K5ZD, Single Op All Band, High Power
By Randall A. Thompson, K5ZD
k5zd@contesting.com
Summary Sheet
Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 46
Location: USA
Radios: SO2R
Summary: Compare Scores
Band QSOs Zones Countries
160: 94 15 45
80: 482 21 88
40: 1228 31 114
20: 1447 33 117
15: 699 23 99
10: 29 9 17
Total: 3979 132 480 Total Score 6,963,336
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Commentary
That’s it. I am never doing 40+ hour SOAB again. Really.
A new Elecraft K3 arrived on Tuesday at 5pm. Wired it into the station, asked
friends some stupid questions, configured the settings, then left for
Thanksgiving at the inlaws. Back home 3 hours before the contest.
The K3 worked great all weekend. Incredible receiver. Actually made 40 meters
fun! Wish I had bought one of these a year ago. Now I have to figure out a way
to get a second one.
Contest was frustrating on Friday evening. It was a struggle from 02 to 06z. Normally 160m is one my strengths, but I couldn’t bust a pileup for anything. Lots of guys CQed in my face. Almost the same on 80m during this period. I thought maybe one of the vertical elements of the 80m 4 square had fallen down. As we got closer to Eu sunrise, things began to improve and almost return to normal. Still couldn’t get answers to CQs so did lots and
lots of S&P on 80 and 160 all weekend.
40m was good to Europe after their sunrise. Then was surprised to find loud signals from Europe on 20m as early as 0930z on Saturday. That’s 2 hours before our sunrise! Rate went from good to incredible once the sun came up.
15m on Sat was good, but only to Germany and south. Nothing east of there.
With the receiver of the K3, was able to get 7010 on Sat afternoon and had a
very good run.
Began to get the signs of a migraine headache around 23z. Immediately took 4
Ibuprofen and amazingly, it cleared up after an hour.
As usual, at 00z, the bands all turned to mush and there was virtually nothing
to do for the next few hours. Kept thinking I should sleep and finally took a
nap from 0425z to 0545z. Was kind of disoriented when I woke up and forgot
what contest I was in. Started working everyone (including USA stations)
thinking I was getting points. Head finally cleared after about 30 mins.
No luck with 40 at Sunrise or having 20 open early. So the 09 to 11z hours was
pretty slow. Only surprise was how loud the JAs got on 40m.
Was running on 20 when I heard 15m start to open. Was really hoping conditions
would be better than Sat to help the score. Tried a test CQ on 15m at 1230z and
immediately an S9+ RU1A called in. Wow. Finished the QSO and had 3 guys
calling. Started a great run of weak signals, but great rate. I could watch
the sunset across Europe and guys were all from right along the grayline. Very
fun.
Unfortunately, once 15m closed, 20m was less than an hour behind it. That left
the last 6 hours of the contest as a battle of wills. Everytime I would think
about quitting, I would remember K1DG was my competition and I HATE losing more
than I needed sleep. So kept pushing.
Had a great run on 40m start very early – 1940z. That helped the score a lot.
Finished the last hour scratching for QSOs on 80m. Still couldn’t get answers
to CQs, but was able to call guys. 4L0A and T70A were cool pileups to break.
Given my troubles on the low bands, I was sure that my competition surrounded
by salt water (K1DG) was surely going to beat me. What a thrill to find we are
in a virtual tie. He killed me on the low bands, but I made up for it on the
high bands. Both of us really pounded the second radio for multipliers. This
is what radio contesting is supposed to be about. Local competition – two
similar stations and guys with a lot of respect for each other. I HATE losing,
but I absolutely trust the CQ WW log checking so will be happy however it comes
out.
No big frequency fights this contest.
I like the guys that don’t send their report until you have their call. At
least you know when you get it right. I don’t like the guys who don’t correct
their call when you send it wrong.
Wish the DXpeditions would send their call more often. We aren’t all using
packet. 8P5A was great at this.
