CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1998
Call: 6Y2A Country: Jamaica
Mode: CW Category: Multi Multi
Zone: 8
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 1161 2598 2.24 22 86
80 1913 4772 2.49 29 107
40 3976 10442 2.63 36 134
20 4213 11172 2.65 38 151
15 3508 9175 2.62 39 151
10 3228 8205 2.54 33 126
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 17,999 46364 2.58 197 755 => 44,138,528
Raw QSOs: 19,052
Our congratulations to the fine performances of all the other major M/M
teams this year: TI1C, 5V7A, J6DX & J3A. This was sure a lively
competition. Based on the rumors, the 6Y2A score should stand as the new
M/M World Record, M/M North American Record, All-Time CW QSO Record, and New
40m QSO Record... and this was all done from a 2-point location!
6Y2A Band Captains:
160: N6BT (Tom)
80: N6BV (Dean)
40: W9QA (Dave)
20: N6TV (Bob) & W4SO (Scott)
15: AG9A (Mark) & KE7X (Fred)
10: K2KW (Kenny, 6Y2A Team Leader)
Team Assistants: AF7Y (Dennis), K7CO (JT)
Antennas/Equipment:
All antennas were provided by Force 12 Antennas. Antenna strategy designed
by N6BT, K2KW and N6BV.
160: 2 element vertical parasitic array, fixed due north, FT-1000MP,
Alpha 76CA
80m: 2 element vertical parasitic array fixed on Europe, and a similar
one fixed on USA/JA. IC-765, Ten-Tec Titan
40: 2 element parasitic vertical ZR array, only 15' (4.5m) tall, fixed
on Europe, similar array fixed on USA/JA (same antenna system as last year).
FT-1000MP, MLA2500
20m: 4 element vertical parasitic/phased array fixed on EU, 2 element
vertical parasitic array fixed on USA/JA (same as last year), 2 ele Yagi at
25' (7m). FT-1000MP, Alpha 86. WX0B StackMatch was used to select any or
all antennas at the same time.
15m: 4 element vertical dipole parasitic/phased array fixed on Europe, 2
element vertical dipole parasitic array fixed on USA/JA, 2 ele Yagi at 27'
(8m). FT-1000MP, Alpha 374. WX0B StackMatch was used to select any or all
antennas at the same time.
10m: 4 element vertical dipole parasitic/phased array fixed on Europe, 2
element vertical dipole parasitic array fixed on USA/JA, 2 ele Yagi at 18'
(5m). FT-1000MP, MLA2500. WX0B StackMatch was used to select any or all
antennas at the same time.
RX: 300' (91m) USA/JA beverage, Europe EWE, 25' (7m) high dipoles for
80/160. None of them heard as well as the main vertical array, even through
the QRN.
No rotators were used; the Yagis were rotated manually.
All antennas fit into 6 golf club carriers and were checked baggage. Total
weight of antennas (including cases, tools, and hardware) was 410 pounds
(186 kg). There were a total of 28 vertical elements on the major HF bands,
unlike any other amateur antenna system we have heard of.
With the exception of generators, this was a complete field-day type
expedition, as there was nothing at the QTH, and we brought all equipment
and antennas to Jamaica with us. All equipment and antennas were brought
back to the USA after the contest (the 5000' (1524m) of coax stayed in
Jamaica). We calculated we brought close to 2400 pounds (1090 kg) of
equipment/antennas with us on the airplane, and didn't have to pay excess
baggage costs as it all met standard check-in requirements.
High Points:
Everything! What great conditions, and a great team. The synergy of this
team is evident by the profound respect we all have for each other. There
is a vast array of technical talent that has made this expedition a success.
CT 9.37, with -LOOP networking, performed flawlessly. DX-Telnet to OH2AQ
"DX Summit" helped us work many multipliers (http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs).
160m: N6BT and K2KW will remember this band for a long time. The antenna
produced such a loud signal that we could run Europeans (simplex) and send
"2P?" and ONLY YL2PP would respond. Even better is when K2KW worked "N7?"
to be corrected as N7FU... K2KW responded FU TU 6Y2A... N6BT and K2KW were
in tears when we quickly realized what Kenny had sent!
80m: N6BV working 918 Europeans.
40m: W9QA made a "stealth QSO" with JT1A. Dave found them before the band
was really open, before they were spotted. While Dave could just barely
hear a whisper of them, he could hear the operator comment about he was
surprised to hear 6Y2A. Being called in the last few moments by TZ6DX and
3V8BB. And obviously breaking last year's 40M world record for QSOs. The
total reliability and performance of the Force 12 ZRs! The great bunch of
guys who just left me alone to crank out the Qs all weekend!
20m: With the band open to Europe, U.S. and JA at the beginning of the
contest, N6TV made 226 QSOs in the first hour, followed by a 201 QSO hour.
With luck, audio clips of this hour may be available on our Website soon.
The other highlight was working 5H3US in the last hour of the contest for a
double multiplier. 5H3US was working mostly Europe, but he was savvy enough
to get Europe to quiet down so he could hear the weak tail-ender with the
weird "2A" in the call.
