2022 CQ WPX RTTY Contest AK1W

                    CQ WPX RTTY Contest - 2022

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

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 27.1
OpMode: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:  241
   40:  385
   20:  483
   15:  527
   10:   68
------------
Total: 1704  Prefixes = 733  Total Score = 3,360,072

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Bud AA3B has proven he can whip me in any RTTY contest so I was looking to try something different this year.  With the improving solar cycle, I was hoping the high bands would be good enough to support some fun operating as low power. Unfortunately, they weren’t that good.

Started 30 minutes late. The contest was a grind from the beginning. Very few sustained runs all weekend.  Spent a lot of time calling people.  Lots of guys CQed in my face.  Meant to stop before the end to watch the Super Bowl pre-game, but did that while operating.  Some good mults called in during the last hour on 40m.

It felt like activity was down, but you wouldn’t know it from the QRM on 20m. I know my station is very loud on 20m.  I couldn’t make a dent. Band was loaded from 14078 to 14150. Skip was short so the Europeans were having their own contest. I tried CQing high and low with no real success. Ended up calling a lot of guys.

Best part of the weekend was the openings to Japan.  15 meters was great both Sat and Sun evening. Even better on 15 than on 20.

As always, it was fun and motivating to watch the online scoreboard. The scores in WPX go up exponentially so when you get behind, it is hard to catch up!

Kudos and respect to all you guys that do RTTY contesting with 100 watts. I don’t think I have the patience for it.  🙂

Station

2x K3

80m: 4 square, dipole

40m: 40-2CD @110′, sloping diploe to west

20m: 205CA @100′/50′

15m: 155ca @66′/33′

10m: 6-el @ 90’

South: Th7DXX @ 40′

WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box

Rates

QSO/Pref by hour and band

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

D1-0000Z   5/4    15/15    1/1    --+--   --+--   21/20     21/20     30
D1-0100Z    -     36/30   32/29     -       -     68/59     89/79  
D1-0200Z  23/15   41/28    5/3      -       -     69/46    158/125 
D1-0300Z  28/12   66/39     -       -       -     94/51    252/176 
D1-0400Z  37/10   35/19     -       -       -     72/29    324/205 
D1-0500Z  31/12   20/7      -       -       -     51/19    375/224 
D1-0600Z  19/14   14/10    1/1      -       -     34/25    409/249 
D1-0700Z   2/2     1/0      -       -       -      3/2     412/251    52
D1-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     412/251    60
D1-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     412/251    60
D1-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     412/251    60
D1-1100Z   4/1     8/4    18/13     -       -     30/18    442/269    22
D1-1200Z    -      8/4    40/29   13/9      -     61/42    503/311     8
D1-1300Z    -      1/1      -      1/0      -      2/1     505/312    60
D1-1400Z    -      4/0    26/14   72/41     -    102/55    607/367 
D1-1500Z    -       -     26/12   53/26    4/1    83/39    690/406 
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--    8/3    29/14   16/7    53/24    743/430 
D1-1700Z    -       -      5/3    31/12   15/11   51/26    794/456 
D1-1800Z    -       -     20/11    7/1     1/1    28/13    822/469    31
D1-1900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     822/469    60
D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     822/469    60
D1-2100Z    -       -     38/11   25/14     -     63/25    885/494     9
D1-2200Z    -       -     16/10   28/19    9/1    53/30    938/524 
D1-2300Z    -       -      7/2     3/2      -     10/4     948/528    49
D2-0000Z  --+--    4/4     5/1    --+--   --+--    9/5     957/533    51
D2-0100Z  38/5    25/5     4/1      -       -     67/11   1024/544 
D2-0200Z  23/8    27/13     -       -       -     50/21   1074/565 
D2-0300Z   1/1     5/5      -       -       -      6/6    1080/571    46
D2-0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1080/571    60
D2-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1080/571    60
D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1080/571    60
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1080/571    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1080/571    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1080/571    60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1080/571    60
D2-1100Z  17/0     8/1     5/3      -       -     30/4    1110/575    22
D2-1200Z   7/2     6/1    31/15    2/0      -     46/18   1156/593 
D2-1300Z    -       -     28/11   19/9      -     47/20   1203/613 
D2-1400Z    -       -     12/2    69/24     -     81/26   1284/639 
D2-1500Z    -       -     15/6    56/14     -     71/20   1355/659 
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   11/2    47/9    --+--   58/11   1413/670 
D2-1700Z    -       -     34/9    27/4     3/1    64/14   1477/684 
D2-1800Z    -       -     33/8    11/4    14/5    58/17   1535/701 
D2-1900Z    -       -      7/2     9/0      -     16/2    1551/703    44
D2-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1551/703    60
D2-2100Z    -       -      6/0     2/2     4/2    12/4    1563/707    43
D2-2200Z    -      8/1    36/5    22/5     2/1    68/12   1631/719 
D2-2300Z   6/1    53/10   13/3     1/0      -     73/14   1704/733 

Total:   241/87  385/197 483/210 527/209  68/30

Best 60 mins: 102 starting at 12-Feb-2022 13:59

Worked on 5 bands:

9A1A CR3DX IT9MBZ K9CT KB9YOJ KY0W

2021 CQ WW Contest CW K5ZD

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2021

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

Class: SO(A)AB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 41.8
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  124    16       58
   80:  564    25       87
   40: 1323    32      112
   20: 1426    32      113
   15: 1115    29      115
   10:   77    19       38
------------------------------
Total: 4629   153      523  Total Score = 9,082,736

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
K5ZD in CQ WW CW 2021
K5ZD during CQ WW CW 2021

Comments

Another amazing CQ WW CW!  So much activity from so many interesting places.

In the days leading up to the contest, I was not sure which category I wanted to enter. I considered SO, and SOA, even QRP. In the end, I decided that having fun was the most important so Single Op All Band Assisted was the way to go.

The bands did not sound good at the start. I actually began the contest doing S&P on 80m, then on 40m. I finally landed on 3535 as a run frequency while making second radio QSOs on 40.

I got to 160 at the end of the second hour and found plenty of European signals. As usual, they were mostly working each other, but I got lucky with a few. At 0230 I finally made my first QSOs on 20 – with South Americans – before returning to 80m.

I just kept cycling through the bands. Trying to call CQ as much as possible while also chasing multipliers that were spotted. 160 continued to provide QSOs. I heard the other single ops CQing on 80 and figured I was probably losing out, but just didn’t seem to be able to get much going there. Besides, the goal was to have fun and working mults was fun!

The 05z hour was great on 40m working Europeans. This continued until about 0630z when the rate really slowed down. I managed to stay in the chair until 0840z when I decided it was now or never for grabbing some sleep. I have learned that taking a 90-minute nap during these slow pre-sunrise hours pays off during the high rate times as the high bands are opening.

