2024 ARRL DX Contest SSB K5ZD

                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2024
 
Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
 
Class: SOUAB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 40.8
OpMode: SO2R
 
Summary:
Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   64    40
   80:  231    70
   40:  446    86
   20: 1185   115
   15: 1140   113
   10: 1493   121
-------------------
Total: 4559   545  Total Score = 7,453,965  <<- Possible new W/VE record
 
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

My third major contest effort in 4 weeks (WPX RTTY, ARRL CW, ARRL SSB).  All fun with top-of-the-cycle conditions, but this one was probably the hardest.

K5ZD nearing the end of the ARRL DX SSB 2024 Contest

Decent start.  Even got a run frequency in the mosh pit on 40 for a while. Low bands were not as good as CW, but good enough. 160 was way down from the weekend before.

I was watching the scoreboard and seeing N5DX and N3RD disappearing into the distance.  N3RD was killing it for mults and also had the QSOs. 

About 0600z I started to wonder if this was fun.  20m was open. But I could hear K5GN and K5TR running Europe that I could not hear. I decided that 4 hours of sleep might be more useful.  It was not a great decision as the competition used that time to put another 300+ QSOs in their logs (mostly on 40).  The sleep meant I was in chase mode the rest of the way, but with a better mental attitude.

I woke up to find 20m ready to go.  Then quickly to 15 for an hour before making the jump to 10.  I never really felt like I was in control Saturday morning.

Always seemed to searching for a good run frequency.  Finally ended up above 28.8 and got to have some enjoyable rate.

15m stayed open so late that I didn’t get much time on 20 Sat afternoon.

Managed to wedge in on 40m and ran some more stations.  Not fun, but the only way to get some of the multipliers.  Then went back up to 10m to find it open to JA and South America.  No luck with CQs, but plenty of spots to chase. 

That got me to the 24-hour point.  The score was good, but I was way behind N3RD. Every year I get to this point and wish these contests were only 24 hours…  Took a food break and got back on the radio.

The 0100z hour had a great opening to JA.  Even got some to answer my CQs!  That was fun.

Decided I should take a short nap while the Europeans were sleeping. Had trouble falling asleep, but no problem waking up when the alarm went off.  Jumped around the bands chasing spots and working on the 160 multiplier.  Self-spotting definitely helped get attention on 80 and 160.

I had an incredible run on 20m during the 0700z hour.  Imagine being on 20m with a clear frequency, no splatter at all, and just having one or two loud Europeans at a time answer CQs.  It was a dream. Even so, I knew I need another 90 minute nap so walked away from a pretty good rate (although I think it was slowing down).

I saw N3RD had stopped increasing on the scoreboard around 06z. So all those 20m QSOs enabled me to catch up.  20m was still good when I woke up so I managed to pull at 200 QSO lead.  Now it was time for me to be chased.  N5DX was 800 QSOs ahead so I made it a goal to not let him get to 1000 ahead.  Yeah, that is a weird goal, but whatever works.

The morning was OK.  Bands weren’t bad (lots of Russians in the log), but not as great as they were the day before. There is a finite amount of DX activity so you run out of people to work. Even worse when everyone goes to 10m.  I felt for the single band guys on 20 and 15.  They had no one to work.

Tried to run as much as I could.  20m is best around 1700z while most people are still on 10 and 15m.  It was just us an Europe.  And some surprise callers from new multipliers.

After a short run on 40m during the 22z hour I was left with nothing to do but chase spots in the last hour.

Other thoughts…

The weather on Friday was great.  I played my first golf of the season. The weather on Saturday was rain.  All the line noise disappeared.  Sunday was warm and windy so line noise was back.  And I kept wishing I could go play golf.

Having so many bands open does ease some of the crowding.  It was still very hard to find a frequency on 20 and 15, but possible.

Being south was an advantage.  You could see it in the range of signal strengths from Europe.  Northern Germany was weak and the HB/I stations were very loud.

Many package pileups were won by stations in the middle and south.  None of this is a bad thing, just interesting to see how propagation varies year to year and when a disturbance happens. It is disappointing that ARRL permits self-spotting, but I did it and it does help at times.

Congrats to the UK contesters and their new 1000 watt limit. And those new 2×1 calls from Italy were interesting.  You never knew who was hiding behind them.

The scoreboard is awesome.  Had a blast chasing N3RD and N5DX, watching K1RX coming up, and the incredible score from N6MJ at ND7K.  I needed the bands to break on Sunday morning in order to catch him.

Thanks to everyone around the world who chased W/VE stations all weekend.  It certainly makes it more fun for us.

Station

2 x Elecraft K3

80: 4-square, dipole
40: 2/2 @110’/70′
20: 5/5 @100’/50′
15: 5/5 @66’/33′
10: 6/4/4 @ 100’/60’/30′
South: C31XR @40′

WriteLog + RigSelect PRO SO2R controller

Rates

QSO/DX by hour and band
 
Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm   Off
 
0000Z  --+--   --+--   73/28   70/31   --+--   --+--  143/59    143/59  
0100Z    -     38/23    4/3    30/12   36/22   19/9   127/69    270/128 
0200Z   1/1    34/11   11/10   38/19   10/8      -     94/49    364/177 
0300Z   5/3    24/6    15/11   18/8     3/2      -     65/30    429/207 
0400Z  10/8    21/12   20/7    10/5      -       -     61/32    490/239 
0500Z  11/10   15/4    16/7    13/3      -       -     55/24    545/263 
0600Z   5/4     8/2     6/2      -       -       -     19/8     564/271  39
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     564/271  60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     564/271  60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     564/271  60
1000Z    -      1/1    11/3   129/5      -       -    141/9     705/280   5
1100Z    -       -      1/1    78/2   129/35     -    208/38    913/318 
1200Z    -       -       -       -     43/11  156/42  199/53   1112/371 
1300Z    -       -       -      4/3    21/2   111/25  136/30   1248/401 
1400Z    -       -       -       -    165/7    10/5   175/12   1423/413 
1500Z    -       -       -       -     21/2   147/3   168/5    1591/418 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    3/3   125/6   128/9    1719/427 
1700Z    -       -       -       -     14/1   109/6   123/7    1842/434 
1800Z    -       -       -       -     56/5    42/1    98/6    1940/440 
1900Z    -       -       -       -     83/4    26/3   109/7    2049/447  15
2000Z    -       -       -     93/5    29/1      -    122/6    2171/453 
2100Z    -       -     12/1    89/3      -      6/3   107/7    2278/460 
2200Z    -       -     75/6      -     16/1    31/1   122/8    2400/468 
2300Z    -       -       -     10/1    14/0    44/4    68/5    2468/473 
0000Z  --+--    9/1     4/1     3/2    32/2     2/0    50/6    2518/479  24
0100Z    -      3/1     2/0     8/0    63/0      -     76/1    2594/480 
0200Z   1/1    19/3     6/0      -       -       -     26/4    2620/484  44
0300Z   3/2      -       -       -       -       -      3/2    2623/486  57
0400Z  12/8     5/2     9/0    15/0      -       -     41/10   2664/496 
0500Z  15/3    28/1    39/0     4/1      -       -     86/5    2750/501 
0600Z   1/0     9/0    65/3    15/3      -       -     90/6    2840/507 
0700Z    -      4/1    18/1   137/2      -       -    159/4    2999/511 
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   78/0    --+--   --+--   78/0    3077/511  30
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3077/511  60
1000Z    -      1/1     1/0   123/1      -       -    125/2    3202/513  10
1100Z    -       -      2/0    12/0   125/2     1/0   140/2    3342/515 
1200Z    -       -       -      5/1     2/0   177/4   184/5    3526/520 
1300Z    -       -       -       -      9/1   135/4   144/5    3670/525 
1400Z    -       -       -       -     12/1   111/1   123/2    3793/527 
1500Z    -       -       -       -     24/0    81/2   105/2    3898/529 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   82/1    27/1   109/2    4007/531 
1700Z    -       -       -     28/3    65/2    17/0   110/5    4117/536 
1800Z    -       -       -       -     28/0    56/0    84/0    4201/536 
1900Z    -       -       -     57/1    29/0     9/1    95/2    4296/538 
2000Z    -       -       -     64/2      -     16/0    80/2    4376/540 
2100Z    -       -       -     35/1    10/0    18/0    63/1    4439/541   10
2200Z    -      8/1    55/2     2/0     4/0      -     69/3    4508/544 
2300Z    -      4/0     1/0    17/1    12/0    17/0    51/1    4559/545 
 