10m: Amazing conditions on this band, with S9++ signals from Europe and
Japan. The European pileups were the same size as a typical new country
coming on the air for the first time. K2KW had his all-time high rate of
219/hour running a combination of EU and USA. Guess we were loud on this
band. :)
Low points:
o Lack of JA opening on 80 and 160m. Last year 80m worked 375 JA stations
in the contest, this year there were only 24.
o Long path to Asia on 10, 15, 20 was blocked by the cliff to the south,
though we knew it was there for most other Caribbean and East Coast
stations.
o Significant FT-1000MP AGC problems with all radios due to the huge pileups
and loud signals
o QRN on 80 & 160m. 160m could have logged a few hundred more EU stations
if we could only hear a little better on Friday night (S-9 QRN). The
Saturday night EU opening was just spectacular with S-9++ signals from all
over EU and the Middle East (with S-0 QRN) but the volume was down compared
to Friday evening.
o 40m - Being unable to break the huge and constant packet pile-ups on XU1A
and XZ1N, who could be heard both in the morning and in the evening.
Frustration with being unable to pick full callsigns out of the pile up due
to the FT-1000MP's AGC problem.
o 20m - Connector failure in the coax to the JA antenna during the peak of
the JA opening Saturday night.
o Salt accumulation caused arcing, which created unfilterable interstation
interference.
Lucky Points:
o Huge waves knocked down several verticals and radial systems the morning
AFTER the contest.
o Electrical power went off 23 hours AFTER the end of the contest.
Neat Statistics:
o 18 hours when QSOs were made on 6 bands
o ~320 stations worked us on 6 bands (up from ~225 last year)
o ~9200 unique callsigns in the log, around half of which were NOT in the
1997 log!
73,
Kenny K2KW
6Y2A Team Leader
QSL via WA4WTG
Questions and comments to: mailto:k2kw@prodigy.net
Continent Statistics
6Y2A CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST Multi Multi
160 80 40 20 15 10 ALL percent
North America 942 996 1543 1546 1433 1578 8038 42.2
South America 6 19 40 39 95 101 300 1.6
Europe 274 918 1980 2301 1630 1343 8446 44.3
Asia 9 50 564 546 501 353 2023 10.6
Africa 10 12 22 26 28 22 120 0.6
Oceania 14 9 21 30 31 20 125 0.7
BREAKDOWN QSO/mults 6Y2A CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST Multi Multi
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
0 114/13 107/34 191/52 226/27 31/20 23/16 692/162 692/162
1 88/3 101/16 202/11 201/11 27/18 9/7 628/66 1320/228
2 92/12 129/9 209/8 142/23 16/6 3/1 591/59 1911/287
3 73/9 135/4 208/7 73/23 11/6 1/0 501/49 2412/336
4 84/9 133/6 167/4 57/12 3/1 6/1 450/33 2862/369
5 83/5 119/1 166/4 29/5 7/1 . 404/16 3266/385
6 74/5 93/18 169/9 86/6 1/0 . 423/38 3689/423
7 42/9 75/3 97/15 131/10 . . 345/37 4034/460
8 32/1 30/6 146/2 100/6 ..... ..... 308/15 4342/475
9 16/4 30/1 117/6 134/4 . . 297/15 4639/490
10 12/0 41/1 34/7 65/2 3/5 . 155/15 4794/505
11 24/2 62/6 157/4 104/4 154/29 56/28 557/73 5351/578
12 . 2/0 85/3 78/3 170/12 161/24 496/42 5847/620
13 . . 25/0 78/3 152/5 164/15 419/23 6266/643
14 . . 5/0 37/5 140/12 132/1 314/18 6580/661
15 . . . 86/5 158/12 168/5 412/22 6992/683
16 ..... ..... 3/0 110/1 165/4 219/2 497/7 7489/690
17 . . 1/0 108/1 153/7 210/6 472/14 7961/704
18 . . . 120/0 143/6 158/4 421/10 8382/714
19 . . . 116/3 161/4 138/2 415/9 8797/723
20 1/1 1/1 9/4 143/4 125/0 105/4 384/14 9181/737
21 3/0 2/0 82/3 135/3 100/1 98/6 420/13 9601/750
22 9/0 15/2 131/0 125/4 107/2 151/1 538/9 10139/759
23 25/0 48/6 126/5 104/3 137/3 80/4 520/2110659/780
0 35/4 48/3 115/2 119/0 120/6 2/2 439/1711098/797
1 55/6 94/4 129/0 93/0 31/2 4/1 406/1311504/810
2 44/4 101/2 133/3 118/0 5/0 2/0 403/9 11907/819
3 48/4 85/4 117/2 52/1 7/1 10/1 319/1312226/832
4 64/4 116/1 115/2 51/2 8/2 1/0 355/1112581/843
5 45/0 95/0 117/1 43/1 3/0 . 303/2 12884/845
6 26/4 96/1 121/1 52/1 1/0 . 296/7 13180/852
7 21/2 72/1 104/1 43/1 . . 240/5 13420/857
8 17/1 24/0 120/1 8/0 ..... ..... 169/2 13589/859
9 6/0 16/0 66/2 66/0 . . 154/2 13743/861
10 10/2 4/3 60/5 65/0 5/0 . 144/1013887/871
11 7/0 27/3 77/1 54/5 122/8 76/2 363/1914250/890
12 . . 53/0 64/0 118/3 157/2 392/5 14642/895
13 . . 20/0 56/0 79/0 141/2 296/2 14938/897
14 . . 5/0 47/0 106/2 108/0 266/2 15204/899
15 . . 5/0 29/0 119/3 124/4 277/7 15481/906
16 ..... ..... ..... 73/0 108/2 113/5 294/7 15775/913
17 . . . 86/2 100/2 129/1 315/5 16090/918
18 . . 2/0 99/2 100/0 73/1 274/3 16364/921