I came back on a little earlier than I had intended at 1035z. 40m was still open to northern Europe! Worked two JAs on 80 ( a rare treat)! Got to 20m around 1100z and it was open, but not great. Tuned up the band calling stations for 20 minutes until I found a hole at 14037. Then it was off to the races! The pileup was incredible. I barely had time to chase a few multiplier spots on the second radio.

20 just kept going deeper and deeper with European and Asiatic Russians calling in. It really helps the scores when we get access to all the Russian activity.

I was able to squeeze in some second radio QSOs and mults on 15 meters during the 12 and 13 Zulu hours. This is where the second radio really pays off because I could know the band was open, but not quite enough to abandon 20. I finally made the jump at 1334z and enjoyed another great pileup. I tried a few minutes of CQing on both 20 and 15, but the pileups were too much (and my skills too limited) to pull it off.

The rate was so good, and there were so many mults on 20, that I didn’t even think of listening to 10m until 1449z where I heard CR6K and some other southern Europeans. It wasn’t great, but spent some time with the second radio since I wasn’t sure 10 would open again on Sunday. In the meantime, 15m just kept producing QSOs.

I finally got back to running on 20m around 1719z. Lots of Europeans went in the log while I also chased cluster spots on 15m.

By 19z I was worn out and hungry. Took a break to grab some food and stretch my legs. On returning, I tried a few CQs on 40 meters and was rewarded with a nice run of Europeans. This is a great time to be a W1 as we seem to have the band to ourselves while the rest of the USA is still on the higher bands.

By 2120z I hit my usual dilemma of having 20 and 40 on the same mast and rotator. Do I stay with 40m to Europe, or turn the beam toward Japan and go to 20. Again, with fun in mind, I took the choice to go to 20 and see what kind of Asian QSOs I could find. With the low beam to Europe and the top antenna to Japan, it resulted in a nice mix of QSOs. Plus the odd VK/ZL on LP calling in.

By 2300z things had slowed down and I was back to 40m. That didn’t produce so was forced down to 80. The contest halfway mark is always a low point. The rate slows down, you are tired, and you face the realization that there are still 24 more hours to go! Ugh. Time for some dinner.

The rates are slow and packet spots are starting to get a bit unruly. I decided some sleep would be good so took a nap during the 03z hour. It costs a few QSOs, but is well worth it in the mental health department. I came back on at 0400z and chased what I could find on the low bands.

I like to watch the contestonlinescores.com scoreboard during the contest. It has a mode where you can mix the SO and SOA scores together. Gives me more people to chase. I selected K1ZZ as the guy I wanted to use as my standard. I could see I was doing well, but not sure it was enough to win. Back to focusing on fun! Luckily, 80 and 40m kept producing some rate. 40m was amazingly good with Russians calling in well after their sunrise (sometimes 2.5-3 hours after). After a long run on 7022, I finally called it quits at 0745z to get some sleep.

Back on at 1105z my first contact was LA1MFA on 80m. Whoa. That was followed by VR2KW on 40m long path. He seemed to be the only one that could hear me in that direction. Then found ZM4T on 160. Great ears on his end. Those 3 QSOs are the way to wake up and get back in the game!

20m seemed a bit slower to open than it had on Saturday. Got a good run going around 1130z. Lots of Russians again. Second radio mult chasing on 15m during the 12z hour. I often like to stay on 20 a bit longer Sunday morning. Gives a chance to work more deep Russians while the QRM is down with most of Western Eu headed to 15m. I made the jump to run on 15m at 1303z. Big pileup!

10 meters opened earlier and better on Sunday morning. No rate, but different big guns from each country would show up and go in the log. All while still running on 15m. This continued until 1550z when I made the jump back down to 20m. The rate was excellent and gave me some time to “relax” a bit. <F1>, type call, <insert>, <+>. Repeat.

Around 1800z 20m started to lose its mojo. Band was open, but you run out of people to work. This provided lots of time to engage in some hard-core cluster pileups on Africans, South Americans, and the Caribbean. It’s like being locked in a cage match with the same dozen hyper-aggressive guys pileup after pileup.

After grinding it out for a few hours, it was time for one last push on 40m. The band produced more QSOs than expected and I was able to run almost to the end of the contest. One of the things I like about using the cluster is seeing JW7QIA spotted on 160m at 2300z and being able to work him! Then a few minutes later GM3POI for another 160 mult.

It is always fun to race to the end of the contest and see what the final score will be. My goal in the morning had been to get to 8 million. I then raised that to 8.5, By the end, I was pushing to see if I could clear the 9 million mark. And I did it! Amazing how quickly you forget all the pain and suffering of the early morning hours when you reach the end of the contest.

The CQWW is always an amazing experience. The activity levels and variety of DX are unmatched. Thanks to all that traveled to activate countries and improve all of our scores.

See you next year!

Recording

Audio recordings of the full operation are available here.

