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[3830] K5GN ARRL CW SOAB (long, very long)

To: <3830@contesting.com>
Subject: [3830] K5GN ARRL CW SOAB (long, very long)
From: mccarty@hal-pc.org (David K. McCarty)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 01:34:07 -0600
If you don't care, don't read it.

hi

K5GN
                              ARRL DX CW SUMMARY SHEET


    Contest Dates : 15-Feb-97, 16-Feb-97


    Callsign Used : K5GN
         Operator : K5GN

         Category : SOAB

 Default Exchange : 5NNTX

             Name : David K. McCarty
          Address : 8603 Manhattan Drive
   City/State/Zip : Houston, TX  77096
          Country : United States


        Team/Club : Texas DX Society (TDXS)


   BAND   Raw QSOs   Valid QSOs   Points   Countries   
 ______________________________________________________

  160CW       45          45        135        33 
   80CW      139         138        414        56 
   40CW      543         533       1599        79 
   20CW      867         842       2520        85 
   15CW      197         195        582        64 
   10CW       33          32         96        17 
 ______________________________________________________

 Totals     1824        1785       5346       334 


    Final Score = 1785564 points.

160: half wave sloper
Beverages: NE, SW/NE, SE/NW
80: 2 el delta loop fixed NE (tops at 130'), inv V at 130'
40: sick 4 el KLM at 165', 2 el quad fixed NE at 70', dipole at 80'
20: 6 el KLM at 135', 4/4 el at 80'/40'
15: 6/6 135'/90' (lower fixed to Europe), 5 el SE at 45'
10: 6 el at 105', 5 el SE at 35'

TS930, Alpha 76 for 20/160
TS930, Alpha 78 for 10/40
FT1000, Henry 2k for 15/80
1500W max, less on 10, 20, and 160


The long story:

Sick all week and under the gun at the plant to get some things
cranked out, so did not get enough rest leading up to the 
contest. Up early on Friday, too, then late getting out to 
W5KU's for the contest.  No nap.  Pizza was good, though.

The 20M beam survived the wind after the third replacement of
the Create RC5-B rotator clamp, so was pleased to be able to 
point it at JA for the start.  One of my best starting hours 
ever, with VS6, XX9, JD1, YB and BV calling in.  One weak JA on 
15 and some really LOUD Europeans on 80 were found on the second
radio.  QRN was rather high, but signals were great, for once.

20 died to JA shortly, so went to 40 where there were about 20
Europeans over S9 and the rest in the mud.  D25L was sending so
fast nobody was answering.  Found a hole an hour later, but it
didn't last long before everyone was weak and watery.  With the
beam still intermittent, weak signals just were uncopiable as
the signals would blip in and out while intermod from the BC 
signals and the East Coast CQ machines blipped out and in.

Europeans on 80 were so strong at 03Z that I decided to try 160.
EI6BT was the first thing heard, and he was LOUDER than most of 
the W1's 2's and 3's on the band.  WOW.  Worked several good 
catches but they were fading.  Should have looked earlier.

Nearly every Q on 80 was a mult from 0400 to 0441 but no 
answers to my CQs.  Back to 160 for a rare answer to a CQ -- a
very strong IT9ZGY -- THANKS!  KH6CC was as loud as ever.

At this point 40 began to reopen with very weak sigs from across
the terminator.  Found a good spot and worked a bunch of Europe
and other odds and ends until I decided to take a nap from 0745
to 0845.  The sunrise opening across Europe was a complete loss
on 80 and 160.  Nada.

When I got back on, worked a few nice NA mults on 160 and 
then found a *sunset* opening in JA on 80.  I figured out why
when I went back to 40M.  The JA signals were just plain puny
for several hours -- a big disappointment, this is the only way
to make up for the big hours the East Coast gets to make on
20 before the band opens here.  Things got better around 11Z 
when XX9TR called in, along with KH2D (who successfully moved 
to a noisy 80M -- THANKS!) and VS97BG, 9M2OM, and HL5CL.

A short trip to 80 at sunrise netted a short JA run and a big
pileup for VK2VM.  I don't know why I don't get out better to
VK/ZL on 80.  On 160 JA7NI came out of the noise enough for a
good QSO.

