Author: K5ZD

CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

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

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 14.4
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------
   80:  181       33      31     8
   40:  333       40      52    17
   20:  564       39      71    26
   15:  458       19      58    20
   10:   14        3       4     4
------------------------------------
Total: 1550      134     216    75  Total Score = 1,549,975

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Always a fun contest. Wish I could have operated more time. Beautiful weather in New England over the weekend so spent a lot of time outside.

Activity keeps getting better. Ops are also getting more efficient in their macros so the rates can be higher.

Really fun on Sat morning when I was able to get runs going on two bands at the same time. The 186 hour was a personal best.

Fun to chase the competition on the live scoreboard. Amazing scores by AA3B and SN7Q battling at the top all weekend.

QSO/Mult by hour and band

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

0100Z  13/13   30/39   22/21     -       -     65/73     65/73  
0200Z  41/25   52/25     -       -       -     93/50    158/123 
0300Z  56/20   65/8      -       -       -    121/28    279/151 
0400Z  42/9    51/9      -       -       -     93/18    372/169    6
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     372/169   60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     372/169   60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     372/169   60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     372/169   60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     372/169   60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     372/169   60
1100Z   3/1     4/1    19/18    4/7      -     30/27    402/196   39
1200Z    -       -     46/28   88/22     -    134/50    536/246 
1300Z    -       -     90/11   96/12     -    186/23    722/269 
1400Z    -       -     37/10   58/10     -     95/20    817/289 
1500Z    -       -     12/1    17/5      -     29/6     846/295   43
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     846/295   60
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     846/295   60
1800Z    -       -      7/0     2/0      -      9/0     855/295   52
1900Z    -       -     94/2    40/23     -    134/25    989/320 
2000Z    -       -     13/1    18/3      -     31/4    1020/324   40
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1020/324   60
2200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1020/324   60
2300Z   4/0     5/1    20/7    15/5      -     44/13   1064/337   12
0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1064/337   60
0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1064/337   60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1064/337   60
1000Z  11/1    15/5     7/2      -      1/3    34/11   1098/348    8
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1098/348   60
1200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1098/348   60
1300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1098/348   60
1400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1098/348   60
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1098/348   60
1600Z  --+--   --+--   10/0     8/0    --+--   18/0    1116/348   49
1700Z    -       -     66/6    72/7      -    138/13   1254/361 
1800Z    -       -     34/3    31/3    13/8    78/14   1332/375   13
1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1332/375   60
2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1332/375   60
2100Z    -       -     24/5     9/0      -     33/5    1365/380   37
2200Z    -     61/12   36/11     -       -     97/23   1462/403 
2300Z  11/3    50/9    27/10     -       -     88/22   1550/425 

Total:   181/72  333/109 564/136 458/97   14/11

CQWW WPX Contest, CW

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

Class: SO(A)AB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 17.3
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    6
   80:   83
   40:  623
   20:  986
   15:  132
   10:   15
------------
Total: 1845  Prefixes = 856  Total Score = 4,521,392

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Everything in the station worked perfectly. Conditions at the start were excellent. Knew I wasn’t motivated to do a full effort so played until I would get tired or bored and then go do other stuff. Conditions on day 2 were awful.
Watched lots of auto racing.

Worked DR4A as the only Eu on 160. Not much heard on 10m. Worked a UN7 and a 4X on 15m, but not much Europe.

No meters like 20 and 40 meters in this contest.

Assisted didn’t offer much advantage. Was usually running and didn’t have time to chase mults. Probably wouldn’t hurt to combine SO and SOA for WPX.

Thanks to all for the QSOs.

QSO/Pref by hour and band

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

D1-0000Z  --+--   --+--   27/24  124/104  --+--   --+--  151/128   151/128 
D1-0100Z    -      1/1   156/104   4/4      -       -    161/109   312/237 
D1-0200Z    -      9/4   146/80     -       -       -    155/84    467/321 
D1-0300Z   4/1    51/21    7/5    25/18     -       -     87/45    554/366 
D1-0400Z    -       -      7/4     6/6      -       -     13/10    567/376    52
D1-0500Z    -      4/1      -       -       -       -      4/1     571/377    57
D1-0600Z   2/1    15/3    78/43    2/2      -       -     97/49    668/426 
D1-0700Z    -       -     13/11     -       -       -     13/11    681/437    50
D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     681/437    60
D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     681/437    60
D1-1000Z    -       -     12/8   113/61    1/0      -    126/69    807/506     8
D1-1100Z    -       -       -    111/45    3/2      -    114/47    921/553 
D1-1200Z    -       -       -     58/24   11/3      -     69/27    990/580 
D1-1300Z    -       -       -     66/25    9/1      -     75/26   1065/606 
D1-1400Z    -       -       -     65/30   47/12     -    112/42   1177/648 
D1-1500Z    -       -       -     11/6    24/6      -     35/12   1212/660    40
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1212/660    60
D1-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1212/660    60
D1-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1212/660    60
D1-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1212/660    60
D1-2000Z    -       -       -     13/4    17/7      -     30/11   1242/671     8
D1-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1242/671    60
D1-2200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1242/671    60
D1-2300Z    -       -     40/11   60/13    3/0      -    103/24   1345/695     5
D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   90/18   12/10   --+--   --+--  102/28   1447/723 
D2-0100Z    -      3/0     8/5     6/2      -       -     17/7    1464/730    46
D2-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0400Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1464/730    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-1200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1464/730    60
D2-1300Z    -       -      2/2      -       -       -      2/2    1466/732    59
D2-1400Z    -       -      8/2    84/21    2/1      -     94/24   1560/756  
D2-1500Z    -       -       -     24/7      -       -     24/7    1584/763    39
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1584/763    60
D2-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1584/763    60
D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1584/763    60
D2-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1584/763    60
D2-2000Z    -       -       -     58/18    8/4     7/0    73/22   1657/785    22
D2-2100Z    -       -      6/2    72/31     -      8/1    86/34   1743/819 
D2-2200Z    -       -     15/7    64/19    7/2      -     86/28   1829/847 
D2-2300Z    -       -      8/2     8/7      -       -     16/9    1845/856 

