391 extra QSOs.............
Have been in a bit of a slump re contesting of late, but really enjoyed
the rx conditions for this ARRLDX. Decided to get on and try to work
TI7W and YS1/AA4NC on all bands if possible. So I logged into packet,
something I seldom do.
It made me wish I were still set up to operate S&P2R.
Made about 10 QSOs at the contest start, then ditched both Friday night
and Saturday morning. Probably missed 20 good hours, judging by what I
found on Saturday afternoon. Got back on about 1930Z Saturday. Made a
few Q's on 15 and 20m, but realized Murphy had visited the antenna
switch. Three positions on the sixpak are useless. 10m position dead
and 20m/40m positions both open. Grrr.
Well, with the 15/20m antenna iffy, check the 40m antenna to see whats
up. Eeeek, there is a ton of LOUD EU on 40m at 3pm local, on the
kludged up 40m inv Vee I stuck on a push up mast last month for NAQP.
Whhhhhhhaaaaa?
Signals also appearing on 80m much earlier than "normal". Better check
160m later. Yup, a bit later I can hear DX on the 160m xmit antenna.
Can hear a LOT of DX on 160m, and working EU on 80m has turned into a
mostly 1 call qso. Stayed up later than intended Saturday, so finished
up the last few hours on Sunday after late brunch.
Feels like 40 is the new 20, 80 is the new 40, and 160 is the new 80.
And since my 20m antenna was suspect, I didn't hit any of the best times
for 20m.
So for this weekend I get 391 "extra" QSOs. Worked TI7W on five bands,
YS1/AA4NC on 4 bands. Heard very little on 15m from here, absolutely
nothing on 10m during the times I was on. Missed VS1/AA4NC on 160m,
although Will had a good signal here when he first came up on 160m
Saturday night. I just could[would] not fight the pileup I heard
calling him.
Speaking of pile-up, the pileups on the few African stations were truly
comical.
Was worried about all of the false spots for "W4KZ", then I realized it
was probably just personified corporeal schadenfreude emanating from
K4QPL/PQL/QPL/PQL for grief I have given him in the past. Several EU
lost a "w4kz QSO B4" this weekend, as the 3 strike rule was applied to
repeats as well as lack of signing. There was always another spot to click.
So FYI: the LOUD 50 jiggawatt ME super station is KZ, the weak
down-in-the-noise station is KAZ. I can see where this is going
already. lol
73 de w4kaz
k A z kaz k A z 5nn nc
k A z kaz k A z 5nn nc
k A z kaz k A z 5nn nc
......................qsy............
ARRL DX Contest, CW - 2019
Call: W4KAZ
Operator(s): W4KAZ
Station: W4KAZ
Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: nc
Operating Time (hrs): 14
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 35 27
80: 108 65
40: 174 69
20: 71 51
15: 12 11
10:
-------------------
Total: 400 223 Total Score = 267,000
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
The clock says 14 hours on, but it seemed like a lot less. First time I
have
used
spots in quite a while, and it helped keep my interest in it. Got on "for
a few minutes" Saturday, and decided to stick. Enjoyed operating the low
bands. Discovered a new problem exists in antenna switch, so a few minutes
spent fending off Murphy. Heard more EU stations on 160m than ever
before from
this QTH.
Even worked a few surprises on both 160m and 80m. Most fun I have had
operating
in a long time.