Twenty seemed to be hopping, so tuned up the band looking for
the longer haul stuff and the odd chance of finding an open
frequency in the wall-to-wall East Coast.  Found 14003.25
open.  Nice hole.  Listened, asked, tuned around it, still 
couldn't believe it.  Began running Europeans at a pretty good
clip (though signals were weak, even in what is normally the
best hour here).  Worked enough to get the rate meter up over
100, not bad with so many fills.  Then a very loud and 
insistent K3MD showed up and said he wanted to have the 
frequency *back*.  ???  Said he had to go "put another log on 
the fire."  I explained to him I'd been using the frequency 
for several minutes without him ever saying a word and kept 
going.  He QRMed me for several exchanges before he called me
a lid and left.  Seems more like the other way 'round, to me.

Using the second radio, worked my first Eu on 15 at 14:09, 
IR4D across the equator.  Next one was DF0RU -- who would 
turn out to be the only DL worked the entire weekend on 15M
-- at 14:43, closer to short path.  Heard lots of 2's 3's and
4's getting answers I can't hear, but no skip for Texas.  
Had to keep slugging away at 20, even though the answers 
were getting fewer and weaker. A few minutes later, W1AUT 
decided to just use the frequency without courtesy of 
asking or leaving when asked to go away.  Not nice. He did 
eventually leave after several minutes of QRM.  Even came 
back later and tried the same stunt again.  I figure, if 
he's 20 over 9 in my receiver I expect I'm close to that 
in his.  He ought to be able to hear me telling him the
frequency is in use.  Very unsporting.

Finally at 15:50, there were enough Europeans above the noise
on 15 to give it a try.  No answers to CQs but worked a bunch 
of countries in southern and western Eu along with 9G, ZD8,
and others.  Couldn't find a decent hole on 20 so S&P 
continued until 18:00 -- two hours of nothing but S&P during 
"prime time".  Yuck.  Listened to K5ZD and several others 
steadily working guys who didn't register at all here.

I figured it's the afternoon pits and 20 will be as good as 
it gets.  Then a few Europeans jumped up out of the noise on 
15, tempting me to try again.  No luck, and back to the 
grind.  LU8AQE had been loud on 10 and he was joined by 
several other of his countrymen.  PU2MHB showed up, weak 
but good.

20 surprised me by continuing to bring in Europeans at about
40+/hour, augmented with the second radio on 15/10 through
about 22:30.  The 4/4 stack just never was better than the 
6 el.  Although it did bring the east coasters up an S-unit 
or more.  2200 was the africa hour, with FR5DD and 9U5T 
answering my CQ's.  FR5DD even moved to 40, successfully.

Tried to get into Eu on 40 (rarely can compete this early) and 
found 9K2/YO9HP, but little else and couldn't run them. First 
JA on 15 at 22:55.  Back to 20, crawling along with just a
few JA's answering.  The 0000 hour was fair on 20 into JA, 
adding a bunch of 80M Europeans on the 2nd rig.  Tried CQing 
on 3547 and an HB0 and S5 answered! Five unproductive minutes 
later, I gave up and headed for 40.

UA0AZ was as loud as the Europeans (or more clearly, the
Europeans were all as weak as the UA0 over the pole) so
it was not very good.  Went to 160 where the Europeans
were LOUDER THAN ON 40!!!  Snagged a bunch of new ones 
including RW2F who flattered me by moving me from 40.

Almost no answers came to my CQ's from 0130 to to 0520 
when I packed it in for another nap.  This time, I was
so loopy I didn't set the alarm right.  I remember a 
dreamy conversation with myself about finding a second
alarm clock to prevent a mistake, but I guess my sleepy
side won.  

Nearly six hours later, I jumped out of bed completely 
embarrassed and furious at myself for oversleeping. I 
changed, then ate breakfast while cruising 160, nabbing
KL7Y (what a signal!) and a few JA's.  Go to 40 and 
--WHOA-- who turned the band on?  N2IC/0 was going to 
town on the low end. One hour of nearly 90/hr ensued, 
with four BV's and other cool stuff mixed in.  Found 
VS97BG on 80 with a good signal before going back to 
the grind on 20.