Total: 64/40  231/70  446/86 1185/115 1140/113 1493/121

Best 60 minutes: 222 starting 02-Mar-2024 11:20   

Worked on 6 bands (50):

8P5A 9A1A 9A3XV 9A5Y CN3A CQ8M CR6K DF8XC DM7XX DR4A DR4W E7DX EB5A ED8M ED8W EI7M EI9E EW5A G4PVM HA3DX II2S IO5O IO6T J62K LY4A LZ9W MW4R NP4Z OK5Z OK6Y OM2VL OM7M P40L PA4VHF PJ2T PJ4G RL3A RW7K SP8R T42T TM6M TO3Z TO5M UA2FZ UW5Y V31XX V3O VP5M WP3C ZF1A

Most worked entities

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
    DL      10     27     41    129    124    157     488
     I       3     15     48    155    119    121     461
     G       2      9     15     68     56    141     291
     F       1     17     33     69     41     78     239
    PA       2      6     18     71     43     86     226
    SP       1     12     22     57     54     56     202
    EA       1     11     17     51     43     66     189
    UA       2      6     13     37     54     62     174
    JA                     8     19     98     47     172

2024 ARRL DX Contest CW K5ZD

                    ARRL DX Contest, CW - 2024
 
Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
 
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 45.5
OpMode: SO2R
 
Summary:
Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  172    50
   80:  442    68
   40: 1240    80
   20: 1526    94
   15: 1369   102
   10: 1269    90
-------------------
Total: 6018   484  Total Score = 8,736,684
 
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

K5ZD near the end of ARRL DX CW 2024.

What a contest.  What fantastic conditions.  Especially over the pole.  So many Russians!

We used to count the number of hours over 100 as a measure of contest success. This time I only had one hour under 100 in the first 24.  Wow!

I turned on the scoreboard about 3 hours in feeling like I had a good start.  Only to find N5DX and WA1Z already way ahead of me.  A trend that would only continue.  Even during 3 consecutive hours on Satruday morning with over 200 QSOs per hour N5DX just kept pulling away.  WA1Z disappeared sometime on Saturday.  That left me competing with N6MJ at ND7K.  What?  A W7 is keeping up with W1 in a DX contest?!  Conditions must really be good.

I must have a hardware problem in my computer.  It crashed around 17z the first morning.  The MK2R+ software locks up hard and the only solution is to turn off the computer and restart.  It happened again on Sunday at about the same time and I almost quit, but had too much invested in the contest at that point to give up.

160 was good the first night, but even better the second with no noise at all. I worked a number of 100W Europeans and even a few QRP.

The first night it seemed like 20 never closed.  Loud Russians and then loud Europeans, with Japan mixed in the whole time. I missed a lot of 40m time because 20 was so good.  The second night had the 20m opening, but not as good.  And 40 was great at Eu sunrise so was able to get caught up.

The high bands were awesome on the first day.  Just great the second.  There was a period late morning on Sunday where I just couldn’t seem to get anything going. All while watching N5DX just keep pulling away.

Conditions to Asia the last 2 hours of the contest were great.  I was even able to call CQ on 15 and get responses.  A big help in my last-hour push to get to 6000 QSOs (far and away my personal best in a DX contest).

Mults were a challenge.  It was hard to find time to S&P, and even when you did it was just stations sending a power and then dit dit.  Callsigns seem to be optional in today’s DX cluster-powered contesting world.  I have done assisted so much that I have forgotten the discipline of having to tune while running.

Lots of 6 band QSOs tell the story about how good all of the bands were.

Did not get out of the chair except for more than a few minutes in the first 26 hours. Then took a break to eat, then a short nap, then another short nap. Most I have operated as a single op in a number of years.

Unable to do 2BSIQ.  Tried it for about 15 minutes on Sunday morning and just couldn’t Keep up.  So this was almost all old school SO2R.

I did record the contest and there were some great rate and SO2R experiences. Unfortunately, the computer crash on Saturday did not continue the recording when I restarted.  So missed a lot of the contest.  Very sad since this one might be worth listening to during the next sunspot low.

Thanks to all the DX that spent their weekend working USA stations.  Now to get ready for SSB in 2 weeks!

Station

K3 + AL-1200
K3 + AL-1500

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower
80m: 4 square, dipole
40m: 2/2 @ 110’/70′
20m: 5/5 @ 100’/50′
15m: 5/5 @ 66’/33′
10m: 6/4/4 @ 100’/65’/30′
10-20m: C31xr @ 40′