Total:     6/2    83/30  623/328 986/457 132/38   15/1

ARRL DX Contest, CW

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

Class: SO Unlimited HP
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  133    56
   80:  378    86
   40:  737   106
   20:  789   112
   15:  717   102
   10:   29    17
-------------------
Total: 2783   479  Total Score = 3,999,171

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

YO3JR and KO8SCA were planning to visit for the weekend and do a multi-single effort. Their plans changed so I was left on my own. Was on a work phone call when the contest started. Then the radio wouldn’t send CW until I rebooted. So started 10 minutes late.

Had another work event on Saturday afternoon so turned in early to get some sleep. Was well rested for the great Eu run first thing on 15m! Wow.

Operated most of the second 24 hours. Would stop when it quit being fun. Problem with a part time effort is you end up with 3.999M points and know that you could have easily run for a few more minutes earlier in the weekend and gone over 4M.

Could not believe the multiplier. Countries everywhere. Lots of spots on 10m, but missed a lot of “easy” ones there.

Best QSO of the weekend was XV1X on 40m LP Sunday morning. He was loud! Second best was UA9BA calling on 15m a good 4 hours after his sunset. Always amazing how late the Europeans come in on 40m. They were still there after our sunrise.

People seemed to be signing their call more. Or maybe it just felt that way because I had the RBN feeding the band maps.

Fun to watch the cqcontest.net scoreboard. Definitely kept me engaged on the radio more than I had planned. Always fun to chase down the guy in front of me.

Thanks to everyone around the world who spent their weekend chasing W/VE stations. You are what make this contest fun for us.

Station:

Station 1  Elecraft K3 + Alpha 76CA
Station 2  Elecraft K3 + Ameritron AL-1500
Logging software WriteLog by W5XD
HamPlus AS-82 for antenna selection

Tower 1  100′ Rohn 45G
Cushcraft 40-2CD at 110′
Hygain 205CA at 100’/50′ in upper/lower/both stack
Hygain 155CA at 66’/33′ in upper/lower/both stack 160m elevated GP

Tower 2  90′ Rohn 25G
10m 5/5/5 @ 90’/60’/30′ (only used the top antenna)
80m wire 4 square hanging from ropes off tower
Tower shunt fed on 160m.

Tower 3  38′ Rohn 25G
Hygain TH7DXX at 40′ rotary

Rates:

QSO/DX by hour and band

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

0000Z  --+--   --+--   65/28   29/21   --+--   --+--   94/49     94/49  
0100Z    -     86/27   61/14    2/1      -       -    149/42    243/91  
0200Z  46/25   31/11   20/13     -       -       -     97/49    340/140 
0300Z   8/5    43/10   19/15    7/5      -       -     77/35    417/175 
0400Z  16/4    16/7     6/3      -       -       -     38/14    455/189    24
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     455/189    60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
1200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     455/189    60
1300Z    -       -       -      1/1   205/36     -    206/37    661/226     1
1400Z    -       -       -    148/52   25/22     -    173/74    834/300 
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     834/300    60
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   92/3    23/8    13/11  128/22    962/322     9
1700Z    -       -       -       -     15/4     5/3    20/7     982/329    50
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     982/329    60
1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     982/329    60
2000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     982/329    60
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     982/329    60
2200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     982/329    60
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     982/329    60
0000Z  --+--    9/1    48/3    --+--   --+--   --+--   57/4    1039/333    37
0100Z   2/2    18/9    31/5    10/2      -       -     61/18   1100/351 
0200Z  17/9    18/2    23/4      -       -       -     58/15   1158/366 
0300Z  13/3    23/5    33/2      -       -       -     69/10   1227/376 
0400Z    -       -      1/0      -       -       -      1/0    1228/376    58
0500Z  27/6    28/7    16/4      -       -       -     71/17   1299/393 
0600Z   3/1    50/5    49/3      -       -       -    102/9    1401/402 
0700Z    -      4/0   147/3      -       -       -    151/3    1552/405 
0800Z  --+--    4/0    54/2    --+--   --+--   --+--   58/2    1610/407    24
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1610/407    60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1610/407    60
1100Z    -      4/1     6/2    72/1      -       -     82/4    1692/411    20
1200Z    -       -       -    199/2      -       -    199/2    1891/413 
1300Z    -       -       -     56/7   108/9      -    164/16   2055/429 
1400Z    -       -       -     31/3   129/5      -    160/8    2215/437 
1500Z    -       -       -     12/3   116/4     3/1   131/8    2346/445 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--    6/1    59/4     2/1    67/6    2413/451    23
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2413/451    60
1800Z    -       -       -     18/2     6/5     2/1    26/8    2439/459    34
1900Z    -       -       -     90/3    18/4     4/0   112/7    2551/466 
2000Z    -       -     94/0     6/0     6/1      -    106/1    2657/467 
2100Z    -       -     46/3     3/0     7/0      -     56/3    2713/470    20
2200Z    -       -       -      2/2      -       -      2/2    2715/472    60
2300Z   1/1    44/1    18/2     5/3      -       -     68/7    2783/479 

