ARRL DX Contest, CW - 2020
Call: KU2M
Operator(s): KU2M
Station: KU2M
Class: SOSB/20 HP
QTH: Wayne, NJ
Operating Time (hrs): 26
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80:
40:
20: 1676 106
15:
10:
-------------------
Total: 1676 106 Total Score = 532,968
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Good conditions, and the noisy neighborhood power pole to the NW shut up long
enough to let me run some JAs on Saturday and Sunday evenings (no, I have not
yet fulfilled my promise to visit said power pole with my chain saw, but I'm
getting closer to doing that). So, little to complain about, other than the
legions of repeat customers who called on DupeDay (some people call it Sunday),
or all the Ws and VEs who wanted to work me! I worked some of the dupes over
again, just to get it over with, but the Ws and VEs were politely informed that
I could not work them in this contest. By the way, I just have to rant on for a
moment and a special shoutout to digging a super-weak, 5 watt QRP station out of
the mud, only to find out... HE'S A DUPE! And I was out of tranquilizers, too.
With 15M and 10M on semipermanent vacation to never never land, during the
daytime the entire contesting ham world was crammed into about 100 kHz of 20
Meters, and it sounded like it. Luckily I was able to burn a hole in my little
corner of the band and hold on to it, with few incursions, other than one
replicant whose call shall remain anonymous. He was either deaf or some kind of
RF sociopath (or both), and suddenly appeared without calling QRL? and then went
on a nearly continuous, endless loop "CQ TEST" rampage exactly on my
frequency. But he did not prevail; all part of the game, I suppose...
After dark, the band dies quickly, and the first night business was sparse as
there seemed to be less activity than usual out of South America and the
Caribbean. I was tuning around after having worked the usual suspects, and
wasn't hearing much. The band sounded dead, and I was considering pulling the
plug so I could go downstairs and further rot what's left of my brain with some
TV, when I heard a weak, fluttery signal sending "..2A...2A," but
couldn't get the call. Figured it was a PY or somebody, but suddenly the signal
peaked up, and I could copy: it was E2A! How about that, sports fans? Thailand
coming in long path after the band had otherwise died. HS is a semi-big deal for
those of us condemned to live in New Jersey, and so, that was a happy
happening.
A similar thing happened Sunday night, when after calling BG2AUE unsuccessfully
as his signal faded away into the mud (and rather quickly), I despondently
turned the antenna south to troll around the band for South American and
Caribbean latecomers. Ten or fifteen minutes later, passing back over the BG2's
frequency, I was amazed to hear him now coming through S9 - and remembered I
had turned the antennas south, so this was, again, another long path opening to
Asia after short path had gone belly up. This time I was luckier and was able to
get my call across for a new mult (we don't get to hear BY much in New Jersey,
if you haven't already guessed). As that was my last QSO of the weekend, the
contest ended on a high note - and I can't complain about that, either!
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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