My 2020 Digi DX Marathon
In December 2019 I started experimenting with a new open source software for doing FT8/FT4 called DigiRite. It uses the WSJT decoder, but with a completely different user interface optimized for contesting. It is also well integrated with Writelog.
I spent the first few months of 2020 doing lots of operation and beta testing. The dev team was very responsive and the app kept improving. There was also the fun of learning the FT modes. FT is like having a contesting going 24/7. The QSOs are short and there is plenty of activity on all bands all the time. I had a separate Writelog log going just for my digi QSOs and could see the number of contacts and DXCC on each band.
I was always pushing to see how to make rate on the FT modes. The only SO2R operation that I did was during the WW Digi DX Contest in August where I did about 16 hours trying to run with two radios. The rest of the year was a single radio. I did use my amp most of the time (except 30m).
My operation was sporadic through the year. There would be periods where I operated a lot and then weeks with nothing. I became unemployed in September and started operating more and at different times during the day. The country counts started to build. I focused on trying to see how many bands I could achieve DXCC. It was fun checking the bands, seeing new “multipliers”, and trying to figure out how to get their attention. With the whole world in quarantine, the digi frequencies were crowded!
I had not worked the WARC bands much before this year so one objective was to try to get my DXCC on those bands. I used my Cushcraft 40m beam on 17M. I couldn’t find an antenna that would work very well on 12M. I finished WAS on 30 meters and only need ME and NJ to finish it on 17M.
I made over 1500 QSOs in December. In part because I could see the country counts getting close to 6BDXCC. 80 meters was the last band to make it on the evening of Dec 30 when I worked VU, UK8, and HP to get to 100 (while missing ZF and FG).
You may be interested in what is possible chasing DX on the digi modes for a year.
According the Writelog, I had 228.5 hours of digi operation. (Rate 31.5/hour)
Breakdown by band (not including dupes)
Band QSOs DXCC CQ Zone 160M 352 72 22 80M 961 100 31 40M 1210 135 35 30M 894 125 37 20M 2089 143 40 17M 424 117 29 15M 600 103 29 12M 10 4 6 10M 297 49 20 6M 369 12 5 Tot 7206 860
Worked on 8 bands: 5T5PA CO8LY J68HZ
Worked on 7 bands: 9Y4DG W1OP WB5BHS
Worked on 6 bands: A45XR J69DS N0AT XP3A YO9HP
Total of 177 different entities worked
Most worked countries (not including 6m)
160 80 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 All % K 124 244 383 231 379 62 79 6 151 2051 27.2 UA 24 109 75 92 199 15 4 2 520 6.9 DL 20 82 41 35 117 33 59 8 395 5.2 JA 29 99 32 159 6 18 3 346 4.6 I 16 31 33 30 116 20 35 2 4 287 3.8 UR 22 62 48 32 80 8 11 263 3.5 SP 6 36 22 29 86 16 15 5 215 2.9 EA 5 22 36 23 65 16 23 17 207 2.7 F 9 24 16 21 50 7 19 21 167 2.2 G 7 18 9 11 83 8 22 7 166 2.2 UA9 6 17 48 92 2 165 2.2 PY 3 21 19 7 31 6 63 9 159 2.1 PA 7 7 13 6 85 7 11 4 140 1.9 VE 15 20 23 10 25 6 2 5 108 1.4 ON 8 12 10 6 33 5 6 1 81 1.1 SV 7 12 13 12 22 3 9 1 79 1
One of my resolutions for 2021 is to help repopulate the CW bands. While FT8 is teeming with activity, and you can always see when the band is open and who is on, it is sad to tune across the CW segment and find no activity at all. FT is great for working DX, but it removes much of the human-to-human contact that helps build friendships and the shared experience that makes ham radio great.
Onward to a new year with less pandemic quarantine and more sunspots!
Randy K5ZD