[UK-CONTEST] ARRL 10m G3YMC QRP CW

[Steve Knowles]

A word from the other end of the spectrum, so to speak!

I think you've done very well, Dave.  I had to work today so only had 
Saturday to play and domestic chores meant no play before 1100!!  Also loth 
to CQ due to the permanent curse of intermittent noise which, even now with 
the band firmly closed, was s8+ on 28030 when I started this email , has 
since dropped to s3 but is now s5 and rising again!! If you can't hear 'em 
you can't work 'em!  So for me it was S&P only, but I do have 400W from an 
FT1kMP and Ranger 811H, and a 4-ele up 42ft (which helps a bit, HI)
I managed 219 Qs, 41 countries (excluding W/VE/XE) and 49 States, provinces 
and Mexican thingies, for a score of 78840.
There were some appalling pileups (with operating standards to match) which 
I presume were cluster-generated.  Careful searching near them always seemed 
to produce something tasty (VK, VU, V5, CE etc).  Assuming the DX tends to 
QSY when its channel gets spotted and is clogged by idiots, this may be the 
S&P technique of the future.  Listening outside the band also works as I 
found a J2 who was so close to the band edge that I wouldn't have liked to 
stake my licence on his being inside (less than 20Hz on my readout) - 
fortunately he heard me 500Hz up!
There was Caribbean stuff to be had, but for them the band was open to the 
States as well.  I had to struggle in some cases and you wouldn't have stood 
a chance with 5W.
The nicest thing for me was to be able to work EU stuff on backscatter off 
South America - it's been quite a while since I last managed that!
I was surprised last week to receive the certificate for the leading G High 
Power CW entry in 2010.  Don't think I'll get it this year, HI.

Vy 73

Steve
G3UFY


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Sergeant" <dave at davesergeant.com>
To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 8:36 PM
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] ARRL 10m G3YMC QRP CW


> To start the ball rolling...
>
> QSOs 248
> Multipliers 70
> Claimed score 69,440
> Elecraft K2, 5W, 65ft longwire.
>
> It is good that this contest can come into its own again after such a
> long time (so long that many on here seem to have forgotten about it).
> But although conditions were fair, they have still a long way to go.
> With my QRP station I was struggling quite a lot, and there seemed a
> distinct lack of DX about. If it hadn't been for the Russians and the
> USA there would be very little to work. Very few dxpedition people on,
> worked nothing from the caribbean and not much from Africa either.
>
> I had a look back to when I last did this contest in earnest. In 2002 I
> won the G QRP certificate, had around 350 QSOs with plenty of DX and
> was working stuff well after dark - the band closed for me at 1700z
> each day this year. In 2003 I had 147 QSOs and the following years much
> smaller entries. So yes, it is 9 years since the contest was really in
> its prime. Hopefully next year will continue the improvement and I
> shall recover my scores of those earlier years.
>
> 73 Dave G3YMC
>
> http://www.davesergeant.com
>
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