Category: writeup

                ARRL RTTY Roundup - 2020
 Call: K5ZD
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Station: K5ZD
 Class: Single Op HP
 Operating Time (hrs): 9.5
 Radios: SO2R
 Summary:
 Band  RTTY Qs  Dig Qs
   80:   196        
   40:   389        
   20:   323        
   15:    45        
   10:     0        
Total:   953       0  State/Prov = 54  Countries = 50  Total Score = 99,112
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Always fun.  Agreat way to spend a winter weekend.

Put a new 80m dipole up on Sat morning.  It is a keeper.  Had some of my best 80m runs ever.  Band was really good too.

Had trouble getting RTTY to work correctly at the start of the contest.  Finally re-registered OMMT.ocx and then everything started working. Another challenge from a recent hard disk crash and having to rebuild the computer.

Thanks to everyone for the QSOs.  I love how the operating speed and savvy keeps getting better every year.

With so many breaks I have no idea how this log will fit within the limit of only 2 off-times!

Randy K5ZD

QSO/mult per hour
 QSO/Sta+Prov+Dx by hour and band
 Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime
 D1-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-2000Z    -     15/12   10/10     -       -     25/22     25/22  
 D1-2100Z    -     16/7     1/0      -       -     17/7      42/29     46
 D1-2200Z    -     35/12   12/4      -       -     47/16     89/45     12
 D1-2300Z    -     17/4      -       -       -     17/4     106/49     47
 D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     106/49     60
 D2-0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     106/49     60
 D2-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     106/49     60
 D2-0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     106/49     60
 D2-0400Z  43/8    12/3     1/1      -       -     56/12    162/61     26
 D2-0500Z  65/3    62/5      -       -       -    127/8     289/69  
 D2-0600Z  25/2    19/0      -       -       -     44/2     333/71     22
 D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     333/71     60
 D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     333/71     60
 D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     333/71     60
 D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     333/71     60
 D2-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     333/71     60
 D2-1200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     333/71     60
 D2-1300Z   4/0    40/1    56/6      -       -    100/7     433/78     21
 D2-1400Z    -     69/1    85/6      -       -    154/7     587/85  
 D2-1500Z    -      5/0    63/5      -       -     68/5     655/90     11
 D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--    2/1    --+--    2/1     657/91     60
 D2-1700Z    -       -     61/2    43/4      -    104/6     761/97      9
 D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     761/97     60
 D2-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     761/97     60
 D2-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     761/97     60
 D2-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     761/97     60
 D2-2200Z    -     17/2    30/1      -       -     47/3     808/100    30
 D2-2300Z  58/1    82/3     4/0      -       -    144/4     952/104 
 Total:   196/14  389/50  323/35   45/5     0/0

               CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2019
 Call: K5ZD
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Station: K5ZD
 Class: SO(A)AB HP
 QTH: MA
 Operating Time (hrs): 40
 Radios: SO2R
 Summary:
  Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
 160:    267    17       77
  80:    655    27      101
  40:    979    34      134
  20:   1691    34      146
  15:    202    24       87
  10:     36    11       25
 Total: 3830   147      570  Total Score = 7,769,412
 Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

I wanted to do the contest, but didn’t do the mental prep work to commit for a full effort.  I “quit” for the first time after just 4 hours.  But, as always, the contest and online scoreboard sucked me in. 

Didn’t hurt that the weather outside was raining and cold. That meant no line noise for most of the contest, but we did have severe rain static on Sunday afternoon. Part of my 40m run during that time was listening on a dipole that was up 30 feet.

Slept 90 mins the first night.  Then 3 hours early Sat evening and then another 90 mins before sunrise.

There were no other daytime bands besides 20m so spent most of my time there.  Lots of spot chasing on the second radio.

That was surely the best 160m conditions we have ever had for a WW CW. I had some short runs to Eu both nights.  Sat night the signal levels were great and there was NO noise.  Even the last hour had good signals from Eu.  Sure never expected to have a better line score on 160 than on 15!

As good as 80m was at Eu sunrise, what happened to 40m?  It was empty even as I worked Europeans on 160 and 80 well past their sunrise.

15 opened very early both mornings, then faded, and then came back as sunset passed the eastern stations.  Glad I got most of my mults on Sat, because was not as good on Sun morning.

Never felt loud all weekend.  And never had the really big rates, but it was always interesting and entertaining.  Had to keep reminding myself not to fall into DXing.  Rate is king in this contest!

The list of broken stuff keeps getting longer.  No rotatable antenna on 15m. Direction indicator on the tribander is out. Tri-bander showed high SWR on 20m Sunday (never had that before).  20m stack system has a control cable short somewhere. 40m antenna is intermittent on receive due to corrosion at the feedpoint…  I should have addressed all this during the nice Summer and Fall weather, but what’s the fun in that?

I did record the contest if anyone wants to hear something.

Thanks to everyone who traveled to give out a multiplier.  I have never had anywhere close to 140 countries on a band as a single op – and half the world was out of range due to propagation.  Missed zones 23, 24,28 and 34.

