CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
Call: VE7FO
Operator(s): VE7FO
Station: VE7FO
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 32
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 57
40: 41
20: 128
15: 222
10: 413
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Total: 861 Prefixes = 442 Total Score = 982,566
Club:
Comments:
WPX SSB 02
PREPARATION:
If you read my ARRL DX SSB story you may remember that I was going to document
the DVP setup, finish tidying up the TRLog setup, get the TRMaster.dta files the
way I want them and do the station tidying and minor improvements as well as
deal with all the audio I/O in a more professional manner.
Well, the sbdvp.exe setup documentation is done, but only handwritten. TRLog
setup is getting close to the way I want and documented. The TRmaster.dta files
are still a hopeless mess and there is even more junk on the shack floor. I do
have a small patch bay/jack field for balanced lines now but haven't done
anything with it yet.
I discovered the http://www.ng3k.com site recently and printed a bunch of stuff
showing all the juicy DXpeditions that would be active during WPX. (Thank
heavens VP6DI wasn't one of them. Imagine a contest with 100 kHz of a band
devoted to people yelling out their calls in hopes of working Ducie!) What a
great site. Thank you Bill.
WHAT HAPPENED:
For a number of reasons that I don't remember, I wasn't ready until just minutes
before the contest which meant that I didn't have any territory staked out a
half hour before. Listened a bit and settled on 10.
0002Z First Q. S&P. CB4A. Probably the earliest Q in a test since I got back
into this stuff 2 yrs or so ago. Already I've met one of my goals. 2nd Q
VK5GN. This looks promising. Find a spot and start running.
0059Z 67 Qs 53 mults. Hoo Boy, never had a start like this before. NA, SA,
Ocen & As. 2 short of WAC. Also, a brand new one for me, YJ.
0159Z 129 Qs 89 mults. Wow. This is great. No all time new countries but
now just Af for WAC after 2 hours.
0259Z 195 Qs 130 mults. Hmmm.... Average of 65 Qs/hr. Multiply that by the
30 or so hours I usually manage to get in and I'll get.... well, anyway, looks
like I might be able to blast right through that 1000 Q barrier. Decide to do
some S&P for mults at 0245Z before the band closes. You never know, might not
open again.
0410Z 218 Qs 148 mults. Well, it's still over 50/hr and besides, it's hard to
leave a band that yields 9K2, JT1, and EX2. Just the same, took a peek at 15
and heard the very rare VE7IN so went there and worked him. Can't complain
about 10. Still open at 8 pm local time. KH7R was pretty loud but that's not
unusual here. Anyway, to 15.
0540Z 249 Qs 169 mults. For some reason, the MkV will only put out about
50-60W on 15. This dates from doing some TVI testing when we kept the key down
too long and made some bad smells in the rig. This explains why VE7IN is very
rare around here as he was the one who was holding down the key. Consequently
can't run very well on 15 so mostly S&P. Hmm... I notice that VE7IN does a lot
of single 15s. Wow, NA, SA, Eu, As, including 9K9X, UP0L and A61AJ, and Ocen,
represented by KH7R. It's 2140 local time so switch to 40 to try to get some of
the closer in mults.
0625Z 266 Qs 179 mults. First Q was that pesky KH7R. Tried running a bit but
mostly S&P. Wait 'til I get that Force 12 with the 2 el 40. Not happy with the
rate so switch to 80 for more close in mults.
0650Z 273 Qs 182 mults. All S&P. Was kinda neat to work YW4M. Didn't think
my 80 dipole running down the property line with a clearance of 3 ft between it
and my and the neighbour's houses could do that. Still, average rate is down to
39 Qs/hr. Gotta switch, but to where? Aren't these great times? It's 2250
local time, 20 is open, and here we go.
