For the first time, I relied on my
"3V8SS RBN" to deliver spots. The node is located 130km south of 3V8SS
Station. It uses the two receivers of a RedPitaya device; DXE preamp at the
bottom of a 4m vertical for the highbands and a 17m toploaded vertical for
40/80/160. The RBN generated over 109'000 spots during the contest!
Spots from VE7CC were filtered to exclusively show
3V8SS RBN ones in DXLog. That delivered spots with high frequency accuracy of
stations with (relatively) high possibility to work from 3V8SS station.
I was surprised the RBN delivered a lot of spots -
on all bands - that I can't even hear in 3V8SS Station equipped with a tribander,
2-phased verticals for 40 and an inv-L for 80/160. The noise level is certainly
lower at the RBN location but I think that's more related to going "just a bit"
further south.
I prepared the set up for a 2BSIQ operation. One
mistake that I didn't consider is the SN that has to be sent to stations I
worked that has to be locked. That rendered 2BSIQ less productive and I had to send a different SN to
stations whenever a I loose synchronization.
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category :
Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : Tribander/Single Element
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 36h00
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
6 0 1 36
6.00
80 164
1 78 984 6.00
40
387 9 191 2314 5.98
20 1156
28 400 3456 2.99
15
544
10 150 1628 2.99
10 525 10 57 1575
3.00
-----------------------------------
TOTAL
2782
58 877 9993 3.59
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 8 763 861
3V8SS - CQ WPX SSB 2021 - MS LP (TB-WIRE)
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : SSB
Category : Multi Operators/Single
Transmitter
Overlay : Tribander/Single Element
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operators
: 3V1B KF5EYY
Operating
time : 48h00
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0
0.00
80
95 0 47 564 5.94
40
220 5 134 1312 5.96
20 1459
31 472 4372 3.00
15
277
2 112 810 2.92
10 9 0 6
23 2.56
-----------------------------------
TOTAL
2060
38 771 7081 3.44
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 5 459 451
3V8SS - CQ WPX RTTY 2021 - SO LP (TB-WIRE)
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : RTTY
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : Tribander/Single Element
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... :
Locator :
Operating
time : 29h59
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
80
109 2 56 654 6.00
40
329 5 187 1974 6.00
20 593
11 206 1776 2.99
15 276
7 118 807 2.99
10
1 1 1 17 2.43
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 1308
26 568 5228 4.00
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 2 969 504
3V8SF - CQ WW 160 CW 2021 - SO LP
My experimentation with BOG antennas didn't confirm it to be a DX antenna on
160. I decided to put up a new beverage for JA direction instead. It was 214m
long and 1m high. I finished installation on Friday morning and didn't have the
chance to confirm its performance especially on these times of bad condx on 160.
From the contest experience, it had a good pattern and managed to produce clear
signals. I managed to hear few JAs.
For NA direction, I kept relying on my 260m-long beverage.
A thunder storm over Cyprus made RXing a bit challenging. A thought to the
Syrian refugees in Idlib who got floods in their camps rendering their lives
more miserable.
The band was clearly in bad shape here. Very few NAs heard and worked. Congrats
to N0FW who managed to pick up my 100W signal among the crowd!
This year's score is less than half of last year's one! The contest remains a
great fun, though!
I would roughly estimate I went 2BSIQ for 20% of the contest. Too many ideas in
mind now to improve the ergonomics for smoother runs.
The LBS Filters were great! I was using a headset and an earphone for listening
on separate ears, hi! Coax cables were changed manually since no antenna
switcher. I made the RX loop bigger for 160, it helped but I still need to
listen to another layer of calling stations.
Preparations worked well allowing me to have absolutely no need to sleep the
first 24 hours and very minor hallucinations at the last 6 hours. The 3 hours I
slept were not mandatory, I only seized the opportunity the bands weren't
productive at all.
Contest
: CQ World Wide DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Locator :
Operating
time : 45h00
BAND QSO
CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160 105
5 29 5 315 3.00
80
836 12 53 25 2504 3.00
40 1185
20 63 32 3553 3.00
20 1311
19 62 13 3929 3.00
15 1302
25 72 27 3898 2.99
10 301 14
40 3 891 2.96
--------------------------------------
TOTAL
5040 95 319 105 15090 2.99
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 6 247 260
3V8SS - CQ WW SSB 2020 - SOAB LP
Contest
: CQ World Wide DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Locator :
Operating
time : 38h50
BAND QSO
CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160
53 4 21 4 159 3.00
80
297 7 44 4 887 2.99
40 601
15 58 15 1803 3.00
20 1466
15 65 31 4386 2.99
15 520
19 67 7 1538 2.96
10
85 9 27 0 249 2.93
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 3022
69 282 61 9022 2.99
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 3 166 722
3V8SS - CQ WW RTTY 2020 - SOAB LP
Contest : CQ World Wide DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : RTTY
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating
time : 37h00
BAND QSO
CQ DXC DUP S/P POINTS AVG
------------------------------------------
80
234 8 41 4 13 701 3.00
40 453
14 54 13 17 1357 3.00
20 957
17 64 23 32 2870 3.00
15 219
19 45 1 2 653 2.98
10
151 6 25 2 0 452 2.99
------------------------------------------
TOTAL 2014
64 229 43 64 6033 3.00
==========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 2 153 781
3V8SS - CQ WPX CW 2020 - SOAB LP
What an exciting contest! My best score in WPX CW!
10m delivered solid signals all daylight long especially from EU but worked 20
JAs as well.
20m was amazing since I was working JAs and NA in the same time, both loud!
The magnetic loop helped a LOT on 40m and managed to have some good runs there.
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay :
TB-WIRES
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 36h00
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
10 0 3 60 6.00
80
62 0 30 372 6.00
40
440 5 152 2640 6.00
20
966 7 310 2898 3.00
15
590 5 132 1770 3.00
10 812
14 189 2436 3.00
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 2880
31 816 10176 3.53
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 8 303 616
3V8SF - CQ WW 160 CW 2020 - SO LP
Few days before the contest, I put up a new 170m-long beverage to Japan. This
beverage was passing 10m away from the TX antenna and I figured out the day of
the contest that it re-radiates when I'm transmitting. I didn't have time to
automate RX antenna isolation during TX (I though radios do that by default!).
Second night was better than first night with some nice openings to North
America. Surprisingly no JA was worked or heard although a DS station was easily
worked.
The new loop helped a lot in Low Bands RXing. 80m in excellent shape on first
night. JA and NA signals were as strong as EU signals on high bands. Strange propagation
conditions.
80-Meter Receiving Loop built and tuned for the contest
Contest : CQ World Wide DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : Tribander/Single Element
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating
time : 40h20
BAND QSO
CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160
173 8 42 5 509 2.94
80 843
12 62 17 2515 2.98
40 1001
22 79 13 2987 2.98
20 1788
30 93 51 5328 2.98
15 488
25 68 8 1427 2.92
10
75 7 23 0 217 2.89
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 4368
104 367 94 12983 2.97
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 6 114 993
3V8SS - WAEDC CW 2019 - SOAB LP
Aid El-Edha this year falls on Sunday of WAEDC CW. That had somehow disturbed
the operating plan.
Low bands were very noisy.
Contest : Worked All Europe DX-Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 33h12
BAND QSO
DUP MLTS QTC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
80
150 0 33 60 210 1.00
40
441 4 38 220 659 1.00
20 722
14 41 710 1430 1.00
15
403 2 36 350 753 1.00
10
287 2 34 140 427 1.00
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL 2003
22 468 1480 3479 1.74
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 628 172
3V8SS - IARU HF CHAMP. 2019 - SOAB LP MIXED
Spent the first hour running 25W due to power supply issue later fixed.
Saturday's propagation clearly better than on Sunday. Noisy low bands. Tough SSB
operation.
Contest : IARU HF World Championships
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : MIXED
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 37
Operating
time : 20h30
BAND CW
SSB ITU HQ POINTS AVG
----------------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0 0.00
80
142 0 10 16 640 4.51
40
286 2 13 14 1356 4.71
20
750 38 18 22 3816 4.84
15
416 3 11 17 2013 4.80
10
376 71 9 15 2113 4.73
----------------------------------------
TOTAL
1970 114 61 84 9938 4.77
========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 441 010
3V8SF - CQ 160 CW 2018 - SO LP
First night was terrible but condx later improved on the second night. I did
some very successful S&Ps with North America right after my SR. It was easy
working some States and Caribbean stations with 100W.
