I’ve been bad about updating this site. I suppose it is a good thing, but I have been extremely busy – but I know there are those who visit here periodically so I need to be better about updating.
The CQWW DX SSB contest exceeded all of my expectations. I had hoped to break 5,000 QSOs – which would match my last SOAB effort from Guam in this contest back in 1999. It turns out that I broke 6,000 QSOs – but fell short of the Oceania single op record. Conditions were good, but not good enough.
Here is the breakdown:
Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
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160: 5 3 5
80: 124 27 35
40: 602 29 67
20: 1227 35 103
15: 2014 35 96
10: 2414 36 100
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Total: 6386 165 406 Total Score = 10,602,889
This score is very close to my CW score from last year. I had more multipliers in 2011, but the QSO total is within 100 or so.
I found a number of small issues with the station during the contest. Most of all, my new remote Beverage switch, utilizing the LM3914, worked very poorly. Specifically, it introduced noise into the feed line, which reduced the effectiveness of the receive antennas. Additionally, the noise floor on my NW and W Beverages was much higher than earlier this year – by 5 or 6 S-units. The European Beverages used to be my quietest antenna, but for the contest it was the noisiest.
I replaced my LM3914 “experiment” with a new design, using +12V, -12V, and 12VAC to switch between four antenna positions. Design is similar to the RCS-4. It works fantastic and all the noise generated by the 3914 IC is gone. I also found and corrected the source of the noise on my NW and W Beverages – a bad connection in the RG-6 cable that feeds these antennas. The bad connection allowed the antennas to function, but high resistance allowed ingress of common mode noise from the shield. Once fixed, my European Beverage is now as quiet as it has been in the past.
Last week I had just finished working PT0S on 40m CW (seconds after sending 5NN) when I heard a loud BOOM of thunder and a loud snap in the shack. I had taken a very close lightning strike. I was completely unaware that a storm had moved in, and lightning is rare on Guam. Turns out I was lucky. So far, the only apparent damage is to one antenna port in my 6X2 antenna switch and the house telephone. I am able to bypass this antenna port – and should be ready for next weekend.
I have a few more things to wrap up this week also before the contest. It’s been busy to find time, because of my work responsibilities as Port Engineer. I have a ship that just entered an availability, so my work load will be greatly increased until the project is complete next February. Here are some photos of the haul out of USCGC ASSATEAGUE, a 110ft Island Class patrol boat based here on Guam.