Numbers

QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band
 Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off
 0000Z  --+--   --+--   47/54   38/27   --+--   --+--   85/81     85/81  
 0100Z    -      2/3   126/24    3/3      -       -    131/30    216/111 
 0200Z    -     29/28   85/15     -       -       -    114/43    330/154 
 0300Z    -     49/19   65/3      -       -       -    114/22    444/176 
 0400Z    -     64/12   22/13     -       -       -     86/25    530/201  15
 0500Z  66/53    6/1     7/3      -       -       -     79/57    609/258 
 0600Z  67/4    47/7     6/5     3/3      -       -    123/19    732/277 
 0700Z  16/12   65/13    1/0      -       -       -     82/25    814/302 
 0800Z   6/6    11/9    45/9     6/9    --+--   --+--   68/33    882/335 
 0900Z    -      2/3     9/3     8/7      -       -     19/13    901/348  35
 1000Z    -       -      2/0      -       -       -      2/0     903/348  60
 1100Z   1/1     4/0     7/3    98/23    3/6      -    113/33   1016/381 
 1200Z    -       -       -    186/14    8/13     -    194/27   1210/408 
 1300Z    -       -       -    175/3    18/18     -    193/21   1403/429 
 1400Z    -       -       -    165/6    25/19     -    190/25   1593/454 
 1500Z    -       -       -    128/10   42/8     1/2   171/20   1764/474 
 1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   43/35   22/18    4/8    69/61   1833/535 
 1700Z    -       -       -    111/2    18/9     4/2   133/13   1966/548 
 1800Z    -       -       -     64/12    4/5    17/16   85/33   2051/581 
 1900Z    -       -       -     13/1     3/2     3/3    19/6    2070/587 
 2000Z    -       -    111/1     4/4      -      1/1   116/6    2186/593 
 2100Z    -      3/1   138/1     8/3      -       -    149/5    2335/598 
 2200Z    -      7/5    48/16    3/0      -       -     58/21   2393/619 
 2300Z   6/2    22/6     9/6     4/0      -       -     41/14   2434/633 
 0000Z   2/1    11/3    --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   13/4    2447/637  47
 0100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2447/637  60
 0200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2447/637  60
 0300Z   6/3    26/2     1/1      -       -       -     33/6    2480/643  28
 0400Z   3/3    82/7    11/1      -       -       -     96/11   2576/654 
 0500Z  24/4    86/2      -       -       -       -    110/6    2686/660 
 0600Z  39/1    51/3     2/1      -       -       -     92/5    2778/665 
 0700Z  19/4    48/1     3/0      -       -       -     70/5    2848/670 
 0800Z  --+--   14/0     1/0    --+--   --+--   --+--   15/0    2863/670  43
 0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2863/670  60
 1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2863/670  60
 1100Z    -      6/1    13/2    42/2      -       -     61/5    2924/675   6
 1200Z    -       -      4/2    90/5     2/1      -     96/8    3020/683 
 1300Z    -       -       -    124/1     2/0      -    126/1    3146/684 
 1400Z    -       -       -    113/0    11/3     2/1   126/4    3272/688 
 1500Z    -       -       -     83/1    22/3      -    105/4    3377/692 
 1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   88/2     3/2     1/2    92/6    3469/698 
 1700Z    -       -       -     71/2     8/0      -     79/2    3548/700 
 1800Z    -       -      3/0     4/1     4/1     1/1    12/3    3560/703 
 1900Z    -       -     11/0     7/2      -      2/0    20/2    3580/705  30
 2000Z    -       -     56/3     3/1     3/1      -     62/5    3642/710 
 2100Z    -      1/0    81/0     5/1     4/2      -     91/3    3733/713 
 2200Z   3/0    12/0    55/2     1/0      -       -     71/2    3804/715 
 2300Z   9/0     7/2    10/0      -       -       -     26/2    3830/717  15
 Total:267/94  655/128 979/168 1691/180 202/111 36/36 

Best 60 mins: 208 starting @ 23-Nov-2019 12:45

Worked on 6 bands:

PJ4K VE3EJ 6V7A 8P5A 8R1/AG6UT D4C HI3CC P40W PJ2T PZ5W TI7W V26K V47T

Lots of 5-banders that covered 160-15m.

              WAE DX Contest, RTTY - 2019

 Call: K5ZD
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Class: Single Op HP
 Operating Time (hrs): 10.3
 Summary:
  Band  QSOs    QTCs  Mults
    80:  109      30    128
    40:  199     230    168
    20:  223     670    124
    15:   42      60     34
    10:    0       0      0
 Total:  573     990    454  Total Score = 709,602

 Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Always fun to have the opportunity to receive QTCs instead of just send them.

Conditions on 20m both mornings were very good.

Only used one radio for this one. Just playing around.