Tot:  133/56  378/86  737/106 789/112 717/102  29/17 

Best 60 minutes: 210 QSOs on 18-Feb 1301-1401

Worked on 6 bands:
8P5A D4C P40L P40R P40W PJ2T PJ4X SN8B TI5W TO7A V3T V43Z

51 stations worked on 5 bands!

Most worked countries:

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

    DL      17     42     95     91    124            369
     I       8     18     58     63     75            222
    OK       9     24     41     35     54            163
    UR       4     19     39     46     24            132
    UA       3     17     29     61     11            121
    SP       5     17     35     28     27            112
     F       2     15     29     25     36            107
    HA       6     20     19     26     32            103
    PA       2     10     27     31     30            100

CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest

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

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 30
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:  365
   40:  826
   20:  756
   15:  490
   10:    0
------------
Total: 2437  Prefixes = 872  Total Score = 6,607,144

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

I needed some contest therapy to escape the snow storms and work stress. Planned to do about 20 hours, but got hooked watching the online scoreboard and chasing AA3B all weekend.

Several hours into the contest, the active radio was locked in transmit. Had to reboot the computer to clear the problem. This happened every 90 minutes or so until 18z Sat when I finally figured it out. Was costing me about 10 minutes each outage as I tried to unplug things in case it was RF. Finally I figured out that it was the footswitch that was plugged into the YCCC SO2R box!
Unplugged that and all the problems went away.

I missed an hour of operating time in the first evening. Plus enough frustration that I stopped to watch TV for awhile. By then AA3B was way ahead, but half of the fun of the scoreboard is to see if I could make up some ground. Tough in WPX with the exponential score increase due to mults!

I noticed that Bud had jumped way ahead of me on mults. About 20z Sat, I realized that WPX RTTY allowed single ops to use the cluster. Turned it on and enjoyed seeing the RTTY RBN spots go scrolling by. Couldn’t make up the gap, but it was fun to have another element in the mix in addition to running two radios.

Best DX QSO was having a JA call me on 40m.

Never heard a signal on 10m (only listened once).

RTTY is a great test of the station. Discovered that my 20m stack switchbox up on the tower has a relay problem.

30 hours of op time is just right. Slept 4-5 hours each night. Took a walk both days. Took my family out to dinner on Sat. Didn’t try to manage my off times to any strategy, but was good to see Bud and I were off about the same hours.

Almost quit with an hour to go due to snow static. 40m was in great condition, but the snow static was S9+10. Wanted to get to the full 30 hours so kept grinding it out.

Thanks to everyone who got in the log. RTTY operating just keeps getting better and better. Less guys who feel the need to send their call or exchange
20 times.

Station:

Station 1 Elecraft K3 + Alpha 76CA
Station 2 Elecraft K3 + Ameritron AL-1500 Logging software WriteLog by W5XD HamPlus AS-82 for antenna selection

Tower 1 100? Rohn 45G
Cushcraft 40-2CD at 110?
Hygain 205CA at 100’/50? in upper/lower/both stack Hygain 155CA at 66’/33? in upper/lower/both stack

Tower 2 90? Rohn 25G
10m 5/5/5 @ 90’/60’/30? (only used the top antenna) 80m wire 4 square hanging from ropes off tower Tower

Tower 3 38? Rohn 25G
Hygain TH7DXX at 40? rotary

Rates:

