CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
Call: N2IC
Operator(s): N2IC
Station: N2IC
Class: SOSB/10 HP
QTH: New Mexico
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80:
40:
20:
15:
10: 1560 33 125
------------------------------
Total: 1560 33 125 Total Score = 670,394
Club:
Comments:
Wait a minute ! N2IC always does SOAB HP, not single-band !
Well, the best laid plans...Started out SOAB HP. Then around 0450Z, one of the
amps got strangely quiet. That got my attention. Dead blower. Pulled the cover,
jiggled a few things. No good. No spare amp. That amp/radio is dedicated to
15/40. Yes, I know, a 2x6 antenna switch would solve that issue, and let me use
the working amp on any run band, but I don't have one of those, either.
Considering this is the first major equipment failure that couldn't be solved
in 30+ years of SO2R contesting, that's a pretty good track record.
I am naturally competitive, and wanted to do something meaningful this weekend.
That left me with two choices: 1) Single-band, or 2) Classic category. I
actually changed calls and tried the classic category for a few hours, but it
wasn't going well. For single-band, 10 seemed like the right choice. I made 135
QSO's on 10 in the first hour, staying too long (only 52 QSO's on 15 before that
band closed), so that was a good start for single-band.
Single-band entries can be interesting. You really learn the propagation, and
try to make QSO's earlier or later than "normal" compared to a SOAB
entry. First signals were heard around 1305Z. A few scatter QSO's made in the
next hour, waiting for the switch to be thrown. That happened at 1402Z. Had a
very good EU run (along with several long-path Asian QSO's) that lasted until
about 19Z (several hours after the last sunset in Europe). Only a few slow
hours on Saturday until JA opened around 2115Z. Great fun, until the band
completely shut down only 45 minutes after sunset. Last QSO was at 0119Z.
Sunday morning wasn't nearly as good. The band opened later (1422Z), and closed
-2 hours- earlier to Europe, resulting in only 2 hours of runnable EU. After
that, it was just slow going the last 7 hours of the contest. Thank goodness
for the great activity from Zones 11, 12 and 13. What a difference from only a
few years ago.
Thanks for the QSO's !
73,
Steve, N2IC
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