Author: K5ZD

2024 IARU HF World Championship K5ZD

writeup 
                    IARU HF World Championship - 2024
 
Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
 
Class: SOABMixed HP
Operating Time (hrs): 23.8
OpMode: 2BSIQ
 
Summary:
Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Zones  HQ Mults
-------------------------------------
  160:    18     0      3        4
   80:   118    15     14       20
   40:   444    67     26       29
   20:   687   433     32       35
   15:   951   279     34       40
   10:   110    36     15        9
-------------------------------------
Total:  2328   830    124      137  Total Score = 3,379,480
 
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

K5ZD at the end of the 2024 IARU HF Contest.

I wasn’t really excited to do this contest, but it is a major for WRTC Qualifying so I went after it.  Did not have a plan or strategy.  Spent most of the contest trying to figure out what to do.

It did remind me why I have been doing more assisted operations lately.  It is hard to find multipliers on your own – especially when covering 6 bands on both modes! I felt like I was blind all weekend. There are many big scores reported on 3830 that I never heard or only heard once.

15m was the hot band all weekend.  Signals from Europe were so loud at the start that I tried to get a run going on SSB.  It did not last long and then I couldn’t get anything to happen.  CW was always better for being able to make rate.

Enjoyed my first successful run with 2BSIQ on Sat afternoon.  I had two hours on 15 and 20 CW.  One or two answers on each band made it easier than usual. Big help to the score!

I hit the wall around 0700z.  Was hungry, tired, and a bit worn out from doing so much SO2R.  Took an 18 minute break to eat and recover.  Then it was a push to the end.

I knew from the scoreboard there were lots of mults out there, but I just couldn’t find them. Some luck on Sunday morning helped build up the total.

Some sporadic E on 10m Saturday midday.  Worked EF4HQ, GR2HQ and IP4M.  It was better during the last hour of the contest, but not many people were there – not even the HQ stations.

Ended with a good run on 15m at the end.  Went to SSB for the last 15 minutes and it paid off with a quick 60 QSOs.

The big hassle for the weekend was computer related. Something is causing the USB port that talks to the microHAM MK2R+ to lock up. When I lose that, I lose connection to the radios and computer sending. The lockup is so deep that it requires a complete power down of the computer and then a restart to restore operation. This takes about 3 minutes to do. The lockup always seems to happen when I am running (of course) so I try to log on paper and send by hand while guiding the computer through the restart. Can’t tell if it is RF related or component failure. No pattern to when it happens. But, always at an inconvenient time.

Congratulations to N6MJ at ND7K.  He got his usual great start and I couldn’t catch up.  AA4NC and N2NT also provided much competition and motivation on the online scoreboard.

I need a bigger air conditioner in the shack.  At least in the winter contests, I can open the window.  That was not going to work this weekend!

Thanks to everyone for the QSOs!

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

CW+PH/ZN+HQ by hour and band
 
Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total       Cumm   Off
 
1200Z    -       -       -       -    157/29   10/8   167/37    167/37   
1300Z    -       -       -       -    175/3    15/4   190/7     357/44   
1400Z    -       -       -       -    131/5    15/1   146/6     503/50   
1500Z    -       -       -     13/8    58/8    35/1   106/17    609/67   
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   87/5    35/3   122/8     731/75   
1700Z    -       -       -     43/15   38/3     9/1    90/19    821/94   
1800Z    -       -       -     67/3    78/1      -    145/4     966/98   
1900Z    -       -       -     82/3    70/3     2/0   154/6    1120/104  
2000Z    -       -       -     41/8    27/6    10/1    78/15   1198/119  
2100Z    -       -       -     97/4    46/3      -    143/7    1341/126  
2200Z    -       -       -     93/4    68/3      -    161/7    1502/133  
2300Z    -       -     70/21   24/0    16/2     2/1   112/24   1614/157  
0000Z  --+--   31/21   82/10    2/0    --+--   --+--  115/31   1729/188  
0100Z  10/4    24/2    86/10     -       -       -    120/16   1849/204  
0200Z   8/3    62/8    31/0     1/0      -       -    102/11   1951/215  
0300Z    -       -    151/1    12/1      -       -    163/2    2114/217  
0400Z    -      1/0    42/1    98/4     6/0      -    147/5    2261/222  
0500Z    -       -     12/3   140/2      -       -    152/5    2413/227  
0600Z    -       -      6/2   125/2      -       -    131/4    2544/231    8  
0700Z    -     13/2    18/3    29/0     1/1      -     61/6    2605/237   10  
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  162/5    --+--   --+--  162/5    2767/242  
0900Z    -      2/1    13/4    79/4    20/1      -    114/10   2881/252  
1000Z    -       -       -     12/4   115/0     5/4   132/8    3013/260  
1100Z    -       -       -       -    137/1     8/0   145/1    3158/261  
 