Station

K3 + AL-1200

K3 + AL-1500

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower

80m: 4 square, dipole

40m: 40-2CD @110′

20m: 205CA @100′/50′

15m: 155ca @66′/33′

10m: 6/4/4 @ 90’/60’/30′

WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box

Rate Sheet

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

0000Z  --+--   81/42   38/34   --+--   --+--   --+--  119/76    119/76  
0100Z  10/13   36/13   55/35     -       -       -    101/61    220/137 
0200Z  19/13   46/1    14/5     7/8      -       -     86/27    306/164 
0300Z  27/16   46/11   29/8      -       -       -    102/35    408/199 
0400Z  17/8    21/10   54/10     -       -       -     92/28    500/227 
0500Z  14/6     8/2   111/5      -       -       -    133/13    633/240 
0600Z   4/3    22/8    73/9      -       -       -     99/20    732/260 
0700Z   2/0    51/4    30/10    3/6      -       -     86/20    818/280 
0800Z   1/1    12/5     8/4    --+--   --+--   --+--   21/10    839/290  18
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     839/290  60
1000Z    -      8/4    15/2      -       -       -     23/6     862/296  36
1100Z    -      3/1     2/2   155/39     -       -    160/42   1022/338 
1200Z    -       -       -    182/9    17/23     -    199/32   1221/370 
1300Z    -       -       -     96/4   109/32     -    205/36   1426/406 
1400Z    -       -       -     13/14  175/5     4/8   192/27   1618/433 
1500Z    -       -       -      5/3   158/8     9/11  172/22   1790/455 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   13/7    84/27   18/11  115/45   1905/500 
1700Z    -       -       -    135/7    26/7     1/1   162/15   2067/515 
1800Z    -       -       -     49/3    19/11     -     68/14   2135/529  25
1900Z    -       -      3/2    22/15    5/4     5/6    35/27   2170/556  12
2000Z    -       -     98/2     6/3    10/5      -    114/10   2284/566 
2100Z    -       -     18/2    39/9     9/3      -     66/14   2350/580 
2200Z    -       -      8/2    39/5     4/0      -     51/7    2401/587 
2300Z    -     31/0    35/4      -       -       -     66/4    2467/591 
0000Z   2/1     7/5    --+--    1/1    --+--   --+--   10/7    2477/598  30
0100Z   6/2    31/2    25/4      -       -       -     62/8    2539/606 
0200Z   9/4     1/1    69/1      -       -       -     79/6    2618/612   3
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2618/612  60
0400Z    -     75/2    18/0      -       -       -     93/2    2711/614   2
0500Z   6/0    40/0    80/0      -       -       -    126/0    2837/614 
0600Z   1/1     9/0   131/0      -       -       -    141/1    2978/615 
0700Z   3/2     8/1    51/0      -       -       -     62/3    3040/618  13
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    3040/618  60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3040/618  60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3040/618  60
1100Z   1/2     1/0     2/2   111/0      -       -    115/4    3155/622   5
1200Z    -       -       -    170/0    17/2      -    187/2    3342/624 
1300Z    -       -       -     11/4   176/3     5/4   192/11   3534/635 
1400Z    -       -       -      6/4   153/4    10/5   169/13   3703/648 
1500Z    -       -       -     34/0   112/1    10/3   156/4    3859/652 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  159/0     3/2     3/2   165/4    4024/656 
1700Z    -       -       -     75/1     9/4     6/2    90/7    4114/663 
1800Z    -       -       -     24/0     6/0      -     30/0    4144/663  34
1900Z    -       -       -     47/0     7/0     4/2    58/2    4202/665 
2000Z    -       -     87/0     8/1     6/0      -    101/1    4303/666 
2100Z    -       -    105/0     1/0    10/3     2/2   118/5    4421/671 
2200Z    -       -     73/0    14/1      -       -     87/1    4508/672 
2300Z   2/2    27/0    91/1     1/1      -       -    121/4    4629/676 

Total:124/74 564/112 1323/144 1426/145 1115/144 77/57 

Best 60 minutes: 216 @ 27-Nov-2021 13:11 to 14:11

Worked on 6 bands (16 stations):

3B8M CR3W CR6K EA5RS EA6FO FY5KE M6T NP4Z P44W PJ2T PJ4A PJ4K TI7W TK0C TO7A XE2X

Worked on 5 bands (42 stations):

9G5FI CR3DX DH0GHU DR4A E7DX EA8RM ED7R ES9C EW5A F5FDC F6KOP G4BUO HA5PP HG6N HQ9X II9P IO3F KH7M LA8OM LN8W LT1F LZ9W NH7T OH0V OL3Z OQ5M PT4A PZ5CO RT4F RU1A SK3W TM2Y TM3R TM6M UF5D UT4U V26K VA2UR VE2IM VE6SV VP9I ZF1A

Most Worked Entities

        160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
  DL       6     76    202    220    182            686
  UA       4     36    109    133     34            316
   I       1     26     85     90     65            267
   G       4     16     45     55     83      2     205
  SP       5     30     59     60     45            199
  PA       2     16     48     70     60      1     197
   F       2     18     47     54     56      6     183
  UR       4     18     64     56     38            180
  EA       1     12     45     60     38      9     165
  OK       3     26     48     50     35            162
  VE      20     35     39     29     17      2     142
  HA       2     17     41     32     30      1     123

2021 ARRL Sweepstakes CW K5ZD

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

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 23.2
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  199
   40:  582
   20:  402
   15:   53
   10:    0
------------
Total: 1236  Sections = 84  Total Score = 207,648

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Exceeded my goal of 1000 QSOs.  45th consecutive year of doing so…

First 8 hours was truly fun.  The last 8 hours was not fun at all.

Lost my motivation on Sunday morning when it was so slow.  No matter what I tried, N2NT and AA3B kept getting 1-3 more QSOs per hour.  There was no off-time strategy.  Took breaks when I couldn’t take it anymore.

Felt like I had more dupes than usual. Lots of guys must have busted my call the first or second time.  I worked all who called. 

This contest puts a premium on good copy.  Almost hated to work some guys when they were weak knowing they would be loud on another band later.  I was looking for KL7SB on 40 when he called me on 80.  That is not a band where you want to try to copy the exchange of a new/rate multiplier.  I called him later on 15m for insurance and he said worked before.  The same thing happened with VY1AAA.

First QSO was very marginal.  Second time I could hear him much better and he would not work me again.  Would hurt to “work” a guy twice and lose the mult if I missed the number.  Such is the game.

Great contest. Nothing needs fixing except the activity level.  We just aren’t making CW traffic handlers like we used to.

Station

K3 + AL-1200
K3 + AL-1500

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

WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box

Rate Sheet

 Hour      80      40      20      15     Total     Cumm    OffTime

D1-2100Z    -       -     79/28   25/18  104/46    104/46  
D1-2200Z    -       -    101/15    3/2   104/17    208/63  
D1-2300Z    -     42/4    35/4     2/1    79/9     287/72  
D2-0000Z  --+--   68/0     9/1    --+--   77/1     364/73  
D2-0100Z   8/1    78/1     1/1      -     87/3     451/76  
D2-0200Z  17/0    69/1      -       -     86/1     537/77  
D2-0300Z  16/3    60/1      -       -     76/4     613/81  
D2-0400Z  29/0    29/0      -       -     58/0     671/81  
D2-0500Z  39/0    17/1      -       -     56/1     727/82  
D2-0600Z  16/0    16/0      -       -     32/0     759/82  
D2-0700Z  15/1    13/0      -       -     28/1     787/83     12
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     787/83     60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     787/83     60
D2-1000Z    -       -       -       -      0/0     787/83     60
D2-1100Z  13/0    13/0      -       -     26/0     813/83     26
D2-1200Z  13/0    34/0      -       -     47/0     860/83  
D2-1300Z    -     27/0     8/0      -     35/0     895/83  
D2-1400Z    -     16/0    17/0      -     33/0     928/83  
D2-1500Z    -     28/0    11/0      -     39/0     967/83  
D2-1600Z  --+--   21/0     6/1     3/0    30/1     997/84  
D2-1700Z    -      2/0    17/0      -     19/0    1016/84     38
D2-1800Z    -       -     22/0    15/0    37/0    1053/84  
D2-1900Z    -       -     14/0     1/0    15/0    1068/84     30
D2-2000Z    -      2/0    33/0     4/0    39/0    1107/84     10
D2-2100Z    -      5/0    29/0      -     34/0    1141/84  
D2-2200Z    -     17/0    12/0      -     29/0    1170/84      4
D2-2300Z    -       -       -       -      0/0    1170/84     60
D3-0000Z   5/0    10/0     8/0    --+--   23/0    1193/84      3
D3-0100Z   8/0     5/0      -       -     13/0    1206/84     34
D3-0200Z  20/0    10/0      -       -     30/0    1236/84  

Total:   199/5   582/8   402/50   53/21

2021 CQ WW Contest SSB K5ZD

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB - 2021

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

Class: SO(A)AB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 31
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band   QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   63	9	31
   80:  240	14	61
   40:  305	21	75
   20: 1574	35     109
   15: 1171	31     102
   10:  493	18	75
------------------------------
Total: 3846    128     453  Total Score = 6,415,983

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

True classic entry. One radio and no DX spots. Classic overlay score around 5M.

