CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB - 2023
Call: KU2M
Operator(s): KU2M
Station: KU2M
Class: SOSB10 HP
QTH: Wayne, NJ
Operating Time (hrs): 24.8
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160:
80:
40:
20:
15:
10: 1516 28 123
------------------------------
Total: 1516 28 123 Total Score = 645,827
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Got tired of the same old same old and figured I'd do 10M this year, just for
the halibut, since sunspots are on the rise and 10M has been alive. But Friday
night didn't bode well for that choice, as after 8 PM the band was completely
dead except for one station: VE2IDX in zone 2. 'Well, at least that was
something,' I said to myself as I turned off the radio and QSYed to the couch!
Saturday saw insane runs to EU with the N1MM+ Rate-O-Meter hitting 345 (Qs/hr)
more than once, which was a new personal best, although not sustained. Flux was
limited to about 125 and A index was high, so nothing much was coming from
northern latitudes - northern Scandinavian stations were weak and watery. Never
worked anybody from zone 40 or zone 1, and nothing from over the pole.
Heard/worked ONE (count 'em) JA all Saturday, and he was very weak. I lucked out
stumbling upon him, as he was completely gone after a few minutes, with no more
JAs to be heard. I thought that would be it for JA for the entire weekend.
Dupeday (some people call it Sunday) saw better conditions to JA, but still no
zone 19, 40 or zone 1. Zone 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29? As my NJ brethren would
say, Fahgeddaboudit. There was nothing out of east Asia except a few JAs, which
were in better supply than they had been on Saturday, but still rather weak.
Absolutely bupkis from mainland Asia. Welcome to the KU2M Triangle.
OTOH, there were some interesting mults from the South Pacific this test, and a
few African goodies, but overall, a disappointing Zone total. But them's the
breaks! Nice to see that stations further south and west had better zone totals
- but this makes sense, since QTHs further south and west have a real advantage
over the NE, due to 1) longer daylight after the autumnal equinox (longer
daylight the further south you go after September 21), which means longer band
openings per day, combined with 2) stations further west have much better
openings to eastern Asia. We guys further N & E usually do better with EU;
who will do best becomes who finds themselves in a shifting zone which gives the
best mix of band openings and activity, which is otherwise known as
"luck" - which makes the game interesting - - or frustrating,
especially for unassisted participants like yours truly.
Also, I noticed that nearly all of the time the antenna stack (a pair of SteppIR
DB36s) in BOP was stronger than when in phase, which suggests higher angle prop;
don't know how that correlates to flux, absorption, K index, etc, or if that is
"normal" on 10M, but that's something I don't see as often on the
other HF bands. Since 10M isn't active most of the sunspot cycle, I can't judge
if that's normal or not, but there it was. Lower antennas worked almost as well
as high ones, and sometimes better.
Well, looking forward to the 10M test in December - hopefully, it will be a good
party for everyone this year. Thanks for all the QSOs, and see you next time!
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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