CQWW WPX Contest, SSB
Call: 8P5A
Operator(s): W2SC
Station: 8P5A
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Barbados
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 186
40: 1026
20: 1904
15: 2483
10: 604
------------
Total: 6203 Prefixes = 1362 Total Score = 24,870,120
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
5L10 @ 100'
3L40 @ 90'
TH6 @ 50'
TH7 @ 50'
80 meter Inverted V
New NA Record!
Returned for a second contest in March. My original plan was for a very short
trip for WPX and return home with the gear needed for WRTC. However, after not
being able to resolve a problem with the 40 meter beam prior to ARRL SSB, we
returned a day earlier to do some more work on the antenna.
Once again the focus was on the driven element since it was reachable from the
tower. Due to the big moves in the SWR, the reasoning was that it had to be
the driven element or the beta match. Unfortunately, anything other than the
driven element would require removing the antenna from the mast and we did not
have the time or energy for that project at this time.
Last time we opened up the major connections and looked for damage. With more
connections to go, and my new theory that the problem was not in the loading
wire but the element joints, we decided to take the elements completely apart.
We also discarded the existing loading wires and made new ones from a continuous
length of aluminum wire. We were able to get all of the sections apart but one,
and the wire come off easily. I was hoping we would find an obvious root cause
in the process, but we did not. I was keenly interested in the first antenna
joint since the larger size aluminum was not slotted and there is little
pressure holding the sections in contact. Instead, there was a 1/4" bolt
through the element. One of these came apart easily and I could tell that I
had separated the sections when I reconditioned this antenna in 2001. The
other one took an overnight soaking but eventually came apart. Based on the
construction techniques of the prior owner (copper paste in the joints), it was
clear that these section had not been apart in nearly 15 years. There was also
heavy oxidation inside the joint and around the bolt.
Making the loading wires was a bit tedious until we figured out a technique
that worked. My concern was the impact of the new wire on the resonance of the
element. Taking the wire off the small spool made it difficult to make the wire
perfectly straight. I decided not to compensate for a small amount of extra
length and would check the result when the antenna was reassembled. Once we
had a process, doing the other element half only took about 15 minutes. With
the loading wires prone to breakage at the connection points to the elements, I
made redundant connections with a parallel piece of wire joined to the main wire
with a split bolt intended for use with aluminum.
With the antenna back together I put it back up. It was very windy in Barbados
and this process proved to be more much more challenging. Taking the element
down, the wind blew the rope around and it got tangled in a lower antenna. On
the way back up, the wind wreaked havoc with the elements and I was concerned
that I would bend the new wires as the elements bounced into various
obstructions on the way up. Also, in a season where rainfall was the lowest in
100 years, it rained heavily on both tower trips. In the end, the resonance
moved about 10Khz lower and the antenna worked as expected during both day and
night hours. During the last trip, the antenna would mysteriously display a
high SWR within a couple of hours of the sun going down.
The other notable accomplishment of the trip was the procurement of a new chair
for the operating position. The other chairs were slowly falling apart and were
surely a source of fatigue and post contest back pain. As with anything in
Barbados, it was not easy, but we did eventually get the new chair delivered
and it made a huge difference.
As is usually the case, there were a multitude of other small projects,
including the repair of a backup Centurion amp. I had a second back up AL80A
amp, but when I turned it on to test it, the plate choke failed. Nonetheless,
the station was in good shape by Thursday night and Friday lacked the drama we
had for ARRL SSB.
Not sure what to expect, I had rate sheets from three prior WPX contests for
comparison and would use the one that best matched the conditions. I also
wanted to get off to a good start, something I had not done for several
contests. Being so far east, 20 can be marginal at the start of the contest
but I am always tempted to start there. I was beginning to second guess my
strategy choice, or was the strategy OK, but the early hour tension was causing
to give up on the band too soon. Arriving back at the station around 2330, I
noticed that there were stations on 15 and 10. After briefly considering a 15
meter start, I chose 20 instead. I had the first station ready to go on 20 and
the other ready to go on 40. The contest was about to start and the 40 meter
beam still looked good.
