[PVRCNC] CQ WW RTTY K4CZ SOAB(A) HP

[Barry Baker, K4CZ]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

Call: K4CZ
Operator(s): K4CZ
Station: K4CZ

Class: SOAB(A) HP
QTH: Durham, NC
Operating Time (hrs): 17.6

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------------
   80:    0     0       0        0     0
   40:  156   263      40       38    13
   20:  522  1345      35       78    23
   15:   36    91       6       19    12
   10:    1     3       0        1     1
------------------------------------------
Total:  715  1702      81      136    49  Total Score = 452,732

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club


Rig:  Kenwood TS-930 w/ Piexx board, Ameritron AL-80B (running 400w)
Antenna:  Force 12 C-4 @ 50' for 40-10m
Software:  N1MM / MMTTY


I couldn't operate much in the evening/night due to family obligations so I
spent most of my time on 20m.  Propagation was very good...20m to Europe
seemed to stay open throughout the daylight hours.  This was the first time
I've reached 500 Qs on a single band in a contest.  About 65% of my Qs were
in run-mode...average run rate was about 55-60 Qs/hour.  Best hour was 72
Qs.

I haven't operated RTTY since CQ WPX RTTY in February.  Since then, I
replaced the hard drive in the shack PC.  I had forgotten about this and
didn't check my RTTY setup prior to the contest.  As a result, I spent the
first couple hours of the contest fixing a few problems with my N1MM and
Microham Microkeyer settings and my receive audio routing so actual time on
the air was about 16 hours.  After the setup was fixed on Saturday morning,
the station worked flawlessly during the rest of the contest.

Comparison of 2008 and 2007 scores:

I beat last year's score by 7% even though I spent much less time on the air
(16 hours vs. 25 hours in 2007).  Originally, I only planned to spend about
10 hours on the air this year.  However, I extended my "butt-in-chair" time
since propagation was so good.  This year, I had a much higher average
hourly rate, 8% more Qs and 29% more QSO points due to much better
propagation, especially to Europe.  However, mults were down 17% from last
year (266 vs. 320), mostly because I didn't operate on 80m (which accounted
for 68 mults last year).  Why no 80m...not even one hour?  The primary
reason is that, since I didn't expect to operate at night, I never even
bothered to fully set up my 80m antenna for the contest!

The lessons from this contest were so obvious, I'm almost reluctant to state
them...but I will, if only to reinforce them to myself ;-)
1)  Test your station setup BEFORE the contest, ideally several days
before...even if it was working fine the last time you used it.
2)  You can never have too many antennas...even if you don't plan to use one
of them, get it ready anyway.
3)  If you have limited time to operate, try to schedule it to maximize your
total score not just Qs...a little time on each band can be better than lots
of time on a single band.
4)  Propagation will be best when you have the least time or are the least
prepared for a contest...maybe I should dub this "K4CZ's Law."
And last but perhaps most important...
5)  Make sure you check the contest calendar before you agree to host your
visiting relatives for the weekend ;-)
 
Thanks for the Qs.

73, Barry K4CZ