RAC Winter Contest - 2020
Call: K4HQK
Operator(s): K4HQK
Station: K4HQK
Class: SO CW HP
QTH: Alexandria, VA
Operating Time (hrs): 9:40
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs CW Mults Ph Mults
----------------------------------------
160: 6 0 70 0
80: 38 4 410 40
40: 41 16 470 190
20: 22 3 260 30
15: 5 1 50 10
10: 0 0 0 0
6: 0 0 0 0
2: 0 0 0 0
----------------------------------------
Total: 112 24 1260 270 Total Score = 65,790
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
My behavior in this contest was that of a frog with a ham license. I hopped from
band to band and mode to mode, searching here and there S&P style, casually
working Canadians for fun only, not to win anything. I had no interest in
working non-Canadians. Below are notes intended for my future reference; only
the hardiest reader will push through these details ;-)
Friday 1900 I began on 40m CW but Canadians were scarce and weak (from Eastern
Canada; I worked NL, QC, and ON) so I switched to 80m CW, as did a number of
U.S. stations I'd heard a few minutes earlier on 40m. After working all I could
hear (NB, ON, QC, NS, and PE), I switched to 160m and logged six stations (ON,
NS). Then I returned to 80m, which by now was overrun with Americans calling CQ.
At 2130 I switched to 75m but heard very few in the contest. By 2200, however,
VE signals had grown strong enough in the 80m CW band enabling QSOs with QC, NL,
MB, SK, and ON. I QRTed at 2200 to watch CBS’s Blue Bloods.
Saturday I got up at 0630 and turned on 80m but most activity was CW ragchewing.
I worked three contest stations (ON, SK, NL) and switched to 40m, but activity
there was very light, too. Worked two (NB), then switched to 160m where I heard
only one station, and I’d already worked him Friday night.
At 0700 on 80m I finally connected with a VA7. Activity continued to grow as
mostly VE3s opened up. On 75m, however, all I heard was SSB ragchewing, which
apparently is the primary amateur usage of the 3.5-4.0 mHz band.
The 40m band at 0735 was now very busy with Americans and VE3s. After working
three VE3s I shut down at 0740 to shower and get dressed. I checked back at 0835
and activity was still mostly Americans but I stuck with it and collected eight
VEs on CW (AB, NB, SK, ON) and four on SSB (NB, NS, ON). At 0900 I headed for
the kitchen to make breakfast.
For a few minutes at 1126 I left my morning duties to check 20m CW and worked a
VO2.
I returned to the radio at 1250 and tried 20m SSB but only worked one (BC), then
tried 15m CW and only worked one there (AB), so I switched back to 20m CW and
worked seven (AB, BC, MB, QC). It was now time for lunch.
At 1440 I was back on the air and began my final, four-hour push to conclude the
contest. I began on 20m CW for ten QSOs (AB, BC, MB, SK) then a SSB QSO (BC) in
that band. I decided to check 15m CW and worked four (AB, BC) in light activity.
Next I switched to 20m CW for three more QSOs (AB, QC, SK), then changed over to
40m SSB for seven QSOs (NL, ON, QC) in 10 minutes.
By 1600 40m was filled with EU stations in a different contest. VE3s struggled
to hear me because propagation was now “long” to the west. By 1740 the 20m
band, which had been quite helpful, was now virtually dead. The 15m band had
been next to useless throughout the contest—6 QSOs, total!
The rest of my late-afternoon activity consisted of three CW QSOs on 80m (ON),
21 QSOs from every direction on 40m CW (AB, BC, MB, NB, ON, PE, QC, SK), 5 QSOs
on 40m SSB (AB, MB, NB, ON, SK), one on 20m SSB (AB), and one on 15m SSB (AB).
With that, at 1845 EST, I pulled the plug. I had worked all provinces but no
territories (NU, YT and NT).
73 and thanks for reading all this!
Station: IC-7410, Ameritron ALS-600, Cushcraft R6000 vertical, dipoles.
John K4HQK
Alexandria, VA
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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