CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB - 2020
Call: KH7M
Operator(s): NA2U
Station: KH6ZM
Class: SO(A)AB HP
QTH: HI
Operating Time (hrs): 34:35
Remote Operation
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 4 1 1
80: 159 11 10
40: 647 21 27
20: 899 29 53
15: 1352 27 46
10: 222 14 19
------------------------------
Total: 3283 103 156 Total Score = 2,509,451
Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Comments:
That was fun. This was my third time operating this contest from KH6. I did
2013, my first DX trip to HI, and last year. Compared to last year the summary
above represents: -217 Qs/-14 Zones/-95 Countries/-1,214,709 Claimed Points. I
also operated 3:28 less than last year. That was due to some physical issues
which needed rest to resolve, or at least, partially resolve. In addition to
missing those targets, by operating remote I also missed Max's bucatini
all'Amatriciana, Kathy's panna cotta with blueberry compote, lemon rosemary
cake, Max's homemade limoncello, and the best fresh papayas on the planet! But,
I digress.
I was able to use recorded voice messages in N1MM for the first time ever. What
a pleasure! When I operate Max's FTDX5000 in his shack I used an external
5-button keypad to key recorded messages but it is no comparison to using N1MM.
Nice 10m run on Saturday. Mostly stateside with some South America and a VK.
ZF1A moved me from 15m to 10m on Sunday. I worked Marty and the proceeded to
work P40W, HK3X, PJ4DX, PU2YBW, WP3C, and PY2XL. Had another OK run during the
last hour of the contest. Ain't no meters like TEN meters!
On Saturday night I tuned from 3650khz to 3800khz and heard TWO stations, one of
which I had already worked. What a waste. Made 158/15/25 on 80m last year.
Really, the BEST papayas.
Operating remotely presents numerous challenges. Most can be handled, some
can't be. Lost the radio for about eleven minutes Sunday morning. Had to wait
for the Internet to recover. It didn't do any good to slap the monitor.
Speaking of monitors, I use a 3-monitor display in the home shack. The remote
radio interface takes up almost half of one monitor. With N1MM then taking a
good portion of the remaining space, I needed room for remote desktop, and some
other things. So, the plan was to use a laptop for propagation software,
DXAtlas grayline program, and a networked copy of the N1MM log. Fired up the
laptop about two hours before the start of the contest. The laptop booted but
wifi would not work. Fought with this for over an hour and gave up. Got my
other laptop and had to install all three programs. My planned pre-contest nap
was out the window. The first night I had unexplained audio problems on 160m.
All other bands were OK. No Qs on 160m. Saturday night better but only four
Zone 3 Qs. I only made 23 160m Qs last year with 13 mults. To not have 160m
at this station is a real bummer. Murphy usually avoids me during contests.
Not this time.
My best comic relief was had working Paul, K9PG, on 40m Saturday evening. What
a hoot! I can always use a good laugh.
Almost all Qs were running, very few were search and pounce. I was spotting all
S&P Qs but there were very few that had not already been spotted. THANKS TO
ALL STATIONS WHO SPOTTED ME!
Thanks to Max, KH6ZM, for hosting me remotely. LOTS of testing went into this.
Also, thanks to Gerry, W1VE, without whom we could have never put this whole
thing together. These operations are very complex.
Not looking good for me for CQWW CW from HI but I'm scheduled for both ARRL DX
tests in 2021.
Did I mention the papayas?
Thanks for the Qs. 73 and aloha,
Fred/NA2U@KH7M
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