>From jcrovell Wed Nov 27 17:11 EST 1996 remote from 580howard
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>From: "John Crovelli" <jcrovell@580howard>
To: "'Contest Scores'" <3830@contesting.com>
Subject: P40W CQWW CW
To: <3830@contesting.com>
Date: Wed Nov 27 17:18 EST 1996
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CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST 1996
Call: P40W (W2GD opr.) Country: Aruba
Mode: CW Category: Single Operator High Power
BAND NET QSOs QSO PTS PTS/QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 394 1163 2.95 15 61
80 1117 3314 2.97 22 85
40 1026 3051 2.97 29 93 QSL VIA N2MM
20 1539 4568 2.97 36 111
15 1863 5504 2.95 34 112
10 620 1791 2.89 23 65
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 6559 19391 2.96 159 527 => 13,302,226 pts.
Operation Time: 46 Hours
Club Affiliation: Frankford Radio Club
Location: Santa Cruz, Aruba, approximately 1.2 miles north of P40V,
near center of island on a small hill approx. 160 feet ASL
Rig: TS930S, Alpha 87A, CT 7.19 on 486 Laptop, Heil Proset
Antennas: Single 70 foot Rohn 25G Tower, 15 foot mast, Ham III Rotor
160M Inverted V at 68 feet
80M Inverted V at 65 feet
FORCE 12 Yagis: 2 ele 40 and 4 ele 20 at 70 feet
5 ele 15 at 85 feet
4 ele 10 at 78 feet
750 foot beverage toward Europe
300 foot beverage toward USA
BREAKDOWN QSO/mults P40W CW Single Operator High Power
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
0 ..... ..... 205/26 ..... ..... ..... 205/26 205/26
1 . . 197/14 . . . 197/14 402/40
2 26/7 85/15 41/2 . . . 152/24 554/64
3 25/6 99/15 . . . . 124/21 678/85
4 16/6 100/10 . . . . 116/16 794/101
5 41/5 103/7 . . . . 144/12 938/113
6 50/10 66/2 . . . . 116/12 1054/125
7 59/0 85/8 8/4 . . . 152/12 1206/137
8 ..... 6/1 150/16 ..... ..... ..... 156/17 1362/154
9 21/1 36/5 34/10 . . . 91/16 1453/170
10 1/1 20/2 6/2 52/26 3/3 . 82/34 1535/204
11 . . . 149/13 55/19 . 204/32 1739/236
12 . . . 4/3 199/22 . 203/25 1942/261
13 . . 1/1 38/6 111/10 3/3 153/20 2095/281
14 . . . 3/0 213/5 . 216/5 2311/286
15 . . . 37/7 134/5 4/3 175/15 2486/301
16 ..... ..... ..... 20/1 94/3 12/8 126/12 2612/313
17 . . 1/1 175/7 7/1 . 183/9 2795/322
18 . . . 47/2 114/9 . 161/11 2956/333
19 . . . 16/4 28/5 92/4 136/13 3092/346
20 . . 1/1 5/5 124/7 2/1 132/14 3224/360
21 . . . 123/10 5/3 . 128/13 3352/373
22 . . . 203/1 2/2 . 205/3 3557/376
23 . . 136/3 2/0 . . 138/3 3695/379
0 ..... ..... 173/7 ..... ..... ..... 173/7 3868/386
1 31/8 16/3 13/1 . . . 60/12 3928/398
2 . 144/5 . . . . 144/5 4072/403
3 27/4 61/3 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 92/11 4164/414
4 1/1 56/2 1/1 . . . 58/4 4222/418
5 75/7 44/0 . . . . 119/7 4341/425
6 13/2 88/3 . . . . 101/5 4442/430
7 1/1 75/2 1/0 1/1 1/1 1/1 80/6 4522/436
8 3/1 1/1 56/2 1/0 ..... ..... 61/4 4583/440
9 . . . . . . . 4583/440
10 . . . 11/0 . . 11/0 4594/440
11 . . . 169/5 . . 169/5 4763/445
12 . . . 104/2 67/1 . 171/3 4934/448
13 . . . 2/2 124/4 34/9 160/15 5094/463
14 . . . 2/2 2/2 160/19 164/23 5258/486
15 . . . 99/2 9/0 19/4 127/6 5385/492
16 ..... ..... ..... 60/1 76/3 8/2 144/6 5529/498
17 . . . 3/3 86/2 29/5 118/10 5647/508
18 . . 1/1 1/0 150/1 2/1 154/3 5801/511
19 . . . 7/2 133/1 . 140/3 5941/514
20 . . . . 10/1 160/2 170/3 6111/517
21 . . . 1/1 81/1 93/2 175/4 6286/521
22 . . . 117/4 34/0 . 151/4 6437/525
23 4/1 32/1 . 86/0 . . 122/2 6559/527