Totals: 18/7  133/34  511/55 1120/67 1230/74  146/24

Best 60 minutes: 198 starting 13-Jul-2024 12:36   

Most worked stations

9       S50HQ YT0HQ

8       DA0HQ E7HQ EF4HQ GR2HQ HG0HQ NU1AW/0 OP0HQ W1AW/4

7       G3WW LZ0HQ SK9HQ

6       9A0HQ 9A1P ED8M N4UU OZ1HQ PA6HQ SN0HQ SP9XCN

5       AA4NC AC0W DL4HRM DM3M ER7HQ EW5A LN2HQ RU1A SO5CW WW4XX YR0HQ YR8D YU5R

Most worked entities

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M    Total
     K      12     51    142    120    146     66     537
    DL             13     47    151    168            379
    UA                    24     80    101            205
    SP              4     24     73     72            173
     I              3     20     66     56      5     150
     G       1      7     13     43     45      1     110
    HA              3     23     41     37      1     105
    PA              3      7     40     34             84
    UR                    11     31     35             77
     F              1      4     35     33             73

We need more USA activity in this contest!

Multipliers Worked

EFHW Basics

blog

I don’t think I had ever heard of an EFHW (End-fed half wave) antenna 5 years ago. Now they seem to be in use everywhere. They are a compromise multi-band antenna, but they seem to work well enough that people use them.

In a follow-up email exchange, Ward Silver, N0AX, provided this information on the EFHW that was new to me.

The key to getting the most out of an EFHW is the impedance transformer and how you install the antenna.

Transformer design was all over the place until K1RF published a really good presentation on his effective design. (http://gnarc.org/wp-content/uploads/The-End-Fed-Half-Wave-Antenna.pdf)  Summarizing, you have to use the right ferrite and have an end-fed impedance that is reasonably close to what the transformer can be expected to match.  The ferrite has to be in its inductive (low-loss) region because it’s a flux-coupled transformer, not a transmission-line choke.  Type 43 works well across the HF spectrum, becoming lossy above low VHF where it is used for EMI suppression.  Using Type 31 makes the transformer an RF sponge at HF which is what it’s designed for.  Turns ratios making the impedance ratio anywhere from 9:1 (3 to 1 turns) to 81:1 (9 to 1 turns) are used but the ratio most suitable to a wide variety of feed point impedances is 49:1 as I explain here: https://www.onallbands.com/feeding-end-fed-antennas/  Not having enough core cross-section area for the power level involved (1.5″ OD for QRP, 2.4″ OD for 100W, 2×2.4″ OD for up to 500 W CW or 1 kW SSB, 3×2.4″ OD for 1.5 kW) drives the core into a lossy region and it heats up.

Having some additional conductor beyond the feed point – I hesitate to call it a “counterpoise” because that’s not what it is acting as – helps stabilize the feed point impedance. This is usually the outer surface of the coax. Using a current choke at the feed point blocks this path and makes the feed point impedance erratic so it’s kind of a crapshoot how the SWR will look.  If the feed point transformer is up in the air, such as in a horizontal configuration, the length of coax starts to become more significant and the antenna starts to look like an OCFD.  Depending on how much coax surface there is, the resulting feed point impedance can also become erratic.  The most reliably effective installation is to put the transformer three to six feet above the ground, run the wire straight up with a non-metallic (fiberglass) mast for at least 10 feet, then run the wire up to the highest point you can find so that it’s basically an inverted-L.  Just lay the coax on the ground – it will be fine and non-fussy.

True, the EFHW only “requires” one support, but so does a dipole as an inverted-V or sloping dipole.  The important thing is where the current maxima are located with respect to ground.  This changes with frequency.  On the lowest two bands, the current maxima are in the middle half of the antenna.  On the higher bands, the current maxima are all across the antenna with the higher peaks nearer the transformer.  The higher the maxima above ground, the more efficient radiator the antenna will be.  On 15/12/10 meters, an 80-10 antenna starts to look like an end-fed long wire and radiates in the direction away from the feed point.  