0759Z 298 Qs 203 mults. As always, hard to find a hole on 20 to run with LP
so all S&P. 11 Eu, 1 Ocen and, BINGO, D44TD for WAC. All this around midnight
local time. Not that WAC is such a big deal these days but in my last
contesting incarnation 40 years ago it was a much larger milestone. WAC is all
very well but what about those KE7, KK7, WI7, etc mults? Switch to 80.
0830Z 325 Qs 215 mults. Wow, only 2 S&P. That bothersome KH7R called again.
Not sure, but I think it was during this time that I worked a local who had more
than twice the Qs that I had. I remonstrated with him, saying something like,
"How am I going to win when you keep making so many Qs?" I wasn't any happier
when he said, "Don't worry. We're not in the same category. We're doing QRP
with a wire thrown out the condo window." Decide to check out 20
0952Z 346 Qs 225 mults. First call on 20 was answered by, you guessed it,
KH7R. That guy is everywhere. This makes 5 bands. Couldn't get any run going
on 20 so a bunch of S&P. Did a bit more on 40 and 80. Went to bed (0152 local
time). Lay there thinking I should have gone earlier so I could get up early
for Eu. Still getting trapped in the late night dxing. Promise myself to do
better tomorrow night. Calculate that 1000 Qs is well within reach as the rate
should be better in the daytime. Realize that between 2330 and 0152 local time
I worked WAC again. What fabulous conditions! Tomorrow's going to be great!
Fall asleep, happy.
1725Z Back at it. Switch to 10 and point the beam to Eu. What's that I hear?
Nothing. Ugh. Nothing but Ws and damn few of them. Switch to 15. Same. It's
1812 and I've made 5 Qs. The 1000 Q goal seems to be rapidly receding out of
reach. Switch to 20.
1855Z 363 Qs 237 mults. As usual, 20 is all S&P for me. It was pretty funny
to hear 9K9K asking if he could buy my call, inasmuch as he has been told to FO
a number of times in his life. Take a peek at 15 then 10. Hey, 10's happening.
Switch to 10.
1910Z 370 Qs 241 mults. Well, worked everybody there, switch to 15.
2120Z 410 Qs 266 mults. Couldn't get a run going so all S&P. What a
struggle. 40 Qs in 70 min. Try 10 again.
2225Z 430 Qs 281 mults. Still all S&P. 15 was better. Go back there.
0059Z 502 Qs 304 mults. Things are picking up a bit. Only 1/3 S&P. Still,
72 Qs in 150 mins not that great and it's 1700 local time. What a dreadful day.
10 was a total bust. More than half way through. However, the 1000 Qs isn't
totally out of reach. Let's see what I can do on 20.
0250Z 538 Qs 328 mults. Did manage a little 7 Q run into Eu but the rest all
S&P. I think it was during this time I heard the following hilarious
exchange:
Carib Station: "Is that Hotel Germany 1 or Hotel Guatemala 1?"
HG1 Station: "Roger, Roger"
Carib Station: "Help me with this. Which one?"
HG1 Station: silence
Carib Station: "Oh boy. And it's only Saturday"
What wasn't so funny, as I realized after it was all over, is that I was
laughing so hard I forgot to work the Carib station which was a needed mult.
Time to start running JAs on 15 and pick up all those mults so go there.
0325Z 546 Qs 331 mults. This is horrible. I wonder if any of my buddies want
to go out for a beer? Stay in the chair, Jim. Maybe 40 is doing something. Go
there.
0355Z 550 Qs 331 mults. Ugh. Take a peek at 80. Nothing. Check 160.
Nothing. Switch to 15.
0410Z 554 Qs 332 mults. Plug the phone back in in case one of my buddies
calls suggesting beer. In the meantime, switch to 20.
0610Z 582 Qs 344 mults. No one phoned. I guess I'm stuck in this scene that
not even the poet Dante could have imagined in his Inferno. One bright spot is
that, with about 13 hours of operating time left, I just passed the 560 Qs I
made last year, the first SSB WPX I had been in for 30 yrs or so. Switch to
40.