20 netted a *solid* 30/hr rate, so back to 40 3/4 of an 
hour after sunrise.  My first CQ was met with a very loud 
XU6WV -- an all-time new one -- so I hung in there and 
worked JA's until nearly 1500Z while working European big
guns on the 2nd radio on 20.  Don, KH8/N5OLS was nice 
enough to QSY to 80, even though it was an hour after 
sunrise...surprise! We made the QSO!

15 opened earlier to EA.  So I eked out Q's on the second
radio while pounding away at 20M.  Only "hole" I could
find was on 14069.  About 60% duty cycle between rude
interruptions by nameless, faceless, inconsiderate
digital signals.  While the AMTOR was blasting away, I 
CQ'd in a few more G's and EA's on 15.  This continuesd
from 1500 to 1800.  Spent some time listening to W9RE
on 20 running Europe that I could only barely hear.

CX6VM created quite a stir on 10 at 18:30.  XE2L showed
for a scatter QSO.  Then ZD8Z found a pipeline to W6.
Sounded like a good packet pileup -- one W6 right after 
the other at 38 WPM.  Jim was the only station worked 
on 10M who was east of SA.

20M was a lot like Saturday from 1900 to 2100. Then 
SM2DMU showed up on 15M at 20 over 9.  Worked a slow string
of SM, LA, OH on the band while cruising 20 on the 2nd
radio for anyone willing to move to 15.  Then JA's 
started calling on 15 at 2200, with N7ET/DU7 a really 
fine catch.  For the last 3 DX contests I've tried, the
condx to JA have been better on Sunday afternoon than
at any other time.  Not good for the home team, with 
most of the JA's off to work before 15M opens.

KH6RS and KH6BZF suddenly showed up on 10M with 50db 
over S9 signals. Link coupled, as it were.  This dragged
out the last burst of adrenaline in me as 10M opened up to 
the south for the last two hours of the contest.  ZL,
VK, HP, V4, P4 (P49V and P40W both reached 40 over 9), 
KP3, J75, V31 went into the log via long skip, short skip
and skew paths.  Meanwhile, JA's continued to trickle
in to CQ's on 15, 6W1AE and KG4ML were found on 20.

The last 10 minutes were spent on 40 and for once in 
the last few years, the last two Q's were mults instead
of dupes.  CO2KK moved from 40 to 80 and was found 
with just seconds to go, CQing right on top of an 
East Coast multiop who couldn't hear him.

Looking back, the lousy condx meant that it nearly every
answered CQ on 40, 20 and 15 was tough copy, which meant
that there was very little concentration left over for
the second radio.  Don't know how I missed working guys
like VP2EV on several bands, but figure this must be part
of it.  

So, bottom line: Get more rest, fix the 40, and hope 
for more sunspots next time.  A better stack on 20 would
really help, too.

Until next time (WPX CW)!

