CQWW WPX Contest, SSB - 2021
Call: P40A
Operator(s): KK9A
Station: P40L/P49Y
Class: SOAB LP
Class Overlay: Unassisted
QTH: Aruba
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 184
40: 720
20: 1280
15: 1401
10: 85
------------
Total: 3670 Prefixes = 850 Total Score = 11,550,000
Club:
Comments:
I had plans to operate this contest from Bonaire as PJ4R but then the corona
virus made that trip impossible. Aruba has been open to tourism for nine months
and they have tried to keep it somewhat safe by having specific entry
requirement along with mask mandates, etc. P40L/W6LD and P49Y/AE6Y had just
upgraded their station prior to the pandemic so I was thrilled when they allowed
me to use it for this WPX phone contest. This was a last moment plan and perhaps
somewhat crazy during these difficult times. I scrambled the week prior
arranging the COVID testing along with other things needed for travel these day.
While in Aruba I mostly did socially distant activities to keep as safe as
possible. Of course ham radio is a very pandemic safe activity and I enjoyed
making CW and SSB pre-contest QSOs. I do not usually operate the WARC bands but
I put up a 30m dipole and it seemed to work quite well. I also spent some time
at Palm Beach and Baby Beach. Baby Beach is an amazing spot for snorkeling,
especially if you bring bread for the fish. My birthday was on the first day of
the contest and I could not imagine a better way to celebrate and I had great
rates on all of the bands on this special day. I operated my first WPX from
Aruba 20 years using a field day setup from a rental home. Conditions were much
better back then and so was my score. Cycle 25 has not been impressive so far. I
felt like there was a huge attenuator between Aruba and Europe, especially on
the higher bands so I missed a lot of multipliers and QSOs. 85% of my QSOs were
in the US and conditions were generally very good there. 15m was my best band,
it was open for many hours, it was QRM free and I had steady rates of 100+/hour.
40m was good at times and other times it was completely unproductive. I found a
really good frequency on the first night and I had a nice long run but for
whenever reason I was not able to duplicate that on day two. Day two was a low
band struggle, I think it was noisy in the US and my voice was straining from
saying my serial number so many times. I was also wearing down my finger tip
pressing the CQ button. I used only one transceiver and I made all of my QSOs
without using spotting assistance so I will also enter my log in the N6MJ/KI4RRN
Unassisted Challenge. The station worked amazingly well. I would like to thank
John, W6LD and Andy, AE6Y for this awesome opportunity. It takes a lot of effort
to maintain a station in a corrosive environment like Aruba and everything
worked as it should. I arrived safely home in North Carolina on Monday evening.
This was exhausting but also fun and I plan to be back in Aruba for the WPX CW
contest. Please QSL via WD9DZV.
73,
John KK9A
http://www.p40a.com
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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