Contest : CQ World Wide 160-meter Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SF
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: Single band (SB) 160 m
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Locator :
Operating
time : 23h51
BAND QSO
DUP DXC S/P POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160 868
58 65 17 8620 9.93
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 868
58 65 17 8620 9.93
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 706 840
3V8SF - CQ WW CW 2018 - SOSB 160 LP
Since I set up 3V8SF station for 160m operation 2 months ago and I started
chasing DXCCs and US States, activity on 160m CW was low. People seem to prefer
FT8, something that I religiously refuse.
I decided to play SOSB-160 in this year's WW CW instead of my preferred SOAB LP
category to further assess TX/RX antennas performance and boost my DXCC/WAS
count.
Propagation at this end was nice on Friday night but turned to be bad on
Saturday and Sunday nights (Only 1 JA in log!). I enjoyed following realtime
scores of SOAB HP race during long CQs.
I could only manage to work D41CV right after the contest as requested to Girts
through Whatsapp. And guess who did the QSO? CT1BOH just finishing 48 hours to
break the world record!
Not easy contesting while fasting even for an SO1R effort.. Family dinners costed me some valuable
greyline QSOs.. 20m was amazing on Saturday night.. Tough low bands..
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : Tribander/Single Element
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 34h58
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
4 0 1 24 6.00
80
142 1 75 844 5.94
40
263 4 124 1578 6.00
20 1263
18 456 3774 2.99
15
320 1 60 956 2.99
10
275 0 36 822 2.99
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 2267
24 752 7998 3.53
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 6 014 496
3V8SS - CQ WPX SSB 2018 - SOAB LP (T)
That was one of the hardest contests I did given the poor propagation
conditions. MUF according to Gibilmanna ionosonde rarely exceeded 21Megs during
the weekend although south-north propagation on 10m was possible (FR4QT and 7Q7EI
were loud). In such conditions, for a low power station, every QSO on low bands
should worth triple points not only double! A bit over two hundred QSOs was all I managed to do
on 80 and 40 combined using an inverted-L with elevated radials and 2 phased
verticals. The receiving loop I recently added helped with some stations on 80.
On Sunday at 0700z, power went down in the area (they said it is a planned
shutdown for maintenance). That remained till 1300z thus loosing the best hour
rates of the contest.
During
this contest, we did experiment the K9AY Receiving Loop made by Ahmed 3V/KG5OUE.
The loop worked well nulling noise. The switching system worked flawlessly.
Further improvements are planned especially with making the loop further away
from the transmitting antenna.
An undetected frequency shift of 0.15 Khz on the radio led to the first 5 hours
to be miserable. Once the issue is sorted out, I felt more determined to finish
the contest as better as I can.
I almost used one radio in this year's contest. 2BSIQ really requires a proper
set up and a good preparation.
The recently installed vertical for 80m with 4 elevated radials worked perfectly
over the inv-V.
Contest : CQ
World Wide DX Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode :
CW
Category :
Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All
bands (AB)
Class : Low
Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating time : 45h00
BAND QSO CQ DXC DUP
POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160 119
6 34
3 349 2.93
80
1001 15 66 27 2988 2.99
40 1013
21 70 17 3023 2.98
20 1262
22 70 22 3765 2.98
15
883 19 69
13 2623 2.97
10
3 2 2 0 9
3.00
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 4281 85
311
82 12757 2.98
======================================
TOTAL SCORE :
5 051 772
3V8SS - CQ WW SSB 2017 - M/S LP
It was nice to have Ludo HB9EOU with us again! Two days before the contest we
put in place a 5 elements 15m yagi and w vertical for 80. The yagi performed
well but still not high enough. 80m vertical collapsed after during the first
contest night and had to be fixed and relocated.
Propagation wasn't very bad, low bands were tough though!
Contest : CQ
World Wide DX Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi -
Single (MS)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All
bands (AB)
Class : Low
Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating time : 48h00
BAND QSO CQ DXC DUP
POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160 41 5 21
0 121 2.95
80 245 9 56
5 723 2.95
40 259 16 71
1 765 2.95
20 656 27 87
5 1952 2.98
15 933 30 104
26 2769 2.97
10 229 21 62
4 662 2.89
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 2363 108 401
41 6992 2.96
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 3
558 928
Operators: KF5EYY, HB9EOU, KG5OUE, KD2LQM
3V8SS - CQ WPX CW 2017 - SOAB LP
Ramadhan this year started on Saturday. It was a little bit difficult contesting without
coffee but good without too much food!
The first day was great with 20m open almost all the day and Sporadic E short
skip on 10 that generated 196 QSOs. Then everything just disappeared after the
geomagnetic storm on Sunday leading to no propagation on 15 and 10. P33W was the
only signal on 15m waterfall.
Ludo HB9EOU has arrived Thurday noon to Monastir Airport. The rest of the team
composed of Ahmed 3V/KG5OUE, Oussama 3V/KD2LQM and Ali 3V/F4HJD joined us Friday
afternoon after we finished setting up an Inv-L for 80m. Ali networked the
laptops. By 10pm local time, the station was ready with 1 Run and 1 Support
radios.
The first four hours were terrible with almost 60 QSOs in total. We figured out
later that RUN radio has some TX issues that necessitated settings reset to be
sorted out.
As expected, 20m was the main band where 67% of the QSOs were made. 15m was
tough, we barely could have some few minutes runs.
Low bands were better on second and third night.
Thanks to the team for the great effort and fun time!
Contest : CQ
World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi
Op - Single Transmitter (MS)
Band(s) : All
bands (AB)
Class : Low
Power (LP)
Operating time : 48h00
BAND QSO DUP PFX
POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160 15 0 6
90 6.00
80 186 3 72
1108 5.96
40 304 6 125
1792 5.89
20 1169 26 459
3487 2.98
15 78 0 66
222 2.85
10 2 0
2 2 1.00
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 1754 35 730
6701 3.82
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 4
891 730
3V8SS - RDXC 2017 - SOAB CW LP
I used DXLog.net in this year's RDXC. Two keyboards were plugged into the same
laptop. Scenarios weren't well examined before the contest so I maintained audio
from the two radios split between both ears and did manual CQing.
Contest : Russian DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 23h30
BAND SSB
CW DXC OBL POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
160 0
73 23 18 480 6.57
80 0
366 42 47 2285 6.24
40 0
398 50 42 2475 6.21
20
0 729 54 61 4730 6.48
15
0 332 40 47 2430 7.31
10 0 7 4 4 35 5.00
------------------------------------------
TOTAL
0 1905 213
215 12435 6.52
==========================================
TOTAL SCORE
: 5 322 180
3V8CB - CQWW 160 CW 2017 - SO LP
This
contest was intended to be the opportunity to set up and try the inverted-L
antenna for transmitting and the beverage for receiving. The only location with
a license where this can be installed is the camping center of Borj Cedria where
3V8CB club station is.
The
installation team is composed of myself, Ahmad 3V/KG5EOU and Ali 3V/F4HJD with
support from Majdi 3V8CB.
The
Inverted-L was a 1/4 wave 40m long wire, with about 20m of vertical part and the
rest is almost horizontal. The antenna is installed with 12 radials laid on the
ground (2 radials 40m long, 10 radials 10m long) connected to a good grounding
system.
The beverage is a
260m beverage installed at 2.2m high and beaming North America (Audio clips of
beverage performance here).
Condx
weren't that good during the contest. Only 6 States/Province were worked.
SO2R
Operation was never as easy and enjoyable as it was in this year’s WW CW. After
manually switching antennas between filters and radios for almost each band
change during WW SSB, Filipe CT1ILT was very kind helping with a 6x2 antenna
switching system (See ct1ilt.com/switches).
The
system, wired and boxed by Ahmed 3V/KG5OUE one week before the contest, worked
perfectly and flawlessly. We did a mistake by using a plastic enclosure, but
then an Aluminium cover connected to ground completely killed any cross radios
interference.
We
gathered in Nov 19th weekend to also do some further preparations in 3V8SS
station; myself and Ali 3V/F4HJD replaced the balun of the inv-V for 80/160 and
brought it a bit higher (it wasn’t very bad that we didn’t split it in two
inv-V’s although that would enable more flexibility). We also put up a K9AY
which I think worked well especially on 40 and 80. The radio doesn’t have an RX
antenna jack, I had to manually switch. The K9AY coax took the 6th input to the
6x2 close to the 80/160 connector.
I was
lazy to re-configure DXLog to work with both radios and the SO2R box (Used for
audio switching) and that was a big mistake. Copying calls from R1 and R2 on
each ear was didn’t allow dual CQing to be very efficient. By the end of the
contest, I was focusing on one radio only. I was so tired to handle the
interference from using TS-450S 500Hz CW filter.
I used
two Wintest copies installed in two networked computers. The SO2R Box was
connected to R1 Computer. It wasn’t possible to modify scenarios to allow for
the Dual CQing required audio switching.
