CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2023
Call: K1LZ
Operator(s): K1LZ K3JO K1ZM KE1J KL2A N5OT W1VE VE3EY VE3JM KO8SCA N6GQ
Station: K1LZ
Class: M/M HP
QTH: Maine
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Remote Operation
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
-------------------------------
160: 515 21 77
80: 1287 29 109
40: 2319 38 138
20: 2529 39 144
15: 2306 39 144
10: 2171 37 140
-------------------------------
Total: 11127 203 752 Total Score = 30,096,825
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
First of all, we want to thank those who came to operate here at K1LZ. They did
a fantastic job, operating more hours than scheduled due to some last-minute
dropouts in our original operator list. To start with, our main 10-meter
operator (KL2A) couldn't make it to Maine at the last minute, so we had to
scramble to get him set up for remote operation. His band mate, N6GQ, who was
also scheduled to operate remotely, wasn't feeling well, so he operated the
second day when his health allowed. Thank you Jeff for your effort and get well
for the next one!
Our main 15-meter operator was supposed to be LZ3ZZ/KC1TEN who is one of the
main operators at LZ5R. On Saturday morning, a major storm there caused a pole
to fall, cutting off the fiber optic connection and leaving part of the
population without internet.
But that's not all. Adrian KO8SCA, who had just arrived in Maine from a trip to
the Caribbean, started feeling very unwell on the same Saturday morning, so he
decided to go to the hotel and stayed there until the end of the contest. At one
point, we felt desperate because we had no operators on 15 meters, which is
usually our main band.
The operators who were here did an almost heroic job covering for our
absentees, with several of them operating for nearly 48 hours.
While we faced staffing shortages, others had it even worse. For instance, Milen
LZ5DB, who had spent weeks preparing LZ5R to try to break his previous records
in SOAB, decided to quit from the contest due to the storm in Bulgaria and
terrible propagation at the start, along with issues at our station in Bulgaria.
While we deeply regret this situation for him, as it's known, someone else's
misfortune can benefit others, and in this case, it was our team. Milen
LZ5DB/KC1TEK became our Run operator on 15 meters, and we only had to handle the
in-band station locally, which was covered by LZ3ND/KC1TQW which is one of the
best in-band/multiplier person ever born on this planet, and LU9ESD.
Milen, we have mixed feelings: should we feel sorry or happy about your
misfortune?? We love you, brother! Thanks for coming to relieve us!
Despite these unexpected problems before and during the contest, our team
managed to pull through, even without having operated together before with some
of them, like our 20M team led by VE3EY and VE3JM who came from Ontario and Nova
Scotia in their respective cars and they manage the band very well.
Although Mark N5OT had operated remotely with us in the past ARRL CW, this time
we were glad to have him at the station with his wife Kathy, taking care of 80M
along with Gerry W1VE, who was again present here on-site and they did
tremendous job, thank you guys!
Our master of ceremonies, "Uncle Jeff" K1ZM, once again showed his
magic on 160M, even after losing all his reception antennas shortly after the
contest started. Despite significant improvements and additions to our RX
systems for 160 and 80 throughout the year, these systems had never been tested
in a Multi-Multi environment with 13 stations and 6 amplifiers transmitting
non-stop. The preamps on both 8-circle Hi-Z and Beverages couldn't handle this
situation and gave out. If our 160 and 80 teams had had reception antennas, our
numbers would have been better. We're sorry, guys! We'll keep working for the
next one.
We also had Lars KE1J here with K1LZ, handling 40 Meters, one of our star bands,
aided by six 4-element Yagis at different heights and locations, plus two
4-squares by the river, providing excellent performance in both transmission and
reception.
Aside from the preamplifiers of our 160 and 80 reception antennas and some IMD
on issues between bands, we had no other problems at the station. Visitors are
often amazed at how easy it is to operate the entire station, just needing a
monitor and using a mouse or keyboard to switch bands and select any antenna or
combination from any of the 13 operating positions through DXLog as the only
software on screen.
But only those who have been here know about the engineering work hidden behind
that flexibility and simplicity for the operator. This idea started in the mind
of someone we miss dearly, Chris 9A5K, who developed DXLog. After his passing,
we decided to continue his legacy by offering his software for free to the
entire HAM community.
Our mastermind, Velimir K3JO, was the one who conceived this entire system,
designing, programming, manufacturing, and perfecting it over the years, always
integrated with DXLog. After setting up several stations around the world and
learning from our mistakes, we believe that the current K1LZ is our masterpiece,
demonstrating its potential in all categories, from Single-Op to Multi-Multi in
various contests throughout the year.
While the original idea was to have a maximum of 6 stations to be competitive
in Multi-Single at most, last year we decided to expand the station to enter the
always intriguing Multi-Multi competition in the United States, which in recent
years has seen K3LR as a leading reference and we thank K3LR team for the
competition on the scoreboard which is a very motivational. We're delighted that
our efforts are bearing fruit, bringing back to this category stations like that
of our great friend Matt KC1XX, who worked for months to improve the station and
assembled a fantastic team to compete with us. Technically, the result is a tie,
and we'll have to wait a few months to find out who the winner will be. No
doubt, everything is easier when an excellent group of operators, who know each
other and usually operate together, have an excellent station at their disposal
and a good host – the results are evident. Congratulations Matt and team for
such an operation. Hopefully, this will be an added incentive for other major US
stations to join the category.
We are increasingly receiving messages from friends and colleagues who have
enjoyed the competition on the scoreboard as much as the contest itself.
Therefore, we encourage those who have not yet done so to appear there, as it is
an incentive for everyone, making the competition more interesting for all.
In conclusion, we really missed the kind of propagation we had in the SSB
version. At these latitudes, the K index on 6, as it was on Saturday morning, is
VERY noticeable. These numbers mean we have Aurora and practically a wall to the
North, resulting in a very low number of stations from Asia, and working
Multipliers from that area becomes almost a feat mixed with suffering and
disappointment when they cannot be achieved. But these are the rules of the
game, and we must deal with them, though we know that when the indices are in
our favor, that's when this station 'shows its beauty.'
Overall, from the 11.127 QSO we have 3427 in-band QSO which is our best
performance ever from here and for now.
For the future we'll continue working towards what's next and make the most of
what may be the last year of the solar peak, which motivates us to bring back to
life the stations in Jamaica and the Canary Islands, and to keep improving and
perfecting LZ5R and K1LZ and we will be happy to see all the big station from
the past coming back to join the M/M party.
Thanks again to our team, the real architects of this result, who left their
families to be with us this weekend. To everyone who called us, responded to us,
and especially to those who heeded our requests for QSY.
See you next time!
K1LZ team
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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