| Home |
| Search |
| Today's Posts |
|
#1
December 1st 03, 02:43 AM
|
|||
|
|||
CQ WW highlights & lowlights
Highlights:
- Evening Russians on 20. Some of them are amazingly weak, but they're all good at the code and *persistent*. They never give up. And they sure make things interesting. - The "bottomless pit" of Canadians Sunday afternoon. Every time I thought we were about to run out of people to work, another handful of VE3s, VE6s, and VE1s would show up. - Likewise for Spain. I think I worked *every* Spaniard who knows the code on Sunday afternoon. - New ones on 80. TG0AA, PV8DX, ZA1A, Z32XX all in countries never before worked on 80. Getting awfully close to that 5BDXCC. - European opening on 40 at noon EU time. Worked a bunch of G's, DL's, and Scandanavians between 1030 and 1200z. Didn't expect to hear anything except the Americas and Japan at that hour. - VK6's worked - VK6LW on 40, VK6DP on 20. VK6 is about as far as you can possibly get from Tennessee without being on a ship. ================================================== ======= Lowlights: - Murphy. Antenna switch that wouldn't switch to 160 and wouldn't stay switched to 40 or 80. Worked the last half-hour of the contest on the 2nd radio Windom because the remote switch wouldn't reliably select the 40m rotatable dipole. - People who don't know what country they're in. I'll pick on N0IW because he was the one op persistently lid enough when I was enough not-in-a-hurry to listen.. DX station kept sending "JA2? AGN" and every time he did, N0IW dumped in his call. I'm sure he wasn't the only lid who didn't know what country he was in... - Intentional-QRM frequency thieves. At least three stations tried to steal my CQ frequency. Yes, I'm certain they weren't cases of propagation changes or people who couldn't hear me. Worst case involved 9Y4ZC. 20m was open *everywhere* - I was getting answers from Europe, all of Russia, Japan, Australia, Africa, and South America. Someone sends a "QRL?" *dead on* my QRG - I respond with a CQ - and he starts CQing anyway. After 2-3 minutes, I realize I'm not going to be able to hear callers anymore and slide up about 700Hz. At which point ZC spins his antenna north & comes up about 40dB. You're going to have a REALLY HARD time convincing me he didn't know I was there. Too bad there's no way to gather reliable evidence for a disqualification.... ================================================== ======= Lowlights aside, **I LOVE THIS CONTEST**! -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com |
|
#2
December 1st 03, 03:05 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message ... Highlights: - Evening Russians on 20. Some of them are amazingly weak, but they're all good at the code and *persistent*. They never give up. And they sure make things interesting. - The "bottomless pit" of Canadians Sunday afternoon. Every time I thought we were about to run out of people to work, another handful of VE3s, VE6s, and VE1s would show up. - Likewise for Spain. I think I worked *every* Spaniard who knows the code on Sunday afternoon. - New ones on 80. TG0AA, PV8DX, ZA1A, Z32XX all in countries never before worked on 80. Getting awfully close to that 5BDXCC. - European opening on 40 at noon EU time. Worked a bunch of G's, DL's, and Scandanavians between 1030 and 1200z. Didn't expect to hear anything except the Americas and Japan at that hour. - VK6's worked - VK6LW on 40, VK6DP on 20. VK6 is about as far as you can possibly get from Tennessee without being on a ship. ================================================== ======= Lowlights: - Murphy. Antenna switch that wouldn't switch to 160 and wouldn't stay switched to 40 or 80. Worked the last half-hour of the contest on the 2nd radio Windom because the remote switch wouldn't reliably select the 40m rotatable dipole. - People who don't know what country they're in. I'll pick on N0IW because he was the one op persistently lid enough when I was enough not-in-a-hurry to listen.. DX station kept sending "JA2? AGN" and every time he did, N0IW dumped in his call. I'm sure he wasn't the only lid who didn't know what country he was in... - Intentional-QRM frequency thieves. At least three stations tried to steal my CQ frequency. Yes, I'm certain they weren't cases of propagation changes or people who couldn't hear me. Worst case involved 9Y4ZC. 20m was open *everywhere* - I was getting answers from Europe, all of Russia, Japan, Australia, Africa, and South America. Someone sends a "QRL?" *dead on* my QRG - I respond with a CQ - and he starts CQing anyway. After 2-3 minutes, I realize I'm not going to be able to hear callers anymore and slide up about 700Hz. At which point ZC spins his antenna north & comes up about 40dB. You're going to have a REALLY HARD time convincing me he didn't know I was there. Too bad there's no way to gather reliable evidence for a disqualification.... ================================================== ======= Lowlights aside, **I LOVE THIS CONTEST**! -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com Had a great time myself. I too had some wonderful highlights. - Worked Iceland, Tunisia and the Faroe Islands. This is the first time EVER that I've heard any of them on the air in any mode. And worked the Iceland station on a 10 meter band that was largely closed down at the time. Also worked several other new countries for me. - Worked the Russians over the pole and yes they are good. I was amazed at what they could pull out but I didn't do too bad either to pull them out. Here in Michigan, their signals were very distorted. Of course the lowlights - Stations that abandon you if they don't get your call on the first try - Stations that seem to be deaf. They are hitting you at 10 over 9 but can't seem to hear you at all. - Stations that don't listen to what the DX is asking for. Although I only worked 114 stations, I had a great time. I wish my CW were stronger as some of those stations were incredibly FAST. At least one of them was going at not less than 40wpm and I'm only good to about 20. But one can catch the call sign one letter at a time if need be. Onward and upward to next year. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