I did
non-stop 48 hours operation this time. By 15h00z Sunday hallucinations started
and I had to explain to myself from time to time that I’m in a radio game and
these station are calling me to be in my log NOT to loan money from me or to
come to my house, hi!
Conditions on Sunday were better than in Saturday. 10m was closed all the
weekend, only 4 QSOs were made.
I’m
very satisfied with the contest results although multipliers count still below
the required.
All signs were telling me; my previous personal records won’t be broken in this
year’s WW SSB despite the recent improvements on the station’s setup. Use of a second radio is more efficient now with the lined
up LBS filters and triplexer (manual coax switching). A new antenna installed
for 160m band. A second computer was used with a separate keyboard for dual
CQing…
Apart from propagation indexes, the weather satellite map was showing lightning
approaching Sousse city which means an awful low bands operation.
Contest start on 40 and 80 was slow and I can tell, I had to wait 20 minutes to
make the second QSO!!
After sunrise, the conditions on high bands were less bad than expected. The
curve against 2015 objective showed that I’m more or less following last year’s
performance. Day 1 ended up with 2.2 kQSOs.
I got 3 hours of sleep at midnight dreaming of more than 2000 Qs next day but
conditions were bad enough to widen the gap against 2015 numbers. This year’s
score is 24% less than last year. I got a unique JA station in my log!! (vs 240
last year and 160 in 2012). The MUF plot by a close ionosonde did barely exceed
28 MHz for a short time and was below 21 MHz most of the time (Day 2).
On Day 1, only few S&P Qs were made on 10. On Sunday, I heard quiet few EUs and
decided to start a run for the short skip. A pileup kicked off! Signals were
extremely weak in an extremely quiet band but readable enough to log QSOs.
My 45-hours contest operation was comfortable. I didn’t feel any ‘strong’ need
to sleep. Storing sleep remains a theory but for me it is proven by experience.
Getting 8.5 hours of sleep in each of the 7 nights preceding the contest helped
a lot. (On Friday night I could only sleep one hour after a stressful working
day and 130 km drive to Sousse).
I appreciate everyone’s band moves which worked at 90%. Thanks to CT1ILT, N6TV,
3V/F4HJD, 3V/KG5OUE for the help and support.
I failed to fix the CW delay from the SO2R so I almost did single radio
operation. Very frustrating first hour with logging errors and wrong switch
between radios. It took me 45 minutes to get things back to normal.
Thanks to my good friend Juan EA8RM for the nice competition.
Contest : Russian DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : MIXED
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 24h00
BAND SSB
CW DXC OBL POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
160 0 64 24 10 390 6.09
80 0 258 51 25 1516 5.88
40 100 293 57 47 2521 6.41
20 45 594 66 55 4180 6.54
15 66 370 58 59 3359 7.70
10 0 27 10 13 224 8.30
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL 211 1606 266
209 12190 6.71
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE
: 5 790 250
3V8SS - ARRL DX CW 2016 - SOAB LP
Few days before the contest, I have set my SDR IQ to monitor high bands using
the tribander at 3V8SS location beaming to NA. It was clear; bands won't be in
good shape (Confirmed by the A/K indexes).
I took the opportunity of this contest to test my KF5EYY
SO2R, I recently designed and built, for Dual CQing. I selected the Advanced
SO2R feature in Wintest and created a new scenario well customised for such kind
of low rate operation and the set up I dispose. I lined up the CT-37HF Tribander
to Radio 1 and the Spiderbeam (lower height, less performance) to Radio 2. Radio
1 was always set on the band with the expected higher rates. The problem I faced
is with Wintest delaying CW to Radio 2. The delay is estimated to 2 seconds from
pushing any TX key. This has confused people and made the operation not very
productive. I did play with all configuration windows but the problem still
exist. Further investigation is required (anyone's input is welcome!).
3V8SS setup with the SO2R under the LCD
Apart from this, the device was solid and working smoothly either in RUN/S&P or
Dual CQ. It has saved me from a shameful score, hi!
No BPFs were installed (I don't have them!). The effect is only distorted CW
signals on Radio 2 telling me someone is calling. Radio 1 was totally sealed
against RFI.
The first night made me desperate that any big propagation improvement can
occur. A single QSO on 80 was made on first day and 10 on the second. 10m was
open for 3 hours on Saturday but not a single QSO was made on Sunday. 20 and 15
were the best with solid and loud signals. Some QRP stations were worked easily.
The results aren't bad in these conditions and a Station-QSO average distance of
7656 kilometers :)
Contest : ARRL International DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : DX
Operating
time : 26h55
BAND QSO
S/P DUP POINTS AVG
----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0.00
80
11 9 0 33 3.00
40 342
40 6 1026 3.00
20 328
46 5 984 3.00
15 499
54 7 1494 2.99
10 124
28 6 372 3.00
----------------------------------
TOTAL 1304
177 24 3909 3.00
==================================
TOTAL SCORE : 691 893
3V8SS - CQ WW CW 2015 - SOAB LP
This year’s score is pretty close to 2013 score from 3V8BB
station well equipped with monobanders and good radios. At 3V8SS, a tribander
has been used along with a 40m GP and an Inv-V for 80/160. Both were re-fixed
for better performance on CW legs one week ago. Radios? A single TS450s with
500Hz CW filter, poor dynamic range! Far from being the best radio for such
event!
Preparation for the contest also included shifting the
“go-to-bed” hour gradually from 00 to about 21. This has enabled me (for the
first time) to have 4 hours sleep before contest start and more than 45 hours of
operation.
At H-23, I made QSO number 3000. Low bands were very generous
this time. However, propagation was behaving strangely on high bands. 10m was
very selective and expected close to at any time. Strange that 15 and 20 close almost
at the same time.
Failed to have some sleep before the contest and made the silly mistake of
forgetting the clock alarm end of Day 1! Damage was -fortunately!!- limited to 2
extra hours of sleep!
After a very slow start on low bands, high bands were outstanding. I've been
using a Tribander, GP for 40 and Inv-V for 80. Radios: nothing other than a an
old TS-450S and an older FT-890.
Contest selfie with my lovely wife after brining me food
The weekend before, I made a small device for sharing audio from the two radios
into headset with possibility of one radio selection. I do not have RF Filters
but some band combinations allowed for simultaneous radio operation. 14 valuable
mults were catched on the second radio! I missed mult chasing party end of Day 2
since high bands closed relatively early and my signals couldn't get through.
The best 60-minute rate was 272Q/h. I had several 15-minutes with more than
300Q/h. Huge activity on the bands, I was always struggling to find a 'clear'
room.
This score is a personal record for me and breaks the record of Zone 33 in this
category. Thanks to each and everyone for the QSOs and band moves!!
Conditions were bad due to solar storm. 10m was closed all contest long. On
Saturday afternoon I discovered by pure chance a sudden opening that was very
short but allowed for 80 QSOs.
Contest : Worked All Europe DX-Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 28h50
BAND QSO
DUP MLTS QTC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
80
68 0 28 14 82 1.00
40
221 1 43 80 301 1.00
20
1054 5 51 1281 2335 1.00
15
233 3 37 152 385 1.00
10
80 0 16 0 80 1.00
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL
1656 9 449 1527 3183 1.92
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 429 167
Final Results -
SOAB LP
Place
Callsign
QSOs
Multi
QTCs
Total Score
1
7Z1SJ
1 969
512
1 717
1 887 232
2
P3F
2 033
453
2 041
1 845 522
3
3V8SS
1
638
441
1
525
1
394 883
4
4X0T
1 495
459
1 444
1 349 001
5
EA8RM
1 611
393
1 589
1 257 600
3V8SS - WAEDC CW 2015 - SOAB LP
Contest : Worked All Europe DX-Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 31h26
BAND QSO
DUP MLTS QTC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
80
90 0 28 0 90 1.00
40
231 2 35 0 230 1.00
20
696 5 46 0 696 1.00
15
417 4 42 0 417 1.00
10
240 1 32 0 240 1.00
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL
1674 12 457 1549 1673 1.00
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 472 454
Final Results -
SOAB LP
Place
Callsign
QSOs
Multi
QTCs
Total Score
1
CR3L
1 787
528
1 803
1 895 520
2
R8CT
1 698
482
1 730
1 652 296
3
NP4Z
1 584
474
1 621
1 519 170
4
3V8SS
1
631
455
1
548
1
446 445
5
PY1NX
1 492
473
1 518
1 423 730
3V8SS - CQ WPX CW 2015 - M/S-LP
It was a great pleasure doing this contest as Multi/Single with my friend Jun
JH4RHF. I first met Jun in Kerkennah Islands during TS7N 2003 DXPedition then in
Boston during WRTC 2014.
