CQ WW CW VP5M (K4QPL)

[James Jordan]

Call: VP5M
Operator(s): K4QPL
Station: VP5/K4QPL

Class: SOAB HP
Class Overlay: Classic
QTH: VP5
Operating Time (hrs): 24.2
Location: Other North America

Summary:   Compare Scores
Band QSOs Zones Countries
160: 120 9 14
80: 231 11 42
40: 553 22 67
20: 878 23 71
15: 499 28 68
10: 405 22 58
Total: 2686 115 320 Total Score 2,694,825


Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:     [email]     2023-11-27 02:18:20
I started last years soapbox with"What a fun contest!" This year I can only
say, "What a crazy contest."
This year I had better low band antennas (big shout out to Guy, K2AV, who
engineered fine tuning of the 160 inverted L and an inverted L for 80M).
Both were improved from last year and we have plans for even better on 80m
for future contests.
I think conditions were even better than last year with the high bands open
to the world at almost the same time for hours on end.
And, for the first time I went high power (500 watts) to play with the big
boys.

So what could go wrong and what's crazy?

I learned last year that my mult count was low and my Q count high which
cost me in the final points. In classic overlay there's no spots and only
one radio. So I did it the old fashioned way. Ran to get mults on 80 and
160. Probably stayed too long there enjoying the new antennas. Then I S&P'd
through the other bands to grab the mults I missed before. Boy was I
successful doing that. Mult count way up. Again, I probably spent too much
time doing that as my Q total was down by more than 700 and overall 100k
points down.

Finally, my lack of hardball pileup skills,wide-band ears and insufficient
memory database caught up with me big time. Extra power and great
conditions attracted swarms of callers to my single-chance VP5 mult like
flies to S_______! 20-30 callers on or near my frequency made my little off
frequency tuning ineffective from my method with LP. I simply cannot handle
20 or 30 caller pileups that go from huge to unmanageable. My rate would
drop from 300 in a moderate pileup to 150 or less trying to sort out the
QRM and almost always only getting a partial. At one point on 15M I gave
up, in my head told everyone where to go, and went back to S&P where I
could get a rate around 100 dropping the VP5M call and clearing my
headache.
Maybe next year I can compromise my strategy, improve my skills, and get
back to a fun contest.
73 and thanks to everyone for hanging in there in the pileups and my
apologies to those of you I never got in the log.
Jim K4QPL  VP5M