|
#3
December 1st 03, 03:05 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message ... Highlights: - Evening Russians on 20. Some of them are amazingly weak, but they're all good at the code and *persistent*. They never give up. And they sure make things interesting. - The "bottomless pit" of Canadians Sunday afternoon. Every time I thought we were about to run out of people to work, another handful of VE3s, VE6s, and VE1s would show up. - Likewise for Spain. I think I worked *every* Spaniard who knows the code on Sunday afternoon. - New ones on 80. TG0AA, PV8DX, ZA1A, Z32XX all in countries never before worked on 80. Getting awfully close to that 5BDXCC. - European opening on 40 at noon EU time. Worked a bunch of G's, DL's, and Scandanavians between 1030 and 1200z. Didn't expect to hear anything except the Americas and Japan at that hour. - VK6's worked - VK6LW on 40, VK6DP on 20. VK6 is about as far as you can possibly get from Tennessee without being on a ship. ================================================== ======= Lowlights: - Murphy. Antenna switch that wouldn't switch to 160 and wouldn't stay switched to 40 or 80. Worked the last half-hour of the contest on the 2nd radio Windom because the remote switch wouldn't reliably select the 40m rotatable dipole. - People who don't know what country they're in. I'll pick on N0IW because he was the one op persistently lid enough when I was enough not-in-a-hurry to listen.. DX station kept sending "JA2? AGN" and every time he did, N0IW dumped in his call. I'm sure he wasn't the only lid who didn't know what country he was in... - Intentional-QRM frequency thieves. At least three stations tried to steal my CQ frequency. Yes, I'm certain they weren't cases of propagation changes or people who couldn't hear me. Worst case involved 9Y4ZC. 20m was open *everywhere* - I was getting answers from Europe, all of Russia, Japan, Australia, Africa, and South America. Someone sends a "QRL?" *dead on* my QRG - I respond with a CQ - and he starts CQing anyway. After 2-3 minutes, I realize I'm not going to be able to hear callers anymore and slide up about 700Hz. At which point ZC spins his antenna north & comes up about 40dB. You're going to have a REALLY HARD time convincing me he didn't know I was there. Too bad there's no way to gather reliable evidence for a disqualification.... ================================================== ======= Lowlights aside, **I LOVE THIS CONTEST**! -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com Had a great time myself. I too had some wonderful highlights. - Worked Iceland, Tunisia and the Faroe Islands. This is the first time EVER that I've heard any of them on the air in any mode. And worked the Iceland station on a 10 meter band that was largely closed down at the time. Also worked several other new countries for me. - Worked the Russians over the pole and yes they are good. I was amazed at what they could pull out but I didn't do too bad either to pull them out. Here in Michigan, their signals were very distorted. Of course the lowlights - Stations that abandon you if they don't get your call on the first try - Stations that seem to be deaf. They are hitting you at 10 over 9 but can't seem to hear you at all. - Stations that don't listen to what the DX is asking for. Although I only worked 114 stations, I had a great time. I wish my CW were stronger as some of those stations were incredibly FAST. At least one of them was going at not less than 40wpm and I'm only good to about 20. But one can catch the call sign one letter at a time if need be. Onward and upward to next year. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
|
#4
December 1st 03, 04:46 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Dee D. Flint wrote:
- Worked Iceland, Tunisia and the Faroe Islands. This is the first time EVER that I've heard any of them on the air in any mode. And worked the Iceland station on a 10 meter band that was largely closed down at the time. Also worked several other new countries for me. Nice catches! Never heard the Faroes. (I've worked them before but didn't hear 'em in this contest) Iceland is a particularly tough path, one which I didn't work on 10 this year. (did get 'em on 15 and 20) It goes to show that the most interesting DX happens on the bands that you don't think are open! - Worked the Russians over the pole and yes they are good. I was amazed at what they could pull out but I didn't do too bad either to pull them out. Here in Michigan, their signals were very distorted. Likewise here, regarding the distortion. One has to expect that. I think that's part of