[W8MWA] Upcoming SSB Contests

[Spence Graham]

February 2-4

10-10 International SSB Contest... chance for some 10 meters contacts given
there will be a lot of stations on that HUGE band of frequencies.  Snag
some elusive 10 Meter Worked All States entities in a pond full of fish!

Minnesota QSO Party... add Minnesota to your logbook on several bands and
State QSO Parties are a great way to fill in needed spots on specific bands
toward Worked All States and county hunting.

British Columbia QSO Party... stretch out westward for Canadian logbook
entries as the bands start lighting up from mid-day to late night.  Listen
for VE station calls!

RSGB 80 Meter SSB Club Championship... It's not ONLY that the British are
coming!  It's good way at add to your 80 Meter DXCC counts... and 80 Meters
in the evening and into the night will be prime time to make the hop across
the pond into England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and some cool
islands!  (Don't discount early mornings to hear a few UK stations on 80
Meters before the band fades away!)

Check out... www.contestcalendar.com for precise details about each
contest, dates and times, contest exchanges, log uploading, and hot
frequencies.  Yeah... I know... sunspot numbers are down and the bands are
dead... Pffffffffffffttttttttt!  Last weekend in the Winter Field Day
Contest, I know someone in the Cheat Lake area with a dipole and 100 watts
that worked 439 contacts on 20-40-80 Meters and snagged all but a small
handful of the usual Field Day Sections.  THE BANDS ARE NOT DEAD.  Fire up
that HF rig and start logging!  (Last weekend over 77% of those contacts
were on 40 Meters... 20 and 80 Meters accounted for 11% of the contacts
each.  Food for thought.)

A good strategy if the contest starts during daylight hours is to focus
early on 20 Meters since that band tends to fade toward dark... then
migrate toward 40 meters and 80 Meters as the even develops.  If things
thin out on one band then bounce between bands once in a while to see if
any new stations can be worked.  Don't forget to check 15 Meters and 10
Meters for a quick scan every hour of so because sometimes you can hit a
brief opening... a lot of people forget about 15 and 10 Meters, assuming
they are dead... but if they are open, you can often grab a few "freebies"
on those bands and it will make you smile BIGLY!  Check your DX Spotting
software or websites to see where band activity activity is going on.  If
your contest software has DX Spotting filters, refine your spotting areas
to Call Areas 3 and 8, since those spotted by call signs with a 3 or an 8
will indicate stations closer to North Central West Virginia that ARE
working stations on specific frequency bands!  If you see DX Spots on 15
and 10 Meters, BOUNCE quickly to see if you can pick up some extra
multipliers because those 2 bands a pretty fickle right now... seize the
opportunity for a multiplier!  If you are an "early riser" you can often
clean out what's left of 40 and 80 Meters while you drink your coffee
waiting for 20 Meters to start heating up around 7-10 AM.  That time of
early morning will often be less crowded on those bands and the pickings
are easier.  Sometimes you can even hear Australia, New Zealand and
Tasmanian stations working the USA!  Remember that the Grey Line is a
consistent friend to DX'ers both early and late in the day!  Early in the
day listen for Europe, West Africa and the Canary Islands to open into the
USA... and late in the day toward evening, when the bands tend to go long,
you want to listen for the western USA, western Canada, Hawaii, Alaska and
The Yukon.  GET RADIO-ACTIVE!
-- 
73,

Spence

*Spencer W. Graham, II*
*WT8WV*
*73 Crosby Road*
*Morgantown, WV 26508*

*2017-2018 VP of Monongalia Wireless Association http://www.w8mwa.org/
<http://www.w8mwa.org/> *
*ARRL Volunteer Examiner *
*W5YI Volunteer Examiner*
*Laurel ARC Volunteer Examiner*
*ARRL WV Section Affiliate Club Coordinator *

*Check Out My Ham Radio Blog Site...  http://kb8fir.wordpress.com
<http://kb8fir.wordpress.com>*

*(ex-KB8FIR and ex-KA8LJO)*
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