Rates

QSO/DX by hour and band
 
Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off
 
0000Z  --+--   --+--  129/30   40/27    2/2    --+--  171/59    171/59  
0100Z    -     70/27   62/7      -     31/14     -    163/48    334/107 
0200Z  18/11   71/8    25/3      -       -       -    114/22    448/129 
0300Z   9/4    26/5      -     22/12    8/3     4/2    69/26    517/155 
0400Z  27/10    6/1      -     73/8      -       -    106/19    623/174 
0500Z    -     72/7      -     61/5      -       -    133/12    756/186 
0600Z    -      5/1    14/4   145/11     -       -    164/16    920/202 
0700Z   5/4      -    140/5    12/1      -       -    157/10   1077/212 
0800Z   4/4    13/9    84/3    17/0    --+--   --+--  118/16   1195/228 
0900Z    -       -      3/3   187/5      -       -    190/8    1385/236 
1000Z    -       -      5/3   184/2      -       -    189/5    1574/241 
1100Z    -      1/0    10/6    68/1    91/32     -    170/39   1744/280 
1200Z    -       -       -       -    170/7    41/22  211/29   1955/309 
1300Z    -       -       -       -      1/1   234/24  235/25   2190/334 
1400Z    -       -       -       -      6/2   212/5   218/7    2408/341 
1500Z    -       -       -       -      3/1   187/4   190/5    2598/346 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   54/2   104/3   158/5    2756/351 
1700Z    -       -       -       -    157/8    14/3   171/11   2927/362 
1800Z    -       -       -       -    139/1    17/8   156/9    3083/371 
1900Z    -       -       -     77/2    41/0    12/2   130/4    3213/375 
2000Z    -       -       -    121/1     9/3     9/2   139/6    3352/381 
2100Z    -       -       -    100/2     8/2     9/4   117/8    3469/389 
2200Z    -       -     45/0    31/0     7/3    24/2   107/5    3576/394 
2300Z    -       -    125/4     9/3      -      1/0   135/7    3711/401 
0000Z  --+--   --+--   65/3     3/2     6/0     5/2    79/7    3790/408 
0100Z    -     36/1    34/2      -      9/0      -     79/3    3869/411 
0200Z  24/9     1/0      -       -       -       -     25/9    3894/420   39
0300Z  63/6      -     16/1      -       -       -     79/7    3973/427 
0400Z   7/1    42/0      -      2/0      -       -     51/1    4024/428 
0500Z   7/0    57/2      -      1/0      -       -     65/2    4089/430   38
0600Z   7/0    20/1   108/1      -       -       -    135/2    4224/432 
0700Z    -      6/2   124/0      -       -       -    130/2    4354/434 
0800Z   1/1     3/2   114/1    --+--   --+--   --+--  118/4    4472/438 
0900Z    -       -      9/1    69/3      -       -     78/4    4550/442 
1000Z    -       -      2/1    40/0      -       -     42/1    4592/443   52
1100Z    -      1/1      -     66/1    99/1      -    166/3    4758/446 
1200Z    -       -       -       -    126/3    51/0   177/3    4935/449 
1300Z    -       -       -       -      6/2   165/2   171/4    5106/453 
1400Z    -       -       -       -     33/0   131/4   164/4    5270/457 
1500Z    -       -       -       -     70/5    26/0    96/5    5366/462 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   74/0     8/0    82/0    5448/462 
1700Z    -       -       -     11/1    81/1     4/0    96/2    5544/464 
1800Z    -       -       -     18/0    52/0    11/1    81/1    5625/465 
1900Z    -       -       -     91/3     6/0      -     97/3    5722/468 
2000Z    -       -      9/0    59/2    10/4      -     78/6    5800/474 
2100Z    -       -     87/1    13/0      -       -    100/1    5900/475 
2200Z    -       -     25/0     6/2    22/3      -     53/5    5953/480 
2300Z    -     12/1     5/1      -     48/2      -     65/4    6018/484 
 
Total:172/50  442/68 1240/80 1526/94 1369/102 1269/90 

Best 60 minutes: 240 starting at 17-Feb-2024 12:50

Worked on 6 bands (89):

4A7S 8P5A 9A1A 9A5Y CN3A CR2N CR3W DC4A DD2D DJ0MDR DJ1OJ DJ5AN DJ5MO DK5KK DL2NBU DL6ZBN DL9EE DM5EE DM7A EA5RS EF6T ES5OW EW5A F6KOP G4IIY G4IRN G4PVM G6T GM5X HA3DX HA5PP HA7UI HA8JV HB9AMO HB9ON HG5D HG6N HG7T IK3ORD IO0A IO4X KH6LC KP2M LN8W LY2XW LZ2XA M6W MM9I NP4Z OH5Z OK1GK OK5Z OK6Y OL3Z OL5Y OM7M OQ5M OR2F OT2A P49Y PJ2T RL3A RU1A S52NR S53M S57KM SC7DX SK3W SM0T SN7O SN7Q SP1D SP1NY SP2QG SP2R SP5UFK SP7AS SP8R TM6M TM7A TO4A UW1M UW5Y V3T VP5K YL2GD YL7X ZF1A ZF5T

Worked on 5 bands: 154

By continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %
 
    EU     151    408   1152   1306   1153   1139    5309    88.2
    NA      13     17     21     22     27     25     125     2.1
    AF       3      4      7     10      6      8      38     0.6
    SA       4      7     11     20     30     41     113     1.9
    AS       0      2     38    155    138     48     381     6.3
    OC       1      4     11     13     15      8      52     0.9

Most worked entities

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
 
    DL      22     83    202    213    199    192     911
    UA       4     20     66    122    110    114     436
     I       5     21    105    120     85     91     427
    SP      13     26     61     68     70     62     300
     G      10     13     59     59     53     56     250
    OK       9     27     53     55     49     51     244
     F       5     13     62     59     47     48     234
    PA       2     11     45     56     52     58     224
    JA              1     28     84     76     21     210
    UR       8     15     36     50     40     37     186
    SM       7     16     39     40     36     44     182
    HA      11     23     31     33     35     37     170
    EA       3     10     42     46     39     28     168

2024 CQ WPX RTTY Contest AK1W

                   CQ WPX RTTY Contest - 2024

Call: AK1W
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 24.1
OpMode: 2BSIQ

Summary:
Band  QSOs
------------
   80:  200
   40:  398
   20:  389
   15:  602
   10:  486
------------
Total: 2075  Prefixes = 826  Total Score = 5,029,514

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

K5ZD WPX RTTY 2024
K5ZD operating AK1W in CQ WPX RTTY 2024

I was not planning to make a real effort in this contest.  I wanted to save my BIC time for next weekend in ARRL CW (a WRTC qualifying event).  Since I blew up an amp in CQ WW RTTY last fall, I thought it might be good just to do low power. That would also keep me from operating too much.

Started the contest 15 minutes late.  Was CQing on 40 while trying to work the other bands.  It did not start out great but was having fun.  Hard not to have fun when you combine contesting, DX, and some great sunspot numbers. 40 was great all evening.  Even 80 had louEUEu signals.  But, I couldn’t stay awake and decided sleep was more valuable.

Woke up before the alarm on Saturday morning so got on the air.  I was messing around on 20m and when I went to 15m (well before sunrise) it was already hopping.  Great rates doing 2 bands on Saturday morning.

The weather on Saturday was great outside.  Hated to spend it on the radio.  Ran some errands, then got back on.  Ran some new hardline out to the tower, then got back on.  Went for my daily walk, then got back on. Watched a movie, then got back on.

Sunday conditions seemed slightly less good and the rates were down.  While activity was good, it wasn’t infinite. I took some more breaks to do stuff.  Then ended early to set up for Super Bowl watching. 

Never imagined the score could get over 5 million.  Amazing how points start to accelerate as the mult total grows.

Low power was way more fun than I expected. Didn’t seem to have much trouble being heard (except for polar paths to Japan and UA9/0).

Did an experiment by turning off the AGC on the K3.  Tough on the ears at times, but it sure improved the copying of stations.  The combination of Writelog along with 2 Tone and MMTTY was a winner.  Almost always one of the two decoders would be clean copy. 

The level of operating proficiency was the best ever. Calling stations sent their call the right amount of times. The exchanges were snappy. People seemed to be copying the numbers well. Really added to the fun! Running on 2 bands is like a fast paced video game as you switch focus back and forth.

Thanks to everyone who handed out QSOs. Gotta enjoy these high sunspot years!