A center-fed doublet will work just as well but you have to have an antenna tuner for the even harmonic bands and use a low-loss open-wire line between the feed point and the tuner.  Note that using 100 feet or more of RG-58 with the “wrong” transformer or a funky installation will make an antenna look just dandy to the transmitter due to feed line loss.  If the coax-fed EFHW is presenting an SWR high enough to require a tuner at the transmitter, something is wrong either in the design or installation.  You may be able to get a match with the tuner but feed line loss is likely to be high – you can hear people but not work them.

Most folks don’t really understand the antenna, install it any old way or really low, have unreasonable expectations, and are disappointed.  Or the manufacturer doesn’t use the right ferrite or provides the wrong impedance ratio, or, or, or and the antenna just isn’t efficient.  The result is unhappy customers who need education – sometimes “app notes” will really help. 

Ward Silver, N0AX, email dated June 26, 2024

I found the information above informative and asked Ward if I could share it so others might benefit. Hope you find something that helps you get the most out of your EFHW antenna.

2024 CQ WPX CW Contest AK1W (K5ZD)

writeup 
                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2024
 
Call: AK1W
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
 
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 36
OpMode: SO2R
 
Summary:
Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    1
   80:  105
   40:  747
   20: 1070
   15: 1489
   10:  306
------------
Total: 3718  Prefixes = 1263  Total Score = 14,206,224
 
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

K5ZD on Sunday afternoon in WPX CW 2024

I have to thank WRTC qualifying for this contest effort.  The weather outside was fantastic and I decided to spend the weekend inside chasing prefixes. Luckily my family understands the obsession.

The contest felt like it started slow.  Couldn’t get an answer to a CQ for 5 minutes. Even so, it ended up as my best hour of the contest. I was ahead of 8P5A for a while.  🙂

It was a weekend of one radio CQing and the second radio always tuning. Never really had two bands open enough to try 2BSIQ.  It was old-fashioned SO2R.

Kept expecting a solar storm of some kind.  Only took one hour of off-time in the first 24 hours. Conditions were good, but not great.  10m never really opened the first day.  Sat evening did have a good opening to JA on 15m. The JAs saved me.  I was 100 prefixes behind ND7K at one point.  The JA opening produced a lot of prefixes to help close the gap.

Second 24 hours was more interesting.  Had to find times to burn 11 hours off. Conditions just kept getting better.  80m sounded like a winter evening with no QRN and very loud signals from Europe. 20m and 40m were open, but had worked most stations so rates were lower.  Felt like activity was down.  I.e., not many stations with small QSO numbers.

Slept 4 hours Sunday morning.

Was about to take another hour off Sunday morning when I tuned across 10m and heard S50C about 20 over 9.  Called CQ and had a good hour.

Decided on a strategy of taking an hour or so off and then getting on for an hour.  Gave me time to take a walk during one off time.  Eat during another. And a shower.  Ran out of time with 90 minutes of the contest still to go.

Even better opening to Japan on 15m on Sunday afternoon.  Had both Eu and JA calling at the same time.

Highlight of the weekend was having the serious USA single ops on the Contestonlinescoreboard.com site. I was neck and neck with N6MJ at ND7K the whole weekend.  Fantastic motivation. I could not match Dan for QSOs, but tried to hang in on multipliers. I realized I had a QSO point advantage when my score was higher even when he had 400 more QSOs and 30 more mults. Nice to be close enough to Europe to get them on the low bands. Also fun to watch the N2IC and K5GN battle for top W5.

The QSB was brutal.  Stations would send 599 loud and then disappear by the last digit of the serial number.  The polar flutter on JA stations would eliminate the dit from a letter. This happened many times.  Thanks to SCP or would not have known I had the call wrong.

Serial numbers were a real frustration on Sunday.  Whether it was having to ask for repeats or giving them. It seemed like the bigger the number got, the harder it was for people to copy. It became a joy to send the number and have it accepted on the first try.

Only one equipment failure.  The SO2R controller started randomly switching split headphones back to combined.  Then it would not switch back until the transmitting radio stopped.  Very frustrating when about to copy a serial number. The problem started Sat evening and then mysteriously stopped on Sunday early. Then came back for awhile Sunday afternoon. Not sure how to duplicate this, but had never seen it happen before.