Rates

QSO/DXCC by hour and band
 Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime
 D1-1200Z    -       -     45/26     -       -     45/26     45/26  
 D1-1300Z    -       -     52/28     -       -     52/28     97/54  
 D1-1400Z    -       -      3/2      -       -      3/2     100/56     58
 D1-1500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     100/56     60
 D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     100/56     60
 D1-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     100/56     60
 D1-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     100/56     60
 D1-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     100/56     60
 D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     100/56     60
 D1-2100Z    -       -     13/20     -       -     13/20    113/76     51
 D1-2200Z    -     71/102  10/12     -       -     81/114   194/190 
 D1-2300Z    -     18/9      -       -       -     18/9     212/199    40
 D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     212/199    60
 D2-0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     212/199    60
 D2-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     212/199    60
 D2-0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     212/199    60
 D2-0400Z  42/80    1/0      -       -       -     43/80    255/279    17
 D2-0500Z  23/28   21/15     -       -       -     44/43    299/322 
 D2-0600Z   8/4    21/6      -       -       -     29/10    328/332    19
 D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     328/332    60
 D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     328/332    60
 D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     328/332    60
 D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     328/332    60
 D2-1100Z    -      2/3    29/10     -       -     31/13    359/345    18
 D2-1200Z    -       -     51/6     1/2      -     52/8     411/353 
 D2-1300Z    -       -       -     39/28     -     39/28    450/381    29
 D2-1400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     450/381    60
 D2-1500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     450/381    60
 D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     450/381    60
 D2-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     450/381    60
 D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     450/381    60
 D2-1900Z    -       -      7/10    1/2      -      8/12    458/393    49
 D2-2000Z    -       -      6/4     1/2      -      7/6     465/399    50
 D2-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     465/399    60
 D2-2200Z    -     35/15    7/6      -       -     42/21    507/420    14
 D2-2300Z  36/16   30/18     -       -       -     66/34    573/454 
 Total:   109/128 199/168 223/124  42/34    0/0

Log checking report:

Final score after log checking applied:
 Band     QSOs    QTCs    Mul
 80 m     109      29     128    Lost: 
 40 m     198     225     168    Lost: 
 20 m     222     663     124    Lost: 
 15 m      40      58      34    Lost: 
 10 m       0       0       0    Lost: 
Total     569     975     454 ==>   700.976

The score reduction in percent is: -1.22%

                   ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW 

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Class: Single Op HP
Operating Time (hrs): 19.8

Summary:   
Band       QSOs
--------------- 
160:          0
 80:        275
 40:        485
 20:        355
 15:         38
 10:          0
--------------- 
Total:     1153   Sections   83   Total Score     191,398
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

My 43rd consecutive year with more than 1000 QSOs in SS CW!

After 8400 QSOs in WW SSB last weekend, it was hard to get motivated to do the slow rates of SSCW. Focused on continuing my streak – now 43 consecutive years with more than 1000 QSOs in SS CW!

Put the station back together on Friday afternoon. Some of it had been disassembled for the trip down to V4 for CQWW. Also discovered high SWR on the 80m 4-square. Turned out to be a broken wire at one of the feed points. Easily repaired.

Contest started OK, but it felt like activity was not as high as in past years. This really showed up when rates slowed late Sat evening.

Sunday was the usual grind with everyone on 20m. Would go 7 minutes with no answer and then get 3 in a row.

Still one of my favorite contests due to the need to actually copy info. Always a thrill to get all of the info from a weak station in one pass. Mixed with the agony of needing just one thing and the guy sending his whole exchange again, only to miss that one thing again…

Thanks to everyone who got on. Special thanks to KV0I for NE, N5NA for WTX, N7IV for ND, and VY1AAA for NWT.

Had to end early to pick my wife up at the airport. I didn’t mind missing the end… it was getting slow. 🙂

Station

K3 + AL-1200
K3 + AL-1500

80m: 4 square, dipole
40m: 40-2CD @110′
20m: 205CA @100′
15m: 155ca @66′

WriteLog v12.43B

QSO/Sec by hour and band
 Hour       80      40      20      15     Total     Cumm    OffTime
 D1-2100Z    -      1/1    75/33   15/8    91/42     91/42  
 D1-2200Z    -     36/8    63/11     -     99/19    190/61  
 D1-2300Z    -     72/10   12/1      -     84/11    274/72  
 D2-0000Z  15/1    68/2    --+--   --+--   83/3     357/75  
 D2-0100Z  63/1    21/1      -       -     84/2     441/77  
 D2-0200Z  52/1    29/0      -       -     81/1     522/78  
 D2-0300Z  15/1    62/0      -       -     77/1     599/79  
 D2-0400Z  36/0    32/0      -       -     68/0     667/79  
 D2-0500Z  25/1    24/0      -       -     49/1     716/80  
 D2-0600Z   1/0    13/0      -       -     14/0     730/80     40
 D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     730/80     60
 D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     730/80     60
 D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     730/80     60
 D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     730/80     60
 D2-1100Z  32/1    12/0      -       -     44/1     774/81      6
 D2-1200Z  16/0    24/1      -       -     40/1     814/82  
 D2-1300Z   1/0    29/0     6/0      -     36/0     850/82  
 D2-1400Z    -     24/0    20/0      -     44/0     894/82  
 D2-1500Z    -     16/0    20/1      -     36/1     930/83  
 D2-1600Z  --+--    3/0    19/0     3/0    25/0     955/83     30
 D2-1700Z    -       -     24/0    16/0    40/0     995/83  
 D2-1800Z    -      1/0    39/0     2/0    42/0    1037/83  
 D2-1900Z    -       -      5/0      -      5/0    1042/83     53
 D2-2000Z    -      5/0    14/0     2/0    21/0    1063/83     30
 D2-2100Z    -      5/0    35/0      -     40/0    1103/83  
 D2-2200Z    -      2/0     3/0      -      5/0    1108/83     52
 D2-2300Z   4/0     6/0    19/0      -     29/0    1137/83     11
 D3-0000Z  15/0    --+--    1/0    --+--   16/0    1153/83     30
 D3-0100Z    -       -       -       -      0/0    1153/83     60
 D3-0200Z    -       -       -       -      0/0    1153/83     60
 D3-0300Z    -       -       -       -      0/0    1153/83     60
 Total:   275/6   485/23  355/46   38/8