DAY1 239/36 600/65 780/80 874/85 1089/94 113/19 ..... 3695/379
DAY2 155/25 517/20 246/13 665/26 774/18 507/46 . 2864/148
TOT 394/61 1117/85 1026/93 1539/111 1863/112 620/65 . 6559/527
BREAKDOWN in mins/QSO's per hr P40W CW Single Operator
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
0 ..... ..... 60/204 ..... ..... ..... 60/204 60/204
1 . . 60/198 . . . 60/198 120/201
2 23/69 26/197 12/211 . . . 60/151 180/184
3 22/67 38/155 . . . . 60/123 241/169
4 23/42 37/164 . . . . 59/118 300/159
5 18/134 42/148 . . . . 60/144 360/156
6 37/82 23/171 . . . . 60/116 420/151
7 21/166 35/148 4/110 . . . 60/152 480/151
8 ..... 8/44 52/174 ..... ..... ..... 60/157 540/151
9 13/97 16/135 31/66 . . . 60/91 600/145
10 1/109 21/58 11/33 19/164 9/20 . 60/82 660/140
11 . . . 44/205 16/202 . 60/205 720/145
12 . . . 3/69 57/211 . 60/203 780/149
13 . . 5/11 17/134 34/195 4/50 60/153 840/150
14 . . . 2/119 59/218 . 60/216 900/154
15 . . . 14/153 40/201 5/45 60/175 960/155
16 ..... ..... ..... 7/162 32/176 20/35 60/126 1020/154
17 . . 2/28 54/196 5/92 . 60/182 1080/155
18 . . . 18/155 41/165 . 60/162 1140/156
19 . . . 10/92 16/102 35/158 62/132 1202/154
20 . . 2/28 5/57 54/137 2/56 64/124 1266/153
21 . . . 39/188 15/20 . 54/141 1320/152
22 . . . 54/225 7/17 . 61/200 1382/154
23 . . 48/169 0/655 . . 48/171 1430/155
0 ..... ..... 60/173 ..... ..... ..... 60/173 1490/156
1 45/42 8/115 7/110 . . . 60/60 1550/152
2 . 60/144 . . . . 60/144 1610/152
3 26/61 33/111 0/400 0/277 0/200 0/514 60/92 1670/150
4 3/19 33/101 9/7 . . . 45/77 1715/148
5 41/110 19/140 . . . . 60/120 1775/147
6 11/70 57/93 . . . . 68/89 1843/145
7 4/14 44/102 0/200 1/55 1/88 3/17 54/89 1897/143
8 5/40 2/26 31/108 10/6 ..... ..... 48/77 1944/141
9 . . . . . . . 1944/141
10 . . . 4/158 . . 4/158 1949/141
11 . . . 60/170 . . 60/170 2008/142
12 . . . 34/183 26/154 . 60/171 2068/143
13 . . . 1/138 48/156 12/176 60/160 2129/144
14 . . . 4/29 1/106 55/174 60/163 2189/144
15 . . . 34/177 4/136 23/50 60/126 2249/144
16 ..... ..... ..... 25/142 25/185 9/52 59/146 2308/144
17 . . . 4/42 34/152 23/76 61/116 2370/143
18 . . 1/56 1/63 54/165 2/55 59/157 2428/143
19 . . . 7/60 53/150 . 60/140 2489/143
20 . . . . 6/100 54/178 60/171 2548/144
21 . . . 0/240 28/174 32/175 60/175 2608/145
22 . . . 43/162 16/124 . 60/151 2668/145
23 4/54 21/90 . 34/152 . . 60/122 2728/144
DAY1 2.6/91 4.1/147 4.8/163 4.8/182 6.4/169 1.1/102 ..... 23.8/155
DAY2 2.3/67 4.6/112 1.8/136 4.4/152 4.9/157 3.6/143 . 21.6/132
TOT 4.9/80 8.7/128 6.6/155 9.2/168 11.4/164 4.7/133 . 45.5/144
Some Highlights:
Having set up and operated CQWW SSB a month earlier, there was little
physical work to perform when I arrived back on Aruba on Sunday, November
17th. Bob, P40J/WX4G picked me up at the airport and we discussed my idea
of dropping the FORCE 12 two element 40 - four element 20 combo yagi to
retune the 40M elements. After weighting the pros and cons the idea was
dropped when we considered the risks/rewards of the process. Our collective
years of experience in building and maintaining stations in the Carribean
told us to leave well enough alone - the antenna performed just fine thru a
tuner - the improvement would be marginal in relation to the effort required
and and potential risk of damage during the process (actually I think we
were both looking for an excuse just to be lazy and have more beach time).
