2004 ARRL 10 Meter Contest
12/13/2004 |
N8CPA
N8CPA OH 100W; all CW. Antenna: 40M-10M vertical.
This was my tenth 10M contest, and CDX were the second worst I've heard. I usually participate CW only. It could be that the real difference between this year and that year (1995) is my CW listening skill level, and CDX were actually worse this time.
My ususal contest style is enthusiastically casual, but CDX in this one appeared to allow no other option under the winter sun of Central Oh. Rates started low, and remained very low throughout. Most stateside signals were fluttery. The sun was much kinder to the summer latitudes, given the QSO numbers being sent by stations in Central America and regions south. My biggest surprise was working New Zealand on the first or second try. Namibia had not heard me at all when I tried to work it earlier.
I finally called it quits just before 2300Z yesterday, when I had gone more than an hour without an answer to my CQ, or being able to find an unworked station calling CQ. By the time I made the decision to quit, no sigs were audible at all.
All in all, I had fun. Every contact I started got completed, despite agressive interference from "freebanders," in some cases. With my broadcast radio tuned to Christmas classics, I watched the snow flakes fall outside my window, while I waited for answers to my CQ. Every now and then, I'd turn off the music to hunt and pounce. The music helped to ease the sting of the low rates. Such an analgesic would not have been possible if I had worked SSB.
Hearty thanks to all the stations I worked. CU on SKN and in NAQP. -- N8CPA
This was my tenth 10M contest, and CDX were the second worst I've heard. I usually participate CW only. It could be that the real difference between this year and that year (1995) is my CW listening skill level, and CDX were actually worse this time.
My ususal contest style is enthusiastically casual, but CDX in this one appeared to allow no other option under the winter sun of Central Oh. Rates started low, and remained very low throughout. Most stateside signals were fluttery. The sun was much kinder to the summer latitudes, given the QSO numbers being sent by stations in Central America and regions south. My biggest surprise was working New Zealand on the first or second try. Namibia had not heard me at all when I tried to work it earlier.
I finally called it quits just before 2300Z yesterday, when I had gone more than an hour without an answer to my CQ, or being able to find an unworked station calling CQ. By the time I made the decision to quit, no sigs were audible at all.
All in all, I had fun. Every contact I started got completed, despite agressive interference from "freebanders," in some cases. With my broadcast radio tuned to Christmas classics, I watched the snow flakes fall outside my window, while I waited for answers to my CQ. Every now and then, I'd turn off the music to hunt and pounce. The music helped to ease the sting of the low rates. Such an analgesic would not have been possible if I had worked SSB.
Hearty thanks to all the stations I worked. CU on SKN and in NAQP. -- N8CPA
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