CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - 2023
Call: NV4B
Operator(s): NV4B
Station: NV4B
Class: Hilltopper QRP
QTH: GA
Operating Time (hrs): 6
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 64 40
2: 14 12
-------------------
Total: 78 52 Total Score = 4,784
Club:
Comments:
The score represents a personal best in QRP Hilltopper (previous best 1,200 in
2016) and a claimed Georgia record.
I broke my streak of 23 consecutive contests entered as a rover and went back to
my QRP portable days for this one rather than compete against the high-power
rovers this year. Since the weather was predicted to be poor on Saturday, and
tropo was predicted to be good on Sunday morning, I left home around 3:30 a.m.
Central Sunday morning for an overlook on the western brow of Lookout Mountain
located about 1400’ above Trenton, GA, grid square EM74gv. I had operated
from this location a handful of times before in the Spring and Fall Sprints, but
this was my first time to operate a major contest from there. As I have on two
previous CQWW rover ops, I took along my Cushcraft LFA-6M4EL for a boost over my
usual short-boom 3-el Yagi on 6 meters, as well as my usual Diamond 10-el
2-meter beam. I turned my rover rigs down to 10 watts and got QRV at 1140Z.
The predicted tropo did not materialize that well from such an easterly location
-- I would probably have fared better from one of my usual EM54 or 64 hilltops.
2-meter activity in general was quite disappointing, especially in the Deep
South. There seemed to be quite a bit more activity in the Midwest, but I
wasn’t always able to get stations’ attention with 10 watts. I made all of
my 2-meter QSOs in the first 3 hours and 15 minutes of my operating time.
6 meters had a good amount of activity at the start. I had to contend with
intermittent noise from a pole pig a couple hundred feet to my northeast. I had
noticed this on previous trips but didn’t think it would be a problem. It was
as loud as S9 at times, but fortunately, it wasn’t constant, and I was still
able to work a small handful of W1s and W2s in a short-lived Es opening. The
star of the show, however, was a solid Es opening to the northwest that even
netted several double-hop QSOs with W7 and VE7. This was briefly joined by an
opening to Florida which provided a couple more multipliers.
This was my first serious QRP VHF contest entry in which I used FT8. 100% of my
QSOs were FT8. Although I realize FT8 is a divisive topic in VHF contesting,
compared to my previous analog-only hilltopper and QRP entries, FT8 made many
more QSOs possible with 10 watts. In years past, I would be lucky to be heard
by a station weaker than S7 on my meter. In this contest, I was heard by the
majority of stations I called. However, I still checked for analog activity. I
only found one weak SSB signal on 6m despite checking the band several times;
some CQs on 144.200 went unanswered. My odds probably would have been improved
had there been more of an incentive for others to use analog, such as an
analog-only category or overlay.
Speaking of rule changes, I, and several others I’ve talked to, would like to
see some other rules be more in line with the ARRL rules; specifically, to be
more permissive with respect to assistance, to allow the use of 146.52, and to
allow single operators to have a transmitted signal on both bands at the same
time. I think the community finds it perfectly acceptable to work FT8 on two
(or more) bands at once, to the extent that some single-operator stations were
doing so without even thinking that it might be against the rules. However, I
also understand the potential counterarguments, especially with respect to
assistance that one doesn’t really need to coordinate via non-amateur means on
6 and 2 meters. Regardless, I’ll continue operating this contest because it
is a fun one. Oh yeah, the addition of a low-power rover category would be
welcome, too, but that’s a selfish personal request :)
Thanks to all who worked me for digging out my weaker-than-usual signal, and a
special shout-out to K7BWH/R who called me from the rare DN15/16 grid line. I
needed DN16, but I was 12 km outside of my VUCC/FFMA circle :(
Station:
6m: ICOM IC-7100 set to 10W, Cushcraft LFA-6M4EL 4-element LFA
2m: ICOM IC-9700 set to 10W, Diamond A144-S10 10-element Yagi
Power verified and monitored by external wattmeters at all times.
Only one transmitted signal at a time per CQ WW VHF single-op rules.
Due to the restrictions on assistance in this contest, no assistance was used.
Best DX:
6m: VE7SNC, EM74gv<2xEs>CO84na, 2,231 mi
2m: K9YK, EM74gv<Tr>EN60ik, 396 mi
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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