ARRL 10-Meter Contest - 2023
Call: KN7Y
Operator(s): KN7Y
Station: KN7Y
Class: SO CW HP
Class Overlay: Limited-Ant
QTH: AZ
Operating Time (hrs): 19.5
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
CW: 745 85
SSB:
-------------------
Total: 745 85 Total Score = 253,300
Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Comments:
For 10-meters, I am currently using a home-brew ¼-wave vertical with its base
up 35’, and while I have enjoyed gaining over 30 new DXCC entities on 10 over
the past couple of years (total 234 on 10 – CW/SSB), it does have its
limitations. The competitive edge in me is still here and I was hoping for
better conditions, because when conditions are even moderately good, I am
competitive in pileups, especially on CW. Taking advantage of the Limited
Antenna Overlay, I decided to run 200 watts from my Yaesu FT-2000D and work CW
only.
For the 2023 10-Meter Contest, we are still experiencing the effects of the
solar storms hitting earth just before the 160-Meter Contest held the prior
weekend. While the A Index finally calmed down over the week between the
contests, the SFI decreased to 133 the first evening. At least from my station
and small antenna, I had worked a couple of east coast operators and eastern
Canada prior to the contest, but these signals were not there by the start of
the competition. Gone.
Comparing that with 2020, I began calling CQ at the inception of the contest and
(again from AZ) had worked TX, AZ, NV, CA, WA, OR, MO, KS, etc., SA, FK, ZL, and
VK, and by the time the band closed for me I had worked over 100 QSO’s with a
good number of mults.
Hoping for a similar experience this year, I had a goal of 100 QSO’s Friday
evening but alas conditions were not favorable. (Interestingly, 2020 band
conditions for the remainder of the contest were rough).
This year, even when the band "closed" early Friday evening, 10-meters
remains one of my favorite bands and I did not give up. At the inception of the
contest I felt there was some promise when I heard and worked Alaska, Hong Kong,
9 JA stations, 6 SA, and Arizona. But with only 30 Q's in the log, the QSO’s
would stop coming and Asia would drop out almost as quickly as the ops were
available. As the first hour of the contest progressed, there was an opening to
VK and ZL and I had 8 in the log before my last QSO of the first night at 01:34
Z. Another quick pass of the CW area of 10-meters and I found only signals of
the stronger VK’s and ZL’s and one or two AZ ops I had already worked.
Saturday morning in Arizona opened up at about 14:00 Z (7:00 AM), interestingly
with 2 FL and FK in the log, and after combing the band and settling in to call
CQ, FL and NJ ops were responding. The band quickly opened up for 502
additional QSO’s in the log on Saturday after some CQ rates of over 80 per
hour, a nice change.
As it would turn out, signals were fading by 00:30 Z Sunday (Saturday, 5:30 PM
AZ), and another early evening closed especially for a limited antenna. My last
QSO in the log was BD4SDX before calling it a day and I was surprised he heard
me. At that time, there were 48 Q’s with FL ops in the log, more than any
other state, followed by IL, OH, and MI in that order. My QSO total was 532
with 68 Mults, and I still had the next day...
Arizona’s Sunday sunrise couldn’t come quickly enough for me – although at
65 I try not to rush time. The SFI is even lower at 128 with A Index 3 and K 1.
The conditions were not quite as favorable on this last day, and I could not
quite drum up even close to the CQ rates I had on Saturday. However, I added
another 212 QSO’s with a combination of short CQ’s and H&P, and it was
nice to add another 17 multipliers.
Thanks for all the QSO’s. 73 Jack, KN7Y
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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