CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: GM4YXI
Operator(s): GM4YXI
Station: GM4YXI
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Ellon
Operating Time (hrs): 35
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 793 20 69
80: 1070 27 83
40: 1283 28 84
20: 0 0 0
15: 0 0 0
10: 1 1 1
------------------------------
Total: 3147 76 237 Total Score = 1,541,316
Club: North of Scotland Contest Group
Comments:
I only got back home from an overseas business trip about 2300 on Friday night,
my HF antennas were not in a useable state and I was in no fit state to start
the contest, being completely exhausted. While travelling earlier in the week I
had already come to terms with the fact that a full-on SOAB effort was not going
to be physically possible so I decided to â??inventâ?? my own
category��Single Op Low bands! I thought it would be better to enjoy some
good low band openings without chasing all over the shop. As I was missing a
lot of countries on 160 I decided to give the GM7V call a rest this year and
use the home call to improve my DXCC score a little.
I slept until 0400, then got started. As this was to be a non-competitive
effort I did not really worry too much about â??tacticsâ??, at the start at
least; that does not mean I was not trying to maximize my score, I just ran
most of the time, did very little S&P and did not necessarily worry about being
on the best band for 3-pointers. I also changed bands a lot less often than I
would have, had I being doing a proper SOAB.
As 160 was my main focus (at least when I started) I stayed on there from 0400
to well after my sunrise, then did one hour on 80m which was well open even to
zone 3 up to 0930. Then did an hour on 40m after which I collapsed in a heap,
despite JAs booming in 40m short path. I got back on around 1300 and stayed on
40m until 1600 when I just had to stop and sleep an hour, then managed an hour
on 80m but had to sleep again. Got back about 1900 and struggled on until 0200
mostly on 160 and 80. Slept 0200 to 0430. Judging by what others have written I
may have missed some good 80 on the first night but it was quite good on the
second night I thought. 160m was OK too, and I was pleased to be called by KH6
about an hour before my SR on 160m on Sunday morning. JAs and zone 3 were quite
easy on 80m too. I managed to keep going most of Sunday. As others have
commented, it was a revelation to be running Zones 3, 4 & 5 as well as JAs on
40m between 11-1300, indeed I think W/VE was probably available throughout the
24 hours on 40m, if not necessarily in volume. I also noticed that even while
some W6s were coming in long path on 40m on Sunday afternoon, most W7s were
worked short path throughout. Usually Iâ??d be on 20 or 15m at this time! I was
quite chuffed to work a few JA on Sunday evening (JA sunrise) on 160m. Never
heard KL7 on any band.
My one non-LF QSO was 3X5A on 10mâ?¦..I needed that for a new one; they were
the only signal I could hear on 10m and were true S9!
Sorry to hear of the WX antenna problems at G5W and G4IIY. So itâ??s not just
me that has these woes! After a stormy SSB event, it was flat calm and freezing
up here too but it was only Sunday evening rain/ice which caused my 80m inv Vee
to develop a high SWR.
I noted the points made by several folks regarding frenzied calling and not
enough listening. I do not buy the reasoning of some that this is a
â??perceivedâ?? problem and function of poor CW skills on the part of the
station being called by the pile-up. Yes, my CW is mediocre for sure, it can
therefore be difficult to control the pile-up and it is a bit depressing when
my requests for â??lsn lsnâ?? and repeats of a partial call were greeted by
strings of â??hi hi hiâ??â?¦I could just hear the irony. It is just plain bad
operating and rudeness when guys just call regardless of who you go back to. I
do not see what gives them the right to think they are a special case that does
need to wait their turn. As Andy said, we cut some slack on the basis of
mis-copying and QRM but I thought the impatience was worse this year. Some of
the well know EU multi-ops seemed to think they did not have to wait and I am
afraid to say that many of the offenders in general had calls beginning with R
or U. Compared to the super-controlled JAs and generally well-behaved North
Americans, some European operators, particularly from the eastern end of this
continent behave like a bunch of ignorant madmen. And donâ??t get me started on
key clicks and attempts at frequency stealing��
But still, good fun. And a few new ones on 160m.
Keith GM4YXI
AL1500 plus ICOM
160m: Inv L and inv vee
80m: 70ft vertical (elev radials plus gnd screen) and inv vee
40m: four square, delta loop and quarter vertical
Five 130-170 m beverages
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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