Call: V47T
Operator(s): K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 44

Summary:   
Band       QSOs Zones Countries
 160:        51   13    33
 80:        525   17    67
 40:       1930   28   100
 20:       2501   27    99
 15:       3156   27   104
 10:        126   16    45
Total:     8389  128   448  Total Score     11,604,672
Club: None

Comments

Doing a competitive SOAB in CQWW SSB has been a dream of mine. Amazingly lucky to go from a seat request on the cq-contest reflector a few weeks ago to fulfilling that dream from V47T.

The original plan was to do MS with NP4Z, but Felipe ran into some work conflicts and offered me the chance to do a single op. N2NT and NP4Z had planned a trip to do station repairs. I felt like a rock star when they picked me up at the airport and helped get everything set up for the contest! It was lonely when they left for home on Wed. Gave me some time to enjoy the beach and drive around the island.

The station is on a hilltop at about 1000 feet ASL. It is a steep drop toward Europe down to the ocean about a mile away. Not bad to USA either. It requires an AWD vehicle to reach the station.

There a million stories and comments I could report but will have to wait for another day. Still in recovery mode.

Slept 3 hours Sun morning. Rates were getting slow and I knew I would need it to push through another day of QSO making on the high bands.

Was completely isolated in a concrete bunker for the weekend with a single window to see if it was daylight or dark. For 48+ hours I did not think about anything except where the next QSO was coming from.

A bit disappointed with the mults, but conditions just weren’t open very deep. So went with a run at all times strategy. Never heard zones 19, 23, 24, 29, or 34.

Hilltops on islands in the Caribbean rock.

Amazing all the activity that shows up on the bands during CQWW. Thank you all for making it the best radio weekend of the year. And again, thanks to N2NT and NP4Z for use of the station and V44KAI for local support.

• 

• 

• 

Some numbers…

QSOs by Continent/Band

      160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %     
NA     130    404   1179   1665   1572     42    4992    59.5 
SA       4     14     42     33     41     26     160     1.9 
EU      15     96    647    740   1480     45    3023    36.0 
AF       1      6     10      9     18     11      55     0.7 
AS       0      2     27     48     30      2     109     1.3 
OC       0      3     25      6     14      0      48     0.6

Best 60 mins: 336  starting @ 26-Oct-2019 15:32

Six banders:
8P5A D4C FY5KE K1TTT K3LR KC1XX KP2M N2IC N4WW OM7M PZ5K V49V VE3EJ W3LPL

Worked 3084 stations only once! Total of 5565 different calls.

Top 10 countries worked:
          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
 
     K     101    344   1078   1537   1431     25    4516
    DL       1     11     89     95    243            439
     I       1      6     70     87    205     14     383
    VE      11     32     75     99    112      2     331
     G              3     40     57    132            232
    EA       1      6     46     37    113     11     214
    F        1      2     43     39     98      2     185
    UA       1     11     39     73     47            171
    PA              3     23     37     61            124
    SP              6     37     22     56            121

                CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY - 2019
 Call: K5ZD
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Class: SOAB HP
 Operating Time (hrs): 14.4
 Radios: SO2R
 Summary:
  Band  QSOs  State/Prov  DX   Zones
    80:  174       34      27    11
    40:  326       36      45    15
    20:  795       43      66    23
    15:   78       16      23    12
    10:    2        2       1     1
 Total: 1375      131     162    62  Total Score = 1,045,120
 Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Casual effort. Back and shoulder injury made it hard to stay in chair for long stints.

Conditions were not the best.  Thought 15m might open a few times, but it would just tease with a few QSOs and then be dead again. Was able to work some Europeans on 80, but it was hard. Signals sounded a bit hollow.

Amazing activity on 20m. I heard RTTY all the way up to 14152!

This is always one of the my favorite contests.  Since I was in and out, I enjoyed watching
the contestonlinescoreboard and trying to catch whoever was in front of me.

Hard to get much extra rate doing dual CQ when only one band is open at a time.