QSO/Pref by hour and band

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

D1-0000Z  --+--   30/26   53/42   --+--   --+--   83/68     83/68  
D1-0100Z    -     52/39   39/23     -       -     91/62    174/130 
D1-0200Z  23/15   65/39    8/4      -       -     96/58    270/188 
D1-0300Z  47/19   60/28     -       -       -    107/47    377/235 
D1-0400Z   1/0     1/0      -       -       -      2/0     379/235    59
D1-0500Z  36/21   37/24     -       -       -     73/45    452/280    18
D1-0600Z  38/19   46/16     -       -       -     84/35    536/315 
D1-0700Z  25/13   28/14     -       -       -     53/27    589/342 
D1-0800Z   5/2    14/5    --+--   --+--   --+--   19/7     608/349    45
D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     608/349    60
D1-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     608/349    60
D1-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     608/349    60
D1-1200Z   6/3    19/4     5/5      -       -     30/12    638/361    41
D1-1300Z    -     12/3    58/33   15/4      -     85/40    723/401 
D1-1400Z    -       -     59/24   69/33     -    128/57    851/458 
D1-1500Z    -       -     36/12   76/27     -    112/39    963/497 
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   47/11   52/14   --+--   99/25   1062/522 
D1-1700Z    -       -     75/23   21/6      -     96/29   1158/551 
D1-1800Z    -       -     35/10   11/5      -     46/15   1204/566    21
D1-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1204/566    60
D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1204/566    60
D1-2100Z    -       -     25/9    16/6      -     41/15   1245/581    10
D1-2200Z    -     11/2    36/18    4/2      -     51/22   1296/603 
D1-2300Z    -     51/21    9/7      -       -     60/28   1356/631 
D2-0000Z   8/1    69/18    6/3    --+--   --+--   83/22   1439/653 
D2-0100Z    -     21/3      -       -       -     21/3    1460/656    48
D2-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1460/656    60
D2-0300Z   3/1    10/2      -       -       -     13/3    1473/659    50
D2-0400Z  49/10   61/19     -       -       -    110/29   1583/688 
D2-0500Z  50/8    21/6      -       -       -     71/14   1654/702 
D2-0600Z  29/3    23/7      -       -       -     52/10   1706/712 
D2-0700Z  13/2     8/2      -       -       -     21/4    1727/716    33
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1727/716    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1727/716    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1727/716    60
D2-1100Z   7/1    10/3      -       -       -     17/4    1744/720    43
D2-1200Z   4/2    47/6    34/12     -       -     85/20   1829/740 
D2-1300Z    -     15/2    41/12   52/14     -    108/28   1937/768 
D2-1400Z    -       -     40/10   64/11     -    104/21   2041/789 
D2-1500Z    -       -     14/6    73/14     -     87/20   2128/809 
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   29/6    18/4    --+--   47/10   2175/819    24
D2-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2175/819    60
D2-1800Z    -       -     26/4    10/4      -     36/8    2211/827    36
D2-1900Z    -       -     31/3     5/2      -     36/5    2247/832     2
D2-2000Z    -       -      3/1     4/4      -      7/5    2254/837    60
D2-2100Z    -     56/10   29/4      -       -     85/14   2339/851 
D2-2200Z   2/0    19/1    18/8      -       -     39/9    2378/860 
D2-2300Z  19/3    40/9      -       -       -     59/12   2437/872 

Total:   365/123 826/309 756/290 490/150   0/0  

Best 60 mins: 132 QSOs @ 11-Feb-2017 13:57-14:57

Most worked countries:

           80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
     K     216    425    253     34            928
    DL      34     51     68    115            268
     I       5     43     46     38            132
    EA       6     27     30     22             85
     G       4     16     22     28             70
    SP      10     15     13     28             66
    VE      19     17     16      3             55

28 stations worked on 4 bands
9A1A CR3A DH0GHU DJ6TK DK0EE DK1IP DL1DTL DL1DVO DL6NDW DL70DSH DP7D DP9A HF9M HG17EYOF K7TQ KB1EFS LX7I LY2W M0P N1FF NO6F P49X S51A S55W SZ1A UV5U WK7S YL4U

CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

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

Class: SOAB(A) HP
Operating Time (hrs): 37
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   63    13       37
   80:  496    22       92
   40:  625    35      117
   20: 1478    35      124
   15:  604    26      115
   10:   53    15       29
------------------------------
Total: 3319   146      514  Total Score = 6,238,980

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

This was a great SWL event. I spent many hours listening to Europeans work each other on the low bands. I got so frustrated after the first 2 hours that I went to watch TV.

40m was the worst I have ever heard for a complete contest. It never opened on Friday night and was only a little better Saturday. There was no Eu sunrise bump at all either morning. The band did open early in the afternoons, but not big rates. Longpath to Asia was pretty good on Sunday evening, but only worked a few JA.

80m was really frustrating except for the 05-06z hours each night. The rest of the time I was calling Eu and either getting beat out by other Eu or getting a CQ in response.

The mornings were a rate fest. Unfortunately, 15m was short lived so most of the action was on 20m. Sunday morning I had 14001 and it just kept producing an endless stream of Eu. I tried 15m a few times, but it never produced as much as 20m. Thus the big total on that band.

Was happy to work as much on 10m as I did. A few of the QSOs were marginal so won’t be surprised if I lose a few mults.

