BARTG HF RTTY Contest
Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 27
Summary:
Band QSOs Countries Call Areas
-----------------------------------
80: 84 3 14
40: 224 14 15
20: 373 40 22
15: 24 6 6
10:
-----------------------------------
Total: 705 63 57 Continents = 6 Total Score = 501,840
Club:
Comments:
Opening solar conditions: SFI=68 A=5 K=2
Closing solar conditions: SFI=72 A=8 K=1
* FT2000 + SB221
* N1MM Logger + MMTTY
* 3-element CL33 tribander at 45'
* 40M -- 2 half-squares
* 80M -- delta loop
Spent Friday in the back yard with slingshot, fishing line, mason line and new
ropes, changing the 40M half-squares, so now one points to the US/Asia, and one
points to EU/ZL with no interaction. Clean patterns and good gain. Also
reconfigured the 80M delta loop (now more symmetrical). Sure made a difference
in the score.
Year-over-year comparison:
QSOs DX Areas Conts Points
2003 155 26 36 5 50,375 LP
2004 293 46 67 5 164,980 LP
2006 328 26 49 6 147,600 LP
2007 432 55 47 6 264,384 HP
2008 705 63 57 6 501,840 HP
The half-squares tell quite a story on 40M, vs. last year's vertical...
Last year (ground-mounted vertical):
Band QSOs Countries Call Areas
-----------------------------------
80: 33 2 11
40: 91 4 13
This year (delta loop 80M; half-squares 40M):
Band QSOs Countries Call Areas
-----------------------------------
80: 84 3 14
40: 224 14 15
Didn't hear much for EU openings on 40M, till the final hour Sunday when I
decided to flip to the brand-new EU antenna -- and worked F4JRC and S52A like
they were nextdoor. Worked OE9ICI, too, but he thought I was an RA4 and pointed
some other direction. Was rushing to see if I could pass 700 Qs, so opted to run
stateside ops rather than the thin supply of Europeans that might have been on
the band in that final half hour.
For domestic work the other 40M half-square felt like a fire hose aimed across
North America at times.
Sunday afternoon, when 20M was played out I went to 40M at 4 p.m. (2300z).
Nobody could hear me. I took a few minutes to find a snack, and came back at
4:30 p.m. -- could hear everyone with great big signals, but no one could hear
me. Called CQ till 5:05 (0005z) and suddenly the band shifted and BOOM... off
to the races with 38 Qs in a bunch. Definite one-way propagation was the story
on 80M Sunday p.m., too (heard lots of signals, but couldn't work anyone, so
went back to 40M).
Had more than the usual number of frequency hijackers. The worst was an IOTA
station who popped up and called CQ on top of me for half an hour on Saturday
afternoon. For half an hour before that, I'd been working JAs and plenty of
stateside off the back. Eventually had to move because the guy wouldn't QSY,
after several clear requests. He called me on 40M later in the evening all
friendly-like. Over the next hour, he returned to my frequency twice to call CQ
on top of me. I didn't budge (see firehose, above).
There were many great moments in sports -- working Phil GU0SUP for the first
time in a while, and Scott VE1OP (again, it's been a while), Ed VE4EAR who took
the time to let me know how my signal was doing on 80M late Saturday night... we
were both 20-over on the trans-prairie path), and Lee VE7CC who provided the VE7
multiplier on four bands (though most of our Qs were pretty scratchy due to
proximity of 400 kms). Love surprise DX callers, such as EA8OM checking in on
20M while I was beaming Brazil.
Dozens of new calls worked, and lots of low serial numbers right up till the
final minutes -- great to see guys just jumping in for a few. If they like it,
hope they'll be back for more next time. Saw plenty of new-guy flubs from
callers, but other than people blindly calling over and over while a Q is in
progress, I don't get bent out of shape by mistakes. I made lots of 'em too.
Made 60 more 20M contacts this year, but 7 fewer countries and one fewer call
area, due to virtually no EU opening Saturday morning, and a real short opening
Sunday a.m. (1630-1700z). No VKs at all this year. Miss them, heaps.
Found 24 stations on 15M, but it's pretty obvious where people don't point
their yagis very often: northwest. The cluster told me lots of contacts were
being made, but no many by me.
I used to worry about getting all six continents, but the past couple of years
I've found they just show up when you need 'em. Got all but Africa on 40M on
the first night and morning. 20M is usually good for a few African stations
(CN8, EA8, 7X0, etc.), and this time was no exception.
Tired, I went through mental contortions trying to figure out how much off-time
I still needed to take after Saturday night. Ended up taking off from 9 p.m. to
6 a.m. (but didn't actually get out of bed till 8 a.m., hi... total of 21 hours
off by then). That left me with a clear run all day to the 0200z end, and no
worries about temporal muff-ups.
All in all, this was one of my better outings on RTTY -- fun-wise, if not
score-wise. The low-band antennas were a pleasure to use.
WPX SSB next. Yikes. Not exactly my cup of tea, but a contest is a contest :)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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