CQWW WPX Contest, CW
Call: VC2A
Operator(s): VE3NE
Station: VE2CSI
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Sept Iles, QC, Zone
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 132
40: 1002
20: 2022
15: 29
10: 0
------------
Total: 3185 Prefixes = 969 Total Score = 10,607,643
Club: Contest Club Ontario
Comments:
Originally three of us planned to got to Zone 2 but for some
unforeseen issues two of my friends had to cancel so I ended up
doing SO AB.
Left Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. and after driving 17 hours straight I
arrived in the city of Sept Iles, QC. On Wednesday I put up the 40m vertical
and assembled the 80m one. Next morning with the help of a couple of local
HAMs we put up the 80m vertical. It really looked beautiful. After that I
started to stretch out the beverage. When I came back from the bushes I saw an
ATV leaving the property and my 80m antenna was on the ground. Apparently the
driver hit one of the stakes of the guy wires, dragged the rope with the ATV
and broke my(actually belongs to VE3EY) beautiful 80m vertical in half. I was
very frustrated and angry but after a few minutes of spitting fire I started to
fix the antenna. You are not going to Zone 2 every day so there is no time for
negative emotionsâ?¦:-) Cut out pieces of the broken and bent elements,
extended the tip of the vertical with extra tubing and a piece of metal rod
that I picked up from a local store. After four hours of very hard work the
antenna was again ready for lift off. I got so exhausted after the whole day of
work that I felt I really need some rest other wise I will fall asleep at the
radio. I checked into a motel, took a long hot bath and wake up at 11 a.m. on
Friday morning.
The radios worked fine and the condx were excellent on 40 and 20. The beverage
did wonders for me on 40m and it seemed the vertical radiated very good too. I
had a couple of very good hours on 40m. 80m was too noisy even with the
beverage and activity was really low.
I made a mistake and took a few hours of sleep both nights. Now I feel I should
have taken time off during the daytime. I figured that the simple 40m vertical
not going to be a big thing on 40 but it has been proven other wise. Any way I
slept in a sleeping bag in the shack from about 1:30 a.m. on the first night
but woke up around 3 a.m. that I had to go to the washroom.
The nights are still cold up there and I was half asleep but remembered to shut
the shackâ??s door to keep the warmth inside while I am in the washroom. When
finished came back and the shackâ??s door was locked and it opens with a key
only. The only key I had was in my pantâ??s pocket in the shacks. I was
standing there in a piece of underwear, staring at the door and did not really
understand how am I going to do contesting like thatâ?¦:-) Well, woke up in an
instantâ?¦:-), picked up some tools and tried to open the door but without
luck. There was about an inch gap between the floor and the bottom of the door
so I tried to fish out my pants with a coat hanger. It works for cars but not
for WPX. I could call the local HAMs but I imagined that they would laugh
themselves to death if they would see me in that situation. Well, they were
smiling quite a bit when I told them the storyâ?¦:-) I ended up braking the
door to get in. Next day I picked up a proper lock from the local hardware
store so this wonâ??t happen again if I have the chance to go there
againâ?¦:-)
For all this misery I was treated with a beautiful opening to JA on Sunday
morning between 7 and 8 a.m. Most of the JAâ??s were 599 but even the very
light flutter made it difficult to pick up complete and correct calls in the
pile up. I logged over 100 JAs in an hour and I was quite thrilled. I was
amazed by the activity from Russia and Ukraine. Thanks guys for that.
After the contest, with the help of VE2STK and VE2NN in an hour all the
antennas, cables and wires were in the building (heavy rain) and by midnight I
packed away everything into my car.
I had a great time and enjoyed every minutes of the trip but specially the WPX
contest. Thanks for all the calls.
I want to say special thanks to my friends Paul, VE3TA and Nick, VE3EY for
their support and help to make this trip possible. Special thanks too to
Rodrigue, VE2STK and Frank, VE2NN for their local help. I also want to thank
VE2DWQ, VE2XAA and VE3DZ for paving the road for the QTH reservation.
CUL
73 Lali, VC2A (XM3NE/2)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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