Station:

2 x Elecraft K3

80: 4-square, dipole
40: 2/2 @110’/70′
20: 5/5 @100’/50′
15: 5/5 @66’/33′
10: 6/4/4 @ 100’/60’/30′
South: C31XR @40′

By Continent

           80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    NA     133    207    123    150     70     683    32.9
    EU      66    179    252    419    375    1291    62.2
    SA       0      2      6     20     25      53     2.6
    AS       0      3      3      8      6      20     1.0
    AF       1      3      2      5      7      18     0.9
    OC       0      4      3      0      3      10     0.5

Hourly Rates

QSO/Pref by hour and band

Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime

D1-0000Z  --+--   34/33    1/1    13/12    7/7    55/53     55/53     15
D1-0100Z    -     63/49   46/33     -       -    109/82    164/135 
D1-0200Z  35/18   36/24    5/5     3/3      -     79/50    243/185 
D1-0300Z  30/15   47/31    3/3      -       -     80/49    323/234 
D1-0400Z   5/3    26/15    8/5      -       -     39/23    362/257    32
D1-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     362/257    60
D1-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     362/257    60
D1-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     362/257    60
D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     362/257    60
D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     362/257    60
D1-1000Z   3/2     4/1     1/1      -       -      8/4     370/261    52
D1-1100Z    -      1/0    41/23   62/44     -    104/67    474/328 
D1-1200Z    -       -       -     55/33   86/48  141/81    615/409 
D1-1300Z    -       -       -     39/15   56/20   95/35    710/444 
D1-1400Z    -       -       -     39/9    49/17   88/26    798/470 
D1-1500Z    -       -       -     29/9    29/9    58/18    856/488    25
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     856/488    60
D1-1700Z    -       -       -      3/0     1/1     4/1     860/489    55
D1-1800Z    -       -     29/6    40/15   29/10   98/31    958/520 
D1-1900Z    -       -     51/13   28/11     -     79/24   1037/544     6
D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1037/544    60
D1-2100Z    -       -     30/9    31/12     -     61/21   1098/565    14
D1-2200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1098/565    60
D1-2300Z    -      7/2    10/4    26/9     5/3    48/18   1146/583    12
D2-0000Z   1/1    33/10   --+--    8/4    --+--   42/15   1188/598    36
D2-0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1188/598    60
D2-0200Z  12/3     6/0      -       -       -     18/3    1206/601    45
D2-0300Z  45/10   23/4     6/2      -       -     74/16   1280/617 
D2-0400Z  33/8    46/11     -       -       -     79/19   1359/636 
D2-0500Z  24/7    45/11     -       -       -     69/18   1428/654 
D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1428/654    60
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1428/654    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1428/654    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1428/654    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1428/654    60
D2-1100Z  12/3    21/4    21/7    16/4      -     70/18   1498/672     5
D2-1200Z    -       -     40/16   44/15   15/3    99/34   1597/706 
D2-1300Z    -       -       -     42/11   61/12  103/23   1700/729 
D2-1400Z    -       -       -     29/10   52/14   81/24   1781/753 
D2-1500Z    -       -       -     26/8    27/8    53/16   1834/769    16
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1834/769    60
D2-1700Z    -       -      3/1    27/6    27/14   57/21   1891/790    19
D2-1800Z    -       -     53/4    15/1    19/4    87/9    1978/799 
D2-1900Z    -       -     26/2    12/3    10/1    48/6    2026/805    20
D2-2000Z    -       -       -      2/2     1/0     3/2    2029/807    60
D2-2100Z    -      6/4    15/3    13/4    12/8    46/19   2075/826 

Total:   200/70  398/199 389/138 602/240 486/179

Best 60 minutes: 144 starting at 10-Feb-2024 11:55

Worked on 5 bands:

9A1A 9A5Y CR3DX CR6K DB100FK DP6A DP7D OH5Z WQ5OO

Most worked entities:

           80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
     K     123    187    111    124     52     597
    DL      20     35     26     82     66     229
     I       7     22     34     38     40     141
     G       1      8     17     27     22      75
    SP       4      8     16     16     23      67
    UR       2     10     10     28     13      63
    EA       1      5     22     18     11      57
     F       3      8     10     17     18      56
    UA              6      4     20     25      55

2023 CQ WW Contest CW K5ZD

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2023

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 44
OpMode: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  156    15       60
   80:  526    24       99
   40: 1148    31      120
   20: 1089    38      130
   15: 1099    37      133
   10: 1053    34      129
------------------------------
Total: 5071   179      671  Total Score = 12,473,750

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Nothing like a high solar flux to bring out the fun.  The best part was that it didn’t mess up the low bands.  I never expected 60 countries on 160.

Bought a used C31xr to replace the TH7 the week before the contest. Was installed last weekend with help from KW1X and AA1ON.  A great addition to the station. 

Some intermittent problem on 40m.  Transmit was ok, but on receive it would drop 10-20db in signal levels at times.  I had to transmit to restore receiving. Very annoying.  Seemed to get worse as I transmitted more.  Probably one of my homemade hardline connectors.

Replaced one of the encoders in my K3 during the week.  It had broken during the V4 trip.  When I tried to make my first QSO of the contest I hit the key and the power went out.  Quickly tracked it down to a loose connection at the power supply (another thing that made the trip to V4 and back).  So started the contest 2 minutes late.

Surprise band the first night was 160.  It was very quiet here.  Must have been quiet in Europe as I was having no trouble calling stations and having them come right back.  Even got some answers to CQs. The second night I could still hear Eu well, but they couldn’t hear me as easily.

Meant to take a short 20-minute nap on Sat morning.  Woke up wide awake an hour later.  The alarm on the iPad showed it was going, but I didn’t hear any sound. (It was playing into my earbuds sitting across the room.)

Immediately jumped on the radio and found 20 already going.  Oversleeping would have been a disaster.

Conditions on Sat were okay, just one band lower than expected. And by the time 15m winds down, everyone in EU has left 20 to go to the low bands. 

Took another 2 hour nap Sunday morning.  More of a proactive measure since I didn’t really feel that tired.  One of the ‘benefits’ of old age is that I don’t seem to need sleep as much. When I woke up Sunday morning and sat down on 40m, could not believe how loud the JA signals were.  Several were 20 over with very little flutter.

I pushed down to 20m early on Sunday to bring the totals up. Which worked out well and meant I was ready when 15 opened to Asia.

The opening to Japan/Asia on Sunday evening was the best I have ever heard from here.  The JA signals on 20 were great.  Then got really good on 15.  Even worked a few on 10.

Some nasty pileups.  A few people seemed to be over-aggressive in their calling. By that I mean I kept hearing the same guys be annoying.  Also noticed a lot of times when a guy would call and then not hear the DX come back to them.  And not just once.  You need to be able to recognize your own call coming back through the noise.

Did work 4W8X on 5 bands. Amazed to hear them on 80. Even more amazed they could hear me.

Loved watching the scoreboard.  I use the mode where it shows all single ops regardless of Assisted or not. My goal on Saturday afternoon was to catch up with the multiplier total of K1ZZ.  And to not let N5DX get more than 1000 QSOs ahead of me. I think I only finished 975 behind.

