CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB - 2023
Call: ZL7IO
Operator(s): ZL3IO
Station: ZL7IO
Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Chatham Isl
Operating Time (hrs): ~43
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 3 1 2
80: 39 14 19
40: 724 30 79
20: 937 33 95
15: 775 29 79
10: 1137 27 56
------------------------------
Total: 3615 134 330 Total Score = 4,868,752
Club: Bavarian Contest Club
Comments:
Thanks for all the QSO's! I was hoping for 3 kQ's from down here and am very
pleased with the result. You have to have in mind that the available contest
calls within 10000 km or the closer half the world from this QTH is probably
less than 200 or in words two hundreds. On the positive we have no polar path to
the main radio communities.
There were many hours of great runs but also periods of endless CQing like a
four-hour period with less than 100 QSO's (in the whole 4 hrs!) while the conds
were there. In the aftermath I found that I had zero DX Cluster spots in this
period. With the first cluster spot my rate exploded and I run a few 200+ hours.
It was not the propagation! The same happened again.
This reinforces my opinion that unassisted classes should be removed from all
contests for good. No matter what the initial definition of
"assistance" was, the real assistance for your result does not come
from you seeing others but from others seeing you! Pretending only to half of
the reality and sticking to a totally wrong definition of assistance is just
lying and playing blind. No cluster spots = no runs. If you want to claim
unassisted you must ensure that no cluster or skimmer spots your call. If that
can't be assured, you are ALWAYS assisted. Period!
Without cluster spots I would have struggled to make 1000 Q's from here! I'm
only going unassisted to keep my chances for WRTC. Unfortunately, there
old-fashioned point designation forces me to do so.
Back to the contest.
We got a KPA500 since my September visit. It can be used on the battery/solar
system. But, before the contest stupid me convinced Chris (ZL7DX) to install a 6
m antenna and set up a monitoring station. You guessed it, there was 6 m
propagation and the amp ended up on the 6 m radio... This way the
decision-making HP or LP was done.
The strategy was to call CQ and utilise on the rare ZL7 prefix. Be on the low
bands around the grey lines and slow night times with little hope for 160
(confirmed) and 80. I was unsure what to expect on 40 m with low power SSB.
So far, we only have single verticals for the low bands but I doubled the number
of radials.
While the Northern hemisphere is/was ecstatic about the 10 m conds, it was less
so for the real South of the world. The 28 MHz MUF never came below 30 degrees.
Chatham sits on 44 degrees South. To enjoy the party, you had to be either far
North of ZL like in VK4, E5, T2, YJ, etc. or be able to produce antenna gain at
very low take off angles. I'm talking about 1-10 degrees! Many of my local (ZL)
friends were actually complaining about the high band conds. This QTH was chosen
with radio performance in mind (thanks Chris, ZL7DX!) and allowed me to join the
10 m fun for a few hours. EU on 10 m was almost a no show and much better the
days before the contest.
I struggled to get a grip on 15 m towards NA. I assume that was due to the fact
that EU-NA & AS-NA paths were so wide and for so long open. In this case my
signal comes from 90 or 180 degrees to their antenna direction. The 15 m short
pass openings to EU on the other hand were a blast. I wish EU would be more
disciplined and we could run real rates with you guys.
20 m was open 24/7 and was super crowded.
40 m was going surprisingly well.
80 m seemed to be deserted at times.
160 m was a loss with only 3 QSO's.
Finding and holding a frequency was impossible at times. Even with me running a
massive pile up stations would start calling CQ on top me or less than one kHz
away.
Only 10% of my QSO's were with Asia. This declining trend I saw over the last
ten to fifteen years. But 10% is a new low.
I will be back for the CW part.
73 Holger
ZL2IO/ZL7IO, host and one of the ZM4T team
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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