CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
Call: KH6LC
Operator(s): N6GQ
Station: KH6LC
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: HAWAII
Operating Time (hrs): 45
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 61 14 13
80: 199 20 34
40: 626 24 37
20: 1949 35 99
15: 943 23 56
10: 72 9 20
------------------------------
Total: 3850 125 259 Total Score = 4,334,976
Club:
Comments:
First, a most sincere thanks to Lloyd, KH6LC, for again allowing me to use his
FB station in paradise. It's always a joy to arrive on the big island with
great friends and good times.
I love reading soapboxes, and I love stats, so this will be some of each!
I had arrived in KH6 a week early, and had some time to get acclimated to local
band conditions, weather, etc. At the beginning of the week, there was high
hopes that a group of sunspots would appear Friday morning and save the
weekend. Alas, that didn't happen, and conditions were rough to say the least.
This is the second year to do SOAB from KH6, and I was hoping to significantly
better my score from last year. The goal was to keep the QSO total up, but in
times of lower rates, aggressively hunt multipliers. I did this, and while I
did increase my mult count significantly from last year, the QSOs just weren't
there like last year.
I chose to start the contest on 20M, and was rewarded with the first couple
hours of 300+/hr rates. In fact, my best 60-min rate was the first hour at 332.
It was looking like maybe I was wrong, that indeed conditions were improving. By
0200z I was already just under 800 QSOs and things were moving along nicely.
Where was everyone on topband in the early hours of the morning? I don't know
how many reports I got of "you're the only signal on the band" in reply to my
CQs. I confirmed this as well by spinning the VFO numerous times at good
topband times and there was no one else around. The band was quiet on both ends
of the QSO, and yet conditions are there. Then, as I was getting depressed about
it, I begin to hear EY8MM and RU6LA more than an hour before my local sunrise on
topband. As the sun comes up here, EY8MM rises to S4-S5 on our JA beverage (no
preamp!). It was then that he heard me call and we had what appeared to be an
easy QSO. I won't forget that QSO!
Memorable QSOs:
* EY8MM on 160. Nodir, you are to be congratulated on your 160M signal (and RX
antennas!)
* UU7J on 75M at my local sunset. Wow, what a fantastic signal! Who needs
beverages when you have an S9+ signal on 75m (long path)
* NR5M, K5NA, and K5TR QSOs on 10M backscatter - thanks for being there guys! I
wish I could have heard zones 3 and 5 as well.
Notable Bullet Points:
* I noticed a significant increase this year in operators that "aren't in the
contest" and don't understand what a CQ-Zone is.
* Similar to above, a large increase in operators that don't come back with an
exchange after I recite their entire (correct) call and send exchange. Just
silence.
* It pays (even when single-op) to exploit wierd band opening times/paths. (10M
backscatter, long path to Europe in the middle of the night on 15/20m, etc.)
Huge Signal Mentions:
* NR5M - man, you guys are loud on all bands, especially the low bands
* K5NA, N0NI, NR5M, WB9Z, all superb signals on topband
* LX7I on 20M - all of the rest of the europeans were loud, up to S9+10dB, you
guys were S9+20-30! Fantastic!
* EY8MM, as noted above, on topband. Wow.
* RU6LA on topband, audible long before my local sunrise.
Personal Criticisms:
* I took *way* too many breaks (thanks, SH5, great break analysis!). I had a
total of 700 minutes of off-time. It was especially rough early Sunday morning
when I was drained of energy and trying to hunt mults during the early-morning
duldrums, pre-sunrise. While it doesn't feel like I was "off" for nearly 11
hours, it all adds up, and unfortunately is reflected in my score.
* A better balance of rate vs. mult hunting. Last year I focused on rate (5200
QSOs), but this year I focused on finding mults. In un-assisted mode, this
takes a lot of time and I didn't even do as well as I had hoped.
* Don't spend so much time bands that aren't producing, in hopes that they will
(topband, 10m).
* What did I do wrong on 75M? I have yet to understand, but my QSO total on 75
was inexcusable and I honestly don't know what happened.
* I should have done much better on 40 and 15, as the KH6LC station plays
*very* well on both bands. Again, no excuses, I just blew it.
Thanks to HQ3Z and K5NA for my only two six-banders. NQ4I, you guys were
*everywhere*, but unfortunately 10M didn't cooperate to make a 6-bander for
us.
It would be very interesting to see, in the end, how scores overall compared to
last year. My first impression is that conditions and participation were down
significantly from last year.
Congrats to the all the other KH6's in the islands who did super FB scores!
Thanks to everyone for your QSOs, and please listen for KH6LC in CQWW CW!
Jeff N6GQ
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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