I am going to have to learn this 2BSIQ thing.  Especially with multiple bands so open at the same time.  I did manage to put together one 2BSIQ period of about 40 minutes on Sat morning that showed the potential.

Great fun.  Thanks to everyone who gets on for the best weekend of DXing in the year.

Station

K3 + AL-1200
K3 + AL-1500

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower
80m: 4 square
40m: 2/2 @ 110’/70′
20m: 5/5 @ 100’/50′
15m: 5/5 @ 66’/33′
10m: 6/4/4 @ 100’/65’/30′
10-20m: C31xr @ 40′

By continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    EU      99    435    977    821    908    873    4113    81.1
    AF       5      9     13     16     18     17      78     1.5
    NA      47     59     93     90     56     52     397     7.8
    SA       3     10     17     33     32     71     166     3.3
    AS       2      8     33    104     67     25     239     4.7
    OC       0      5     15     25     17     15      77     1.5

Rates

QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band

Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off

0000Z  --+--   --+--  119/44   12/17    7/10    2/4   140/75    140/75  
0100Z    -     16/16   89/12   19/24    5/5      -    129/57    269/132 
0200Z    -    118/34   40/6      -       -       -    158/40    427/172 
0300Z   2/4    90/11   25/19     -       -       -    117/34    544/206 
0400Z  51/35   13/12   12/7      -       -       -     76/54    620/260 
0500Z  34/17   18/14   17/18    5/5      -       -     74/54    694/314 
0600Z  25/5    39/3     8/8      -       -       -     72/16    766/330 
0700Z    -     20/6    87/7    20/11     -       -    127/24    893/354 
0800Z   6/2     1/0   104/1    21/12   --+--   --+--  132/15   1025/369 
0900Z    -      3/0    57/9    13/4      -       -     73/13   1098/382 
1000Z    -       -      6/0     5/2      -       -     11/2    1109/384    5
1100Z    -       -      5/3    61/10   33/23     -     99/36   1208/420   60
1200Z    -       -       -      8/6   187/22    3/5   198/33   1406/453 
1300Z    -       -       -       -    172/11   24/24  196/35   1602/488 
1400Z    -       -       -       -    108/3   101/39  209/42   1811/530 
1500Z    -       -       -       -     94/8   120/15  214/23   2025/553 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   44/17  115/4   159/21   2184/574 
1700Z    -       -       -    112/18    7/8    16/12  135/38   2319/612 
1800Z    -       -       -     96/13   14/13    8/10  118/36   2437/648 
1900Z    -       -      1/2     3/3    12/10    9/6    25/21   2462/669   20
2000Z    -       -     10/0    23/9     6/5    19/5    58/19   2520/688 
2100Z    -       -     45/1    27/4     7/3    13/0    92/8    2612/696 
2200Z    -      8/1     6/2    46/2     1/2     8/1    69/8    2681/704 
2300Z    -     34/7     2/3     7/6    11/4     9/4    63/24   2744/728 
0000Z  --+--    2/0    48/2    12/3     1/0    --+--   63/5    2807/733   20
0100Z   1/1    10/1    54/1     4/2     2/1      -     71/6    2878/739 
0200Z   2/1    10/3     6/2     3/1     1/0      -     22/7    2900/746   20
0300Z  10/1    23/5    30/0      -       -       -     63/6    2963/752 
0400Z  10/4     4/0    78/1     1/1      -       -     93/6    3056/758 
0500Z   8/4     4/6    70/0     3/0      -       -     85/10   3141/768 
0600Z   4/0    69/0    25/1      -       -       -     98/1    3239/769 
0700Z   1/0    37/1    58/0      -       -       -     96/1    3335/770 
0800Z  --+--   --+--    8/0     1/0    --+--   --+--    9/0    3344/770   52
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3344/770   60
1000Z   2/1     6/2    11/2    11/1      -       -     30/6    3374/776    8
1100Z    -       -      1/0   104/2    26/4      -    131/6    3505/782 
1200Z    -       -       -       -    125/0    49/11  174/11   3679/793 
1300Z    -       -       -      5/5     7/8   155/3   167/16   3846/809 
1400Z    -       -       -      2/0     4/4   142/3   148/7    3994/816 
1500Z    -       -       -      6/3     2/1   139/2   147/6    4141/822 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   79/0    67/3   146/3    4287/825 
1700Z    -       -       -     35/1    72/2    13/2   120/5    4407/830 
1800Z    -       -       -    144/2     7/0     4/0   155/2    4562/832 
1900Z    -       -       -    122/1      -     12/3   134/4    4696/836 
2000Z    -       -       -     72/0    18/0     8/1    98/1    4794/837 
2100Z    -       -       -     62/0    14/1    12/3    88/4    4882/841 
2200Z    -       -     73/0    17/0    15/1     5/3   110/4    4992/845 
2300Z    -      1/1    53/0     7/0    18/4      -     79/5    5071/850 

Total:156/75 526/123 1148/151 1089/168 1099/170 1053/163

Best 60 minutes: 254 starting 25-Nov-2023 14:27

Worked on 6 bands (53):

8P5A 9A1A C37N C6AQQ CN3A CR3A CR3W CR6K D4C DF0HQ DF6QV DK1AX DK1KC DK5TX DL1EFW DP9A DR4A ED1R ED8M EF6T EI7M EW5A HB9CA HG3N HG7T HQ9X II2S IO3F LA8OM LN8W M6T M6W MI5I OM7M OT7T OX7AM P33W PJ2T PJ4K SN7O TI7W TK4W TM1A TM6M TO7A V47T VC7M VO2AC VP5M XM3A YR8D YT5A ZF1A

Most worked entities:

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
    DL      18     91    163    156    192    188     808
    SP       6     29     54     50     66     50     255
     I       5     23     56     61     45     63     253
     F       5     20     48     48     41     45     207
    UA       1     13     63     40     54     24     195
     G       5     19     47     39     32     52     194
    OK       6     27     42     32     47     39     193
    EA       2     15     45     40     30     43     175
    VE      22     28     42     41     17     14     164
    PA       1     13     33     30     32     39     148
    HA       3     14     41     32     31     26     147
    JA                    13     76     41     10     140
    UR       5     10     37     20     41     25     138
    S5       4     12     25     27     20     25     113
    SM       2     14     34     19     18     15     102
    YO       2     11     30     12     29     15      99

Audio – K5ZD ARRL Sweepstakes CW 2023

K5ZD (op. K5ZD) in the Single Operator Category, High Power. Read the post-contest writeup.

This was an SO2R operation. The audio is the same as heard by the operator. When headphones are ‘split’, the left channel is from the left side radio and the right channel is from the right side radio. The sidetone audio is very low so you may not always be able to hear what is being sent.

Click here to view a copy of the log.

Use the links to the right of each hour to access the recording for that hour of the contest.