19 . . 6/0 92/1 101/1 72/2 271/4 16635/925
20 . . 6/0 71/1 119/2 89/2 285/5 16920/930
21 . . 70/2 82/0 94/0 94/3 340/5 17260/935
22 2/0 3/0 105/2 69/0 99/1 107/0 385/3 17645/938
23 8/2 9/0 100/1 93/4 99/1 43/3 352/1117997/949
DAY1 772/73 1123/114 2330/144 2588/168 1964/154 1882/127 .....10659/780
DAY2 388/33 790/22 1646/26 1625/21 1544/36 1345/31 . 7338/169
TOT 1160/106 1913/136 3976/170 4213/189 3508/190 3227/158 . 17997/949
Check out some pictures on our basic web site http://www.vcr.com/6y2a - more
pictures to come in the future! Web photos taken with an Epson Digital Camera
in the medium resolution mode
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/10m_EU_vert.jpg - 10m Array fixed on Europe. We
call this antenna a "2-by-2." There are 2 parasitic vertical arrays that
are then fed in phase (4 elements total). Elements are vertical dipoles,
which give us a lower angle of radiation than quarter wave verticals. The
results are about 6 dB gain over a single array, and a beamwidth of 54
degrees. This puts a large null into the central US, which helps us hear
Europe better. Photo is looking towards EU.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/10mvert.jpg - 10m 2 element vertical array fixed on
USA/JA. Elements are vertical dipoles. Beamwidth is around 110 degrees.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/160_vert.jpg - Interesting look at the 160m
vertical. The base sections are made of mini aluminum tower sections.
These tower sections are much lighter in weight than the 3" tubes sections
that are normally used. In total, each 160m element weighs around 20 pounds
(9 kg)! The antenna is 57' (17.4m) tall, and uses double linear loading.
The dimensions of this antenna are the same as the standard Force 12 160m
vertical, but the construction techniques are special for our expedition.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/160m2.jpg - Good view of the 160m vertical, but this
picture was taken before the 2nd element (a reflector) was installed. The
2nd element went close to the tree on the right. Photo is looking East.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/20m_EU_4ele_vert.jpg - Sunset view of the 20m meter
Europe 2-by-2 array. This array was made of quarter-wave verticals. Photo
is looking west.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/6m.jpg - 6 meter yagi at 33' (10m) on top of a
bamboo pole. We never did have enough time to use this antenna.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/6y5.jpg - QSL card of K7CO, our webmster.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/80m_2ele_EU_vert.jpg - 80m 2 element parasitic
vertical array fixed on Europe. Elements are 42' (12.8m) long, and only
1.24" (31 cm) diameter aluminum sections on the bottom. This array is a
light weight expedition version similar to the electrical construction of
the standard Force 12 80m vertical.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/80m_2ele_USA_JA.jpg - 80m 2 element parasitic
vertical array fixed on USA/JA. Same construction as the Europe array.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/af7y.jpg - Dennis, AF7Y tuning the 160m reflector.
These antennas are so easy to construct that you can do it with your eyes
closed... But Dennis, next time please look at the meter when tuning it :)
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/ant.jpg - A nice view of many of the antennas at
6Y2A. Yes, we did use some yagis on 10, 15, and 20m. These Yagis were used
for Africa, South America, and Oceania as they were over-land paths, where
the Yagi will perform better than the verticals.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/k2kw.jpg - Kenny, K2KW, playing as K2KW/6Y5 the
first day we arrived in Jamaica.
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/ke7x.jpg - Fred, KE7X, operating before the contest.
This is not the final station...
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/n6tv.jpg - Bob, N6TV. TV-Bob is also known as the
"connector man".
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/secretweapon.jpg - You can figure this one out
yourself ;)
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/someoperators.jpg - Lunch time at 6Y2A. Left to
right: N6BV, K7CO, W4SO, N6TV, Bonnie N6BT XYL, N6BT, K2KW
http://www.vcr.com/6y2a/vert.jpg - An interesting view of all the high band
verticals 10-20m.
--
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