Some numbers:
QSOs By Continent
160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total %
EU 48 375 1011 1240 572 0 3246 81.6
AF 4 12 24 27 14 0 81 2.0
AS 0 4 29 45 5 0 83 2.1
SA 4 12 24 44 47 17 148 3.7
NA 35 75 128 81 52 12 383 9.6
OC 3 4 12 10 9 0 38 1.0
QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band
Hr 160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total Cumm Off
00Z ----- 1/2 101/70 ----- ----- ----- 102/72 102/72
01Z - 14/16 88/14 9/12 - - 111/42 213/114
02Z - 36/19 62/9 - - - 98/28 311/142
03Z 23/25 27/9 6/2 - - - 56/36 367/178
04Z 14/10 41/10 - - - - 55/20 422/198
05Z 11/8 45/3 8/4 5/7 - - 69/22 491/220
06Z - 46/4 34/10 - - - 80/14 571/234
07Z 11/4 47/3 12/1 - - - 70/8 641/242
08Z --+-- 17/11 76/2 --+-- --+-- --+-- 93/13 734/255
09Z 2/2 7/5 59/10 8/13 - - 76/30 810/285
10Z - 5/3 9/3 98/23 - - 112/29 922/314
11Z 2/0 1/0 2/0 137/7 4/7 - 146/14 1068/328
12Z - - - 193/10 - - 193/10 1261/338
13Z - - - 94/3 105/25 - 199/28 1460/366
14Z - - - 83/9 42/28 - 125/37 1585/403
15Z - - - 128/3 9/6 - 137/9 1722/412
16Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 102/6 7/6 7/10 116/22 1838/434
17Z - - - 73/6 16/7 11/7 100/20 1938/454
18Z - - - 46/2 21/13 - 67/15 2005/469
19Z - - - 51/18 3/0 4/5 58/23 2063/492
20Z - - 62/0 11/5 9/3 - 82/8 2145/500
21Z - - 108/3 6/6 2/0 - 116/9 2261/509
22Z - - 78/3 16/4 - - 94/7 2355/516
23Z - 9/3 23/0 13/2 - - 45/5 2400/521
00Z 6/3 22/3 4/0 1/0 --+-- --+-- 33/6 2433/527 10
01Z - - 57/2 8/1 - - 65/3 2498/530 13
02Z - 15/2 54/0 - - - 69/2 2567/532
03Z 10/2 11/2 4/1 - - - 25/5 2592/537
04Z - - 8/1 - - - 8/1 2600/538 37
05Z - - 9/0 - - - 9/0 2609/538 49
06Z 9/3 17/1 5/0 - - - 31/4 2640/542
07Z 3/2 44/0 5/0 - - - 52/2 2692/544
08Z --+-- 35/4 10/3 --+-- --+-- --+-- 45/7 2737/551
09Z - 7/1 25/1 1/1 - - 33/3 2770/554
10Z 2/1 2/2 6/1 8/1 - - 18/5 2788/559
11Z - 3/2 3/0 76/1 - - 82/3 2870/562
12Z - - - 65/0 86/9 - 151/9 3021/571
13Z - - - 2/0 154/5 - 156/5 3177/576
14Z - - - 10/2 110/3 - 120/5 3297/581
15Z - - - 11/1 89/5 - 100/6 3397/587
16Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 101/3 17/1 --+-- 118/4 3515/591
17Z - - - 63/1 11/3 3/2 77/6 3592/597
18Z - - - 22/3 9/0 3/1 34/4 3626/601
19Z - - 31/1 1/0 - 1/1 33/2 3659/603
20Z - - 113/2 - 1/1 - 114/3 3773/606
21Z - - 83/0 1/0 4/0 - 88/0 3861/606
22Z - - 69/2 4/0 - - 73/2 3934/608
23Z 1/0 30/4 14/0 - - - 45/4 3979/612
Totals:
94/60 482/109 1228/145 1447/150 699/122 29/26
Most worked countries
160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total
DL 5 55 153 227 138 578
G 3 37 53 92 59 244
OK 4 24 77 81 32 218
I 1 12 70 67 38 188
UA 15 60 103 9 187
F 5 23 48 56 35 167
SP 18 53 55 28 154
UR 2 11 67 62 11 153
VE 22 42 44 34 10 1 153
Worked on 6 bands: 6Y1V, 8P5A, HC8GR, KP2M, P40W, VQ5V
Worked on 5 bands: 21 stations
Best 60 mins rate: 202 (1259-1358z on Sat)
I think that is a personal best for me on CW!
I am never doing this again. Really.