CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: HB0/DF4SA
Operator(s): DF4SA
Station: HB0/DF4SA
Class: SOAB Classic HP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 224 6 42
80: 336 12 55
40: 563 17 69
20: 385 26 74
15: 533 22 76
10: 579 25 82
------------------------------
Total: 2618 108 398 Total Score = 2,547,204
Club: Bavarian Contest Club
Comments:
Due to heavy QRL workload I was afraid I was going to miss CQWW entirely this
year and had been unhappy about that for months. However just a few days before
the contest the opportunity arrived to squeeze in a short visit to HB0 between
two business trips and I got all excited. As I needed to be back in Northern
Germany on Monday, a 48h operation was out of question but I was going to try
the new 24h Classic category. I had not operated SOAB for several years, my
equipment was scattered all over Germany and I didnt even know if it would
still work, but hey, at least I was going to be in there and have fun!
Propagation from HB0 is special due to the high alpine mountains. As much as my
location at over 1000m above sea level produced great runs to the West, the
mountains to the East are around 2000m high and very hard to beat. I missed
almost all the multipliers to the East and could not get much of a run going
during the morning hours, while in the afternoon the 10 minute rate often
exceeded 250 QSO/h. In retrospect I probably should not have spent any time for
searching all those unreachable multipliers but should have just called CQ
24hrs
straight. Something to learn for the future!
The 24h category anyway requires a much different approach and I believe a good
strategy is a lot more important than in the 48 hour
"endurance"
class. It will be interesting to watch it develop during the coming years. For
this year my strategy could best be describes as "make as many
mistakes as
possible" :). I like the new category a lot and it sure helped
motivating
me to go on this last minute trip. However I have to admit it was a sad moment
when I had to switch off in the middle of the heat at Sunday afternoon 15:00
UTC when my 24h period was over. I just had gotten _really_ into it and it felt
like leaving a good party much too early. But then I knew there was a 900km
drive on the motorway ahead of me and indeed when I finally reached Hamburg it
was exactly 23:55 UTC - end of the contest. Perhaps I should have participated
the final 8h as DF4SA/m :).
After more than 10 years of operating from DX locations with
"anonymous" callsigns it was a nice change to finally bring
DF4SA on
the air again. I enjoyed very much meeting old friends and thanks to everybody
who said hi. The scenic mountain landscape in beautiful winter conditions with
around 30cm of fresh snow, and the warm welcome by the local radio amateurs
sure helped making this not only a radio experience but a mini holiday and much
needed escape from day-to-day worries. My sincere thanks to HB0TW, HB0WR and
HB0BB for their kind help and hospitality!
CU all next year from (?).
73 Con DF4SA
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