There was a clear divide between southern and northern Europe. Not many Scandinavians or northern Russians in the log. Amazing to see how CW activity from EA, F, and I keeps increasing.

Didn’t seem there was a much trouble with key clicks this year. There was some wide and buzzy signals – CR6K and II9P on 15m to name two.

Everything in the station worked perfectly all weekend. Only issue was on Sunday afternoon when the DX Cluster started showing only the suffix of callsigns. The connection dropped and then things were fine so someone must have noticed and made a fix.

I normally run with global RBN spots (minimal filtering). Will need to rethink that with these conditions. Too many spots that weren’t workable.

Sleep strategy was 3 hours the first night. Then 3 hours from 01-04z. Got on for 2 hours and then slept 3 more. That seemed to work out perfectly for missing some bad hours and keeping me alert on Sunday.

I had the online scoreboard (cqcontest.net) on the screen all weekend. Woke up Sat morning in 23rd place. 12 hours later I was #2. Always fun to chase the next score and make the pass. Or watch someone else pass me (motivating!). I was tempted to quit a few times, but I could see everyone was struggling with the conditions.

Thanks to everyone that enjoyed the game. W1 has a real advantage in any DX contest, but especially so this year.

Station:

Station 1  Elecraft K3 + Alpha 76CA
Station 2  Elecraft K3 + Ameritron AL-1500 Logging software WriteLog by W5XD
HamPlus AS-82 for antenna selection

Tower 1  100′ Rohn 45G
Cushcraft 40-2CD at 110′
Hygain 205CA at 100’/50′ in upper/lower/both stack Hygain 155CA at 66’/33′ in upper/lower/both stack 160m elevated GP

Tower 2  90′ Rohn 25G
10m 5/5/5 @ 90’/60’/30′ (only used the top antenna) 80m wire 4 square hanging from ropes off tower Tower shunt fed on 160m.

Tower 3  38′ Rohn 25G
Hygain TH7DXX at 40′ rotary

The Numbers:

By Continent

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

    NA      35     49     92    111     59     16     362    10.9
    EU      16    416    455   1233    447      0    2567    77.3
    SA       6     12     26     51     52     33     180     5.4
    AF       4      9     21     32     26      2      94     2.8
    OC       2      7     14     15     14      2      54     1.6
    AS       0      3     16     36      5      0      60     1.8

By Hour

QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band

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

0000Z  --+--   21/26    5/8    35/25   --+--   --+--   61/59     61/59  
0100Z   3/5     8/7    42/41    6/7      -       -     59/60    120/119 
0200Z   5/4    12/3      -      6/8      -       -     23/15    143/134    31
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     143/134    60
0400Z    -     55/20    4/2      -       -       -     59/22    202/156    17
0500Z  17/16   41/10   11/5     1/1      -       -     70/32    272/188 
0600Z    -    154/5     1/1      -       -       -    155/6     427/194 
0700Z   8/4    37/24    5/8      -       -       -     50/36    477/230 
0800Z   9/8     4/3     7/5     2/2    --+--   --+--   22/18    499/248 
0900Z    -      5/0     8/9      -       -       -     13/9     512/257    47
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     512/257    60
1100Z    -      1/1    13/9    22/16     -       -     36/26    548/283    32
1200Z    -       -       -    192/29    4/5      -    196/34    744/317 
1300Z    -       -       -     41/5   134/31     -    175/36    919/353 
1400Z    -       -       -     25/18  129/7      -    154/25   1073/378 
1500Z    -       -       -     67/4    75/17   14/16  156/37   1229/415 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  154/7    23/21   --+--  177/28   1406/443 
1700Z    -       -       -     28/6    26/12   14/11   68/29   1474/472    10
1800Z    -       -      5/3    44/9    12/9      -     61/21   1535/493 
1900Z    -       -     11/6    26/5     4/3     5/4    46/18   1581/511 
2000Z    -       -     89/11    4/3     9/3      -    102/17   1683/528 
2100Z    -      1/2    74/13    7/3     1/1      -     83/19   1766/547 
2200Z    -       -     57/9      -      1/0      -     58/9    1824/556 
2300Z   5/6      -     57/7     3/0      -       -     65/13   1889/569 
0000Z  --+--   14/5    34/4    --+--   --+--   --+--   48/9    1937/578     3
0100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1937/578    60
0200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1937/578    60
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1937/578    60
0400Z   3/3     9/4     8/1     2/1      -       -     22/9    1959/587     1
0500Z   6/2    16/2     2/2      -       -       -     24/6    1983/593 
0600Z   4/2    78/0     1/0      -       -       -     83/2    2066/595 
0700Z    -     14/0     2/0      -       -       -     16/0    2082/595    33
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2082/595    60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2082/595    60
1000Z    -      2/0      -       -       -       -      2/0    2084/595    57
1100Z    -      2/1     6/2   105/4      -       -    113/7    2197/602 
1200Z    -       -       -    176/0     8/3      -    184/3    2381/605 
1300Z    -       -       -    141/1    37/15     -    178/16   2559/621 
1400Z    -       -       -    130/0    13/4     4/5   147/9    2706/630 
1500Z    -       -       -     76/0    38/1     1/0   115/1    2821/631 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   23/0    60/8    --+--   83/8    2904/639 
1700Z    -       -       -     50/1     4/0     3/2    57/3    2961/642 
1800Z    -       -       -     40/1     8/1     7/5    55/7    3016/649 
1900Z    -       -     21/0    22/0     4/0     5/1    52/1    3068/650 
2000Z    -       -     32/1     4/0    13/0      -     49/1    3117/651 
2100Z    -       -     85/1    22/3     1/0      -    108/4    3225/655 
2200Z    -      9/0    13/3    24/0      -       -     46/3    3271/658 
2300Z   3/0    13/1    32/1      -       -       -     48/2    3319/660 

