A rather unusual but very enjoyable weekend!!
Things started in disastrous fashion - I slept through my alarm (had planned
to start operation at 02h00 UTC - 4am here), then when I finally got on the
air I found that I had RFI problems on 40m as soon as I tried to run the
amplifier. Desperate searching and testing identified the problem as the
USB-Serial adapter cable running to my second HF radio (not even switched
on!!) Once I got going, I found 40m to be in relatively poor condition. 80m
was worse - absolutely nothing heard. By the time I left for work at 06h30Z
I had a miserly 10 stations in the log.
Upon arrival back from work just after 09h00Z I got going on 15m, and found
conditions to Europe quite good. This however did not last too long, and it
became a long, slow battle to build a semi-respectable total. 20m also
offered slim pickings, and by the end of Saturday it looked almost
impossible for me to better the previous year's total. Only highlight was
working NL7V on 20m - first time I have worked Alaska in a contest!
Sunday started slowly, with 40m offering limited opportunities. By the time
I left for work 15 and 20 were still dead, so I was not very optimistic upon
my return. For the first 30 minutes things were quite quiet, then 15m really
opened up! Despite having to ask for several age repeats I was enjoying a
rate of 70-80 per hour! 15m then faded out quite spectacularly just after
13h00Z, and by 13h45Z only the biggest signals were still audible.
20m took awhile to liven up, but when it did it was in stark contrast to
Saturday - good signals, and another very pleasing run, saw my total sail
past last year's, still not a huge score by international standards but a
pleasing result considering my location and station!! Highlights of Saturday
were definitely working KL8DX in Alaska (his LOTW confirmation gives me WAS
via LOTW, now only need NV for RTTY WAS!!!) and J88DR for a new one.
Lowlights were the number of stations who insisted on calling when I was
trying to copy exchanges, and the PACTOR signal that squashed several Q's on
14.105!!
Thanks to all those who heard and called me!! Looking forward to the Roundup
in January!! (Won't be in the WAE - don't like the QTC concept at all)
Summary:
Band QSOs Pts Mults
------------------------
40: 29 86 14
20: 120 355 53
15: 242 721 47
------------------------
Total: 391 1162 114 Total Score = 132,468
Log has been uploaded to LOTW, paper QSLs are welcome!
73 de Barry Murrell ZS2EZ
(EX ZR2DX / ZR6DXB)
KF26TA - Port Elizabeth,South Africa
Member : PEARS, SARL, ARRL, SA AMSAT
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