So the only real work was setting up the station, adjusting the 80M
Inverted V for operation on the CW end of the band, and making some minor
beverage repairs.
When I left the island three weeks before, the local power company was in
the process of extending the high tension lines to my host family's driveway
and installing several new stepdown transformers along the road. Low line
voltage has been a cronic problem at this QTH, with readings below 190 volts
in the eventings all too common. Anyway, the work had been completed and
the meter read a nice steady 220 VAC. The Alpha 87A, which automatically
turns itself off when it senses line voltage dips under 185 or so, would
now work just fine.
Not having all that much to do left lots of time over the next five days to
casually operate the bands, make daily visits to the wonder beaches on Aruba
(being very careful not to get too sunburned), and then in the evenings to
enjoy the delights of dining at many of the fine restaurants on the island.
For once this actually seemed like a REAL VACATION in contrast to the
normal race against the clock and frantic efforts to make a station work.
Wow! Now I know why those who fork out the $$ for many of the fine FOR RENT
stations have such a great time.
I fell into a pattern of getting up around local sunrise (1040 UTC),
checking out grayline and long path openings for a few hours, and then doing
minor maintenance and other chores. Around noon Bob and I would head off
for some lunch, maybe a beer or two, an hour or two on a beach, and then
back for another beer or two. The weather most of the week was quiet odd in
that the normally dependable 20+ mph trade winds out of the east weren't
blowing. The winds were light and variable and frequently shifted
direction. We later found out that Hurricane Marcos about 600 miles to our
north was causing the problem which persisted until the Sunday morning of
the contest. In the mean time, without the breeze it was HOT both day and
night. The home of my Aruban host is not air conditioned so at times it was
a bit uncomfortable. Thank goodness for ceiling and floor fans.
It was nice to be able to take such a relaxed attitude while preparing for
what I consider the biggest contest of the year. During the week one by one
the expeditons showed up, creating pileups. K3TUP/C6A always seemed to be
attracting a big crowd regardless of band. Did some DXing, working XZ1N
long path on 20M around 12Z. Also a big surprise to run into N4WW at 5S7B
on 15M about 15Z one afternoon. Had frequent chats with 3E1DX/DL5XX,
8P9HT/K4BAI, PY0FF/OH2MM, 9Y4H/CT1BOH, 4V2A/9A3A, CT8T/N6AA, K5KO/HC8 etc.
as we all were checking out our stations and propagation. Kept checking 10
meters all week and heard very few stations, just a few Africans and deep
South Americans. But did manage a QSO with IQ4A, they must have a huge
antenna.