Total: 63/50  496/114 625/152 1478/159 604/141  53/44

Most worked DX

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
    DL            105     61    220     88            474
    EA       2     10     23     58     42            135
     F       2     20     22     44     38            126
     G       1     19     23     60     15            118
     I             17     45     85     47            194
    OK             40     29     58     32            159
    SP             23     24     59     16            122
    UA              8     18    100      1            127
    UR              7     31     80      7            125
    VE      18     21     32     42     11            124

149 different country multipliers worked.

10 stations worked on 6 bands:
6Y9X 8P5A 9Y4/VE3EY HK1NA PJ2T PJ4Q TI5W V26K V47T VP2ESM

37 stations worked on 5 bands:
6Y3T 9A7A CN2AA CN2R CR3OO CR6K CU4DX EA2EA EF8R HC2AO HG7T HI3CC HR2J J70BH KH6J KH7M KP2M KP2Q LX7I NP4DX P40W PI4CC PJ4A PS2T PZ5V TK0C TM6M VC2T VC3W/2 VC7X VE3EJ VE3JM VE3YAA VE9AA XL3A ZD8W ZF2MJ

Best 60 minutes: 202 QSOs

ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

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

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 22.7
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  389
   40:  357
   20:  402
   15:  114
   10:    0
------------
Total: 1262  Sections = 83  Total Score = 209,492

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

My 40th consecutive year with over 1000 QSOs in SS CW!
(http://k5zd.com/scores/sweepstakes-cw-personal-records/)

Not very motivated to put in a full effort, but when I saw this was going to be the 40th year, I had to give it a run.

Have had an bad SWR on my 40m beam for over a year. Was motivated Sat morning to diagnose the problem. On trip #1, found a bad coax connector at the top of the tower. I strung together 400+ feet of extension cords and on trip #2, I carried up the soldering iron and put on a new connector. Nice to have 40 working again.

My best start ever. Great runs from the start of the contest until 06Z. Then it was like someone turned off the activity.

Stopped early and took most of my off time all at once. Have never done that before. Sure removes the pressure on Sunday since there is no escape except to keep CQing and tuning.

Sunday was never great for rates. Seemed to hover around 30-35 with a few hours in the 40s.

Now I know why I have tried to save offtime to avoid the Sunday evening 00z and 01z hours. Ugh. Almost quit it was so bad. 15 mins of CQing with no answer. Last hour was good.

Worked at least 2 of every section. My traditional difficult ones were out in plenty. Was nice to go to sleep with a sweep in hand. NE was the most difficult and last section.

Operating quality seemed to be better. Almost everyone seemed to send the right thing when I sent NR, PR, CK, SEC!

Way too many checks in the late 50s and early 60s, without enough in the last few years. The traffic handlers that make SS special for me are all getting old.

QSO/Sec by hour and band

 Hour      80      40      20      15     Total     Cumm      Off 

D1-2100Z    -       -     18/10   78/33   96/43     96/43  
D1-2200Z    -      1/0    77/15   16/2    94/17    190/60  
D1-2300Z    -     37/3    50/4      -     87/7     277/67  
D2-0000Z  35/7    52/4    --+--   --+--   87/11    364/78  
D2-0100Z  72/2     6/0      -       -     78/2     442/80  
D2-0200Z  80/1     3/0      -       -     83/1     525/81  
D2-0300Z  70/1     8/0      -       -     78/1     603/82  
D2-0400Z  44/0    16/0      -       -     60/0     663/82  
D2-0500Z  24/0    25/1      -       -     49/1     712/83  
D2-0600Z   8/0     7/0      -       -     15/0     727/83     36
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     727/83     60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     727/83     60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     727/83     60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     727/83     60
D2-1100Z  15/0     7/0      -       -     22/0     749/83     28
D2-1200Z  15/0    25/0      -       -     40/0     789/83  
D2-1300Z   5/0    21/0    11/0      -     37/0     826/83  
D2-1400Z    -     17/0    27/0      -     44/0     870/83  
D2-1500Z    -     13/0    30/0      -     43/0     913/83  
D2-1600Z  --+--    3/0    26/0     6/0    35/0     948/83  
D2-1700Z    -     23/0    33/0      -     56/0    1004/83  
D2-1800Z    -      5/0     5/0      -     10/0    1014/83     43
D2-1900Z    -      2/0    32/0     5/0    39/0    1053/83  
D2-2000Z    -       -     33/0     8/0    41/0    1094/83  
D2-2100Z    -      4/0    24/0     1/0    29/0    1123/83  
D2-2200Z    -     11/0    20/0      -     31/0    1154/83     37
D2-2300Z   2/0    13/0    14/0      -     29/0    1183/83  
D3-0000Z   1/0     3/0     2/0    --+--    6/0    1189/83     50
D3-0100Z  10/0    27/0      -       -     37/0    1226/83  
D3-0200Z   8/0    28/0      -       -     36/0    1262/83  

