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From: jcrovell@gbsmail.bcs.lucent.com (jcrovell@gbsmail.bcs.lucent.com)
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 17:20:13 -0500
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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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