QSO/Sec by hour and band

Hour     80      40      20      15      10    Total     Cumm    OffTime

2100Z    -       -     75/35   17/8     5/3    97/46     97/46  <listen>
2200Z    -       -     35/8      -     76/16  111/24    208/70  <listen>
2300Z    -     12/1    45/2    31/0     6/2    94/5     302/75  <listen>
0000Z  --+--   34/5    --+--   62/2    --+--   96/7     398/82  <listen>
0100Z    -     63/0    27/0      -       -     90/0     488/82  <listen>
0200Z  21/1    54/1      -       -       -     75/2     563/84  <listen>
0300Z  13/0    34/0    12/0      -       -     59/0     622/84  <listen>
0400Z   7/0    52/0     1/0      -       -     60/0     682/84  <listen>
0500Z  12/0    23/0      -       -       -     35/0     717/84  
0600Z  11/1    21/0      -       -       -     32/1     749/85      9
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     749/85     60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     749/85     60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     749/85     60
1000Z   4/0      -       -       -       -      4/0     753/85     56
1100Z  29/0    18/0      -       -       -     47/0     800/85  
1200Z   2/0    21/0     2/0      -       -     25/0     825/85  
1300Z    -     14/0    17/0      -       -     31/0     856/85  
1400Z    -     16/0    15/0      -       -     31/0     887/85  
1500Z    -     18/0    10/0     3/0      -     31/0     918/85  
1600Z  --+--    1/0     5/0    --+--   --+--    6/0     924/85     38
1700Z    -       -     21/0    10/0      -     31/0     955/85  
1800Z    -      5/0    16/0     1/0     3/0    25/0     980/85  
1900Z    -       -      2/0      -       -      2/0     982/85     53
2000Z    -       -     10/0     2/0     5/0    17/0     999/85     28
2100Z    -      7/0    16/0     1/0      -     24/0    1023/85  
2200Z    -       -     38/0     9/0      -     47/0    1070/85  
2300Z    -     10/0    29/0      -       -     39/0    1109/85  
0000Z  --+--    2/0     5/0    --+--   --+--    7/0    1116/85     49
0100Z   5/0    12/0     3/0      -       -     20/0    1136/85  

Total: 104/2  417/7   384/45  136/10   95/21 

2023 ARRL Sweepstakes CW K5ZD

                   ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW - 2023

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 22
OpMode: SO2R

Summary:
Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  104
   40:  417
   20:  384
   15:  136
   10:   95
------------
Total: 1136  Sections = 85  Total Score = 193,120

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Worst. Sunday. Ever.

The first 6-7 hours of the contest was fun.  I love the long exchange and trying to interleave QSOs on the second radio.

The hard sections seemed to be easy to find.  I got the sweep when VA1RST called in on 80m at 0630z.  (I worked at least 2 of every section except PE/VY2TT and VI/KP2M.)

Sunday was awful.  So many unanswered CQs.  Rate never happened during the morning so the afternoon, with the added solar storm, was even worse.

I would have quit but wanted to make my goal of 1000 QSOs.  Did it.  Then activity started to improve so I pushed a little further.  Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and ended an hour early.

Was keeping an eye on AA3B and N2NT on the scoreboard.  They at least validated that there was no rate. We all marched along in lockstep.  🙁

Thanks to everyone who got on.  It is always difficult the weekend immediately after a great high sunspot CQ WW.

Rates

QSO/Sec by hour and band

Hour       80      40      20      15      10    Total     Cumm    OffTime

D1-2100Z    -       -     75/35   17/8     5/3    97/46     97/46  
D1-2200Z    -       -     35/8      -     76/16  111/24    208/70  
D1-2300Z    -     12/1    45/2    31/0     6/2    94/5     302/75  
D2-0000Z  --+--   34/5    --+--   62/2    --+--   96/7     398/82  
D2-0100Z    -     63/0    27/0      -       -     90/0     488/82  
D2-0200Z  21/1    54/1      -       -       -     75/2     563/84  
D2-0300Z  13/0    34/0    12/0      -       -     59/0     622/84  
D2-0400Z   7/0    52/0     1/0      -       -     60/0     682/84  
D2-0500Z  12/0    23/0      -       -       -     35/0     717/84  
D2-0600Z  11/1    21/0      -       -       -     32/1     749/85      9
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     749/85     60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     749/85     60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     749/85     60
D2-1000Z   4/0      -       -       -       -      4/0     753/85     56
D2-1100Z  29/0    18/0      -       -       -     47/0     800/85  
D2-1200Z   2/0    21/0     2/0      -       -     25/0     825/85  
D2-1300Z    -     14/0    17/0      -       -     31/0     856/85  
D2-1400Z    -     16/0    15/0      -       -     31/0     887/85  
D2-1500Z    -     18/0    10/0     3/0      -     31/0     918/85  
D2-1600Z  --+--    1/0     5/0    --+--   --+--    6/0     924/85     38
D2-1700Z    -       -     21/0    10/0      -     31/0     955/85  
D2-1800Z    -      5/0    16/0     1/0     3/0    25/0     980/85  
D2-1900Z    -       -      2/0      -       -      2/0     982/85     53
D2-2000Z    -       -     10/0     2/0     5/0    17/0     999/85     28
D2-2100Z    -      7/0    16/0     1/0      -     24/0    1023/85  
D2-2200Z    -       -     38/0     9/0      -     47/0    1070/85  
D2-2300Z    -     10/0    29/0      -       -     39/0    1109/85  
D3-0000Z  --+--    2/0     5/0    --+--   --+--    7/0    1116/85     49
D3-0100Z   5/0    12/0     3/0      -       -     20/0    1136/85  
D3-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1136/85     60

Total:   104/2   417/7   384/45  136/10   95/21

2023 CQ WW RTTY Contest K5ZD

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY - 2023

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 40.5
OpMode: SO2R

Summary:

Band    QSOs  State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------
 80:    316       42      41    12
 40:    663       50      62    18
 20:    900       49      73    26
 15:   1102       45      84    29
 10:    513       40      72    23
------------------------------------
Total: 3494      226     332   108   Total Score = 5,545,782

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

K5zD, Saturday, CQ WW RTTY 2023

This was a casual effort that turned serious.  Didn’t do the normal sleep and food prep for a big effort.  Was looking forward to the contest, but didn’t expect to spend full-time.  Conditions on Friday night and Saturday were great. Lots of good openings and rates.  Only slept 2 hours Friday night and 30 minute break for lunch. I would have been very happy if it ended after 24 hours.

Line at 24 hours: 2166 QSOs, 183 St, 95 Zn, 276 Cty for 2,958,914 points

The second 24 hours were a bit of a slog.  Not helped when one of my amplifiers failed about 1305z. The power output went from 1400W to 2W. After spending an hour operating with one radio and thinking about quitting, I decided to pull a spare amp out of the closet and keep going.  I was back in full SO2R mode by 1500z.

Was entertaining to watch the race between K1LZ and AA3B on the online scoreboard. They really piled up the multipliers.  At one point on Saturday, I was more than 160 mults behind AA3B.  I made it my goal on Sunday to close the gap to less than 100.  You would think available mults are somewhat fixed, and I should be able to find some that he found using the cluster.  But, no matter what I did, I never made it to under 100 mults behind.  It was good motivation to keep me tuning the bands. Running on two bands very much limits the ability to tune around. You have to hope the mults call in.

