CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW - 2023
Call: W5ZN
Operator(s): W5ZN
Station: W5ZN
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: AR
Operating Time (hrs): 21:45
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1097 State/Prov = 56 Countries = 46 Total Score = 342,720
Club: Arkansas DX Association
Comments:
Operated in Single Op HP (No spotting assistance) again this year. Had a nice
run but wound up a couple hundred Q’s below my best result for this event.
Mults were close to my best however I missed AK and ND this year. Without
spotting assistance those two are sometimes hard to find. For some reason ND is
always the last state for me to nab!!! Maybe schedule a “Contest University
North Dakota”???? 😊
For DX, I worked the most JA’s I ever have in this test but did not find any
VK’s. VK’s have been regulars on 160 meters this season on a daily basis
with decent sigs. Was very pleased to nab a few South America stations.
Now for some of my contesting pet peeves (you can fast forward it you want!):
1. If you use a CW reader/decoder to copy CW (yes, it’s obvious) PLEASE teach
the reader, or teach yourself, the standard CW prosigns and abbreviations so you
understand their meaning. Some of you are simply lost. Its great to have you in
the contest and I want you in my log (pretty please), just please put forth a
little effort to at least be familiar with the concept of CW. It’s not the
same as decoding and working stations on FT8! And for the two of you who tried a
straight key for the very first time this weekend and are yet to master its
function, it’s great to see you using a real key but please practice a little
(but not during the contest)!
2. Dupes – Casual operators, it’s great to have you on the air and active in
the contest but PLEASE download one of the FREE contest logging software
programs and PLEASE use it. You need to know when you are duping a station. I
realize there are times when calls are initially miscopied and logged then later
an “assumed” dupe occurs. I do log dupes just for that reason but it is
irritating when I know the dupe is from someone who is simply lazy and won’t
keep up with who they have worked. Some of you are just trolling up and down the
band at random and working everything, anytime!
3. Send your call more than once when a station is having difficulty copying
you. If the station sends “agn ?” or a partial of your call that is a sign
you’re not being received very well, for whatever reason. So please don’t
respond by sending your call just once. Send it two or three times. Please don't
give up after a couple of tries. Yes, the station you are calling may be 30dB/S9
but your G5RV or backyard short vertical and 100 watts on a city lot is most
likely not reciprocating!!
End of pet peeve rant!!
I want to congratulate the last person active in contesting who finally
purchased a new rig. You have cleaned up your very horrible key clicks and I
didn’t have to publicly rat you out!
I would say conditions here in Arkansas were “fair” for this year’s
contest. They weren’t good but far from horrible. Friday night the activity
was very brisk and run totals were excellent. Saturday night the band was full
but finding stations that were not previously worked was difficult.
It rained most of Saturday afternoon. Around 0345z it turned into storms with
some lightning. The QRN and noise floor increased just as I was hoping for a
good EU SR run. Some unusual rain static on the Hiz-8 made it unusable during
this time but the BSEF-8 and Beverages performed well.
Thanks again for all the Q’s and mults. They are greatly appreciated. C U in
the 2024 event.
73 Joel W5ZN
Equipment used for this event:
Elecraft K4D, OM2500A amplifier (1300W)
N1MM Logging Software
TX Antenna - K3LR 5 Element Parasitic Array
RX Antennas:
HiZ-8 160 vertical array (primary)
BSEF-8 vertical array (diversity with HiZ & secondary)
Beverages NE, SE, W, NW (secondary)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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