Myself and
Jun JH4RHF contesting
Jun brought his Elecraft K3 and used it for the first time in a contest. The
radio is just amazing. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to do contesting in
the future with the old radios I have in the station (!!).
A second radio was set up with the Spiderbeam lined up for multipliers. We
didn't use that too much.
Our target was 4500, 10m continued in it's strange shape.
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Multi Op - Single Transmitter (MS)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 47h59
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0.00
80
91 0 40 546 6.00
40
474 0 205 2838 5.99
20
1562 5 369 4681 3.00
15
1564 5 442 4677 2.99
10
451 0 81 1351 3.00
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 4142
10 1137 14093 3.40
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 16 023 741
Final Results -
Multi/Single LP
Rank
Call
Score
QSOs
WPX
Hours
Operator(s)
1
3V8SS
14,577,216
3,982
1,104
48.0
JH4RHF KF5EYY
2
P4/N4QS
7,073,808
2,248
888
46.8
N4QS NU4N
3
HS0ZIA
5,235,307
2,115
883
48.0
HS0ZIA HS0ZKX
4
W0DLE
4,596,948
2,125
894
45.7
W0DLE
N0OJ..
5
BY8DX
4,102,126
1,931
791
47.8
BA8AG BA8CY..
3V8SS - CQ WPX SSB 2015 - SOAB-LP
Heavy winds were blowing on Sousse Friday night let me reckon that the antennas
won't withstand until the end of the contest. I spent a long time on the roof
thinking about possible scenarios then decided to go and sleep and wish things
will go OK.
Contest start was very bad. Couldn't manage to do the usual north american
pileup the first hour. Signals don't get through with 100W. So I decided to jump
a couple of hours and start at 3 local time for low bands which were -also -
disappointing.
High bands were amazing. Condx were promising and I led me to put the world LP
record in mind, however, "winds don't blow as the boats' wish", says the Arabic
proverb. Propagation towards USA was surprisingly bad! I was looking at MUF maps
which confirmed that. Central/South American stations were heard like local AM
broadcast, but looks like a big wall is built on the US or that US hams decided
to boycott the contest and go fishing!!
I estimated the result loss by 200 WPXs. That doesn't prevent me from being very
happy with the earned 10m points! Many thanks goes to my fiancé for the support,
meal and cake brought during the contest! (When I used to read contest stories
before, I found it strange that people say "thanks to my wife for letting me
doing this contest"! Now that I'm 2 months away from my wedding, I strongly feel
the need to make special mentions in my contest stories in the hope that I won't
find much restrictions in my next one, hihi!)
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : Tribander/Single Element
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating
time : 35h52
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0.00
80
38 0 17 224 5.89
40
265 1 150 1574 5.94
20 779
4 188 2327 2.99
15
1370 6 396 4090 2.99
10
696 0 256 2060 2.96
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 3148
11 1007 10275 3.26
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 10 346 925
Final Results -
SOAB LP
Rank
Call
Score
QSOs
WPX
Hours
Operator
1
FY5FY
17,380,143
4,337
1,251
36.0
2
ZF2DX
13,607,355
4,159
1,185
35.8
3
EB8AH
12,715,682
3,545
1,106
35.9
OH6RX
4
WP2Z
11,949,210
3,915
1,170
35.9
K9VV
5
WP4X
11,748,755
3,789
1,115
36.0
NP4Z
6
PY1NX
10,637,925
3,278
1,095
35.2
7
3V8SS
9,856,342
3,069
997
35.8
KF5EYY
3V8SS - Russian DX Contest 2015 - SOAB-MIXED-LP
Nice competition with my friend Juan EA8RM ended up with 20 QSOs difference
scores.
The outcome isn't too far from the one realized two years ago from 3V8BB using
monobanders and amplifiers.
GW4BLE Recording - 2015-Mar-21 21:12 40M
Contest : Russian DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : MIXED
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... : DX
Operating
time : 22h37
BAND SSB
CW DXC OBL POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0 0.00
80
1 216 40 28 1336 6.16
40
193 163 53 40 2129 5.98
20
243 347 55 57 3984 6.75
15
197 299 61 59 3290 6.63
10
95 358 55 64 3794 8.38
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL 729
1383 264 248 14533 6.88
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 7 440 896
3V8SS - ARRL DX SSB 2015 - M/S -LP
Last year we participated in ARRL SSB DX Contest as MS from 3V8BB. The team
included myself and Ali 3V/F4HJD (Tunisian Op having a French license). This
year, we continued this tradition, we had Ahmed with us, a 19-years-old Tunisian
student and an active ARAT Member. For Ahmed, this was the first contest ever.
Ahmed did very well in this contest and showed a great ability in managing pile
ups under severe band conditions.
We were able to put together two networked computers and run two radios (Run &
Mult). Interference occurs in one bands combination but it's acceptable at 100W.
During the contest, we were pleased to have a first visit from Hsan 3V/PA3BRH and his family and
a second visit from Dmitro UA6UA and Alex UT5UAS who brought an antenna analyzer
which
allowed us to make necessary measurements and adjustments on the antennas.
Amazing contest activity! 15m was busy up to 21.150! 26 hours is all the opening
time allowed on this band from this location.
I lost 45 minutes of valuable early hours trying to figure out the bad keying
issue on the FT-857, later appeared to be the CAT cable!
The FT-857 is definitely not a contest radio, more than 3 stations calling at
once and you're stuck!
Seven Zones were missed (01, 06, 07, 12, 29, 31 and 34).
The Spiderbeam and the CT-37HF were used pointing to different locations (no
simultaneous TXing), mainly to North/Central America and S.East Asia/Oceania
attempting to catch up the hard mults, sometimes with interleaving CQs.
S&P was mostly fruitful. On Day 2, I was planning to do a thorough S&P job in
the last opening hour (around 19z), but the band close extremely quickly (within
half an hour at 18z).
Contest : CQ World Wide DX
Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s)
: Single band (SB) 15 m
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating
time : 25h13
BAND
QSO CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0
0 0.00
80 0 0 0 0
0 0.00
40 0 0 0 0
0 0.00
20 0 0 0 0
0 0.00
15 1986 33 110 63 5928 2.98
10 0 0 0 0
0 0.00
--------------------------------------
TOTAL
1986 33 110 63 5928 2.98
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 847 704
3V8BB - CQ WPX SSB 2014 - SOAB-HP
I was informed few days before the contest that Hrane YT1AD won't make it to
Tunisia for a SO operation and I had few time to make new plans.. Decision to go
for an HP operation was taking few hours prior to contest start. My favorite
category was always SOAB-LP but imagining the QRM in such events led me to HP!
The challenge I set for me was to make same/better than Hrane's last year score
of 15m points and be first in Africa. Writing the objectives in a sheet of paper
placed in front of me is always positive!
The set-up still need improvement here in terms of automation and ergonomics; I
used a couple of TS-870 with an amplifier lined up on the RUN station. No
filters were available but RFI to the MULT station was really negligeable.
The first hours was terrible with only 55 QSOs on 20 and 40. European QRM wall
made it impossible to work on low bands or even to find a relatively clear QRG...
Splatter signals were all over the bands, the CC may need to do more here.
High bands were in good shape but not as good as expected. My operating hours
were scheduled based on my rest obligations rather than 6-Point-bands openings.
However, I pushed hard to get the maximum out of them.
I'm happy that I could manage - and for the first time ever - to stick to the
pre-defined operating plan as a learnt lesson from my previous operations.
I started using the second radio late on Saturday afternoon and that brought
Twenty three valuable mults to the score. Moves were quicker and more efficient
this time.
Official Results: 7th Place
WW, 1st AF (See
Plaque)
3V8BB - Russian DX Contest 2014 - SOAB-SSB-LP
Second attempt to break the world record in SOAB-SSB-LP Catergory, this time was
successful after score reduction bringing my 2011 score below the 4.4 million
threshold set by LZ9W.
It was a nice opportunity for SO2R SSB operation. I'm amazed with the things I
can do with this device despite it's not the "last fashion". 72 QSOs were made
on second radio for rare mults or when rates go down.
Contest : Russian DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8BB
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : DX
Operating
time : 22h15
BAND
QSO DUP DXC OBL POINTS AVG
--------------------------------------
160
23 1 17 2 122 5.30
80 65 0 26 18
442 6.80
40 273 1 41 40 1720
6.30
20 494 1 53 54 3218
6.51
15 511 1 58 64 3498
6.85
10 431 0 56 55 3170
7.35
--------------------------------------
TOTAL
1797 4 251 233 12170 6.77
======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 5 890 280
3V8BB - ARRL DX Contest SSB 2014 - M/S HP
It wasn't in my plans to make a serious ARRL SSB participation this year, but a
call from Ali 3V8ESG suggesting me to do an M/S operation changed my mind.
