WAE DX Contest, SSB
Call: WX3B
Operator(s): WX3B K3AJ AB3CV K3WI
Station: WX3B
Class: M/S HP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 40
Summary:
Band QSOs QTCs Mults
-------------------------
80: 101 20 132
40: 368 324 135
20: 991 983 106
15: 274 364 92
10: 0 0 0
-------------------------
Total: 1734 465 1691 Total Score = 1,574,955
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Many thanks to Bill, K3WI, Tom K3AJ and Jim AB3CV for joining me for this FUN
event. This was Jim’s (AB3CV) return to WX3B after several years, and Tom
and Jim formed the low band team for the contest. Unfortunately, their
operating times overlapped PERFECTLY with challenging band conditions, where
they both remembered what a challenge it is to pick signals out of a noisy
band…or not have enough answers to their CQs….yet at the end of the
contest, they equaled the best performance we ever had on 40 meters in the WAE
contest. Just imagine what they might have done with a good RX antenna…
I received an added bonus from Jim AB3CV as he was able to recommend some
computer upgrades to improve performance, more efficiently retrieve Windows 10
updates, AND patch a major security flaw inadvertently built into my system the
way I was running my network. Priceless advice!!
Bill, K3WI was my companion for the first part of the day-time shift and gets
the credit for piloting 20 meters to an amazing success, particularly during
the morning runs. Bill also tried to get 15 started, and what a barn-burner it
was for the first hour Saturday morning, however it was like someone switched
off 15 meter propagation at WX3B after that first hour and that was that. We
struggled and TRIED to make 15 work, but it wouldn’t, so we abandoned ship
and rode 20 for all it was worth. Although 15 had signals for a longer period
of time Sunday (sounded like it was really open a good part of the day) we
still had difficulty racking up a good QSO count. 3 years ago we had 1022
QSOs on 15. This year: 274.
Tom and Jim got off to a great start Friday and then settled into slow times.
Saturday night was better, particularly at our sunset for the 40m run. Tom
reported having some fun during EU sunrise Friday night.
There was some PVRC cheer-leading going on in this event as several others have
mentioned. We took turns spotting each other (and others) in the hope that it
would raise the bar for everyone…and there was the packet rag chewing during
slow times (or on off bands) that is always fun.
DF7ZS, Helmut, the leader of this contest, was nice enough to provide me a
recording of KD4D vs. WX3B at 3:00am our local time on 40 meters. The good
news is that WX3B was quite audible on his long wire. The band news is that
hardware matters, and the N3HBX 4/4 stack was 5 S-units louder than WX3B!!
Even so, I was happy to be heard in Germany after their sunrise and still need
to work on improving the 40m RX at WX3B….that alone will greatly assist our
40m score in these contests.
We could have also used an RX beverage on 80. Those beverages do not work so
well when they are rolled up in the garage. By recording this message here
this year, I am hoping to READ it and learn for next year.
I enjoyed significant amount of operating in this contest myself and decided to
work on my in-band pounces, since the chances of losing your run frequency are
reasonably low in this event. There were precious few spots to pounce on this
weekend, however when they appeared, that did add to the fun. One of my most
memorable pounces was confidently putting my call sign into a big pileup of a
very loud station, and being humbled to hear “KE4S….you’re 59 XXXXX”.
Dave has a very good station!! Dave was spotting us all weekend along with
KD4D…ND3D….W4EE…EA5DFV…N3TD….and many DX friends. Thank you - It
sure HELPS!!
I want to thank Helmut DF7ZS and his team, and DARC for their leadership in
this great event. Helmut was nice enough to send a video of KD4D vs. WX3B at
3:00am Sunday morning on 40 meters….proving once again that having 4/4 on a
200 foot tower is a little bit better (about 5 S-Units) than having 2 elements
at 55 feet. BUT…the biggest problem isn’t being heard…it’s HEARING…
Congratulations to Mark KD4D and his team at N3HBX. Our plan to challenge them
by superior high band performance didn’t happen this year. What did work out
was a nice exchange I had with Mark himself during our mutual Saturday night 80
meter run. We both kept each other company and MOTIVATED to get every last QSO
and multiplier out of that band. It was great competitive/cooperative
teamwork! Mark alerted me that there was a need multiplier POUNCING on folks,
and I ended up ‘passing’ that person to Mark a few moments later…
Last and most importantly, I want to thank my wife Elizabeth for understanding
this time consuming and unusual hobby as I sat in the basement all weekend, in
front of a box, saying the same thing over and over again. It is hard to
describe why this hobby is so much fun, yet…it truly is!!
Now I’m ready for more sunspots, less QRN, fall conditions, and the 2016-2017
contest season!
73,
Jim Nitzberg WX3B
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