0750Z 597 Qs 346 mults. Brief sojourn on 20. I was amazed to find that when
I called 5W0IR he was 40 Qs behind me. Would have been even more amazed if I
had worked him. Are we having fun yet? Well, sort of. Worked D44 on 40.
Hmm... now all I need for WAC on 40 during this test is an Eu Q. In the
meantime, switch to 80.
0859Z 618 Qs 358 mults. Worked a local. Told him about 5W0IR on 20.
"Thanks, but we've already worked him." Pushed uncharitable thoughts and
accompanying violent imagery aside. No D44 but better rate. Actually got a 14
Q run going over 32 mins. Another bright spot. Just passed the 347 mults I
made last year with about 11 hours of op time left. Time to go back to 20 to
pick up all those South Pacific mults.
0925Z 624 Qs 359 mults. Not much happening here. 5W0IR is now 75 Qs ahead of
me. The good news is that I worked him. Let's try 40 again.
0945Z 627 Qs 359 mults. A VA3, a JA3 and a VE7. Whoopy-ding. It's 0145
local time and I want to get up early for the Eu opening. Still, the 5W0 was
sure worth it. So, 627 Qs in about 27 hours. That's about 23/hr. If I get up
real early I'll be able to get in another 10 hours. At 23/hr that would give me
a total of 857 Qs. Need 40/hr to get me comfortably past the 1000 Q barrier.
Totally within reach. With good conditions I can do that just S&P. Go to bed
glad that I stuck it out and set the alarm for 1415Z.
1440Z I actually got up. Feeling pretty groggy. Orange juice in hand I check
the bands for all the Eu stations. This is worse than yesterday. Work a W on
40 (not even any JAs) and 2 Ws on 20. Go back to bed for 2 hours.
1835Z 630 Qs 360 mults. Well, it was a long 2 hours. 10 is happening. Go
there.
1927Z 653 Qs 372 mults. 10 was open to Eu. Couldn't seem to get my head into
a run space (bring back the 60s, man) so did an S&P sweep of the band. Switch
to 15.
2059Z 699 Qs 393 mults. Managed to do a little running. Hey, we're up to
about 30/hr. 3 hrs to go. Need 100/hr to hit 1000 Qs. Looks like the extra
sleep is going to cost me. It was during this time that 9K9K (remember him?)
asked if he could inherit my call if he couldn't buy it. I'm not even used to
working that part of the world, let alone maintaining running jokes with them.
Switch to 10.
2159Z 749 Qs 411 mults. Things are finally picking up. A 50 hour of running.
5 Qs in one 2 minute period but starting to slow down. Switch to 15.
2229Z 769 Qs 414 mults. 20 Qs in 30 min. This could have been a mistake.
Need 230 Qs in 90 min. Good luck. But, for 1M points need 187 Qs and no more
mults. With 430 mults need 132 more Qs. Back to 10.
2359Z 861 Qs 442 mults. 982,566 points. What a great contest design where
you can pick up 30 mults in the last 2 hours. What a finish. I couldn't
believe how much better 10 got in the last few hours.
When I first got back into this stuff I often couldn't remember a call long
enough to enter it into the log and would have to ask for a fill. Now my
fingers were just flying over the keyboard. Say the guy's call while I'm typing
it, hit the Enter key and the DVP says 59 and I say the QSO number, (sometimes
while the DVP is saying 59, to the amusement of the recipient), he gives his
report, signals are good enough that no fills are required, I type in the Q #,
hit Enter, the DVP says QSL VE7FO CONTEST and we do it again. I couldn't do
this for 36 hours but it was sure fun to be able to do it at all. The extra
sleep did cost me. Another 17 Qs would have put me over the never before
achieved (by me) 1M points. So, regardless of the bad conditions, I'm really
happy. Sure glad I stayed in the chair. Almost doubled last year's score of
510,437.
73 and thanks for the Qs
de Jim Smith VE7FO
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