Ali is a Communication engineering student and he's the chief operator of
3V8ESG ARAT Club in his school. Ali has became very enthusiastic to the
hobby and actively contributed in a lot of ARAT trainings and activities.
Ali 3V8ESG excited with big W/VE pileups!
Operating M/S with Ali in his first contest operation was really fun and I'm
sure he learnt a lot from this experience. I tried to coach him before and
during the contest on how to predict propagation, contest strategy and band
changes, operating hints and tips... I think a new 3V contester is about to be
born!
The contest was great with a big activity on the bands. All mults were worked
except for YT and NU.
Propagation was better on Saturday. Low bands were deceiving; especially 80 and
160 with a low S/N ratio - No QSO made on 160!
This contest
was a good opportunity for me to prepare for Boston WRTC in terms of managing
pileups. I'm getting very excited seeing the event approaching very quickly. I
hope I'll meet you guys soon over there "insh'Allah"!
Contest : ARRL International DX
Contest
Callsign
: 3V8BB
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi
Operator - Single Transmitter (MS)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : High Power
(HP)
Operators
: KF5EYY, 3V8ESG
Operating
time : 39h46
BAND
QSO S/P DUP POINTS AVG
----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0.00
80 28 13 0 84
3.00
40 568 49 7 1701 2.99
20 1328 61 17 3969 2.99
15
977 59 6 2919 2.99
10 1100 59 18 3294 2.99
----------------------------------
TOTAL
4001 241 48 11967 2.99
==================================
TOTAL SCORE : 2 884 047
3V8BB - ARRL DX Contest CW 2014 - SOAB HP
Score and QSO number this year were well below expectations. First night was
promising but less activity was experienced in the second night. 80 and 160 were
extremely noisy and untouchable! 20m never closed the first 24 hours and high
bands were live!
From 8 to 12 is a dead period here towards W/VE. On Saturday and while I was
making some experiments, the SO2R device started to behave very strangely
(continuous tune instead of CW signal,...). It took me some time to figure out
the problem and realize that; if it did work HP without filters, that shouldn’t
be valid in all frequencies. So I switched off the device and continued to use a
single radio.
FT870 is definitely not the best radio for CW and I should consider better
setup. A lot of dupes and non-contest “long” QSOs slowed down the rates.
Another “confirmed” learnt lesson; not getting very excited before the contest
is the KEY for you to be able to take few hours rest before it starts.
Weekend nights were raining in Tunis and the band was so noisy... Using the TX
inverted-V for listening made me a real "deaf"!
Having an RX Antenna for this contest was a learnt lesson from last year's
participation... Now it's a must without it I won't operate WW 160!
Most of the QSOs were done in the first night then condx went down in the second
night... The band was far from being open... 96% of the QSOs were with Europe...
14 W/VE stations worked compared to over 140 last year...
I had to drive 300km back home so I didn't feel so motivated to operate the
third night with 20 Q/h rate!
What a contest! Everything was well prepared however, not being able to rest
before the contest badly affected my readiness especially after a tiring working
day and the 300km drive from Sfax.
The station was ready for SO2R. As the pileups were never ending till the last
hour, only 5 moves were done using Radio 2. The multiplier number is therefore
low and many DXCCs were missed.
Concentration and tire management is something I should work on, at the end of
the contest it was very hard for me to copy stations despite the loud signals
coming in.
Propagation conditions were very good; 80m a bit noisy, 40m amazingly nice, high
bands close relatively early.
Plan has been made with Hrane YT1AD for an MS Operation from 3V8BB during CQ WW
SSB this year. Due to operators unavailability, we were about to drop the idea
and go for two SB operations. However, I wanted to give MS another try and
called my friend Andy RA9CKQ to join us. That was just one week before the
contest. It took him one day to revert back to me saying that he's able to make
it to Tunis.
The team was composed of Hrane YT1AD, Andy RA9CKQ and myself KF5EYY only. This
wasn't enough but will allow everybody a plenty of operating hours.
We set up two stations; one for Run and one for chasing mults. Like in every
year, station maintenance never ends; problems with rotators, antennas,
transceiver...
Our targets for this operations were to make 8000 QSOs and to be in Top 3; The
first is relatively under our control, the second........unfortunately not! :)
Conditions were very good; we all enjoyed beautiful runs!
For the fourth consecutive time, a major contest falls in a holidays period.
Fortunately the Aid El Fitr was announced to be on Thursday -
according to the lunar year. I had enough time to visit relatives and eat the
special food made for the event, hi!
I left to Tunis on Friday morning trying to have as much time as I can
for the setup. SO2R testing was the primary goal of this contest participation.
Using it for the first time ever from a Tunisian station and by a Tunisian
operator was my personal dream and challenge for many years!
I plugged all connections to the SO2R device and made the first tests...
all works perfectly!
SO2R device by Array Solutions was slightly modified (by someone) that get rid
of the control box and allowed control bottons to be on the front side of the
I/O box.
Ash KF5EYY with SO2R Setup
CW signals were generated by a single CW interface (the only one I have). As no
LPT connection is available on my laptop, radio selection is made manually.
WAEDC CW is a perfect contest for someone who wishes to try SO2R. The activity
is not as high as a CQWW contest. Moreover, the QTC sending time on one radio is
a perfect time to listen to the second radio.
I would suggest to WinTest author to consider changing the QTC Window to be
similar to the other Wintest Windows allowing Second radio QSO logging to be
possible while sending QTCs.
Otherwise, Wintest remains my prefered logging software that I would
recommend to anybody interested in contesting.
3V8BB was equiped with one antenna switcher; one antenna coax have always to be
disconnected from the switching device and connected to the second radio
depending on bands propagation.
In total, 22 QSOs on the second radio were made including some 'excellent and
quick multiplier moves'. SO2R gave me a great flexibility arranging for QSYs and
checking openings... It brought my contesting pleasure to another excitement
level!
Contest : Worked All Europe
DX-Contest
Callsign
: 3V8BB
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Operating
time : 30h12
BAND
QSO DUP MLTS QTC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
80 177 0 35 50
226 0.99
40 452 1 43 320
770 1.00
20 385 1 41 320
704 1.00
15 523 1 41 700
1223 1.00
10 327 0 33 90
417 1.00
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL
1864 3 499 1480 3340 1.79
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 666 660
3V8BB - CQ WPX CW 2013 - SOAB LP
I never imagined condx will be that bad although the begining of the contest was
promising with sustained pileups on 40 and 20. The first daylight hours revealed
the truth with a clearly noticed decline in propagation conditions... Quick
glance at Spaceweather.com gave more explanation: "Earth's magnetic field is
still reverberating from a CME strike on May 24th. The glancing blow around 1800
UT sparked at least three episodes of polar geomagnetic storming (Kp=5) on May
24-25"...
Not only this, daylight also revealed another truth; all the QSOs I made on 20
were from the back of my antenna which, again, stuck beaming to south!
I was planning to make as much operating hours as I can in Day 1 so I can leave
back home (250km far) early on Sunday, but... God's plans were different!
I allowed myself to take breaks knowing that Day 2 can NEVER be worse! Indeed,
40m remained good, 80m was too noisy with low activity. The back of my 20m
antenna brought me few more QSOs.
15 and 10 were "back to life" but still disapointing!
The contest started
very well on my side with 100+Q/h on 40 and 80 (which was very noisy).
From 7z to 12z, I was
jobless after 40m closure. 20m opened late towards W/VE and I only could start
real runs after 12z. In the meantime, I went to walk around and take some fresh
air. I was surprised seeing 20m antenna beaming to east, I remember I pointed
them all to W/WE before the contest start. I went back to shack, examined the
rotor control unit: the antenna is stuck to East! No chance to go up and repair;
I'm not so courageous and I fear heights! Fortunately, the Pro-67 is there with
its 3 Elements for 20.
I spent few time on
20 then quickly moved to 15. I stayed there for more than 2 hours as I never
imagined 10m would be open. I QSYed to 10 at 15z to realized how wrong I was! No
problem, there's still a lot to grab! Pile-ups were tremendous and I made my
best CW Rate ever; 183 QSOs in 1 hour!
The bands close very
early, I went back to 15 at 17z then to 20. Bands don’t look to be in good
shape!
At 22z I decided to
take 1-hour nap to be ready for another low bands round. My phone failed to wake
me up, shame! I slept for 4 hours; fortunately, the couch is not comfortable
enough for more! J
Struggled to get some
mults on the extremely noisy 160.