What happened to the predicted solar storm? Seemed like conditions were good and just kept getting better! The climax was having 10m bust wide open Sunday morning.

Was focused on optimizing my Classic score so not the best strategy for optimizing the traditional category score. Took time off on Friday night plus some sleep. Then almost no operating on Sat night. Once I got the 24 hours in I was running for fun or being a DXer.

Doing a contest with only one radio definitely limits your awareness of what is happening on other bands. Have to rely a lot more on intuition and the “sound” of the band to know when it is time to move.

Fun watching the scoreboard. Had to look at the assisted guys because there weren’t many SO that were posting.

Thanks to all for the QSOs. And special thanks to all those who traveled to activate more DX for the rest of us.

Recording

Audio recordings of the full operation are available here.

Station

K3 + AL-1200

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower

80m: 4 square, dipole

40m: 40-2CD @110′

20m: 205CA @100′

15m: 155ca @66′

10m: 6-ele @90′ TH7DXX @ 40′

Rates

QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band

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

0000Z  --+--   --+--   47/33   42/36   --+--   --+--   89/69     89/69  
0100Z   2/4    45/34   19/7      -       -       -     66/45    155/114 
0200Z    -     30/8      -      7/2      -       -     37/10    192/124   37
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     192/124   60
0400Z  11/14   70/14     -       -       -       -     81/28    273/152    4
0500Z  10/6    24/3    27/15     -       -       -     61/24    334/176 
0600Z   1/0    19/5    36/17     -       -       -     56/22    390/198 
0700Z   1/1      -      5/2      -       -       -      6/3     396/201   54
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     396/201   60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     396/201   60
1000Z    -      3/3    19/9    47/21     -       -     69/33    465/234    6
1100Z    -       -       -    231/12     -       -    231/12    696/246 
1200Z    -       -       -     34/3   164/43     -    198/46    894/292 
1300Z    -       -       -       -    209/11     -    209/11   1103/303 
1400Z    -       -       -       -    206/7      -    206/7    1309/310 
1500Z    -       -       -     55/3    65/5     8/8   128/16   1437/326 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  183/5    --+--   --+--  183/5    1620/331 
1700Z    -       -       -     56/3      -       -     56/3    1676/334 
1800Z    -       -       -       -     31/20   26/12   57/32   1733/366   60
1900Z    -       -       -    104/5    24/14     -    128/19   1861/385 
2000Z    -       -       -    160/8      -     10/1   170/9    2031/394 
2100Z    -       -       -     69/3    18/6    19/11  106/20   2137/414 
2200Z    -       -     51/6    38/19     -       -     89/25   2226/439 
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2226/439   60
0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2226/439   60
0100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2226/439   60
0200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2226/439   60
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2226/439   60
0400Z  12/7      -       -      8/5      -       -     20/12   2246/451   35
0500Z   2/1    42/5    15/2      -       -       -     59/8    2305/459 
0600Z  22/5      -     19/2      -       -       -     41/7    2346/466   35
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2346/466   60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2346/466   60
0900Z   1/1     1/1     2/1     2/1      -       -      6/4    2352/470   47
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2352/470   60
1100Z    -       -       -    141/3     4/0     2/1   147/4    2499/474    5
1200Z    -       -       -       -    176/4      -    176/4    2675/478 
1300Z    -       -       -       -    108/1    44/28  152/29   2827/507 
1400Z    -       -       -       -       -    151/23  151/23   2978/530 
1500Z    -       -       -       -       -    199/7   199/7    3177/537 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    3/0     3/0    3180/537   15
1700Z    -       -       -       -     78/6    14/0    92/6    3272/543   60
1800Z    -       -       -    112/2    14/3      -    126/5    3398/548 
1900Z    -       -       -    162/5      -       -    162/5    3560/553 
2000Z    -       -       -     89/3      -     11/2   100/5    3660/558 
2100Z    -       -       -      7/2    55/13    6/0    68/15   3728/573 
2200Z    -      1/1    64/2     5/1      -       -     70/4    3798/577 
2300Z   1/1     5/1     1/0    22/2    19/0      -     48/4    3846/581 

Total: 63/40  240/75  305/96 1574/144 1171/133 493/93 

Best 60 mins: 232 QSOs from 30-Oct-2021 11:00 to 30-Oct-2021 12:00

Worked on 6 bands:

CQ8M CR6K DP7D E7DX ED7R EW5A IR6T LN8W M6T OT5A P40W PJ2T PJ4K TM1O TM3R TM6M

Most worked countries:

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
    DL       8     23     27    212    127     70     467
     G       5     13      8    134    120     48     328
     I       1     12     35    128     93     48     317
     F       4     19     13     87     56     34     213
    EA       3     15     13     76     61     34     202
    PA       2      6      7     85     48     27     175
    SP       1     13     12     69     42     10     147
    UA       0      4      5     58     55      1     123

2021 CQ WW RTTY Contest K5ZD

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY - 2021

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

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 36.3
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  State/Prov  DX   Zones
------------------------------------
   80:  404       46      49    13
   40:  784       50      63    21
   20: 1173       47      85    30
   15:  849       24      77    25
   10:   14        2       5     4
------------------------------------
Total: 3224      169     279    93  Total Score = 4,177,061

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Needed a contest fix and this one is always fun.  Conditions were even better than expected which was a nice bonus.

SO2R is the way to go for RTTY.  Especially if you can handle CQing on two bands.  The rhythm is easy to match and it keeps things interesting.

The first night was ok, but nothing special.  Fun chasing AA3B on the scoreboard as he ran away from me.

Saturday morning I went to 20m a bit early and the band was already rocking. Signals up to 14140.  I found a spot and got a great run going.  Band was open deep with UA9 calling in.  In high sunspot years that is a sign to check 15m. Sure enough, there were some loud Eu there.  Called CQ and it was off to the races.

15m was good both days. The band was long and it was clear the Europeans were not hearing each other.  That means less QRM.  Signals levels were great from F to LA to UA3. Loud signals from 21080 to 21150.