This was a personal best for me in WPX CW. Just a bit short of the USA record set by WA1Z a few years ago.

Thanks to everyone that got on for the contest and produced so many interesting prefixes! You don’t work calls like AO275JZ or DM5041MK every day.

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′

By Continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %
 
    EU       0     57    447    689    975    189    2357    63.4
    NA       1     45    271    246    270     43     876    23.6
    AF       0      2      8     13     10     11      44     1.2
    AS       0      0      5     82    183      3     273     7.3
    SA       0      1     12     22     25     50     110     3.0
    OC       0      0      4     18     25     10      57     1.5

Rates

QSO/Pref by hour and band
 
Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off
 
0000Z  --+--   --+--  112/95   46/43   --+--   --+--  158/138   158/138 
0100Z    -       -    102/72   44/35     -       -    146/107   304/245 
0200Z    -       -     98/59   30/18    5/3      -    133/80    437/325 
0300Z    -      8/4    97/58     -     14/14     -    119/76    556/401 
0400Z    -      9/4    84/33   17/12     -       -    110/49    666/450 
0500Z    -       -     64/32   44/22     -       -    108/54    774/504 
0600Z    -       -      9/5   137/40     -       -    146/45    920/549 
0700Z    -       -     15/9    90/33     -       -    105/42   1025/591 
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   54/28   21/7    --+--   75/35   1100/626 
0900Z    -       -       -     17/14  115/17     -    132/31   1232/657 
1000Z    -       -       -     16/14  132/28     -    148/42   1380/699 
1100Z    -       -       -     19/13  115/35     -    134/48   1514/747 
1200Z    -       -       -      4/4   103/21   22/8   129/33   1643/780 
1300Z    -       -       -       -    107/22   17/6   124/28   1767/808 
1400Z    -       -       -       -     87/22   13/8   100/30   1867/838 
1500Z    -       -       -       -     66/54     -     66/54   1933/892 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--    3/3    54/23   11/7    68/33   2001/925 
1700Z    -       -       -     15/6    23/7      -     38/13   2039/938  15
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2039/938  60
1900Z    -       -       -     18/1    32/2      -     50/3    2089/941  32
2000Z    -       -       -     40/9    49/7     5/3    94/19   2183/960 
2100Z    -       -       -       -     79/22   27/9   106/31   2289/991 
2200Z    -       -       -     25/5    71/23    1/0    97/28   2386/1019
2300Z    -       -     20/10   22/6    45/14     -     87/30   2473/1049
0000Z  --+--   --+--    9/3    88/13    9/4    --+--  106/20   2579/1069
0100Z    -       -     44/6    55/15     -       -     99/21   2678/1090
0200Z    -     55/1    17/9     7/5     3/3      -     82/18   2760/1108
0300Z   1/0    33/4    55/6     4/0      -       -     93/10   2853/1118
0400Z    -       -      9/4     7/2     3/1      -     19/7    2872/1125 39
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2872/1125 60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2872/1125 60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2872/1125 60
0800Z  --+--   --+--    1/0    19/3    --+--   --+--   20/3    2892/1128 50
0900Z    -       -      1/0    91/10   14/1      -    106/11   2998/1139
1000Z    -       -       -     67/11   23/4      -     90/15   3088/1154
1100Z    -       -      8/2    13/2    56/15    2/0    79/19   3167/1173
1200Z    -       -      1/1     5/2    79/10    4/2    89/15   3256/1188
1300Z    -       -       -       -     27/6    79/5   106/11   3362/1199
1400Z    -       -       -       -      8/2    24/4    32/6    3394/1205 33
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3394/1205 60
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   28/7    66/3    94/10   3488/1215  9
1700Z    -       -       -       -      9/2    26/2    35/4    3523/1219 35
1800Z    -       -       -       -     15/2     7/1    22/3    3545/1222 43
1900Z    -       -       -     19/5    25/8      -     44/13   3589/1235  8
2000Z    -       -       -      1/1     2/2      -      3/3    3592/1238 60
2100Z    -       -      1/1    28/3    56/12    2/2    87/18   3679/1256
2200Z    -       -       -     25/1    14/6      -     39/7    3718/1263 35
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3718/1263 60
 
Total:  1/0   105/13 747/405 1070/379 1489/406 306/60

Best 60  mins: 164 @25-May-2024 00:02      

Worked on 5 bands:

9A1A AK1MD CN3A CR6K DL3YM DP6A DP7D DP9A EF6T II8K II9P K1ZZ K8LX LZ9W NR4M OL3Z OL7D OM7M S53M VE3EJ YR8D YT5A

Most worked entities

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
     K       1     34    235    210    222     28     730
    DL             11     80     97    166     46     400
    JA                           50    113            163
    UA                    23     53     93      6     175
     I              4     26     46     62     13     151
     G              3     19     34     49     17     122
    OK              5     28     38     38      4     113
    EA              5     12     35     41     12     105
    HA              1     27     36     34      4     102
    UR                    22     31     47      1     101
    SP              1     28     24     41      4      98

2024 CQMM Contest K5ZD

writeup 

                    CQMM DX Contest - 2024

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

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 12.7
OpMode: 2BSIQ

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Prefixes
----------------------
   80:   30       3
   40:  171      25
   20:  246      28
   15:  454      28
   10:  261      54
----------------------
Total: 1162     138  Countries = 94  Total Score = 1,244,448

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Entertaining contest. Conditions were not the best.  Activity was low on Sunday so I decided to spend some time outside.

Rates

QSO/Dx+Pref by hour and band

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

D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0      60
D1-1000Z    -     10/3     3/4    20/9      -     33/16     33/16     35
D1-1100Z    -       -       -     91/21   15/7   106/28    139/44  
D1-1200Z    -       -       -     71/10   49/12  120/22    259/66  
D1-1300Z    -       -      3/1     5/0    55/13   63/14    322/80  
D1-1400Z    -       -      2/1    39/2    46/13   87/16    409/96     30
D1-1500Z    -       -       -     61/4    25/6    86/10    495/106 
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--    4/2     8/3    12/5     507/111    49
D1-1700Z    -       -      2/0    38/4    19/4    59/8     566/119     8
D1-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     566/119    60
D1-1900Z    -       -     56/1     9/6    10/6    75/13    641/132    16
D1-2000Z    -       -     45/0     3/4     4/5    52/9     693/141    35
D1-2100Z    -       -     32/7     3/4      -     35/11    728/152    42
D1-2200Z    -     17/4    35/14    3/3    16/6    71/27    799/179 
D1-2300Z    -     14/4     3/2     1/1      -     18/7     817/186    44
D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     817/186    60
D2-0100Z   5/2    28/6    12/7      -       -     45/15    862/201    25
D2-0200Z  25/1    54/11   11/1     1/0      -     91/13    953/214 
D2-0300Z    -      4/1     1/1      -       -      5/2     958/216    55
D2-0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     958/216    60
D2-0500Z    -     36/1     7/0      -       -     43/1    1001/217    32
D2-0600Z    -      8/0     2/0      -       -     10/0    1011/217    54
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1011/217    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1011/217    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1011/217    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1011/217    60
D2-1100Z    -       -     26/1     5/2      -     31/3    1042/220    43
D2-1200Z    -       -      6/0    10/4     2/2    18/6    1060/226    38
D2-1300Z    -       -       -     10/0     2/1    12/1    1072/227    54
D2-1400Z    -       -       -     80/2     8/3    88/5    1160/232 
D2-1500Z    -       -       -       -      2/0     2/0    1162/232    57
D2-1600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1162/232    60
D2-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1162/232    60
D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1162/232    60

Total:    30/3   171/30  246/40  454/78  261/81

C31xr Installation Project (November 2023)

blog

I have been using a Hygain TH7DXX as my south antenna ever since I built the station in 1993. It has served me well, but some years ago the SWR on 15m started being a problem. I could still work people, but having an SWR of more than 2:1 bothered me. No amount of changing things seemed to make it better.

In November 2023, Pete W1RM posted a message that he was looking to sell a C31xr that he had recently replaced with a JK tri-bander. I jumped on it.

Mark KW1X and I drove down to Pete’s place in CT to pick up the antenna on November 15. You can see Pete’s new antennas in the background.

Here is the complete kit as it arrived at my place.

It was now 2 weeks before CQ WW CW and I was determined to get this antenna in the air before then. The first step was to haul all the pieces up the hill and start assembling.

Some of the driven elements use a non-metallic spacer to isolate the element halves. As I put things together, I realized that I was missing one of them. I didn’t have much time so I tried to use a wooden dowel. It couldn’t handle the stress and quickly failed.