Conditions were much
better on the high bands compared with Saturday. 10m was wonderful, I made nice
100+ hour rates. Then, something strange started to happen; tens of dupes sneak
to my log! I really cannot explain what happened! All together! “Hey guys, I
didn’t lose my log to call me again!” That was a bit frustrating and was slowing
my rate and I decided not to put them in log anymore.
Nevertheless, as
always, I was thrilled working W/WE Stations; as if they’re lined up in a queue
and they come one by one! All stations can be worked; I do have some QRP
stations in the log! Thank you for the extremely professional operating
behavior!
The band was fine on first night with nice opening to US!
then it became more noisy, QSBying and signal were getting weaker in the
following nights.
I'm happy with the 147 W/K stations in my log but also
disapointed not to work EA8, TF, JA and any South American Station! Looking at
DR1A posting to 3830 talking about worked DXCCs deepened my deception - Great
job guys! :)
Inverted-V for 160 at sunset
Here is what Steve KV4FZ wrote me after the contest:
"Ash,
You had a very good signal here on 160 in the West Indies and I called you for
hours along with many South American stations with no reply...not even a QRZ or
partial. I would go a few KHz down from your frequency, put out a single
CQ and have a European pile up calling me with many Zone 20 and Zone 19 contacts
as well. I think by the fact that my calls were answered by repeater CQ's
that you may have a null receiving in my direction and that of South America.
Since your transmitting signal was so very good I am interested what you might
have been using on receive as you were not hearing the many South Americans (PY,
LU, HK,CX, CE, PJ2), and other Caribbean stations like myself calling you
without results.."
I only S&Pied at the end of contest but this doesn't really
brought me a lot.
Murphy was here for CQ WW CW. I prepared EVERYTHING for
this contest and I slept a bit, then my stomach started behaving strangely and I
vomited every half an hour. I went to a nearby pharmacy, got some medicine but
in vain. The situation went worse, I was obliged to drive back home.
I couldn’t leave the bed on Day 1. After all the medicines
I had, I could feel better on Day 2. So I went back to the club, made 1580 QSOs
in 12hours from 0800 tp 2000. Rates reached 160Q in one hour. Pileups were huge!
I tried to give some points to Low Bands contesters,
untouchable! :)
Three years ago, CQWW CW started the night of the Aid El Kebir (One of the two
islamic ceremonies). DJ7IK was my guest and he celebrated the event with me and
my family. At that time It wasn't easy to convaince them that I need to depart
to 3V8SS (130km north) the day of the Aid to continue preparations and to take
part in the contest starting that night!
This year's CQWW SSB came ALSO the night the Aid. I had YT1AD with me at home.
However, it was easier to convaince my family. I think that they started
realizing what's wrong with my priorities ranking! :) Too bad, I confess!
Plan was to operate MS with YT1AD and Mirko DJ1AA visiting Tunisia, however, for
family commitments, Mirko chose to stay in Monastir.
Operating MS with 2 operators wasn't the best idea and it would be tough to
bring additional points to my WRTC Points. Hrane was too kind and gave me the
chance to operate SO. Not too much thinking, my prefered category... SOAB-LP!
Hrane operated SB-160 as 3V8CB.
The contest was fabulous with tremendous activity! I didn't feel any need to
sleep but I chose to do it for a more confortable operation.
I'm not so happy with 10m, I don't know what's wrong with it. 1000 QSOs was the
least I could expect on this band!
Weather in Tunisia started to be unstable with varying temperatures accross the
day hours and week days; suitable conditions to get a rheum!
I got as much medicines as I could trying to recover before the contest, but I
quickly forgot about malaise when pileups kicked off!
I tried to well manage between pileups and QTCs giving priority to QSOs at the
begining of the contest and to QTC at the end. I'm not sure I succeeded as I
ended up with over 400 un-sent QTCs! I struggled trying to find those who can
make me a faver and take them! :)
Popagation was good on Day 1, with a noisy 80m! Day 2 was the worst surprise
with a dead 10m and unusual low signals from Europe on the other bands! So, I
prefered to stop the contest at 17z and go home to get ready for a busy Monday!
Congrats for V55V, EF8R (EA8CAC) and CR3L for the great job! Thanks for everyone
for making this contest a pleasant event!
Going to 3V8BB QTH on Saturday morning, I was listening to
the newsreader in a local FM station announcing the weather predictions;
"Temperature will reach its maximum today at noon with 42°C!!" (...humm, when
contest starts!) "and cold winds will blow Sunday afternoon deacreasing
temperature" (...after the end of the contest!!).
Fortunately, I was "armed" with an air blower placed at 1m from me, blowing at
full speed! And in my mind I was saying "Ash, no pain, no gain!"
This year's IARU HF participation is my first attempt with SO-HP Operation. I
had the chance to work HP in MS Category but never as Single Op! Competing with
BIG guns was something I was thinking of before the contest. I was taking things
seriously (than it should be!) and that was a little bit stressful for me. Added
to that a VOX that messed up in the first 30 minutes... panic... not really best
contest start!
Little by little, pileups are there and I started forgetting about score and
temperature, just enjoyed running!
Propagation was bad on Satuday and slightly improved on Sunday.
The QSO number looks interesting to me but the Multiplier score is "shameful" :)
and that's quite normal as I didn't think about SO2R Setup; a learnt lesson for
the upcoming contests!
Hrane YT1AD was so kind and left me the chair
to operate CQ WPX CW from 3V8BB.
I arrived to the club on Friday afternoon and
made all the necessary to set up the FT857, CW Interface and test the antenna
system. All is working perfectly!
Day 1 Sunrise from 3V8BB shack
Contest planning was focusing on 6-point
bands and considered short sleeping periods spread all over the 48 hour contest
time. I was also planned to quite 5 hours before the end of the contest to get
enough rest for Monday.
The bands were widely open and signals were
generally loud.
Thanks to Hrane YT1AD for allowing me to be a
member of his M/S Team operating from 3V8BB.
The team was composed of Hrane YT1AD, Simo
YT3M, Zlatko Z30A and me.
Me and Hrane were working the day shift.
Pileups never end however conditions on the high bands were moderate and very
noisy.
We ended up the contest with
29,170,908 points. Congrats to 5D5A and P33W for the great job!
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign : 3V8BB
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi Operator-Single Transmitter (MS)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : High Power (HP)
Zone/State/... : DX
Operating
time : 47h57
BAND QSO
DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
160
58 0 11 344 5.93
80
368 1 207 2188 5.95
40 1261
14 331 7531 5.97
20
1275 5 208 3811 2.99
15
1766 9 424 5270 2.98
10
552 0 224 1627 2.95
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 5280
29 1405 20771 3.93
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 29 183 255
3V8SS -
RDXC 2012 - SOAB-MIX-LP
What a nice weather on Saturday morning over
here! I started the day early by a long walk on Sousse beach enjoying the
turquoise blue sea and lovely weather. Nothing would prevent me from spending
the day there but a contest!
After last year's first place World as
SOAB-SSB-LP, I decided to take part in MIX mode as condx is poor and my antenna
system for low bands needs upgrading. So the idea was to focus on SSB for High
bands and CW for low bands.
I made some nice runs on SSB at the begining
of the contest; I was surprised that I was exceeding CN2R by 1 QSO after 2
operating hours (354 vs 353!). but I later made people struggle to have a CW QSO
with me due to tire.
QSO with CN2R on 20m:
I was hoping 10m will make a surprise just
before the end of the contest, however, it was disappointing.
This year's score slightly exceeds the World
Record for MIX-LP Category set by SU9NC back in 2003. I hope log checking will
not grab the 300k points difference!
This year's
CQWW CW Contest witnessed my second participation as SO. My first try was back
in 2008 finished happy with 123 QSOs as a new comer to CW. The year after, I
operated the Multiplier station with 3V3S Crew (M/S LP). In 2010, I was glad
leaving the chair for Andy RA9CKQ for his 3V3A Activity.
After my good
results in the SSB Legs, I was preparing well in advance for another personal
achievment in the CW Leg especially with the bands being in a good shape.
Preparations convered daily CW Training on Morse Runner, previous years' logs'
analysis, and the most important; testing a new gun for the fight.... the FT-857
from Yeasu!!
What triggered
this idea is the fact that club's TS-450s has only a 500Hz built-in filter for
CW which make any LP station struggle due to the adjuscent stations. So I
took my FT857 and came to Sousse the weekend preceeding the contest to try its
DSP Feature! I quickly made the decision; This is it!
By the same
occasion, I repaired my 160/80 GP after loosing 3m from its total lenght making
it unresonnant on 160... Few mults on top band would be highly valuable!