Some numbers:

QSO/Zn+Dx+St by hour and band
 Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime
 D1-0000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-0100Z   3/6    45/33   20/23     -       -     68/62     68/62      6
 D1-0200Z  42/24   60/18     -       -       -    102/42    170/104    11
 D1-0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     170/104    60
 D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/104    60
 D1-1200Z   1/0    15/5    70/26    2/4      -     88/35    258/139    16
 D1-1300Z    -      8/3    82/19    1/3     1/3    92/28    350/167    15
 D1-1400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     350/167    60
 D1-1500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     350/167    60
 D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     350/167    60
 D1-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     350/167    60
 D1-1800Z    -       -     32/12   10/13     -     42/25    392/192    26
 D1-1900Z    -       -     57/15   22/10     -     79/25    471/217     9
 D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D1-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D1-2200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D1-2300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     471/217    60
 D2-0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D2-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D2-0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     471/217    60
 D2-0400Z  42/21   24/7      -       -       -     66/28    537/245     5
 D2-0500Z  15/4     8/2      -       -       -     23/6     560/251    43
 D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     560/251    60
 D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     560/251    60
 D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     560/251    60
 D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     560/251    60
 D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     560/251    60
 D2-1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     560/251    60
 D2-1200Z   5/1    43/5    50/4      -       -     98/10    658/261    14
 D2-1300Z    -     24/2    91/3     9/10     -    124/15    782/276 
 D2-1400Z    -       -     90/1    17/5      -    107/6     889/282 
 D2-1500Z    -       -     17/2     4/0      -     21/2     910/284    48
 D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--    8/1     2/1    --+--   10/2     920/286    49
 D2-1700Z    -       -     87/7     5/4      -     92/11   1012/297 
 D2-1800Z    -       -     90/6     2/1      -     92/7    1104/304 
 D2-1900Z    -       -     66/10    1/0      -     67/10   1171/314 
 D2-2000Z    -       -     23/2     2/0      -     25/2    1196/316    38
 D2-2100Z    -      2/0     3/0     1/0      -      6/0    1202/316    52
 D2-2200Z   9/6    75/17    9/1      -       -     93/24   1295/340 
 D2-2300Z  57/10   22/4      -       -      1/1    80/15   1375/355 
 Total:   174/72  326/96  795/132  78/51    2/4

Call: K5ZD
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Station: K5ZD
 Class: Single Op HP
 QTH: MA
 Operating Time (hrs): 25
 Radios: SO2R
 Summary:
 Band   QSOs  QTCs  Mults
 80:     204    40   156
 40:     362   459   123
 20:     752   910    94
 15:     181    80    72
 10:      4      0     8
 Total: 1503  1489   453  Total Score = 1,355,376
 Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

I turned 60 on Saturday of the contest. Enjoyed the good conditions and working almost 1000 QSOs. Then it got noisy and the activity went away.  Too slow on Sunday!

Very strong CR6K on 10m Sat morning. Tried calling CQ but only one answer from EF5Y. Still, never expected to work EU on 10m.

This was my first true attempt at automated 2BSIQ (dual CQ).  WriteLog has great automation to help, but sometimes the operator just couldn’t keep up.  Sorry for those I didn’t work while trying to unscramble the log.

Lots of QSB on signals.  A guy would call and be loud, then be weak when he sent his report.  Had to ask for a lot of repeats.  Even worse Sat evening on the low bands when the QRN was higher.

Was fun to watch the scoreboard and chase N6MJ, KO7SS, and AA3B all weekend. Kept me in the chair much longer than I had intended.

I think this contest would be more fun on the receiving side of QTCs… The only challenge for the sender is carefully picking guys who are loud and can copy the code.

Thanks to my family for letting me spend a beautiful summer day playing radio. And thanks to N1PGA for helping me fix the 80m 4-square and 15m beam the days before the contest.

Rates:

QSO/DXCC by hour and band
 Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime
 D1-0000Z  --+--   89/66   18/22   --+--   --+--  107/88    107/88  
 D1-0100Z  59/92    9/6     8/6      -       -     76/104   183/192 
 D1-0200Z  55/20   29/21     -       -       -     84/41    267/233 
 D1-0300Z  28/24   19/12     -       -       -     47/36    314/269 
 D1-0400Z   6/0    36/9      -       -       -     42/9     356/278 
 D1-0500Z   2/0    23/3      -       -       -     25/3     381/281    27
 D1-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     381/281    60
 D1-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     381/281    60
 D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     381/281    60
 D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     381/281    60
 D1-1000Z    -       -     81/32     -       -     81/32    462/313     7
 D1-1100Z    -       -     80/8    51/24     -    131/32    593/345 
 D1-1200Z    -       -     68/4    46/24    2/4   116/32    709/377 
 D1-1300Z    -       -     28/6    36/8      -     64/14    773/391 
 D1-1400Z    -       -     41/2     1/0      -     42/2     815/393 
 D1-1500Z    -       -     31/0     1/0      -     32/0     847/393    36
 D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--    1/2    --+--   --+--    1/2     848/395    60
 D1-1700Z    -       -     46/4    13/6      -     59/10    907/405    14
 D1-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     907/405    60
 D1-1900Z    -       -     69/0      -       -     69/0     976/405     1
 D1-2000Z    -       -     50/2      -       -     50/2    1026/407 
 D1-2100Z    -       -     15/0      -       -     15/0    1041/407 
 D1-2200Z    -     48/0     6/0      -       -     54/0    1095/407    60
 D1-2300Z   7/4    26/0     4/0      -       -     37/4    1132/411 
 D2-0000Z  17/0    14/0    --+--   --+--   --+--   31/0    1163/411     5
 D2-0100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1163/411    60
 D2-0200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1163/411    60
 D2-0300Z  12/8     7/0      -       -       -     19/8    1182/419    31
 D2-0400Z   1/0    12/3      -       -       -     13/3    1195/422    35
 D2-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1195/422    60
 D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1195/422    60
 D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1195/422    60
 D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1195/422    60
 D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1195/422    60
 D2-1000Z    -       -     29/0      -       -     29/0    1224/422    22
 D2-1100Z    -       -     41/0      -       -     41/0    1265/422 
 D2-1200Z    -       -     18/4    10/4     2/4    30/12   1295/434 
 D2-1300Z    -       -       -      3/0      -      3/0    1298/434     9
 D2-1400Z    -       -     20/2     7/2      -     27/4    1325/438    60
 D2-1500Z    -       -      5/0     2/0      -      7/0    1332/438    49
 D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1332/438    60
 D2-1700Z    -       -     14/0     2/2      -     16/2    1348/440    37
 D2-1800Z    -       -     38/0     9/2      -     47/2    1395/442 
 D2-1900Z    -       -     19/0      -       -     19/0    1414/442    30
 D2-2000Z    -       -      4/0      -       -      4/0    1418/442    60
 D2-2100Z    -     27/0    17/0      -       -     44/0    1462/442 
 D2-2200Z    -     10/3      -       -       -     10/3    1472/445 
 D2-2300Z  17/8    13/0     1/0      -       -     31/8    1503/453 
 Total:   204/156 362/123 752/94  181/72    4/8

Final Results

Single-OP High 
Place  Call     QSOs  Multi  QTCs    Result  Deduction  Club
 1     P33W    2 465   576   2474   2844864   -0.4%     LZ Contest Team
 2     EF8R    2 329   527   2237   2406282   -0.8%     EA CONTEST CLUB
 3     UP0L    2 069   481   2070   1990859   -0.8%   
 4     RG9A    1 812   507   1836   1849536   -1.2%     South Ural Contest Club
 5     N6MJ    1 927   466   1945   1804352   -0.5%     SCCC
 6     RM9I    1 849   472   1848   1744984   -0.6%   
 7     R8TT    1 664   483   1637   1594383   -1.6%     RUSSIAN CONTEST CLUB
 8     PZ5CO   1 557   512   1360   1493504   -1.4%   
 9     KD4D    1 521   452   1530   1379052   -0.5%     Potomac Valley Radio Club
 10    AA3B    1 528   449   1528   1372144   -0.7%     FRANKFORD RADIO CLUB
 11    K5ZD    1 482   453   1489   1345863   -0.7%     Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: SOABMixed HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 16.7
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Zones  HQ Mults
  160:    45     1      8        7
   80:   164    25     15       25
   40:   411   111     24       30
   20:   716   483     28       32
   15:   321    62     19       24
   10:   125    16      9       10
Total:  1782   698    103      128   Total Score = 1,722,336
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

That was fun! 

I had a flight to catch Sunday morning so I knew I would miss the last hour of the contest.  But, wanted to see if I could collect some good WRTC qualifying points.  Figured I would start and then have the option to continue or quit depending on conditions.

Conditions were interesting.  Fun to hear the loud Eu HQ stations come in at various times on E-skip on 10 and 15m.

Had dual CQ going for awhile on 15/20 and that really helped the rates and fun factor. When EU got loud on 20 CW, I went to SSB and had a great run.  Really needed the points as the first few hours were mostly 1 pointers from zone 8.

Don’t really have enough antenna to do well on 40m.  And it was noisy so couldn’t try dual CQ.

Never heard a JA all weekend.  Was running a lot so didn’t tune as much as I probably should have.

160m was interesting.  Some guys could hear and some could not. I did have a small run which produced a number of multipliers.

Finally decided that sleep would be more beneficial than grinding out the wee hours.  From the scoreboard, that may have cost me 200-300 QSOs.

Best motivation was chasing VA2WA on the scoreboard. Almost caught him a few times and then his multiplier would jump.  I soon suspected he was probably using the cluster, but it was still fun to chase him and others.  Great job by AA3B and W1KM on CW.

Some antenna issues that will need to be diagnosed. The top 15m beam would not turn so was stuck west all weekend. That left me trying to run guys with the low antenna at 33′. The 40m beam continues to be intermittent at the feed point.

Thanks to all for the QSOs.