K5GN


                               ARRL CW '97 K5GN SOAB

HR    160     80       40       20       15       10    HR TOT CUM
TOTAL  SCORE
--   -----  ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- ------
---------  -----
 0    ---     8/5      ---     88/11     3/3      ---    99/19   
99/19   0.01M
 1    ---     1/1     18/15    30/6      ---      ---    49/22  
148/41   0.02M
 2    ---     5/4     52/19     ---      ---      ---    57/23  
205/64   0.04M
 3    9/9     5/2     13/6      ---      ---      ---    27/17  
232/81   0.06M
 4    3/3    21/17     6/0      ---      ---      ---    30/20  
262/101  0.08M
 5    4/4     ---     61/6      ---      ---      ---    65/10  
327/111  0.11M
 6    4/3     ---     34/6      ---      ---      ---    38/9   
365/120  0.13M
 7    1/0     6/4     22/2      ---      ---      ---    29/6   
394/126  0.15M
 8    3/2     3/1      ---      ---      ---      ---     6/3   
400/129  0.15M
 9    ---    10/3     15/3      ---      ---      ---    25/6   
425/135  0.17M
10    ---     7/1     30/2      ---      ---      ---    37/3   
462/138  0.19M
11    ---     1/1     47/3      ---      ---      ---    48/4   
510/142  0.22M
12    1/1     8/0     37/3      ---      ---      ---    46/4   
556/146  0.24M
13    ---     4/1      ---     71/23     1/1      ---    76/25  
632/171  0.32M
14    ---     ---      ---     73/10     5/5      ---    78/15  
710/186  0.40M
15    ---     ---      ---     44/2     20/11     ---    64/13  
774/199  0.46M
16    ---     ---      ---      ---     33/16     2/1    35/17  
809/216  0.52M
17    ---     ---      ---     44/5      3/2      ---    47/7   
856/223  0.57M
18    ---     ---      ---     31/3     10/3      3/0    44/6   
900/229  0.62M
19    ---     ---      ---     26/1     10/5      2/1    38/7   
938/236  0.66M
20    ---     ---      ---     37/0      6/1      1/0    44/1   
982/237  0.70M
21    ---     ---      ---     47/1      4/1      2/1    53/3  
1035/240  0.74M
22    ---     ---     12/2     35/3      1/0      ---    48/5  
1083/245  0.79M
23    ---     ---      ---     31/7      9/2      ---    40/9  
1123/254  0.85M
 0    ---    17/5      ---     41/1      ---      ---    58/6  
1181/260  0.92M
 1   13/6     ---     19/1      3/0      ---      ---    35/7  
1216/267  0.97M
 2    4/4     7/0      6/2      ---      ---      ---    17/6  
1233/273  1.01M
 3    ---    15/4      2/0      ---      ---      ---    17/4  
1250/277  1.04M
 4    ---     8/2     16/3      ---      ---      ---    24/5  
1274/282  1.08M
 5    ---     1/1      6/1      ---      ---      ---     7/2  
1281/284  1.09M
 6    ---     ---      ---      ---      ---      ---     ---  
1281/284  1.09M
 7    ---     ---      ---      ---      ---      ---     ---  
1281/284  1.09M
 8    ---     ---      ---      ---      ---      ---     ---  
1281/284  1.09M
 9    ---     ---      ---      ---      ---      ---     ---  
1281/284  1.09M
10    ---     ---      ---      ---      ---      ---     ---  
1281/284  1.09M
11    3/1     5/0     39/2      ---      ---      ---    47/3  
1328/287  1.14M
12    ---     4/2     68/0      ---      ---      ---    72/2  
1400/289  1.21M
13    ---     1/1     14/2     19/2      ---      ---    34/5  
1434/294  1.26M
14    ---     ---     12/0     17/0      2/1      ---    31/1  
1465/295  1.29M
15    ---     ---      ---     49/0      5/1      ---    54/1  
1519/296  1.35M
16    ---     ---      ---     33/0     17/3      ---    50/3  
1569/299  1.41M
17    ---     ---      ---     35/1     12/2      ---    47/3  
1616/302  1.46M
18    ---     ---      ---     14/0      4/0      6/3    24/3  
1640/305  1.50M
19    ---     ---      ---     25/0      5/1      1/0    31/1  
1671/306  1.53M
20    ---     ---      ---     26/3      1/0      ---    27/3  
1698/309  1.57M
21    ---     ---      ---     10/2     15/4      ---    25/6  
1723/315  1.63M
22    ---     ---      ---      5/0     14/2     11/8    30/10 
1753/325  1.71M
23    ---     1/1      4/1      8/4     15/0      4/3    32/9  
1785/334  1.79M
D1  25/22   79/40   347/67   557/72   105/50    10/3            1123/254
D2  20/11   59/16   186/12   285/13    90/14    22/14            662/80
TO  45/33  138/56   533/79   842/85   195/64    32/17           1785/334


      Continent List  Continent Report ARRL CW '97 K5GN SOAB

                   160    80    40    20    15    10    ALL
                   ---    --    --    --    --    --    ---
  USA calls   =      0     0     0     0     0     0      0
  VE calls    =      0     0     0     2     0     0      2
  N.A. calls  =     17    18    15    25    26     6    107
  S.A. calls  =      3     6    18    37    47    20    131
  Euro calls  =     20    74   203   586    75     0    958
  Afrc calls  =      0     4    12    10     8     1     35
  Asia calls  =      0     2    26    17     0     0     45
  JA calls    =      3    29   234   155    24     0    445
  Ocen calls  =      2     5    25    10    15     5     62

  Unknowns    =      0     0     0     0     0     0      0

  Total calls =     45   138   533   842   195    32   1785



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