ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2022
Call: K3EST
Operator(s): K3EST
Station: N6RO
Class: SOUSB20 HP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 34
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80:
40:
20: 847 102
15:
10:
-------------------
Total: 847 102 Total Score = 259,182
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
I decided to so single band 20 even though I knew 15 would probably be better.
Thinking that a late night opening to Asia would be more fun than no 15m opening
to that area. At the start, no G1 storm was predicted. However, as we all know
that was proved wrong. Conditions from the start seemed strange. No JA until
0055z and then a so so Asian opening until 0512z. The total JAs worked in the
contest was 241. About 300 less than normal for 20 meters. . I woke up at 1100z
Saturday to meet a land line sked and to my surprise 20 was wide open to the
Caribbean/South America (300am local). Signals were 59 in most cases. About 1230
the signals disappeared and the normal band opening occurred about 1400. Signals
from Europe were good and could work most on the first call. I tried running
without success several times. It was mostly S&P. During this first morning
it was strange to work 4 TAs without any problem. The signals from more distant
locations were louder than Europe. FR4KR was easy to work (this almost never
happens) A42K was a first call…. another oddity! Something strange was afoot.
Saturday evening brought a poor Asiatic Russian opening: UA9BA (Hi Willy) ,
UA9MA (Hi Gennady) from zones 17. The opening to the Pacific was very good
yielding 44 VKs, 11 ZLs FW, 3D2 FO, NH2. During the whole contest an evening
opening to SEA never happened. Oceania was still open when I QSYed to bed until
15z. It was immediately apparent the conditions had deteriorated. The A was 33
and K6….somehow 15/10 were spared the worst effects of the storm and 20 took
the brunt! It seems illogical that with these conditions JAs were workable on
10 and 15 + Europe! 20 on Sunday was also very poor. However, FR4KR was now 59+
and A42K was even louder! I tried running Europe without any luck until between
1546-1608, when at last a good run occurred: 34 Qs …then it stopped and the
band became a chore to find a new Q. The band map showed only a few unworked
stations for hours. Usually, the band map has many unworked stations. During the
short run the loudest stations were from Russia. The opening to Scandinavia was
almost non-existent. One weak LY with YL being loud. Even OH8L who is usually
loud was only 57 and then disappeared. The opening to SEA occurred on Sat
morning short path and over Europe E2A and HS5NMF were easy to work. No 9V, 9M
etc. from SEA. Also the big JAs were loud at 16z!! That is 1am their time. No
runnable opening to JA. Called CQ many times with 1 beam on SEA/JA hoping a new
multiplier would call: managed to work a few YBs. To summarize: openings were
strange to far places. Unfortunately, there is no volume in those areas. The JA
opening was very suppressed and Europe was not runnable except for 22
minutes….Sunday conditions collapsed on 20 even though 15/10 were still
working OK. The storm selectively affected 20m much more than the higher bands.
There was a 20 m enhancement to more distant areas (UA/FR/A4/TA). The stations
further to the NW in OR and WA worked Europeans I could not hear. Only 1 BY was
worked! It was interesting to watch Ken. N6RO who was single band 10, work
stations when I could not on 20…thanks to Ken, N6RO for support and pizza!
Here are few stats:
CE 13
DL 24
EA 26 (no EA6)
F 25
G 9 (only G and GM)
I 48 (no IS)
JA 241
KL 21
PA 20
PY 50
SP 20
VK 44
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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