Total:   389/11  357/8   402/29  114/35

WAE DX Contest, CW

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

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 13.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  QTCs  Mults
-------------------------
   80:  117     0   148
   40:  227   180   132
   20:  338   388    96
   15:  233   390    88
   10:   49     0    48
-------------------------
Total:  964   958   512  Total Score = 984,064

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Better conditions than expected. Especially on 80m the first night.

Thunderstorms prevented much operating on Sat evening.

Surprised to find 10m open on Sunday morning. My best multiplier total ever.

QTCs are something you just have to deal with. Most annoying when you find a mult on 10m and they keep taking QTCs. Instead of working 100/hour, they end up working about 40/hour rate.

Spent a lot of time outside enjoying the Summer weather or inside watching the Olympics.

 

QSO/DXCC by hour and band

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

0000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0      0/0      60
0100Z    -     45/22     -       -       -     45/22    45/22  
0200Z  72/30   17/10     -       -       -     89/40   134/62  
0300Z  38/7    18/5    11/5      -       -     67/17   201/79  
0400Z   5/0    16/0     7/2      -       -     28/2    229/81     33
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    229/81     60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    229/81     60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    229/81     60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    229/81     60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    229/81     60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    229/81     60
1100Z    -       -     38/14   20/11     -     58/25   287/106    17
1200Z    -       -     20/12   45/12     -     65/24   352/130 
1300Z    -       -      3/3    57/10     -     60/13   412/143 
1400Z    -       -       -      7/1      -      7/1    419/144    13
1500Z    -       -      4/1    19/3      -     23/4    442/148    13
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    442/148    60
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    442/148    60
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    442/148    60
1900Z    -       -     52/3    12/2      -     64/5    506/153    19
2000Z    -       -     46/2      -       -     46/2    552/155    36
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    552/155    60
2200Z    -      5/0    26/3      -       -     31/3    583/158    35
2300Z    -     32/5    35/1      -       -     67/6    650/164 
0000Z  --+--   10/0     1/0    --+--   --+--   11/0    661/164    53
0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    661/164    60
0200Z   2/0    17/1     1/0      -       -     20/1    681/165    13
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    681/165    60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    681/165    60
1200Z    -       -      1/0    30/3    45/23   76/26   757/191 
1300Z    -       -     13/0    21/2     1/0    35/2    792/193    21
1400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    792/193    60
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    792/193    60
1600Z  --+--   --+--   25/0     9/0    --+--   34/0    826/193    10
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    826/193    60
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    826/193    60
1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    826/193    60
2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    826/193    60
2100Z    -       -      6/0    13/0     3/1    22/1    848/194    28
2200Z    -     24/1    45/2      -       -     69/3    917/197 
2300Z    -     43/0     4/0      -       -     47/0    964/197 

Total: 117/37 227/44  338/48  233/44   49/24

IARU HF World Championship

Call: WR1TC
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOABCW HP
Operating Time (hrs): 11
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Zones  HQ Mults
-------------------------------------
  160:    25            5       4
   80:   157           10      17
   40:   207           12      24
   20:   741           25      22
   15:   216           14      20
   10:    59            8      10
-------------------------------------
Total:  1406    0      74      98  Total Score = 742,524

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Had the best of intentions to make a serious mixed mode effort. Spent a sleepless night on Thursday in the Newark airport. Tried to catch up on sleep and woke up 15 minutes before the contest.

Started out on CW. When I switched to SSB, I discovered that Writelog was not forwarding the mic audio to the radio. I could record messages and play them, but no live audio. Probably a configuration error, but my bad for not checking things out in advance. After 20 wasted mins, decided to go CW only.

Conditions were good enough to be entertaining, but certainly not great. I spent a lot of time practicing with dual CQ. It is amazing how well it can work, and how easily you can get messed up and sound like a lid.

Enjoyed watching the online scoreboard and chasing AA3B and K1MK. Especially after I started taking breaks. It was fun to see if I could make progress on catching them.

Surprised to work some EU HQ stations on 160. They were weak here, but seemed to be hearing very well.

Finally nearing midnight, decided I had enough and packed it in.

Always fun to hand out the WRTC memories by using WR1TC. People really seem to copy this call on the first try!

