 9M2CNC on Sun morning.

 20m - the 'bread & butter' band, most QSOs on here, open to pretty much worldwide at various times, good shots at the West Coast around 5pm and stayed open until midnight both days, although Sun seemed better. Heard a few JAs & VKs but none in the log, highlights were 9M2, YB0, and some W6s and W7s.

40m - a little disappointing, didn't work that far into the US, heard a ZL but calling someone else, didn't seem much DX about apart from a few Caribbean / Central American stations.

80m - mainly europeans, the dipole was too low, I could have done with a vertical for the DX, although I did get the odd UA9 and W1 in the log.


Thanks for all the QSOs, and apologies if I QRM'd you and/or you thought I worked you early in the contest, believe me that it was mor frustrating for me.

73
Darrell G0HVQ