QSO/ZN+HQ by hour and band
 Hour   160M     80M    40M     20M     15M    10M       Total     Cumm   Off
 1200Z    -       -     20/7   107/13   15/10     -      142/30    142/30
 1300Z    -       -       -     21/0    64/7    56/8     141/15    283/45
 1400Z    -       -       -     49/2    62/4    13/2     124/8     407/53
 1500Z    -       -       -    114/3    69/3      -      183/6     590/59
 1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  150/13   22/3    --+--    172/16    762/75
 1700Z    -       -       -     84/4    18/1      -      102/5     864/80
 1800Z    -       -       -    137/2    23/5      -      160/7    1024/87
 1900Z    -       -       -    113/5      -     52/8     165/13   1189/100
 2000Z    -       -       -     77/3    63/6    15/0     155/9    1344/109
 2100Z    -       -       -    163/2    19/2      -      182/4    1526/113
 2200Z    -       -       -    135/3      -      2/1     137/4    1663/117
 2300Z    -       -     63/16   18/2    13/0     3/0      97/18   1760/135 36
 0000Z  --+--   26/14  142/9    --+--   --+--   --+--    168/23   1928/158
 0100Z  28/12    9/2    93/9      -       -       -      130/23   2058/181
 0200Z   1/1    82/12   92/6      -       -       -      175/19   2233/200
 0300Z  14/1    64/9    20/2     3/2      -       -      101/14   2334/214
 0400Z    -       -      3/0    14/4      -       -       17/4    2351/218 45
 0500Z   3/1     8/3    66/3     3/1      -       -       80/8    2431/226 25
 0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -        0/0    2431/226 60
 0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -        0/0    2431/226 60
 0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--      0/0    2431/226 60
 0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -        0/0    2431/226 60
 1000Z    -       -      6/0    11/1    15/2      -       49/5    2480/231 12
 1100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -        0/0    2480/231 60
 Total: 46/15  189/40  522/54 1199/60  383/43  141/19

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD 
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 30 
Radios: SO2R  
Band     QSOs   Mults
160:     239     71
80:      548     90
40:      911    110
20:     1291    116
15:      404     89
10:        3      2
Total:   3396   478  Total Score     4,869,864
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Best low band conditions ever!  Amazed to have 62 countries on 160 in just the first night! No QRN.  Must have been quiet in Europe too because was able to call and have guys respond on the first try.

Various antenna and equipment problems continue to indicate the need for more station maintenance.  Couldn’t access the stack on 15m so did most of my work on the 5-ele at 33′.  Alpha 76CA started making a burning smell so my wife made me turn it off.  Switched in the backup AL-1200, but it had a relay problem so wouldn’t always hear well after transmitting.

Missed some great hours on Sat afternoon while building bedroom furniture for my daughter.

Heard 4 stations on 10m and managed to work 3 of them.  It was stone cold dead.

Fun having the cluster spots so I could chase DX between running. Also nice to have the scoreboard going to keep up the motivation.

No excuses.  Had a blast and more than exceeded my goals.

Thanks to everyone around the world who hunt for W/VE QSOs all weekend.

By Continent:

      160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      % 
NA      21     27     41     41     27      0     157     4.6  
SA       9     11     30     32     36      3     121     3.6  
OC       3      7     21     12      5      0      48     1.4  
EU     201    488    782   1138    326      0    2935    86.4  
AF       4      7     17     17      8      0      53     1.6 
AS       1      8     20     51      2      0      82     2.4 

Rate:
QSO/DX by hour and band

Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off
0000Z  --+--   --+--   78/31   10/8    --+--   --+--   88/39     88/39  
0100Z    -     86/24   42/29    1/0      -       -    129/53    217/92  
0200Z    -     90/23   40/11     -       -       -    130/34    347/126 
0300Z  54/34   31/14    1/0      -       -       -     86/48    433/174 
0400Z  25/10   68/12    1/0      -       -       -     94/22    527/196 
0500Z  48/13    9/3    53/5      -       -       -    110/21    637/217 
0600Z  20/5    18/0    20/3      -       -       -     58/8     695/225 
0700Z    -      9/1     3/0      -       -       -     12/1     707/226   50
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     707/226   60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     707/226   60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     707/226   60
1100Z    -      1/0     4/3    34/15     -       -     39/18    746/244   43
1200Z    -       -      3/3   198/20     -       -    201/23    947/267 
1300Z    -       -       -    178/14   43/22     -    221/36   1168/303 
1400Z    -       -       -     32/18   95/16     -    127/34   1295/337 
1500Z    -       -       -      3/1     2/2      -      5/3    1300/340   54
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  128/1     9/7     1/1   138/9    1438/349    2
1700Z    -       -       -     85/8    28/19     -    113/27   1551/376    3
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1551/376   60
1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1551/376   60
2000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1551/376   60
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1551/376   60
2200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1551/376   60
2300Z    -     38/1    16/2     6/1      -       -     60/4    1611/380   24
0000Z  --+--   46/1    59/5    --+--   --+--   --+--  105/6    1716/386 
0100Z   7/1    30/4    56/3      -       -       -     93/8    1809/394 
0200Z  45/3     6/3    12/2      -       -       -     63/8    1872/402 
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1872/402   60
0400Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1872/402   60
0500Z  10/1      -      1/1      -       -       -     11/2    1883/404   51
0600Z  11/3    69/1     7/4      -       -       -     87/8    1970/412 
0700Z   8/0    24/0    92/1      -       -       -    124/1    2094/413 
0800Z  --+--    3/2   116/1    --+--   --+--   --+--  119/3    2213/416    6
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2213/416   60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2213/416   60
1100Z    -      1/0     7/0     5/2      -       -     13/2    2226/418   46
1200Z    -      1/1      -    153/2    15/4      -    169/7    2395/425 
1300Z    -       -       -     36/7   127/7      -    163/14   2558/439 
1400Z    -       -       -     67/3    52/3      -    119/6    2677/445 
1500Z    -       -       -    141/0     8/3      -    149/3    2826/448 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  101/1     5/1     2/1   108/3    2934/451 
1700Z    -       -       -     43/3     6/2      -     49/5    2983/456 
1800Z    -       -      1/0      -      2/1      -      3/1    2986/457   55
1900Z    -       -     10/1    17/5    12/2      -     39/8    3025/465   21
2000Z    -       -    108/0    12/5      -       -    120/5    3145/470 
2100Z    -       -    105/3    10/0      -       -    115/3    3260/473 
2200Z    -      2/0    63/0    19/2      -       -     84/2    3344/475 
2300Z  11/1    16/0    13/2    12/0      -       -     52/3    3396/478 
Tot:  239/71  548/90 911/110 1291/116 404/89    3/2  