As usual I could not sleep on the afternoon before the contest. Guess I get
too keyed up. Each year before the contest I normally develop a detailed
band plan to follow. This time I started the contest WITHOUT a set plan of
attack, just a general notion that I would follow the MUF and move around
alot. With the experience of having operated from the same place for 10
years you do collect a lot of useful knowledge on propagation and I suppose
at this juncture I conciously or unconciously capitalized on whatever I have
stored up over all those years. Another big factor of course is to keep my
sleep time to a very minimum. The last few years oversleeping has cost me
mega points so this time I was determined to sleep only 2 hours during the
contest. As it turned out I sat in that chair for the first 34 hours
without moving even once! So when I took a planned 2 hour nap Sunday
morning at 0945Z, I really had been up 46 hours since arising Friday
morning. Not having other active P40 stations seemed to make me much more
attractive to all those multiplier hunters out there, it was me or nothing
so I suppose some percentage of the score can be attributed to rarity this
time around.
Conditions were very interesting. At the beginning of the contest 20 meters
was absolutely dead, not even an LU to hear/work. Forced me to start on 40
which wasn't exactly what I wanted but again the idea was to take what the
bands had to offer. Managed a 403 contacts in the first two hours, which is
OK but not the 450 I was hoping for if 20 had been open. Anyway by 0200 I
was off to 80 and then 160. The low bands were simply great, good Eu and
As. In retrospect I spent too much time on 80/160 and not enough on 40. My
love for 160M clouds my judgement I guess. The QRN level Friday nite was
only moderate so working stations on top band was relatively easy. As the
hours went by followed grayline across Eu moving up in frequency. The only
time during the first 34 hours I really wanted to sleep was just before dawn
Saturday morning but managed to fight it off. Between 10 and 13Z worked
some good PAC/AS on 40 and 20 and LP on 15. Then off to the races working
Eu in earnest on 20 and 15. Kept a close eye on 10M....worked a few AF and
US but no real opening. Later in the day moved PAC (KH8, ZL, etc) from 15
to 10 with success. Rates were rather normal in the in 155 to 200 range
most of afternoon and pileups for the most part were quite manageable and
thats what I like. When I get a huge pileup it just slows it down too much.
By the end of the first day the totals were as good as I have ever done so
figured I certainly I had a shot at breaking 6000 Q and doing well mult.
wise.
Saturday nite 40, 80 and 160 were even better than the Friday. There was
virtually no QRN, it was absolutely the quietest evening I have heard in all
my trips to P40. You could listen to the Eu stations on 160 using the xmit
antenna and then you were hearing the 2nd and 3rd layer guys! Wow, great
conditions. After being duped by XZ1N earlier on 40M I was feeling pretty
good and running on 80 was really a blast. Nice JA run on 80M about 06Z
told me conditions were near perfect, I just had to not sleep too much later
on to be in the running. 9Y4H and I exchanged some numbers and he was a bit
behind in both Q and mults but it was early yet.
Between my multiple alarms and my host I managed to keep my sleep time to
just under 2 hours. Of course I was disoriented when awakened but it wore
within an hour and I was ready to run run run run all day Sunday. Kept a
ear again on 10M and was rewarded with a short Eu opening to
G/F/PI/ON/I/EA/YU, etc. and then a more general opening to Af and USA. Ten
was open to most of USA but activity seemed low. But in a few sprints
managed 600 Qs. It was particularly nice to work many Carrib. stations
that were really loud and surprises like YB, HZ, and other goodies from
zones 38, 39, etc. The goal Sunday was run like hell and move mults
whenever possible which 95 perecent of the time worked just fine. Thanks
everyone!
Anyway, as you will see from the summaries the mults where there and the
strategy worked. My 40M antenna failed in the last hour (burned up a barrel
connector) but it really didn't hurt all that much. The beverages worked
GREAT on 160 thru 40 and made listening so much easier.
The score is about 80K better than the existing SOAB record by EA8EA/OH2MM
back in '91 near the top of the cycle. More than likely Ville will retain
the record once the log checking is done but it sure was fun coming so close
at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Guess it goes to show you just never
know what to expect. The rise in flux to near 100 over the course of the
weekend sure made a huge difference. Can't remember working so may PAC/AS
multipliers in prior years.
As you can tell I thought this was probably the most exciting contest I have
ever operated. Everything just seemed to fall into place at the right time.
I want to thank Bob, WX4G/P40J for his constant encouragement and my hosts,
Humphrey and Corrie Kock, for their efforts on my behalf.
73, John W2GD/P40W
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