Was getting a bit bored and discouraged as time wore on.  Was doing great on the online scoreboard, but didn’t think I had the mental energy to get through the full contest.  Took a break to cook lunch and go for a 3 mile walk.  That helped my mood a lot and I was re-energized to get back into the fray.

The JA opening on 20 was very good.  When that happens, it reveals a weakness in my station.  The 20 and 40m are on the same mast so if I beam Japan, it is not good for 40 to Europe.  Working Asia is more fun so focused on that while tuning around on 40.

Decided to take a nap from 0220z to 0400z while the Europeans were asleep. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but looks like I gave up 170 QSOs to AA3B during that period.  Whoops.  Took a second nap during the wee hours.  Felt great when I got up.  Nice to see 20 was also opening just as it had on Saturday.  With 650 QSOs already in the log on that band, the rate was slower. 15m also opened so dual CQing helped keep things interesting.

I had intended to push through to the end of the contest.  Was running stations on 20m when I looked up and saw the AL-1200 grid meter was hitting the pin. There was no output from the amp and no HV.  That bummed me out so I took some time to cook dinner. 

I had a nice score and it seemed a shame to quit when I still had one working radio.  Decided to give up on mult chasing and just focus on pressing F1 over and over.  Rates held up better than expected and was able to cross over the 3K QSO barrier.  Then passed 4 meg.  Wow.  A new personal best in WW RTTY by far.

Most surprising QSO: Having UA0AGI call in on 15m at 1923z.  That seems kind of late, but I thank him for checking the band at that time of night.

Other 15m fun: Lots of YBs calling in. And two HS, plus a VU. And a bunch of UA9.

Weird stuff: Not much USA on 15m.  Band was just too long and no one seemed to focus on backscatter.

Studly QSOs: Working JA on 40m. Then calling a loud YD9VE and having him come right back.  DU1UGZ was also very loud but could not hear me.

WriteLog is fantastic for RTTY contesting.  The integration with the decoders is top notch. I ran with 2Tone as my primary decoder and MMTTY as the clone.

Always fun to see how one decoder will read perfectly while the other just has gibberish. Two decoders were especially helpful when running as it reduced the need for repeats.

A fun way to spend a weekend.  Had the Ryder Cup on TV all day Saturday and the NFL on Sunday.  https://contestonlinescore.com/ was a big motivator as always. Great to chase AA3B and AC0C.

With the high bands open it was fun to work a lot of new calls.  DX contests are so much more fun for everyone when there are good conditions for working DX. And we can spread out on the high bands.

Never heard or worked VT, MT, or ND.  Only one QSO with NM. Very few stations from Indiana.

Now on to WW SSB!

Postscript on the amp failure. One of the fuses had blown.  The AL-1200 will continue to run with one fuse missing, which is very confusing when you are sleep-deprived.  If I had only known, could have fixed it in 2 minutes and been back to full SO2R.  The fuse holder had experienced some heat so need to find a replacement. 

Station

K3 + AL-1200
K3 + AL-1500

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower
 80m: 4 square, dipole
 40m: 40-2CD @110′
 20m: 205CA @100′
 15m: 155ca @66′
 10m: 6-ele @90′
 TH7DXX @ 40′

WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box, MMTTY and 2Tone decoders

QSOs By continent

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

    NA     251    395    313     86      3    1048    32.5
    EU     150    359    740    698      0    1947    60.4
    AS       0      6     72     18      0      96     3.0
    SA       1      7     20     36     11      75     2.3
    AF       2      6      5      4      0      17     0.5
    OC       0     10     22      6      0      38     1.2

Rates

QSO/Zn+Dx+St by hour and band

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

00Z   --+--   21/25    51/38   --+--   --+--   72/63     72/63    10
01Z     -     45/28    62/13    1/3      -    108/44    180/107 
02Z   34/28   73/22    18/6      -       -    125/56    305/163 
03Z   41/26   28/6       -       -       -     69/32    374/195   13
04Z   52/13   63/15      -       -       -    115/28    489/223 
05Z   28/13   57/2      2/0      -       -     87/15    576/238 
06Z   27/7    46/14      -       -       -     73/21    649/259    4
07Z     -       -        -       -       -      0/0     649/259   60
08Z   --+--   --+--    --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     649/259   60
09Z   11/1     7/1       -       -       -     18/2     667/261   46
10Z   14/1    16/0     52/23     -       -     82/24    749/285 
11Z     -      1/0     81/11   88/28     -    170/39    919/324 
12Z     -       -      35/10  104/14     -    139/24   1058/348 
13Z     -       -      61/8    99/8      -    160/16   1218/364 
14Z     -       -      39/3    78/10    1/3   118/16   1336/380 
15Z     -       -      23/3    47/6      -     70/9    1406/389   15
16Z   --+--   --+--    19/1    45/12   --+--   64/13   1470/402 
17Z     -       -      49/2    14/3     8/5    71/10   1541/412 
18Z     -       -      63/6      -      2/0    65/6    1606/418 
19Z     -       -      35/3    31/16    1/1    67/20   1673/438   10
20Z     -       -        -       -       -      0/0    1673/438   60
21Z     -       -        -       -       -      0/0    1673/438   60
22Z     -       -      41/6    21/7      -     62/13   1735/451   16
23Z     -     63/5     31/9     3/1      -     97/15   1832/466 
00Z   --+--   32/1     10/4    --+--   --+--   42/5    1874/471   23
01Z   45/8    56/4      1/1      -       -    102/13   1976/484 
02Z    9/1    18/0       -       -       -     27/1    2003/485   38
03Z     -       -        -       -       -      0/0    2003/485   60
04Z   50/5    23/2       -       -       -     73/7    2076/492    4
05Z   25/3    64/1       -       -       -     89/4    2165/496 
06Z   25/1    56/1      1/2      -       -     82/4    2247/500 
07Z     -      2/0       -       -       -      2/0    2249/500   58
08Z   --+--   --+--    --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    2249/500   60
09Z     -       -        -       -       -      0/0    2249/500   60
10Z   25/1    15/6     12/0      -       -     52/7    2301/507    7
11Z     -      1/0     64/2    39/2      -    104/4    2405/511 
12Z     -       -      55/0    66/0      -    121/0    2526/511 
13Z     -       -      51/2    74/4      -    125/6    2651/517 
14Z     -       -      53/0    44/2      -     97/2    2748/519 
15Z     -       -      52/1    37/5      -     89/6    2837/525 
16Z   --+--   --+--    28/0    31/1    --+--   59/1    2896/526 
17Z     -       -      32/3     7/0      -     39/3    2935/529   13
18Z     -       -        -       -       -      0/0    2935/529   60
19Z     -       -      49/0      -       -     49/0    2984/529   13
20Z     -       -      58/2      -       -     58/2    3042/531 
21Z     -       -      39/1    10/1     2/2    51/4    3093/535 
22Z     -     65/1       -     10/3      -     75/4    3168/539 
23Z   18/0    32/0      6/2      -       -     56/2    3224/541 