I had some extra loading coils left over from rebuilding the 40-2CD stack in 2022. Amazingly, one of the fiberglass rods that make up the coil was a perfect fit! It definitely had the required strength.

Antenna assembly went quickly once that disaster was averted.

I did not truly appreciate how big this antenna was until I started to assemble it. Long boom, lots of elements (14!), and a total weight of over 85 pounds. I started to worry if it was going to bump into the trees that surrounded the tower (it did).

Mark KW1X and Martin AA1ON came over to help with removing the TH7 and putting up the C31. Here is the TH7 before removal.

With the help of gravity, we had no problem bringing the TH7 down the tower. This 40′ tower only has one set of guy wires at the 30′ level so it was not difficult to corkscrew the beams around the guy wires. The C31xr was heavy and it took all of Mark and Martin’s effort to pull it up.

I was happy when the U-bolts were in place and the antenna was attached to the mast.

Here is the first look once I was back on the ground.

The next step was to check the SWR. Hmmm… not what I expected.

Discussion with W2GD and others who had a C31 indicated that having problems with 15m was not unusual. The first suggestion was to manipulate the loading coil.

I had put the antenna up with the coil the same as it was when at W1RM. The coil had the turns taped together.

Luckily, I could just reach the coil from the tower. So on Thanksgiving morning (Thu before CQWW) I removed the tape and spread out the coil.

Another suggestion to move the SWR minimum on 15m down the band was to make the shorting jumper on the 15m element a bit longer. This was much more difficult to reach and involved holding the jumper in place while screwing on a small nut. I was scared I was going to drop the nut and never find it! I did manage to get it on and tightened up. You can see the jumper to the left of the coil.

I was relieved and happy when I saw the results.

Mission accomplished! A bit of work with a rope saw cleared the tree branches that impacted the turning of the antenna and it was ready for action.

The antenna worked great during CQ WW CW. Having a 7-el 10m Yagi for a multiplier chasing antenna was nice even though it meant a lot more activity for the rotator.

One final view of the completed installation.

Postscript

The manual doesn’t say, but you need a coil  around 1.5 uH.  It’s around 4 turns and 2.5″ OD.  Use https://hamwaves.com/inductance/en/

One can’t really use NEC (even NEC4) to re-optimize this in a way that you could be sure that your new dimensions (keeping the spacing the same, which you can’t easily move) will yield an accurate real world result.  The reason being is that NEC can’t handle elements this close together – mainly the 20m driven and 15m parasitically coupled driven element.  

It’s not that it probably can’t be improved (mainly I mean the 15m SWR), but it can’t easily be done by working up a remodel via NEC like you normally would.  On tribanders like this, you must keep the driven elements at least 18 inches or so from one another to keep from stressing the NEC model accuracy.  That said, I believe there is an empty element bracket further back (towards the reflector) and if it was me,  I’d move the 15m to that one,  string a phasing line across the three driven elements and feed the 20 meter element instead. You could probably work up something a bit better that way, design it all for 50 ohm (get rid of the hairpin).  

Scott, WU2X

2024 ARRL DX Contest SSB K5ZD

writeup 
                    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

writeup 
                    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

writeup 
                   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

writeup 
                    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

audio

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    Off

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        <listen>
0600Z  11/1    21/0      -       -       -     32/1     749/85        <listen>
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        <listen>
1200Z   2/0    21/0     2/0      -       -     25/0     825/85        <listen>
1300Z    -     14/0    17/0      -       -     31/0     856/85        <listen>
1400Z    -     16/0    15/0      -       -     31/0     887/85        <listen>
1500Z    -     18/0    10/0     3/0      -     31/0     918/85        <listen>
1600Z  --+--    1/0     5/0    --+--   --+--    6/0     924/85   38   <listen>
1700Z    -       -     21/0    10/0      -     31/0     955/85        <listen>
1800Z    -      5/0    16/0     1/0     3/0    25/0     980/85        <listen>
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       <listen> 
2200Z    -       -     38/0     9/0      -     47/0    1070/85        <listen>
2300Z    -     10/0    29/0      -       -     39/0    1109/85        <listen>
0000Z  --+--    2/0     5/0    --+--   --+--    7/0    1116/85   49   <listen>
0100Z   5/0    12/0     3/0      -       -     20/0    1136/85        <listen>
0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1136/85   60

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