[WWYC] WPX SSB G6PZ M/S HP

[Simon Pearson]

Lids,

For the first time, our score from WPX SSB will be submitted on 
behalf of WWYC :-)

G6PZ is also interested in getting a WWYC team together for a 
contest sometime, if enough interest is expressed from WWYC'ers. If 
you are interested, please drop me an email!

Anyway, the score/story:

Call: G6PZ
Operator(s): G6PZ M0BJL M0CLW M3CVN G4OJH
Station: G6PZ

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

Summary:
   Band  QSOs
------------
    160:  136
     80:  312
     40:  627
     20: 1494
     15:  291
     10:   48
------------
Total: 2908  Prefixes = 1033  Total Score = 7,309,508

Great contest, as always, although conditions from here in G were
not so good. 15m was very poor, rending only 291 QSOs.

15m on Saturday was frustrating, with very few Far Eastern stations
heard and only a few dozen North Americans worming their way into
the log. On Sunday, conditions were better, with a nice opening to
the Far East in the morning, but unfortunately many could not hear
the G6PZ callsign. Not quite sure why, as many where S7+ - either
lack of receiver, or maybe eastern Europeans creating a 'wall'
between us and the Far East. It was most frustrating! Again, a
serious lack of North Americans worked on 15m, most were South
Americans and Caribbean stations.

Having said that, there was an unusual opening on 10m some two hours
after sunset on Sunday evening - just by chance I decided to check
10m on the multiplier station, jokingly saying 'there may be some
signals up here!', but in actual fact the band was literally full of
South American and Caribbean stations! The loudest signal was FY5KE,
a true +20dB S-Meter reading. Most odd, but very exciting! The run
operator went to 10m, worked a few stations S&P, and decided to call
CQ - quite a few South Americans worked, most of which were new
multipliers! Excellent stuff, so close to the end of the contest.

Overnight LF runs were quite slow at times, with the worst hour
generating only 40 QSOs. Ugghhh. 160m was certainly more active than
previous years and a couple of North Americans in the log. 80m was
fun on Saturday night, with a number of UA9's calling in as well as
North Americans and the Caribbean, all at the same time - but one
QSO which really stood out was P43E, who was really booming through!
Congrats, Emily. We hope to improve our LF situation yet further by
erecting a Titanex vertical (V160HD) - hopefully we can get it in
the air before WPX CW. We also currently have no RX antennas on LF,
which can make things quite tricky at times, but that too will soon
be rectified. The station is undergoing constant improvements.

Our 'money band' was definitely 20m, with some really exciting runs
into North America. West coast booming through on Sunday afternoon!
The rate meter hit 240/hr, which, incidentally, was the best rate
for the entire contest.

The only frequency fight we experienced in this contest was with a
DL station, who decided to come on our QRG and start CQing... When
he realised that he was getting no response to his CQs, he decided
to get one of his mates on frequency and started having a good ol'
ragchew. That had no effect either. So, eventually, he tried it -
"this frequency is in use, QSY". No, no. He was politely told that
the QRG had been in use for two hours, he came on *our* QRG and knew
it, and was told to QSY. Fortunately he did so. Pathetic behaviour!

Great to see so many WWYC'ers on in this event, and indeed, so many
high scores on behalf of the WWYC club. So, as a result, our score
contributes to WWYC as well :-)

Many thanks to all the stations who co-operated with us upon asking
to QSY up/down. And of course, many thanks to all of you who called
in - I hope we were of use supplying the 'G6' mult. Software used
was yet again Win-Test, which performed flawlessly. Not one crash
for the duration, on either station.

Next contest is likely to be WPX CW. The G6PZ website is almost
ready for launch - will appear at www.cqtest.co.uk very shortly!

As always, a big thank you to Paul and his XYL Jo for their
fantastic hospitality. Another great weekend!

73,

-- 
Simon Pearson, M0CLW
* CDXC * WWYC * UKYC