2009 ARRL 10 Meter Contest
12/16/2009 |
WK5X
First of all, I'd like to welcome Jane to HF and to contesting. Hopefully we'll work in next year's Ten Meter Contest.
The first evening (Friday local time), I worked only locals and semi-locals in VA, WV, MD, and PA. At around 0300Z, I had had enough, so I retired with only 11 QSOs in the log.
I don't get up at 6 AM (1100Z) for this contest when the sunspot number is zero, so it wasn't until about 1400 before I was back in front of the rig. There was a little extremely sporadic-E, which yielded about 11 more QSOs with the Upper Midwest (mostly Minnesota). After about two hours, my bandscope flatlined. For the remainder of the first twenty four hours, I managed a few more contacts, all with Virginia stations, except for one QSO with K1WHS (ME) at 1949Z. I ended the first half of the contest with only 32 QSOs. I was on pace for my worst ever score in the Ten Meter Contest.
The first two hours of the second half of the contest brought slightly better conditions. I managed 11 more QSO, mostly from New England, and the Maritime provinces. VE9DX was incredibly loud at one point. The next hour, the propagation shifted west, bringing Quebec, Ontario, and a ton of Minnesoooooootans, along with Wisconsin. Between 0300Z and 0600Z, I worked 68 stations, switching back and forth between CW and Phone. At 1:30 AM, Sunday morning (EST), W0SD was still booming in. I'd wager that W0SD will be one of the top scorers in this contest.
I wasn't able to get back on until around 1830Z on Sunday. I worked my first FL and TX stations then. Normally, FL and TX are the most likely areas to be heard on 10 Meters on sporadic-E. After a two hour break, I returned at 2130Z, to work Argentina and Uruguay on TEP. Things were otherwise very slow. I was able to grind out a smattering of QSOs across mainly the Great Plains, until things really opened up with only 30 minutes left in the contest. The band was filled with signals from across the Midwest, and even double-hop sporadic-E from CO in the form of K0RF. The contest ended here in the middle of the best opening of the contest.
Minnesota topped my list with 38 QSOs, compared to just 35 Virginia QSOs; I'm sure the Minnesotans worked a ton of Virginia stations also.
I entered in the Mixed-Mode, Low-Power class. The total number of QSOs was 160, with 40 multipliers. This was 21 QSOs more than last year's contest, and about 60 QSOs more than in 2007 from this location. I heard absolutely nothing via F-2 this year; last year there was some weak F-2 to the west coast. In 2007, I didn't observe any F-2 propagation. -- WK5X
The first evening (Friday local time), I worked only locals and semi-locals in VA, WV, MD, and PA. At around 0300Z, I had had enough, so I retired with only 11 QSOs in the log.
I don't get up at 6 AM (1100Z) for this contest when the sunspot number is zero, so it wasn't until about 1400 before I was back in front of the rig. There was a little extremely sporadic-E, which yielded about 11 more QSOs with the Upper Midwest (mostly Minnesota). After about two hours, my bandscope flatlined. For the remainder of the first twenty four hours, I managed a few more contacts, all with Virginia stations, except for one QSO with K1WHS (ME) at 1949Z. I ended the first half of the contest with only 32 QSOs. I was on pace for my worst ever score in the Ten Meter Contest.
The first two hours of the second half of the contest brought slightly better conditions. I managed 11 more QSO, mostly from New England, and the Maritime provinces. VE9DX was incredibly loud at one point. The next hour, the propagation shifted west, bringing Quebec, Ontario, and a ton of Minnesoooooootans, along with Wisconsin. Between 0300Z and 0600Z, I worked 68 stations, switching back and forth between CW and Phone. At 1:30 AM, Sunday morning (EST), W0SD was still booming in. I'd wager that W0SD will be one of the top scorers in this contest.
I wasn't able to get back on until around 1830Z on Sunday. I worked my first FL and TX stations then. Normally, FL and TX are the most likely areas to be heard on 10 Meters on sporadic-E. After a two hour break, I returned at 2130Z, to work Argentina and Uruguay on TEP. Things were otherwise very slow. I was able to grind out a smattering of QSOs across mainly the Great Plains, until things really opened up with only 30 minutes left in the contest. The band was filled with signals from across the Midwest, and even double-hop sporadic-E from CO in the form of K0RF. The contest ended here in the middle of the best opening of the contest.
Minnesota topped my list with 38 QSOs, compared to just 35 Virginia QSOs; I'm sure the Minnesotans worked a ton of Virginia stations also.
I entered in the Mixed-Mode, Low-Power class. The total number of QSOs was 160, with 40 multipliers. This was 21 QSOs more than last year's contest, and about 60 QSOs more than in 2007 from this location. I heard absolutely nothing via F-2 this year; last year there was some weak F-2 to the west coast. In 2007, I didn't observe any F-2 propagation. -- WK5X
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