the appeal - the Russians *sound like DX*. Unlike the 30-over-9 German stations who sound like they might be in the next stategrin. Of course the lowlights - Stations that seem to be deaf. They are hitting you at 10 over 9 but can't seem to hear you at all. A lot of this is QRM. If the frequency was clear on their end, they'd log you immediately. But there's someone within your skip zone (or 5,000 miles the other side of the DX) trying to steal their frequency, and they can't hear your 569 signal over the 599+20 QRM. Doesn't make it any less frustrating on this end! Although I only worked 114 stations, I had a great time. I wish my CW were stronger as some of those stations were incredibly FAST. At least one of them was going at not less than 40wpm and I'm only good to about 20. But one can catch the call sign one letter at a time if need be. Yep, especially in this contest one can! Please call anyway. Send "QRS PSE" if you feel it's necessary. Many of us ultra-high-speed folks will happily slow down for an extra QSO, especially on Sunday afternoon! -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com |
|
#5
December 1st 03, 04:46 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Dee D. Flint wrote:
- Worked Iceland, Tunisia and the Faroe Islands. This is the first time EVER that I've heard any of them on the air in any mode. And worked the Iceland station on a 10 meter band that was largely closed down at the time. Also worked several other new countries for me. Nice catches! Never heard the Faroes. (I've worked them before but didn't hear 'em in this contest) Iceland is a particularly tough path, one which I didn't work on 10 this year. (did get 'em on 15 and 20) It goes to show that the most interesting DX happens on the bands that you don't think are open! - Worked the Russians over the pole and yes they are good. I was amazed at what they could pull out but I didn't do too bad either to pull them out. Here in Michigan, their signals were very distorted. Likewise here, regarding the distortion. One has to expect that. I think that's part of the appeal - the Russians *sound like DX*. Unlike the 30-over-9 German stations who sound like they might be in the next stategrin. Of course the lowlights - Stations that seem to be deaf. They are hitting you at 10 over 9 but can't seem to hear you at all. A lot of this is QRM. If the frequency was clear on their end, they'd log you immediately. But there's someone within your skip zone (or 5,000 miles the other side of the DX) trying to steal their frequency, and they can't hear your 569 signal over the 599+20 QRM. Doesn't make it any less frustrating on this end! Although I only worked 114 stations, I had a great time. I wish my CW were stronger as some of those stations were incredibly FAST. At least one of them was going at not less than 40wpm and I'm only good to about 20. But one can catch the call sign one letter at a time if need be. Yep, especially in this contest one can! Please call anyway. Send "QRS PSE" if you feel it's necessary. Many of us ultra-high-speed folks will happily slow down for an extra QSO, especially on Sunday afternoon! -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com |
|
#6
December 1st 03, 10:23 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 02:43:40 GMT, Doug Smith W9WI
wrote: Too bad there's no way to gather reliable evidence for a disqualification.... Also too bad that there is nobody who runs major contests, including CQ magazine and the ARRL, that are willing to DQ ANYBODY for ANYTHING. The rules are run what you brung and don't worry about the rules...... I've seen firm evidence of cheating submitted to both, with no action taken by either. 73, Jim KH2D |
|
#7
December 1st 03, 10:23 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 02:43:40 GMT, Doug Smith W9WI
wrote: Too bad there's no way to gather reliable evidence for a disqualification.... Also too bad that there is nobody who runs major contests, including CQ magazine and the ARRL, that are willing to DQ ANYBODY for ANYTHING. The rules are run what you brung and don't worry about the rules...... I've seen firm evidence of cheating submitted to both, with no action taken by either. 73, Jim KH2D |
|
#8
December 2nd 03, 12:06 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|
#9
December 2nd 03, 12:06 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|
#10
December 5th 03, 12:18 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
"Doug Smith W9WI" wrote in message ... Dee D. Flint wrote: Although I only worked 114 stations, I had a great time. I wish my CW were stronger as some of those stations were incredibly FAST. At least one of them was going at not less than 40wpm and I'm only good to about 20. But one can catch the call sign one letter at a time if need be. Yep, especially in this contest one can! Please call anyway. Send "QRS PSE" if you feel it's necessary. Many of us ultra-high-speed folks will happily slow down for an extra QSO, especially on Sunday afternoon! -- If I need to ask, I do. But since I'm not in to "win" or run up big scores, I'd rather use it as an opportunity to get used to hearing higher speeds. The CQ WW is good for that as the exchange is short and it's usually only the call sign that's a little tricky as the other information (RST and zone) are easy to anticipate and verify. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
Linear Mode