Tot: 404/108 784/134 1173/162 849/126  14/11 

Best 60 minutes: 180 starting Sep 25 at 1106z

Worked on 5 bands: K1SFA PV2K

Worked on 4 bands: 81

Most worked countries

           80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total

     K     214    343    276     62      2     897
    DL      30     54    124    136            344
     I      14     47     86     83            230
    UR       4     28     48     51            131
    SP       9     22     49     41            121
    UA       1     13     50     42            106
     G       7     16     46     35            104
    PA       6     16     43     33             98
    EA      10     14     30     36             90
    VE      29     33     16      8             86

Also nice to see
    JA              4     45                    49
    YB              1     12      6             19
   UA9              1     15      4             20

2021 WW Digi DX Contest K5ZD

                    World Wide Digi DX Contest - 2021

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

Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 18.8
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   34    13
   80:  146    33
   40:  307    51
   20:  342    54
   15:   87    24
   10:   15     7
-------------------
Total:  931   182  Total Score = 339,794

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

The FT modes were not made for contesting…  but, it makes for a challenging slow-motion video game.

Conditions were not the best at the start.  Very good at the end.

Even with the good activity, had to spend some time on the FT8 water holes to get some of the multipliers.  Frustrating to see so many Asia DX stations that were clear copy, but they could not hear me through the QRM.

Amazing what FT8 enables working on 80 and 160.  I even had 3 southern European stations call in on 10 meters!

Started late.  Stayed up too late working on a project so I slept in and ran some errands.  Didn’t miss much by the sound of the bands.  Took another break to do a 5-mile walk. Then took an hour of sleep when things got really slow.

Full SO2R.  Nice to be able to have something to occupy the time while waiting for repeats.

How do you get a grid from those VKx4 letter callsigns?  Or any long call?

Great job by Bud AA3B. I don’t know he finds the stamina!

“Rates”

QSO/Mul by hour and band

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

D1-1200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -     39/19     39/19    60
D1-1300Z    -       -       -     35/16    4/3      -     39/19     39/19    13
D1-1400Z    -       -       -      9/1     9/6      -     18/7      57/26    36
D1-1500Z    -       -       -     23/2    13/4      -     36/6      93/32    23
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   29/1    14/3    --+--   43/4     136/36  
D1-1700Z    -       -     11/4    29/2     6/1      -     46/7     182/43  
D1-1800Z    -       -      4/0    33/3    11/2     3/3    51/8     233/51  
D1-1900Z    -       -       -     33/4     8/1     8/4    49/9     282/60  
D1-2000Z    -       -       -     14/0     1/0     4/0    19/0     301/60    31
D1-2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     301/60    60
D1-2200Z    -       -      7/5    15/4     4/1      -     26/10    327/70    18
D1-2300Z    -      1/1    35/13   26/6      -       -     62/20    389/90  
D2-0000Z  --+--   38/11   33/2    --+--   --+--   --+--   71/13    460/103 
D2-0100Z    -     32/5    35/3      -       -       -     67/8     527/111 
D2-0200Z  19/7     4/0    21/3     4/2      -       -     48/12    575/123 
D2-0300Z    -     29/3    30/1     5/3      -       -     64/7     639/130 
D2-0400Z  10/6      -     14/1     5/2      -       -     29/9     668/139 
D2-0500Z    -     14/5    31/7     6/1      -       -     51/13    719/152 
D2-0600Z   4/0    14/5    22/4      -       -       -     40/9     759/161 
D2-0700Z   1/0    10/3    16/3     2/0      -       -     29/6     788/167 
D2-0800Z  --+--    4/0    14/3     1/0    --+--   --+--   19/3     807/170   16
D2-0900Z    -       -      2/0     5/0      -       -      7/0     814/170   60
D2-1000Z    -       -     23/2    34/3      -       -     57/5     871/175 
D2-1100Z    -       -      9/0    34/4    17/3      -     60/7     931/182 

Total:    34/13  146/33  307/51  342/54   87/24   15/7  

Best 60 minutes was 74 QSOs.  It is possible to do more, but need a quiet band with callers that can’t hear each other.

Worked 382 band-grids.

2021 IARU HF World Championship K5ZD

                IARU HF World Championship - 2021
Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: SOABMixed HP
QTH: MA
Operating Time (hrs): 23.5
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
   Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Zones  HQ Mults
   160:    45     0      8       10
    80:   193    16     17       27
    40:   519   115     24       41
    20:   866   356     32       42
    15:   524    62     22       34
    10:   169    12     14       18
 Total:  2316   551    117      172  Total Score = 2,782,781

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Had to run some errands before the contest so did not sit down to operate until 1215z (15 mins late). Stayed on the air almost continuously for the remainder of the 24 hours.  Two quick breaks and one for 12 minutes to eat.

Decided to do this contest old school.  SO2R, but no cluster.  I have gotten used to having lots of spots of multipliers, so it was good to remember the tension of having to decide when to stop running and look for mults.

You never know what you will get for conditions in the Summer. Was hearing Europe on 10 meters at the start, in the afternoon until after sunset, and again on Sunday morning. Worked some Europeans on 15 meters at 4 am local time here!

Even with tropical storm Elsa racing away, the low bands were quiet on this end.

 Must have been noisy down south and in Europe as I called a number of loud stations on 160m that could not hear me.  40m was so good I didn’t spend enough time on 80m so missed a number of “easy” HQ mults.

All antennas seemed to be working.  I think I have a problem with the stacking box on the 10m array.  Looks like it is time to do some work there.  The recently repaired 40m beam was hearing well but has an SWR problem that will need some investigation.

Did not hear a JA station on any band until Sunday morning when 20 finally opened that way. Had a few call in along with a BY and DU, which were welcome mults.

Ended the contest with a nice run on 15 meters CW.  I kept thinking I should go to SSB, but the activity never seemed to be there at other times during the weekend.  Where are all the phone ops?!

Thanks to everyone that was active and making QSOs.  Hope you had as much fun as I did!

