CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - 2023
Call: ON3DI
Operator(s): ON3DI
Station: ON3DI
Class: SO(A)AB LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 44
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80: 551 12 58
40: 446 19 72
20: 336 15 60
15: 282 20 63
10: 226 21 56
------------------------------
Total: 1841 87 309 Total Score = 1,171,764
Club: Italian Contest Club
Comments:
Hi
1526, a number that has been in my head for months... In 2021 I made 1526 qso's
during the CQ WW CW, a personal record and with the conditions improving I was
hoping for more.
The preparation for the contest was certainly not flawless. Antenna repair,
broken antenna switch, ... I should certainly thank my parents for all their
efforts.
20m and 15m were not open at the start so I started at 40m, S&P and trying
to work everything I heard, same with 80m. The feeling was immediately good, the
first 4 hours I achieved 50, 69, 58 and 61 qso's per hour. 72 qso's per hour was
my best hour and was achieved as usual on 80m. I worked quite a few Americans on
40m, other DX was more difficult. 3B8M, EY, ... Not possible like 2 years ago,
same with VE and USA on 80m, I did work them, but less than then in 2021. Bit
pitty, but the rates made up for a lot and the goal was the number of QSOs, not
DX... Although, the fact that I regularly looked at the announced operations in
advance also suggests something else. When I had worked everyone during S&P,
I called some CQ, nice if USA/VE came back there too.
The double feeling remained confirmed on the other bands, rates were good, but
lacked special DX. I didn't have the feeling on Saturday that 15m and certainly
10m were open, I didn't immediately have that in mind ;-). QSO 500 was planned
around 9UTC! I was ahead of the schedule of 2 years ago, it was motivating,
although tiredness hitted sometimes hard, the past few weeks were not flawless
and during contests I continue to have a hard time with food, often not
immediately hungry and then I feel it when it is often a bit too late.
The first real highlight of the contest was 9N7AA on 10m, in one of the previous
contests I managed to work it on 20m after a long attempt, now it was on 10m and
quite smoothly. The tactic was actually not to keep trying to work a station,
time is money... In that respect it looked like I wasn't going to work TI7W and
ZF1A, but in the end I succeeded 3 and 4 times, sometimes were they really
'lonely', it happens there to...
On Saturday I really had to rely on 20m, 10m yielded about 50 qso's, limited
number USA. 15m around 100 qso's. Stayed motivated by qso's such as BY on 20m,
CX on 10m, FG on 15m. QSO 1000 was at 8pm, never before achieved 1000 QSOs so
quickly. Beforehand I had discussed with OQ5M when it would be best to go to
sleep, the intention was actually to continue until Sunday after sunrise, but I
reduced my conditions, got tired, had already reached a goal of 1000 qso's and
thought around 9 pm, why not, I'm going to sleep and then try to pull through
around the end. Got confirmation that I had to sleep at 80m, was shouting CQ and
didn't 'understand' anything anymore, I had the feeling that I was making a fool
of myself... Around 1UTC I started back at 40m, nice to work 5Z4. Didn't feel
like there were many new stations to work on, so I started callingCQ a bit more
and also had hours of 60qso's/h! Just a shame that no VK or ZL was possible on
40m, actually not heard on other bands either.
The nicest thing on Sunday was that 10m and 15m were better. I was able to
successfully call some CQ myself. 7Q6M, 3B8M, VR2T, all can work at 10m.
Highlight was 4W8X at 15m, which is an ATNO. I had hoped for more new DXCCs in
advance, but you can't want everything.
Really enjoyed the openings towards USA/VE on 10m and 15m, often weak signals,
but they just kept coming. Ultimately, about 90 USA worked on 10m alone. AD4EB
was QSO number 1527, 13:41 UTC, well before the end of the contest, I was so
happy then! The intention was to keep pushing and see what was possible in terms
of amount of qso's.
Around 19 UTC I only returned to 40m, where I worked BD7DT, just like last year.
Calling CQ made less sense at 40m, rates were higher at 80m.
I was most surprised in this contest to hear BD7DT on 80m, I couldn't work them
with my dipole, but I've actually never heard DX from that region there.
In the end I squeezed out 1841 qso's, an improvement on my previous record. Is
there still a margin, yes... Conditions were not perfect, I slept 4 hours, my CW
does not remain perfect, ... An ultimate dream is to break that 2000 qso limit
and I believe it is possible. At the moment I am extremely proud of my
achievement; With 25W, a dipole/vertical make so many QSOs, it's a fantastic
feeling. Happy to pass the 1mil points score! In amount of qso's, think I did
well compared to other topstation, in terms of multipliers I feel the limits of
my antennas.
Resume:
1. my average is 41 qso's/h, never been so good!
2. top dxcc: USA 353, DL 127, UA 97, SP 81, I 70.
3. Stations worked on 5 bands: 3V8SS 9A1A CN3A CR3W CR6K D4C EF6T K1LZ K1RX
K1TTT K1ZZ K3LR K5ZD K9RS KC1XX LZ9W N5DX NA8V NR4M OH5Z P33W P3AA RM9A RT4F
SK3W UA4M UP2L VA2WA VY2TT W3LPL
4. 94 countries worked and 25 zones.
CQ WW CW remains the contest of the year and preparation for next year can
begin! In any case, I am participating in the ARRL 10m contest.
Thanks for all the qso's and spots!
Pieter ON3DI
25w dipole for 80m-10m, vertical for 40-20-15
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