It's all over now! The IARU HF Championship is over as of a couple hours
ago and the team and I are packing our things and loading them into
OH2BAH's car for the short ride back to Helsinki and the gathering gang
at the Radisson hotel. And what a contest it was.
As we pulled into OH2BAH's QTH, we were thrilled to see several large
towers and most amazing of all, a homemade 10-meter diameter dish for
EME work. John has a couple of acres at his summer home on a lake about
40 miles from Helsinki. He shares the antennas with his brother, OH2PO,
the builder of the dish. One of the truly unique experiences of this
WRTC were the pre- and post-contest saunas (pronouced "SOW-nah").
I'm still feeling the warm glow that results from dashing out of the
dark, dry heat of the wooden benches and diving off the dock into the
cool, clear water. I had to demonstrate the good, old American
Cannonball and Can Opener, of course. There's nothing like it.
Returning to the contest, though, if you were following the Real-Time
Scoreboard, I'm sure you got caught up in the horse race that developed
on Sunday. At the close of business, N6TJ and N6AA had managed to
overtake last year's champs (and odds-on favorites) N5TJ and K1TO for
the gold medal. Jim and Dick also fended off a very close challenge from
DL6FBL and DL2CC, who claimed the silver--also ahead of Jeff and Todd,
who will be delighted to take the bronze. Saturday night had N5TJ/K1TO
in the lead by a substantial margin--I'm guessing due to their uncanny
ability to mix mult-chasing with running. I was expecting a three-peat,
but Team Old Age and Treachery managed to close the gap and more.
I'm sure that Jim N6TJ will attribute it to "Guts", and he may be right.
Conditions were really good. Our host, John OH2BAH, said that conditions
were excellent for midsummer, with a minimum of static and absorption on
the low bands. Ten was spotty which was hardly a surprise with the
solar flux at 136. But with the A and K indices low at 4 and 2,
respectively, we were prepared for that. There were no fades and the
stations appeared from different parts of the world pretty much on cue.
I hope you got a chance to put a bunch of the OJ stations in your
log--maybe enough for a prize or certificate. Listening as I did to the
entire contest--I think I dozed for a total of about 45 minutes over the
entire 24-hour run--this was an unusual contest.
Before the starting bell, we all had visions of what might become an "EU
Sweepstakes". Not so. Because the weather cooperated, as well, there
were no stations off the air at any time due to lightning. I guess with
the sky staying light all the time, maybe you could use the excuse of
the sun being in your eyes, but that's about all you have to try. 80
meters was regional (what a surprise) but all the other bands were open
for DX with plenty of stations. My team of UA2FZ and RW4WR placed close
to the middle of the pack even with 2400+ QSOs.
They pushed the last-10-QSO rate meter into the high 200's many times,
even on CW. I think the difference between the competitors is a very
small one and is mainly of the fine points of squeezing every drop out
of a pileup or flurry of callers. With low antennas (12-meters about
ground) and equal locations, no one team had dominant propagation, so
they had to maximize each chance to score. So it was over in seemingly
an instant. I'll tell you that it was a tough chore to be so close--at
the end of a headphone cable--and yet so far, not being able to
participate in the rough and tumble of the contest. Referees just have
to grit their teeth and watch and listen. However, it does strengthen
one's resolve to get better and be worthy of one of the next WRTC
chairs. Speaking of which, will there be another WRTC? Almost
certainly, but unlike the past two events, there is no announcement of a
host organization yet. I'm sure that the enthusiasm generated by
WRTC2002 will carry over to an organization stepping up and taking on
the job.
Then we will all be figuring out how to be a captain...or be best
friends with someone who is. And maybe just packing our bags and saving
our frequent-flyer miles to participate in one of the best experiences
in ham radio, the World Radiosport Team Championship.
Nakemiin (Goodbye) from Finland!
73, Ward N0AX/OH
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