Station

K3 + AL-1200

K3 + AL-1500

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower

 80m: 4 square, dipole

 40m: 40-2CD @110′

 20m: 205CA @100′

 15m: 155ca @66′

 10m: 6-ele @90′

 TH7DXX @ 40′

WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box

Rates

QSO/ZN+HQ by hour and band

Hour     160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M       Total     Cumm     Off
D1-1200Z    -       -       -     48/13   32/8     7/5       87/26     87/26    15
D1-1300Z    -       -       -    109/22   40/9      -       149/31    236/57
D1-1400Z    -       -       -     90/5    18/6    20/3      128/14    364/71
D1-1500Z    -       -       -    130/2    28/10     -       158/12    522/83
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  117/5    18/3     7/0      142/8     664/91
D1-1700Z    -       -       -    114/1    11/3      -       125/4     789/95
D1-1800Z    -       -       -    135/2    50/4      -       185/6     974/101
D1-1900Z    -       -       -     51/2    39/1    25/14     115/17   1089/118
D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -     50/0    69/7      119/7    1208/125
D1-2100Z    -       -       -     60/0    59/3    47/1      166/4    1374/129
D1-2200Z    -       -     46/12  109/2    13/1      -       168/15   1542/144
D1-2300Z    -       -     86/11   35/2     6/2      -       127/15   1669/159
D2-0000Z  --+--   16/14   72/12   50/2    --+--   --+--     138/28   1807/187
D2-0100Z   4/4    43/11   71/8      -       -       -       118/23   1925/210
D2-0200Z   8/3    37/8    70/1      -       -       -       115/12   2040/222
D2-0300Z  12/6    35/3   115/3      -       -       -       162/12   2202/234
D2-0400Z  10/2     1/1    52/9     3/1      -       -        66/13   2268/247
D2-0500Z   4/3    26/3    29/3     9/3      -       -        68/12   2336/259
D2-0600Z   4/0    18/2    44/2      -       -       -        66/4    2402/263
D2-0700Z    -       -     17/1    38/5      -       -        55/6    2457/269   12
D2-0800Z   3/0    16/1    22/3    --+--    4/1    --+--      45/5    2502/274
D2-0900Z    -     17/1    10/0    64/1      -       -        91/2    2593/276
D2-1000Z    -       -       -     53/5    90/2      -       143/7    2736/283
D2-1100Z    -       -       -      7/1   128/3     6/2      141/6    2877/289
Total:    45/18  209/44  634/65 1222/74  586/56  181/32

Best 60 mins: 194 starting at 18:26 10-Jul-2021

Most worked stations

10 band/modes GR2HQ OP0HQ TM0HQ S50HQ

 9 band/modes DA0HQ EF4HQ NU1AW/5 YT0HQ

 8 band/modes 9A0HQ OE0HQ PA6HQ

Most worked countries

Country   QSOs
  K       1041
 DL        272
 VE        130
 UA        127
  I        102
 SP         95
  G         81
 OK         80
  G         78
 UR         75

2021 New England QSO Party AK1W (K5ZD)

Call: AK1W
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: Single Op HP

Operating Time (hrs): 14.4
Radios: SO2R
Summary:   Compare Scores
Band      CW Qs   Ph Qs
 80:       259       52
 40:       395      165
 20:       515      416
 15:        73        4
 10:         2        1
Total:    1244      638        Mults     117        Total Score         365,742

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

New personal best score for me in this contest. Conditions weren’t great, but not bad either. Thanks to the sporadic E on Sunday that kept the skip zone short on 20 and opened 15.

Started the contest 20 minutes late. Took an hour off for dinner. Went for a walk on Sunday afternoon and wasn’t feeling well so took a long nap. Back on for the end.

I had worked all states and most of the Canadian provinces after just 3.5 hours of operation. Freed me up to spend more time looking for new countries. Fun chasing DX between runs. Amazing how much stuff is on the air over the course of a weekend.

The short skip also helped me work more NE counties than ever. Missed 1 in CT, 3 in ME, 1 in MA, 1 in NH, and 6 in VT.

NV9L was very loud on 15m SSB Sunday morning. He commented that he had worked some NE stations on 10 so we moved to 10 CW. He was loud. Then we moved up to 28350. Made the QSO, but he was not loud. So the MUF was somewhere in between.

K2UA/M was the mobile I heard the most, but they never sent their county in the CQ so often had to wait to see if they were in a new one.

WriteLog was doubling my SSB QSOs when it posted to the scoreboard. I know that had K1ZZ scratching his head over where I was finding all the extra QSOs!

Sure a lot of activity in the 7QP. Thanks to all that called in.

Station

Full SO2R operation.

K3 + AL-1200
K3 + AL-1500

160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower
80m: 4 square, dipole
40m: 40-2CD @110′
20m: 205CA @100′
15m: 155ca @66′
10m: 6-ele @90′
TH7DXX @ 40′
WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box

Rates

CW+PH/Mul by hour and band
Hour     80m     40m     20m     15m     10m    Total     Cumm    Off
2000Z     -     17/8   106/37     -       -    123/45    123/45
2100Z     -     67/6    67/18     -       -    134/24    257/69
2200Z     -     38/9   107/6      -       -    145/15    402/84
2300Z     -     14/0   158/6      -       -    172/6     574/90
0000Z   35/1    83/0    --+--    2/0    --+--  120/1     694/91      9
0100Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0     694/91     60
0200Z   76/1    54/0      -       -       -    130/1     824/92      7
0300Z   85/4    27/4      -       -       -    112/8     936/100
0400Z   72/0    27/0      -       -       -     99/0    1035/100
0500Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
0600Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
0700Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
0800Z   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1035/100    60
0900Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
1000Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
1100Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
1200Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1035/100    60
1300Z   16/0    46/0    59/2      -       -    121/2    1156/102     1
1400Z     -     15/0    87/0     4/0      -    106/0    1262/102
1500Z     -       -    179/4      -       -    179/4    1441/106
1600Z   --+--   --+--   41/2    60/0     2/0   103/2    1544/108
1700Z     -       -     19/1    11/0      -     30/1    1574/109    47
1800Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1574/109    60
1900Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1574/109    60
2000Z     -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1574/109    60
2100Z     -     36/0    48/2      -      1/1    85/3    1659/112    15
2200Z     -     59/0    60/2      -       -    119/2    1778/114
2300Z   27/0    77/3      -       -       -    104/3    1882/117
Total: 311/6   560/30  931/80   77/0     3/1

2021 CQMM Contest K5ZD

                CQMM DX Contest - 2021
Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 13.7
Summary:
 Band   QSOs  Prefixes
   80:    90       7
   40:   291      43
   20:   668      53
   15:    82      49
   10:    21      17
Total:  1152     169  Countries = 91  Total Score = 1,319,500

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

I became a CWJF member last year after CQMM 2020. Wanted to have the honor of giving out extra points. 🙂

Fun contest even though conditions were terrible.  You know conditions are bad when it is difficult to work South Americans on 15m!

Operated more than intended to support CWJF and this most interesting contest.

I love the use of South American prefixes per band as the mult.  Also nice to see so much activity from SA.

Single radio operation plus the cluster.

