[WWYC] CQWW N4YDU SOABLP

[Nathan Moreschi]

CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: N4YDU
Operator(s): N4YDU
Station: N4YDU

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Youngsville, NC
Operating Time (hrs): 38
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   60    10       35
   80:  214    18       69
   40:  419    24       96
   20:  372    29       94
   15:  423    25       94
   10:   44    14       25
------------------------------
Total: 1532   120      413  Total Score = 2,291,900

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

CQWW CW is always nice because I usually have the day off before the contest and
I can relax before the race begins. This year was no exception as far as having
the day off,  but Friday morning turned out to be busier than anticipated. I
woke up to a broken toilet. I puttered around trying to fix it for about 30
minutes and then decided it was time for a new one. A couple hours later all
was well.

I made it out to the shack to make sure everything was in order. This past
Wednesday an additional Kenwood 930 arrived in time for the contest to serve as
radio 2. The RX is in good shape, but the transmitter was acting a little crazy
(output varied tremendously by band even into a dummy load). I managed to tweak
it a little and get the output up to at least 50 watts on each band. I like the
RX so much I figured I go with it. As the contest progressed, the rig acted
funny a few times so I bailed on it about four hours in and went to the backup
Ten Tec OMNI D.

Radio 1, another 930, worked well and stayed that way.
I struggled with motivation for the first 1/3 of the contest but finally got
into a groove and things began to look up. After a sluggish low-band
performance on the first night, I decided to put in more of an effort on night
two. The numbers came up and the score began to climb.
15M was a  little disappointing but still OK on day one, but day 2 was awesome.
Signals were booming on 15 and I was able to run to Europe for four hours. 10M
produced on Sunday and I was able to collect some nice mults.
20M was fine, but I think I dropped the ball there a little bit. 40M was
fantastic , as were 80 and 160.

In the end, I broke my personal best from 2003 by just a little bit.
When on 10 meters, the NW/SE W8JK disrupted the computer when I transmitted. On
two occasions, I shut the computer down and logged by hand for about 10 minutes
on 10 meters. That something I think I can fix with grounding and ferrite
cores.

Rigs: Two Kenwood 930s (Ten Tec OMNI D when one got sick)

Antennas: Two W8JKâ?Ts at 60 feet  for 20, 15, 10; a pair of loops for 20M
(primary 20M antennas); 40M dipole at 70 feet, 40M inverted vee at 50 feet, 80M
inverted vee at 55 feet, 80M vertical (1/4 wave) and 160M L.

Software: WinTest

73,

Nate/N4YDU