Twenty was solid and put up my best WPX hour ever, at 330. With the serial
numbers, it is hard to go as fast as CQWW, but it felt as good the 425 hour I
had to start a CQWW many years back. Twenty continued strong for another hour
and I put up another 250. I was now well ahead of the three prior year rate
sheets and I only looked at the highest QSO sheet the rest of the way. The low
bands were OK, but not particularly productive, the first night. It seemed to
be hard to get much going on 40 and, especially, 80. Nonetheless, I went into
my first off time about 250 ahead of my 5900 QSO pace of 2006.
At the bottom of the cycle, the high bands are not too productive until a few
hours after sunrise. I decided to get on the bands at 1130 (roughly 2 hours
after sunrise). It was a bit earlier than prior years, but if it did not
yield, I could quickly shut down and take another hour of off time. It turns
out that 15 was wide open already and one CQ started a run of EU that lasted
about 5 hours. Clearly I was a bit late to the opening. After 15 slowed to
EU, I went up the band to work the US for a while. I moved to 20 to resume
running EU but I had a difficult time breaking through. I did notice that 10
had opened and had a strong 90 minutes with over 400 contacts. I closed the
first day running the US on 20 where I stayed until the band closed. I then
did a stint on 40 before taking my next off time.
It was now time to think about strategy. Overall, I was about 350 contacts and
50 mults ahead of my 2006 score, which was a NA record. I have had very
disappointing Sunday mornings before and I did not want to tradeoff double
credit hours on the lowbands for poor morning hours on 15 and 20. OTOH, I was
probably already late to the band at 1130Z. After some consideration, I
targeted 12Z for my opening hour in the morning as a compromise. It also meant
that I would have to take 8.5 of the next 10 hours off. The plan was to finish
the current hour of off time, operate about 45 minutes, take another hour off,
operate 45 minutes, and then shut it down until morning. If the 45 minute
operating times were proving successful, I could extend them at the expense of
the morning start time. Overall the 40 was better than the first night,
especially to Europe, and I did get in a little bit more than the 90 minutes I
planned.
I should add that sleeping in this contest is a bit tricky. In the 48 hour
contests, I generally sleep inside the main building briefly during the night.
In this contest, I sleep during some daylight hours and I did not want the
owners to come to the store early and find me sleeping inside. Instead, I
sleep in my small operating shack. I have an old cushion I put on the floor
but I really do not like sleeping just a few feet from the door where mice
occasionally can venture in. As it turns out, on Saturday, Kathleen bought a
fold-up lounge chair to sleep on. It barely fit, but it was a big
improvement.
I fired up on 15, a bit after 12Z and was disappointed by propagation that was
far below the day before. I was clearly a mistake to get there so early and I
would have been better having spent another 60-90 minutes on the lowbands. 15
and 20 were a struggle but 15 eventually did open to Europe for a short
opening. The afternoon did not follow the traditional sequence of running the
US on 10, 15 and 20. I did a short stint on 10 but had a difficult time
generating rate on 15. Fortunately, I was able to sustain a relatively long,
but modest rate, run into EU. As with 15, it was hard to get a US run started
to close the contest on 20. I chose to go to 40 around 2230 and was able to
run EU at about 100/hour for the last 90 minutes of the contest. Unusually, I
was able to keep the frequency clear on 40 SSB the whole time and it was a
great way to run out the contest. I also picked up a few mults with the second
radio at the same time.
I ended up breaking the NA record by over 4M points, a much better outcome than
I was anticipating. I probably cost myself about 1M with my offtime choice the
second night but it was a thoroughly enjoyable contest. I must admit that it
is frustrating to make 1000 Q's more than my nearest competitor and not win,
but I knew the rules beforehand and I offer my sincere congratulations to CN2R
for his excellent station and outstanding operating.
Thanks to my wife Kathleen for all of her help and thanks to everybody for the
QSOs.
QSL via NN1N or LOTW
73, Tom
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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