CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2023
Call: VP5M
Operator(s): K4QPL
Station: VP5/K4QPL
Class: SOAB HP
Class Overlay: Classic
QTH: VP5
Operating Time (hrs): 24.2
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 120 9 14
80: 231 11 42
40: 553 22 67
20: 878 23 71
15: 499 28 68
10: 405 22 58
------------------------------
Total: 2686 115 320 Total Score = 2,694,825
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
I started last years soapbox with"What a fun contest!" This year I can
only say, "What a crazy contest."
This year I had better low band antennas (big shout out to Guy, K2AV, who
engineered fine tuning of the 160 inverted L and an inverted L for 80M). Both
were improved from last year and we have plans for even better on 80m for future
contests.
I think conditions were even better than last year with the high bands open to
the world at almost the same time for hours on end.
And, for the first time I went high power (500 watts) to play with the big
boys.
So what could go wrong and what's crazy?
I learned last year that my mult count was low and my Q count high which cost me
in the final points. In classic overlay there's no spots and only one radio. So
I did it the old fashioned way. Ran to get mults on 80 and 160. Probably stayed
too long there enjoying the new antennas. Then I S&P'd through the other
bands to grab the mults I missed before. Boy was I successful doing that. Mult
count way up. Again, I probably spent too much time doing that as my Q total was
down by more than 700 and overall 100k points down.
Finally, my lack of hardball pileup skills,wide-band ears and insufficient
memory database caught up with me big time. Extra power and great conditions
attracted swarms of callers to my single-chance VP5 mult like flies to S_______!
20-30 callers on or near my frequency made my little off frequency tuning
ineffective from my method with LP. I simply cannot handle 20 or 30 caller
pileups that go from huge to unmanageable. My rate would drop from 300 in a
moderate pileup to 150 or less trying to sort out the QRM and almost always only
getting a partial. At one point on 15M I gave up, in my head told everyone where
to go, and went back to S&P where I could get a rate around 100 dropping the
VP5M call and clearing my headache.
Maybe next year I can compromise my strategy, improve my skills, and get back to
a fun contest.
73 and thanks to everyone for hanging in there in the pileups and my apologies
to those of you I never got in the log.
Jim K4QPL VP5M
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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