I came to the
station on Friday morning; checked my setup, got on the air, all works
perfectly!
Afterwards, I went to look around in my lovely city; it's always nice and
peaceful!
Back to the Radio club for rest. I was glad having a 3 hours nap just before the
contest. I don't remember how I could overcome my excitement, but I did it
anyway!!
Operating half
an hour prior to contest start put me on the cluster and on bandmaps and
generated pileups since the begining. I quickly realized how great the Yeasu's
DSP Filter is! I felt as if I'm the only one on the band with no adjuscent
station in my headset!
In fact, FT-857
has 3 filters; 60, 120 and 240Hz. During this contest, I always started with
240Hz and then narrow it when the pileup grows up to reduce the number of heard
stations. I know it'll prevent me to hear station that are not calling on my
exact QRG, but this brought the pileup to a manageable level for me.
QSO rate was
exceeded 100 per hour in most of the contest hours, peaking 128. It's not the
best I could do, but poeple were NOT listening in and they just keep QRMing
making things going slow and too tough to handle. I was sometimes obliged to
change the frequency!!
Condx were
fabulous in ALL bands! I did run all the time and only S&P twice during band
change. Mutipliers figure might be better.
Chair time was
limited to 36 hours as I slept a lot (4.5 hours) and had to leave early back to
capital Tunis as Monday is a working day for me.
I failed to reach my set objective of 4000 QSOs but I'm happy with the result
setting my personal threshold high for upcoming events "inshallah".
Being in Moscow for a 5-days-business trip
continued until one day before this year's CQWW Contest prevented me from taking
enough rest for the event. What an excitement being in the old Soviet capital!
I had the chance to meet my friend Andrey
RA9CKQ, Valery R5GA and Dima RA9USU... Thanks guys for coming to see me!
I also was pleased to meet Pavel RU5A how made my 30-minutes operation from his
office Station possible! I was operating as RA/KF5EYY and made 60 QSOs.
With RU5A in Mosocw 2 days before the contest
Friday was a busy day at office. I finished
work at 17h then I decided to visit TS2A (3V8BB) guys in Hammamet inspite of
tire. I had a nice
contest chat with Hrane YT1AD, Dragan YT3W and Dima RA9USU that I met a couple
of days ago in UA3.
I was lucky having 4 hours sleeping on
Friday night and thanks to my mobile who failed to wake me up before the
contest.
I started my operation at 0230z with the usual (for me) low QSO rates on 40.
A quick look on 20 showed a bench of nice
DX Catches (KH6, FO0M, ZL, etc.). It wasn't so difficult to grab them all.
I continued switching between CQing on 40 and S&P on 20 till about half an hour
before sunrise!
I made about an hour on 20, then a quick
move to 15 before joining the rest of the world on 10 and found the party
already started!
What an awesome 10m! Great opening towards far east in the morning and towards
Americas in the afternoon. Pile-ups were huge and difficult to manage sometimes.
I could break last year's score well before
the end of Day 1, then realized that I completely forgot about sleeping unlike
what has been expected due to my busy week... However, I prefered going to bed
for another 4 hours as I didn't rely a lot on low bands. My antenna system for
80 and 40 needs full revamping. I should also think about another solution for
160 after having my vertical partly broken and de-tuned.
Best QSO Rates:
230 QSOs during one hour (personal record)
130 QSOs during 30 minutes
52 QSOs during 10 minutes
I went to
Sousse on Friday aftrenoon after 2 hour driving from Sfax. I had a short tour
around and a coffee in touristic El Kantaoui Port, then I went to the
club to start preparations.
My idea was to make an audio recording of the whole contest from a remote SDR
located in NL. This will allow checking propagation on the other side and see
how can I "optimize" the pileups in the future operations.
Recording the streaming audio from the Java application required having a
special software. I found a great one called SoundTap and I was testing it
during the week before and worked perfectly.
Audio from OE4RLC SDR - 20m band - One day before the contest
However, audio streaming in the club was always interrupted after a couple of
minutes. Then I realize that internet connection is not stable. Nothing to do
with that, I forgot about the idea!
Radio
propagation was bad and I was surprised getting "unusual" signal levels from
Europe. A quick look at
http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/ Website showed a G2 Level Geomagnetic Storm
and an R1 Radio blackout. Now it's clear!
I made some good runs on 20m. 15m was open for about 2 hours or so during the
day. I made quick QSYs to 10m to check any sudden opening; it was the desert
there!
Due to hot weather and some commitments, I could only make 21 operating hours
out of 36.
For the second consecutive time, WAEDC CW came during the holy month of Ramadhan.
Fasting made the contest really tough and I lost some best-rate hours when I
felt obliged to close my eyes and have a nap.
Guests I found when I came to the club...
The objective was to make 2000 Qs and/or 2 million points, however, this wasn't
reachable as the strategy and plannning weren't properly set. I finished up the
contest with about 440 QTCs that were left un-sold. Neglecting QTCs and
maximizing QSOs at the begining of the contest wasn't the best approach.
Thanks for Marijan 9A1MB who is visiting Tunisia for his visit to 3V8SS Radio
Club on Friday morning and for helping me installing the Windom antenna for 80.0.
Conditions were so bad compared to the SSB leg of CQ WPX Contest. I couldn't
make the usual W/VE run on 15 neither on 20. However, JA was workable all over
the day. Condx was slightly better on Day 2.
I only could operate 28 hours due to interfering stuff. WPXs were few as I only
S&P for half an hour.
Only one QSO was made on 80 using the 40m GP as the 80/160 antenna is not yet
connected to the new shack.
This is the kind of contests I admire; a lot of activity but LP stations can
find their places in the bands... I can clearly "see" openings to far away areas
(JA, W/VE, etc.) and manage pile-ups accordingly. This is not possible during CQ
Contests for exemple where finding a free QRG becomes a dream!
After being second worldwide in last year's contest (SOAB LP SSB), the objective
for this year is to occupy the first place. Breaking the record was my second
objective. My claimed score breaks the record set by LZ9W back in 2004 (4444440
pts). Let's cross the fingers so that the cross checking will go ok! :-)
My participation in the SSB leg of ARRL DX Contest was mainly for having more
points in the qualification race to WRTC2014. As I have many things interfering
here, 9-hours was all the time I could afford to this contest.
The big surprise was 10m! This contest witnessed my first QSO ever with W/VE on
10. On Satuday, I tried a quick move to 10 with K5ZD but nothing heard. However,
Sunday showed a fantastic opening to NA. I was astonished seeing all these
poeple calling me on 10.
I wonder what's happening on 20! I was calling for several minutes but in vain,
except some few QSOs that never generated a pileup. Probably the time is not
well chosen but also W/VE Stations weren't as loud as during few weeks ago.
Thanks to everyone for calling me. Again, what a disciplined W/VE Operators! You
brought the pileup to an ultimate joy thanks to your excellent operating
behavior!
Contest : ARRL International DX
Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : DX
Operating
time : 8h31
BAND
QSO S/P DUP POINTS AVG
----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0.00
80
5 4 0 15 3.00
40
108 29 1 324 3.00
20
25 17 0 75 3.00
15
416 47 1 1248 3.00
10
186 27 2 558 3.00
----------------------------------
TOTAL 740
124 4 2220 3.00
==================================
TOTAL SCORE : 275 280
3V8SS - ARRL DX
Contest CW 2011 - SOAB LP
Contest
: ARRL International DX Contest
Callsign
: 3V8SS
Mode
: CW
Category
: Single Operator (SO)
Band(s)
: All bands (AB)
Class
: Low Power (LP)
Operating time :
3h49
BAND QSO S/P
DUP POINTS AVG
----------------------------------
160
0 0 0 0 0.00
80
0 0 0 0 0.00
40
25 16 0 75 3.00
20
46 20 0 138 3.00
15
138 32 1 414 3.00
10
0 0 0 0 0.00
----------------------------------
TOTAL 209
68 1 627 3.00
==================================
TOTAL SCORE : 42 636
3V8SS - CQ WW 160 CW
CONTEST 2011 - SO LP
This is my first contest after the revolution of the brave Tunisian people. The
situation is getting much better over here but we still have a curfew starting
21z.
For me, this contest is a discovering opportunity of Top Band. I never gave it
such amount of time.
I prepared everything to have a full night time contest operation in order to
better understand the propagation on 160. Thanks to Al 4L5A, Gunter DJ9CB and
Andy DJ7IK for all discussions and advices regarding contesting on 160. That was
very helpful.
One thing that I missed is a dedicated RX antenna. Using 160m GP, the noise
level was high. The only solution I found is to use the 40m GP for noise
attenuation. Even that this antenna can't hear well, many stations couldn't be
copied through the noise without it.