The rebuilt TH7 now has an SWR problem on 10m. The amp didn’t seem to care and I was able to work stations to the south.

Nice JA run on 15m Saturday evening.  Almost all right at the noise level. It was interesting to see how the bands opened in the morning.  20m was open well before sunrise but didn’t last long after due to absorption.  15m was the daytime money band.  10m was good on Saturday morning, but not so much on Sunday.

Spent time checking which antenna was best.  For 10m, it seemed like the high antenna at 100′ was always better than the low stack or all 3.  On 15 and 20 the stack was always best.

Spent a lot of time chasing missing states.  Thought I was going to miss RI on 20m, but found NC1CC with an hour to go.  Was missing OR on 20m until N7DB called in during the last hour.  Didn’t hear a MT station until late Sunday and then got K7QA on 2 bands.  Only worked one station in DE. No contact with VT although I heard N1IBM work someone.

Always a fun contest.  The RTTY crowd is very proficient these days.  Except for those few guys who still insist on sending everything 3 times.  The biggest impediment to rate is my ability to type.  I would mess up a letter and the station I was working would repeat their call multiple times.  My bad.

This is a new personal record for this contest.

Station

K3 + AL-1200

K3 + AL-1500/Alpha 76CA

80m: 4 square, dipole

40m: 2/2 @110’/70′

20m: 5/5 @100’/50′

15m: 5/5 @66’/33′

10m: 6/4/4 @100′,64′,32′

South: TH7DXX @40′

Rates

QSO/Zn+Dx+St by hour and band

Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime

D1-0000Z  --+--   38/37   60/48   --+--   --+--   98/85     98/85  
D1-0100Z    -     66/21   43/18     -       -    109/39    207/124 
D1-0200Z  24/24   21/7     3/0    21/27     -     69/58    276/182 
D1-0300Z  51/20   65/16     -       -       -    116/36    392/218 
D1-0400Z  48/16   65/9      -       -       -    113/25    505/243 
D1-0500Z  15/5    63/1     9/3      -       -     87/9     592/252 
D1-0600Z    -     18/4    66/12     -       -     84/16    676/268 
D1-0700Z    -      3/0    14/0      -       -     17/0     693/268    49
D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     693/268    60
D1-0900Z   3/2    11/4    29/1      -       -     43/7     736/275    34
D1-1000Z   9/4    25/6    60/14     -       -     94/24    830/299 
D1-1100Z    -       -     40/6   105/34     -    145/40    975/339 
D1-1200Z    -       -      4/2    88/10   80/31  172/43   1147/382 
D1-1300Z    -       -       -     63/6    81/10  144/16   1291/398 
D1-1400Z    -       -       -     59/7    86/10  145/17   1436/415 
D1-1500Z    -       -       -     56/7    40/18   96/25   1532/440 
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--    3/0    28/2    21/5    52/7    1584/447 
D1-1700Z    -       -     39/5    49/9      -     88/14   1672/461    35
D1-1800Z    -       -       -     48/12   36/14   84/26   1756/487 
D1-1900Z    -       -       -     52/7    29/11   81/18   1837/505 
D1-2000Z    -       -       -     39/8    27/10   66/18   1903/523 
D1-2100Z    -       -     66/3     1/0    22/3    89/6    1992/529 
D1-2200Z    -       -     34/5    42/4     6/2    82/11   2074/540 
D1-2300Z    -     26/3    18/4    44/7      -     88/14   2162/554 
D2-0000Z  --+--   54/4    19/2     7/0     2/1    82/7    2244/561 
D2-0100Z   6/0    33/4    19/4      -       -     58/8    2302/569 
D2-0200Z  51/11   38/6      -       -       -     89/17   2391/586 
D2-0300Z  12/2    44/2    11/7      -       -     67/11   2458/597 
D2-0400Z  47/6     2/0     3/0      -       -     52/6    2510/603 
D2-0500Z  38/3     4/1      -       -       -     42/4    2552/607    26
D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2552/607    60
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2552/607    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2552/607    60
D2-0900Z   5/0     1/0      -       -       -      6/0    2558/607    55
D2-1000Z   7/2    19/4    21/1      -       -     47/7    2605/614 
D2-1100Z    -     20/0    48/0    24/0      -     92/0    2697/614 
D2-1200Z    -       -     27/4    57/4      -     84/8    2781/622 
D2-1300Z    -       -      1/0    39/4     7/3    47/7    2828/629 
D2-1400Z    -       -     10/1    50/1     1/1    61/3    2889/632 
D2-1500Z    -       -       -     57/2    15/3    72/5    2961/637 
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   49/1    29/2    78/3    3039/640 
D2-1700Z    -       -     16/1    26/2     8/4    50/7    3089/647 
D2-1800Z    -       -     44/0    47/2      -     91/2    3180/649 
D2-1900Z    -       -     49/2    37/1      -     86/3    3266/652 
D2-2000Z    -       -     37/0     8/1    17/7    62/8    3328/660 
D2-2100Z    -      6/0    57/0      -      4/0    67/0    3395/660 
D2-2200Z    -     25/0    15/3      -       -     40/3    3435/663 
D2-2300Z    -     16/1    35/2     6/0     2/0    59/3    3494/666 

Total:   316/95  663/130 900/1481102/158 513/135

Best 60 minutes: 182 starting at 23-Sep-2023 12:16

Worked on 5 bands (54)

9A1A 9A5Y AA3B AA5AU C37N CR3DX CR3W DA0BCC DA0RR DD5M DH0GHU DJ3NG DK9IP DL1RTL
DL6JZ DL8TG DP6A DP6K DP7D DP9A DR3W EA4BAS ED7B EE4Y F8CRS G2U I4VEQ IQ3RK
IQ4FC K1AR K1SFA K5RZA K9CT KI1G KW1X LN8W LZ5R LZ6K N0UR N6WM NP4Z P49X PI4CC
PI4COM S50W S56A SN7Q SP50UUU TM3Z US8ICM UW1M W0LSD W6SX YO9HP

Worked on 4 bands (94)

Most worked entities

      80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total

K      166    287    239    209    105    1006
DL      44     62    122    168     91     487
I        6     41     78     98     38     261
SP       5     26     31     52     12     126
EA       6     18     26     37     31     118
PA       8     11     34     40     13     106
G        3     16     26     46     12     103
F        8     11     23     23     18      83
VE      14     30     13     15      9      81
JA              1     30     35             66
OK       3      9     19     22     13      66
UR       3     10     14     25      9      61

2023 WAE DX Contest CW K5ZD

                    WAE DX Contest, CW - 2023

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 17.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  QTCs  Mults
-------------------------
   80:  110     0   100
   40:  225   213   111
   20:  378   434    84
   15:  451   560    88
   10:   49     0    40
-------------------------
Total: 1213  1207   423  Total Score = 1,023,660

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Sunday afternoon in WAE CW 2023

Comments

Part time.  I worked the fun parts of the contest.  Only used one radio + the cluster.

Went to bed at 03z each night so missed some easy mults on 80m like CT, PA, OE,and G!

15m was great both days.  10m opened well Sunday but very spotty.  Loud signals and weak ones.

Nice to see so much activity from Germany.

