2009 ARRL International DX Contest (CW)
02/23/2009 |
WK5X
The "antenna farm" here consists of a GAP Voyager IV vertical dipole on 40 and 80 Meters, and a 20 and 40 Meter dipole (also used on 15M) that share the same feed point. The 20 Meter dipole is in a flat top configuration, and the 40 Meter antenna is in an inverted-Vee configuration. The feed point is at about 50 feet above ground. It is broadside to Europe on 20, and broadside to the Caribbean on 40. I operate from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, under the shadow (figuratively speaking) of the Blue Ridge. This seems to affect my low-angle take off in the southerly direction. My output power is about 100 Watts.
Conditions seemed to be enhanced on the low bands on Friday evening. During most major CW contests, I feel fortunate to put 50 or 60 QSOs in the log before heading off to dreamland around midnight local (EST) time. I ended up staying up until 1:30 AM, before retiring with 107 low band contacts in the log.
The next morning I was was unable to drag myself out of bed as early as I had hoped; I didn't make it into the chair until 1424 UTC. I'm sure I paid dearly for this in terms of my score. My highest rate is always going to be on Saturday morning. I managed a rate of 30 QSOs per hour for the next few hours. I did check 15 Meters periodically, and worked a handful of low-latitude path multipliers, but spent most of my time on 20 Meters for the duration of the day. I heard many JAs in the late afternoon, but could not break through to get the multiplier. Japan is in the null of my 20 Meter dipole. By next year's test, I'll do something about that! I did manage to work almost everything that moved in Europe that I could hear. I switched over to the low bands a couple hours before dark, and stayed there until retiring about midnight, local time. I wasn't going to miss being up at daybreak on Sunday morning.
I was back in the chair at 1209 UTC on Sunday. I started on 40 Meters, where I made my very first QSO with Micronesia in the form of V63MY. The JAs were making it into Virginia also that morning with nice signals. I'm always amazed by how much harder it is to work the JAs on 40M here in Virginia, than it is in my home state of Mississippi. It was always so easy there, but it's not always that way here in the Old Dominion. I'm sure it's the higher-latitude path; but I digress.
I soon switched to 20 Meters, where I search and pounced my way to about 40 QSOs for the next couple of hours. I switched to 15M at 1432 UTC, and find that some of the western and southern Europeans are making it in, bringing with them the chance of adding to my multiplier totals. The only problem is that in ten minutes I had to leave with my XYL to attend church services. I picked up five European mults; the rest were left laying on the table. I knew that they wouldn't be there when I returned home in four hours. After returning home, I was able to add only another 89 QSOs before the contest ended. I ended up with 491 QSOs and 220 multipliers, with a claimed score of 324,060. Band by band, 51 countries on 80, 71 on 40, 71 on 20, and 27 on 15. Almost all of these were made in the search and pounce mode. If I ever become a "big gun", I'll try calling CQ; Little Pistols do better in the S & P mode, in my humble opinion. -- WK5X
Conditions seemed to be enhanced on the low bands on Friday evening. During most major CW contests, I feel fortunate to put 50 or 60 QSOs in the log before heading off to dreamland around midnight local (EST) time. I ended up staying up until 1:30 AM, before retiring with 107 low band contacts in the log.
The next morning I was was unable to drag myself out of bed as early as I had hoped; I didn't make it into the chair until 1424 UTC. I'm sure I paid dearly for this in terms of my score. My highest rate is always going to be on Saturday morning. I managed a rate of 30 QSOs per hour for the next few hours. I did check 15 Meters periodically, and worked a handful of low-latitude path multipliers, but spent most of my time on 20 Meters for the duration of the day. I heard many JAs in the late afternoon, but could not break through to get the multiplier. Japan is in the null of my 20 Meter dipole. By next year's test, I'll do something about that! I did manage to work almost everything that moved in Europe that I could hear. I switched over to the low bands a couple hours before dark, and stayed there until retiring about midnight, local time. I wasn't going to miss being up at daybreak on Sunday morning.
I was back in the chair at 1209 UTC on Sunday. I started on 40 Meters, where I made my very first QSO with Micronesia in the form of V63MY. The JAs were making it into Virginia also that morning with nice signals. I'm always amazed by how much harder it is to work the JAs on 40M here in Virginia, than it is in my home state of Mississippi. It was always so easy there, but it's not always that way here in the Old Dominion. I'm sure it's the higher-latitude path; but I digress.
I soon switched to 20 Meters, where I search and pounced my way to about 40 QSOs for the next couple of hours. I switched to 15M at 1432 UTC, and find that some of the western and southern Europeans are making it in, bringing with them the chance of adding to my multiplier totals. The only problem is that in ten minutes I had to leave with my XYL to attend church services. I picked up five European mults; the rest were left laying on the table. I knew that they wouldn't be there when I returned home in four hours. After returning home, I was able to add only another 89 QSOs before the contest ended. I ended up with 491 QSOs and 220 multipliers, with a claimed score of 324,060. Band by band, 51 countries on 80, 71 on 40, 71 on 20, and 27 on 15. Almost all of these were made in the search and pounce mode. If I ever become a "big gun", I'll try calling CQ; Little Pistols do better in the S & P mode, in my humble opinion. -- WK5X
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