Rates:

QSO/ZN+HQ by hour and band

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

1200Z    -       -     22/4    76/15   26/10     -      124/29   124/29 
1300Z    -       -       -     53/4    20/7      -       74/11   198/40   20
1400Z    -       -       -     69/5    24/2    15/6     108/13   306/53 
1500Z    -       -       -     65/1    42/3      -      107/4    413/57   20
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   39/2     8/3    21/2      68/7    481/64 
1700Z    -       -       -     88/5    38/2      -      126/7    607/71    2
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -        0/0    607/71   60
1900Z    -       -       -     30/1     8/1      -       38/2    645/73   46
2000Z    -       -       -    111/3    31/4     3/3     145/10   790/83 
2100Z    -       -       -    133/1     8/0    20/7     161/8    951/91 
2200Z    -       -     16/11   59/3    11/3      -       86/17  1037/108  20
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -        0/0   1037/108  60
0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--      0/0   1037/108  60
0100Z   2/2    99/19   24/10    8/5      -       -      133/36  1170/144   6
0200Z    -     47/6   126/9      -       -       -      173/15  1343/159
0300Z  23/7    11/2    19/2    10/2      -       -       63/13  1406/172  20

Total: 25/9   157/27  207/36  741/47  216/34   59/18

CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: AK1W
Operator(s): K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 19
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    2
   80:  145
   40:  657
   20:  902
   15:  395
   10:   11
------------
Total: 2112  Prefixes = 849  Total Score = 5,447,184

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Station:

K3 + Alpha 76CA
K3 + AL-1500

160m: Shunt fed tower
80m: 4 square
40m: 40-2CD @ 33m
20m: 205CA/205CA @ 30m/15m
15m: 155CA/155CA @ 20m/10m
10m: 6/4/4 @ 30m/20m/10m
Mult: TH7DXX @ 10m (south)

Comments:

Excuses:
– My son was visiting for the weekend
– Beautiful weather outside
– Monaco F1 race, Indy 500

Conditions were entertaining. Great activity from Europe as always. Conditions Sunday morning were better than Sat.

Surprised how easy it was to work Europe on 80m. Must have been low QRN on their end.

Great fun watching the online scoreboard and chasing NR3X and NK7U. Caused me to operate many more hours than I would have without the extra motivation.

40m beam has SWR problem. 15m antenna not rotating. Seems to be something broken every time I get on the air.

QSO/Pref by hour and band

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

0000Z  --+--   --+--  116/97    1/1    --+--   --+--  117/98    117/98  
0100Z    -       -    123/83    4/4      -       -    127/87    244/185 
0200Z    -      3/3   108/72   13/11     -       -    124/86    368/271 
0300Z    -     52/21   47/21   12/9      -       -    111/51    479/322 
0400Z    -       -      2/1     2/2      -       -      4/3     483/325  
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     483/325  
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     483/325  
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     483/325  
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     483/325  
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     483/325  
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     483/325  
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     483/325  
1200Z    -       -      7/0    76/33   11/11     -     94/44    577/369  
1300Z    -       -       -    123/53    9/6      -    132/59    709/428 
1400Z    -       -       -     93/48    8/6      -    101/54    810/482 
1500Z    -       -       -      8/5      -       -      8/5     818/487  
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--    7/4     6/2    --+--   13/6     831/493  
1700Z    -       -       -     73/28   27/13    4/4   104/45    935/538 
1800Z    -       -       -      8/5      -       -      8/5     943/543  
1900Z    -       -       -      1/0    49/9      -     50/9     993/552  
2000Z    -       -       -     20/7    91/27     -    111/34   1104/586 
2100Z    -       -       -     81/29   36/14     -    117/43   1221/629 
2200Z    -       -       -    134/36    4/2      -    138/38   1359/667 
2300Z    -       -       -     23/5      -       -     23/5    1382/672  
0000Z  --+--   --+--    7/1     1/1     7/5    --+--   15/7    1397/679  
0100Z    -       -    101/30    9/5      -       -    110/35   1507/714 
0200Z    -     16/3    81/16   10/4      -       -    107/23   1614/737 
0300Z    -     73/4    31/8      -       -       -    104/12   1718/749 
0400Z   2/1     1/0     7/1      -       -       -     10/2    1728/751  
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1728/751  
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1728/751  
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1728/751  
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1728/751  
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1728/751  
1000Z    -       -      4/2      -       -       -      4/2    1732/753  
1100Z    -       -     23/5    74/27     -       -     97/32   1829/785 
1200Z    -       -       -     23/11   81/11     -    104/22   1933/807 
1300Z    -       -       -      6/2    54/10    7/0    67/12   2000/819  
1400Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2000/819  
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2000/819  
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2000/819  
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2000/819  
1800Z    -       -       -     85/21    6/2      -     91/23   2091/842  
1900Z    -       -       -     15/7     6/0      -     21/7    2112/849  
2000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2112/849  
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2112/849  
2200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2112/849  
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2112/849  

Total:  2/1   145/31  657/337 902/358 395/118  11/4