QSO/DXCC by hour and band

 Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime

D1-0000Z  --+--   45/45   22/22   --+--   --+--   67/67     67/67  
D1-0100Z   5/12   23/15   30/8      -       -     58/35    125/102 
D1-0200Z  42/48   28/21    4/8      -       -     74/77    199/179 
D1-0300Z  30/28    9/9    13/12     -       -     52/49    251/228    16
D1-0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     251/228    60
D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     251/228    60
D1-1200Z    -       -       -     26/32     -     26/32    277/260    48
D1-1300Z    -       -       -    113/38     -    113/38    390/298 
D1-1400Z    -       -      2/4     6/0     1/2     9/6     399/304    51
D1-1500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     399/304    60
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     399/304    60
D1-1700Z    -       -      2/4    42/0    16/20   60/24    459/328    20
D1-1800Z    -       -     15/4    52/8     3/2    70/14    529/342 
D1-1900Z    -       -      1/0      -       -      1/0     530/342    57
D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     530/342    60
D1-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     530/342    60
D1-2200Z    -      5/6    55/12     -       -     60/18    590/360     7
D1-2300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     590/360    60
D2-0000Z  --+--    3/0     4/0    --+--   --+--    7/0     597/360    41
D2-0100Z   5/4    37/3     3/0      -       -     45/7     642/367 
D2-0200Z  12/8    23/9    11/4      -       -     46/21    688/388 
D2-0300Z  15/0    15/3    12/0      -       -     42/3     730/391    15
D2-0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     730/391    60
D2-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     730/391    60
D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     730/391    60
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     730/391    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     730/391    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     730/391    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     730/391    60
D2-1100Z    -       -     57/2     5/2      -     62/4     792/395    12
D2-1200Z    -       -      3/4    60/4     6/6    69/14    861/409 
D2-1300Z    -       -       -     52/2     2/2    54/4     915/413 
D2-1400Z    -       -       -       -      5/4     5/4     920/417 
D2-1500Z    -       -       -     50/2     3/0    53/2     973/419 
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   16/0    13/4    29/4    1002/423    31
D2-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1002/423    60
D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1002/423    60
D2-1900Z    -       -     38/0    29/0      -     67/0    1069/423    14
D2-2000Z    -       -     68/0      -       -     68/0    1137/423 
D2-2100Z    -       -      9/0      -       -      9/0    1146/423    49
D2-2200Z    -       -      2/0      -       -      2/0    1148/423    60
D2-2300Z   1/0    37/0    27/0      -       -     65/0    1213/423 

Total:   110/100 225/111 378/84  451/88   49/40 

Best 60 mins: 132 QSOs starting 12-Aug-2023 12:48

Worked on 5 bands:

9A30T 9A5Y DA2X DK9PY DL2SAX DL5AXX DP6A EF5Y EI5KF HB0DX IK0EFR IR2C IR2Q OM2VL OM7M RU1A S53X SN2B SP8R TM7A

Competing with the Best of the Best in Bologna Italy: K5ZD Talks WRTC 2022

Randy Thompson K5ZD and Tom Georgens W2SC went to Bologna Italy with every intention to win the World Radiosport Team Championship. Despite their best efforts, they fell short but not by much. They ranked 8th out of 58 teams with an overall score of 5,945,800 points which included 4390 QSOs in 24 hours. Randy talks in detail about qualifying, selecting the right teammate, prepping for their operating station, redundancy, location surprises, and contest tactics. If you’re into ham radio contesting, you’ll enjoy hearing from this contest hall of famer and now repeat WRTC competitor.

– Kevin Thomas W1DED

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXLeFusiruY&ab_channel=W1DEDinMaine

2023 CQ WPX CW Contest AK1W (K5ZD)

                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2023

Call: AK1W
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 18

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:   55
   40:  486
   20:  543
   15: 1013
   10:   35
------------
Total: 2132  Prefixes = 931  Total Score = 5,748,925

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Conditions seemed fantastic for the times I was on.  Especially 15m.

The main goal for the weekend was to get together with W2SC and test our WRTC station setup.  Did that in the backyard on Saturday in the most perfect weather imaginable (callsign WR1TC).

Watched Formula 1 and Indy 500 on Sunday while operating.  Always fun how the score takes off as the QSO totals rise.

Nice to see so much activity (and prefixes) from Ukraine.

Rates

QSO/Pref by hour and band                                                       
                                                                                
Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm   OffTime

0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   38/38   --+--   --+--   38/38     38/38     41  
0100Z    -       -     48/38   86/81     -       -    134/119   172/157        
0200Z    -       -    136/75     -       -       -    136/75    308/232        
0300Z    -       -     79/56   36/25     -       -    115/81    423/313        
0400Z    -      7/5    14/10   30/15   15/10     -     66/40    489/353    19  
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     489/353    60  
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     489/353    60  
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     489/353    60  
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     489/353    60  
0900Z    -       -      7/5      -       -       -      7/5     496/358    56  
1000Z    -       -     16/9    46/29   39/15     -    101/53    597/411        
1100Z    -       -       -       -      3/1      -      3/1     600/412    59  
1200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     600/412    60  
1300Z    -       -       -       -    140/57     -    140/57    740/469     5  
1400Z    -       -       -       -     42/20     -     42/20    782/489    40  
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     782/489    60  
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
2000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
2200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/489    60  
0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     782/489    60  
0100Z    -       -       -       -     23/18     -     23/18    805/507    41  
0200Z    -       -     61/19   54/24    5/2      -    120/45    925/552        
0300Z    -     42/6    60/32     -       -       -    102/38   1027/590        
0400Z    -      6/2    46/26   46/16     -       -     98/44   1125/634        
0500Z    -       -     17/12   46/26    1/1      -     64/39   1189/673    16  
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1189/673    60  
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1189/673    60  
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1189/673    60  
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1189/673    60  
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1189/673    60  
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1189/673    60  
1200Z    -       -       -      1/1    74/14    3/0    78/15   1267/688     8  
1300Z    -       -       -     31/14   87/21     -    118/35   1385/723        
1400Z    -       -       -       -    140/31    4/1   144/32   1529/755        
1500Z    -       -       -      2/1   114/24   11/7   127/32   1656/787        
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--    8/7    82/19   --+--   90/26   1746/813        
1700Z    -       -       -     17/3    85/21     -    102/24   1848/837    32  
1800Z    -       -       -      4/3   104/26    8/3   116/32   1964/869        
1900Z    -       -       -     47/8    44/15    9/8   100/31   2064/900        
2000Z    -       -       -     34/7    10/4      -     44/11   2108/911    24  
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2108/911    60  
2200Z    -       -      2/2    17/13    5/5      -     24/20   2132/931    20  
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2132/931    60  

Total:  0/0    55/13  486/284 543/311 1013/304 35/19                           

Best 60 minutes: 156  @ 27-May-2023 13:10

Worked on 5 bands: CN3A NR4M

Most worked entities

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total

     K             20    165    129    252     10     576
    DL              7     46     45    111            209
    UA                    10     34     37             81
    UR                    18     22     38             78
     I              2      9     20     40             71
    SP                    17     17     36             70
    VE              6     20     14     27             67
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