[UK-CONTEST] CQWW 160 CW - G3SJJ

[Chris G3SJJ]

Whoops I forgot to put my score!! I targeted 300 Qs and stopped when I reached that. So, 300 Qs, 13 States/Provinces, 40 DXCC for 1582 points.

Another thing I forgot to say was that I thought UK activity was low.

Chris G3SJJ


On 30/01/2012 10:23, Chris G3SJJ wrote:
> My entry was spread over 5 sessions. Saturday afternoon just after sunset, later in the evening, Sunday morning for about an hour before sunrise, 
> early and later Sunday evening. For very specific reasons I didn't do any overnight sessions. Overall I thought conditions weren't as good as 
> previous years. I spoke to GW3KDB on the LL on Saturday and he said that US activity was low. I managed about 30 Stateside Qs on my Sunday morning 
> session but many usual callsigns were missing, eg K8MFO, K5NA, W5WMU etc.  Nice to get Gerd V31YN and KV4FZ in the log but just couldn't get XE1RCS 
> and C6AMK to respond. During the evening sessions I didn't hear any JAs. On Saturday evening UA9s were virtually inaudible but much better on Sunday 
> evening.
>
> Speeding up rubbish was noticeable, as always among mainland Europeans. If you are CQing you don't need to save time, more importantly CQing is your 
> marketing ploy where you attract the punters so a good robust CQ is best. TST etc just doesn't cut the ice. I can certainly understand if you are 
> running at 200 an hour then speeding up might just raise that to 201, but I would question whether it is helpful at lower Q/H rates. Amusing to note 
> that many French stations were doing the speeding up rubbish in their REF contest over the weekend, presumably Wintest was issued free with a cheap 
> bottle of plonk!
>
> 150Hz or less selectivity on the K3 most definitely helped to find the weaker stations hidden underneath the big ones. Dipole at 57ft wasn't really 
> high enough although the ends at 50ft up probably helps a bit. Acom 1000 at around 600-700w from the amp. (Antenna SWR is 1.4 at 1865 so loads of 
> reflected power down at 1812 etc.  About 5mW ERP, oh I forgot the reflection co-efficient from local heavy clay soil, so about 6mW then! N1MM was, 
> of course, solid as ever.
>
> Seriously though! This was a planned post-major-surgery recuperation exercise for mental exercise. Now I must concentrate on physical exercise in 
> the fresh air!
>
> I must record my greatful thanks to the numerous people who have supported and encouraged me since my op on 12 January. Don G3BJ (who I must have 
> known for 50 years now!), Hilary G4JKS and Chris G3SVL in particular, plus many who I know are on this Reflector. You support was very timely and 
> helped enormously.
>
> (and yes, I am now obeying all of Yvonne's instructions!!)
>
> 73 Chris G3SJJ