Rates

QSO/Dx+Pref by hour and band
Hour      80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime
D1-1000Z    -     26/7      -       -       -     26/7      26/7   
D1-1100Z    -      4/0    96/30     -       -    100/30    126/37  
D1-1200Z    -       -     56/17    2/4      -     58/21    184/58  
D1-1300Z    -       -     98/8    18/12     -    116/20    300/78  
D1-1400Z    -       -     19/2     2/2      -     21/4     321/82     45
D1-1500Z    -       -     53/2     2/1      -     55/3     376/85     35
D1-1600Z  --+--   --+--   18/0     5/6    --+--   23/6     399/91     44
D1-1700Z    -       -     31/4    10/5    10/10   51/19    450/110     4
D1-1800Z    -       -      8/4     3/3      -     11/7     461/117    60
D1-1900Z    -       -      4/1     3/2      -      7/3     468/120    51
D1-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     468/120    60
D1-2100Z    -     22/3    22/19    2/2      -     46/24    514/144    23
D1-2200Z    -     68/14   23/7      -       -     91/21    605/165 
D1-2300Z   9/2    21/8      -       -       -     30/10    635/175    38
D2-0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     635/175    60
D2-0100Z  30/5    40/13     -       -       -     70/18    705/193    13
D2-0200Z  26/0    13/5      -       -       -     39/5     744/198    33
D2-0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     744/198    60
D2-0400Z  17/1    21/4      -       -       -     38/5     782/203    23
D2-0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/203    60
D2-0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/203    60
D2-0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/203    60
D2-0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     782/203    60
D2-0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     782/203    60
D2-1000Z    -     12/2    11/1      -       -     23/3     805/206    29
D2-1100Z    -       -     13/0      -       -     13/0     818/206    47
D2-1200Z    -       -     65/2      -       -     65/2     883/208    22
D2-1300Z    -       -     70/0      -       -     70/0     953/208    23
D2-1400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     953/208    60
D2-1500Z    -       -     16/1     5/6      -     21/7     974/215    42
D2-1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     974/215    60
D2-1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     974/215    60
D2-1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     974/215    60
D2-1900Z    -       -     14/4     7/4     7/5    28/13   1002/228    22
D2-2000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1002/228    60
D2-2100Z    -     15/0    26/11   21/11    1/0    63/22   1065/250     7
D2-2200Z    -     25/1    22/5     2/1     3/2    52/9    1117/259 
D2-2300Z   8/0    24/0     3/1      -       -     35/1    1152/260 

Total:    90/8   291/57  668/119  82/59   21/17 

2021 CQ WPX SSB Contest AK1W (K5ZD)

                CQWW WPX Contest, SSB - 2021
 Call: AK1W
 Operator(s): K5ZD
 Class: SOAB HP
 QTH: W1

 Operating Time (hrs): 17
 Summary:
 Band   QSOs
 160:    16
  80:   317
  40:   362
  20:  1157
  15:   102
  10:     9
Total: 1963  Prefixes = 981  Total Score = 5,325,849
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

After a year of hyper contest activity due to pandemic boredom, I think I finally hit burnout.  Just couldn’t see myself pushing through a weekend of splatter. Did a part time effort and really enjoyed myself.  Single radio effort with the cluster.

First day was almost all 20m.  Low bands seemed noisy and Europeans were not hearing well.

Second night was better. Even worked some Europe on 160.  SP7VC had a booming signal.

Sunday morning on 20m was more fun. I could see from spots that there was a lot of Eu activity on 15 and 10 so there seemed to be less crowding on 20. The Russians were coming through very well.

Big surprise was the last 2.5 hours of the contest.  Loud Eu and JA were coming in at the same time on 20. The Asia opening was deep with multiple HL, DU and BY also calling in.  That never happens for me!  Then went to 40 and had a very wild last hour with calls from USA and EU. Worked over 100 multipliers in those final hours.

Thanks for everyone who got on.  Sounded like a lot of people were having fun.

Station

K3 + AL-1200
160m: 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower
 80m: 4 square, dipole
 40m: 40-2CD @110′
 20m: 205CA @100′
 15m: 155ca @66′
 10m: 6-ele @90′
 TH7DXX @ 40′
WriteLog software, MK2R+ SO2R box 

Rates

QSO/Pref by hour and band
 Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off
 0000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0       0/0     60  
 0100Z    -       -     61/52    8/7      -       -     69/59     69/59    22
 0200Z   6/6   117/69   12/9      -       -       -    135/84    204/143
 0300Z    -     72/42     -       -       -       -     72/42    276/185   22
 0400Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     276/185   60
 0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     276/185   60
 0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     276/185   60
 0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     276/185   60
 0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     276/185   60
 0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     276/185   60
 1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     276/185   60
 1100Z    -       -     16/10   80/69     -       -     96/79    372/264   19
 1200Z    -       -       -    173/107    -       -    173/107   545/371
 1300Z    -       -       -    102/69   14/10     -    116/79    661/450
 1400Z    -       -       -       -      9/6      -      9/6     670/456   54
 1500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     670/456   60
 1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     670/456   60
 1700Z    -       -       -     86/47   10/8      -     96/55    766/511    3
 1800Z    -       -       -     13/5    16/11    9/6    38/22    804/533   28
 1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     804/533   60
 2000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     804/533   60
 2100Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     804/533   60
 2200Z    -       -       -     63/38   10/3      -     73/41    877/574   22
 2300Z    -       -       -     35/16     -       -     35/16    912/590   40
 0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     912/590   60
 0100Z    -       -     32/15    1/0      -       -     33/15    945/605   39
 0200Z    -     67/20   28/9      -       -       -     95/29   1040/634
 0300Z   4/0    61/19   22/9      -       -       -     87/28   1127/662
 0400Z   6/1      -     16/4      -       -       -     22/5    1149/667   37
 0500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1149/667   60
 0600Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1149/667   60
 0700Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1149/667   60
 0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1149/667   60
 0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1149/667   60
 1000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1149/667   60
 1100Z    -       -      5/1   106/49     -       -    111/50   1260/717   10
 1200Z    -       -       -    149/65     -       -    149/65   1409/782
 1300Z    -       -       -     81/33     -       -     81/33   1490/815    8
 1400Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1490/815   60
 1500Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1490/815   60
 1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   42/17   22/9    --+--   64/26   1554/841    6
 1700Z    -       -       -     51/17   10/5      -     61/22   1615/863   13
 1800Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1615/863   60
 1900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1615/863   60
 2000Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1615/863   60
 2100Z    -       -       -     53/24     -       -     53/24   1668/887   33
 2200Z    -       -      1/1   114/46   11/5      -    126/52   1794/939
 2300Z    -       -    169/42     -       -       -    169/42   1963/981
 Total: 16/7   317/150 362/152 1157/609 102/57   9/6
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