Best 60 mins: 226 (a wall of Eu calling the first morning)
Worked on 6 bands: None!
Worked on 5 bands: 101!!

                     CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW - 2019
  
 Call: K5ZD
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Station: K5ZD
  
 Class: Single Op HP
 QTH: W1
 Operating Time (hrs): 11.7
  
 Summary:
 Total:  QSOs = 1045  State/Prov = 55  Countries = 57  Total Score = 490,672
  
 Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club 

Comments:

That was entertaining!  Only worked a few hours the first night. Band did not seem good for working DX.  When the USA rate slowed down, I hit the sack.

Made a few QSOs at sunrise on Sat morning, but band still did not sound good.

Got back on Sat night around 0015z and things sounded much better.  The big gun Europeans were much louder. Had better than expected rate with some DX thrown in so kept operating.  Ended up making 700 contacts over the next 8 hours.

Was watching the online scoreboard and that kept me motivated to keep pushing. Especially as those 10 point QSOs accelerated the score.

Band was amazingly quiet both nights.  Worked a lot of very very weak Europeans. Fun!

Never heard SD, NE, KH6 or KL7.  Missed a number of VE provinces as well.  OA4DX was loud, but CQed in my face.  That was the best DX heard and missed. 4X2M was the “best” DX worked.

Station:

Elecraft K3 + Alpha 76CA
1/4-wave elevated GP with 6 radials
90′ shunt fed tower with 32 radials

QSOs By Continent:

            160   Total      %
  
     NA     783     783    74.9
     SA       5       5     0.5
     EU     249     249    23.8
     AF       6       6     0.6
     AS       2       2     0.2

Rates:

QSO/Sec+Dx by hour and band
  
  Hour      160    Total     Cumm     Off
  
 D1-1800Z    -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-1900Z    -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-2000Z    -      0/0       0/0      60
 D1-0100Z  94/34   94/34     94/34     30
 D1-0200Z 148/12  148/12    242/46  
 D1-0300Z  86/14   86/14    328/60  
 D1-0400Z  48/0    48/0     376/60     24
 D1-0500Z    -      0/0     376/60     60
 D1-0600Z    -      0/0     376/60     60
 D1-0700Z    -      0/0     376/60     60
 D1-0800Z  --+--    0/0     376/60     60
 D1-0900Z    -      0/0     376/60     60
 D1-1000Z    -      0/0     376/60     60
 D1-1100Z  50/3    50/3     426/63     20
 D1-1200Z  50/0    50/0     476/63     15
 D1-1300Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-1400Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-1500Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-1600Z  --+--    0/0     476/63     60
 D1-1700Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-1800Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-1900Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-2000Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-2100Z    -      0/0     476/63     60
 D1-2200Z   3/0     3/0     479/63     58
 D1-2300Z    -      0/0     479/63     60
 D2-0000Z  77/18   77/18    556/81     14
 D2-0100Z  94/5    94/5     650/86  
 D2-0200Z  68/6    68/6     718/92  
 D2-0300Z 101/8   101/8     819/100 
 D2-0400Z  82/5    82/5     901/105 
 D2-0500Z  51/4    51/4     952/109 
 D2-0600Z  75/2    75/2    1027/111 
 D2-0700Z   1/1     1/1    1028/112    57
 D2-0800Z  --+--    0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-0900Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1000Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1100Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1200Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1300Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1400Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1500Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1600Z  --+--    0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1700Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1800Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-1900Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-2000Z    -      0/0    1028/112    60
 D2-2100Z  17/0    17/0    1045/112    30
  
 Total:  1045/112