Another time, the "sleep storing" theory proves its efficiency even if it
remained a theory and couldn't be proved scientifically. For the whole week
proceeding the contest, I was having enough sleeping hours (more than needed
sometimes) and this gave good results during the contest in terms of
concentration and allowed me to forget about sleeping (for a long while!).
The targets for this contest were 2000 QSOs and/or 2 million points. The target
for DXCCs was 300. Special care, time & effort were given to DX chasing by S&P.
I had nice catches (S7, OX, HC8, 8R, etc.). That was great working new ones!
As my Spiderbeam rotator is not functional anymore, I was running up to the roof
(2 floors) to turn it manually and then down to the shack... I can't remember
how many times I did this, it was fun and it was "real" radio sport! :)
Conditions were excellent on high bands, with amazing 10m; but 40/80/160 were
very crowded and very noisy. Seems like people are pushing huge power out of
their antennas. It was unavoidable sometimes to work out of the bands.
I gave a first ever serious try this time to 160. It was too hard to work on but
it gave me some precious multis! My 100 watts didn't allow me to call CQ on top
band, I only S&P and call several times to let people recognize my call.
At final, this is my best contest ever! I'm very excited with what has been
done. Thanks for everyone who called me!
It was "Aid El Fitr" (one of the two Islamic ceremonies) here on Friday. I
normally spend it with my family and visiting relatives. However, an addicted
contester don't allow himself not to be on radio when bands are burning during a
contest! So, I visited all my relatives during the morning then traveled back to
Sousse city then directly to the radio club.
It was raining on Thursday... I had a look on the weather satellite maps... no
rain is expected anymore... Low bands should be ok with zero sunspots and zero
lightning.
I tried to optimize the operating time between operating and rest taken into
account propagation conditions as I enjoy "comfortable" operation. 15 and 10
were dead on DAY 1, but 15 was slightly opened on DAY 2. Most of the effort was
put on 20.
Contest : Worked All Europe
DX-Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Operating time : 21h47
BAND QSO DUP MLTS QTC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
80 215 0 39
50 264 1.00
40 471 1 45 352
820 0.99
20 752 1 40 870
1621 1.00
15 75 0 21 140
215 1.00
10 0 0 0
0 0 0.00
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL 1513 2 413 1412 2920
1.93
=========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 205 960
OFFICIAL RESULTS:
Place
Callsign
QSOs
Multi
QTCs
Score
1
RG9A
1560
420
1583
1320060
2
9Y4W
1769
373
1716
1299905
3
3V8SS
1490
411
1412
1192722
4
4X0T
1576
375
1427
1126125
5
HI3TEJ
1649
346
1368
1043882
3V8SS - WAEDC CW 2010 - SOAB LP
This was a "Ramadhan Style" contest operation. As we're
fasting during daytime, it was a good opportunity to put some effort at night on
low bands (and get more multipliers' weight!).
I'm satisfied with the score I made... I think I did well
especially that no caffeine was feeding my brain to stay awake at daytime! :)
Contest : Worked All Europe
DX-Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Operating time : 26h41
BAND QSO DUP MLTS QTC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------------
80 120 0 23
20 139 0.99
40 335 0 35 150
482 0.99
20 571 0 36 657
1226 1.00
15 222 0 25 460
680 0.99
10 193 0 27
40 233 1.00
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL 1441 0 373 1327 2760
1.92 =========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 029 480
OFFICIAL RESULTS:
Place
Callsign
QSOs
Multi
QTCs
Score
1
D4C
1987
487
1987
1935338
2
RG9A
1681
441
1735
1506456
3
3V8SS
1375
363
1317
977196
4
TA2/DL2JRM
1438
344
1370
965952
5
RA9AP
1397
338
1398
944710
3V8HQ - IARU HF CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 - SOAB MIX LP
I got the license for the special call two days before the
contest. I thought about having more than one station QRV in 3V8SS QTH, however,
this wasn't possible due to operators availability and lack of equipment
(especially antennas). So the idea was to have 3V8HQ active for the first time
ever in IARU Contest, even with one station/one operator (and low power!).
The goal was to make as much QSOs as possible to maximize
score, but also to train in how to maintain a high QSO rates in both SSB and CW.
Moreover, it's my first experience with mixed mode. I can see now how mode
switching be benefic for mind rest.
The improvement in my CW operating skills is clear from a
contest to another. In this contest, I could reach a rate 97 QSOs/h in CW.
Callsign recognition from the first call became more frequent and I'm more able
to concentrate for a long time.
Some pile-ups were never ending despite that DX Cluster is
not allowed.
The WRTC 2010 was held during the IARU HF Championship this
year. It was exciting for me to call contesters taking part in this radio sport
marathon.
Contest : IARU HF World
Championships
Callsign : 3V8HQ
Mode : MIXED
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : Headquarters
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : CAST
Operating time : 19h10
BAND SSB CW ITU HQ POINTS
AVG
----------------------------------------
160 0 0 0
0 0 0.00
80 2 21 3
8 79 3.43
40 18 122 9 16
624 4.46
20 580 406 21 32
4706 4.77
15 221 278 12 23
2335 4.68
10 31 28 5
8 247 4.19
----------------------------------------
TOTAL 852 855 50 87 7991
4.68
========================================
TOTAL SCORE : 1 094 767
3V8SS -
CQ WPX CW 2010 - SOAB LP
Taking part in this year's WPX CW contest wouldn't be possible if I couldn't
reduce the side tone volume in my headset. As this adjustment wasn't possible
from the front controls, I was obliged to open the TS450S and adjust a variable
resistance inside it.
No rest was possible before the contest; I spent the 4 days preceding the
contest in the Tunisian desert for business. I arrived back home 1 hour before
the contest starts. I was tired during the whole contest and I only could make
26 hours. Night operation was so difficult to me. Only few QSOs were made on the
low bands. It was raining on Night 2 and noise level was high on 40 and 80 due
to thunderstorms.
10m band was continuously open. No major DX was
noticed on the bands. Pileup was mainly by European or Russian stations.
I'm satisfied with the score I achieved, however I surely could make much
better.
Contest
: CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... :
Locator :
Operating time : 25h25
The score I achieved this year is about 3 times the one of last
year thanks to the new equipment I used (sponored by 3V3S team). The verticals
for 80 and 40 worked well. I had a problem with my spiderbeam obliged me to keep
it at low height and limited its rotation to only about +/- 30 degrees from the
north. I wasn't able to exactly beam to America or Japan. I sometimes used the
1/4 Wave Vertical for south America and US contacts.
I enjoyed the 30hours spent in this contest. Thanks to EVERYONE
who called me!
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX
Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Assisted
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Operating time : 30h29
I used Wintest v4 coupled to MMTTY and it
worked perfectly. I really loved all the features and especilly call/SN
recognition and automatic input into log. Operating is very easy using keyboard
or mouse.
Bands were so crowded (comparable to CQWW RTTY) especially on 40 and 20 with
minor activity on 15 and a dead 10m.
Contest : ARRL RTTY Round-Up
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : RTTY
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Assisted
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : DX
Locator :
Operating time : 13h46
Preparations for the activity
started 3 months before with Andy DJ7IK (Team Leader) in order to organize a
DXPedition consisting of 5 German amateurs to activate 3V8SS and to take part in
CQWW CW Contest. Special call was allocated to the event (3V3S). We took part in
the contest as M/S LP Category. We we're using 3 stations (One running and 2
Multiplier stations). I was operating only from Multiplier Stations.
Me & Andy DJ7IK in Multiplier Stations
Here below our results:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 50 7
41
80: 789 12
68
40: 1482 28
93
20: 1355 36 113
15: 439 30
85
10: 240 7
29
------------------------------
Total: 4355 12 429
Total Score = 7,099,119
Antennas used (sponsored by the german team): - Spiderbeam for 20m-10m - Vertical 40m GP - Vertical 80m/160m GP
For more information, please visit
3V3S website at
http://3v3s.tk
3V8SS - CQWW SSB CONTEST 2009 - SO15 LP
"Remembering
C6APR operation by Pete W2GJ, Ed K3IXD, Randy K4QO
and Dallas W3PP"
Propagation on 15m band was amazing with some
sunspots that made the world happy!
As planned, I run both days' full daytime hours (from 6z to 19z). I was spotted
many times and Europe pile-ups are always here. I reached 240 QSO/h during 10
minutes in which I made 40 QSOs! Very Exciting!
Three 3V-stations were on the air during this contest; Me @ 3V8SS, Bilel @ 3V8SF
(SO-20) and TS9A Team @ 3V8BB.
Only my home made Quarter Wavelenght Vertical was used during this operation.
I'm still proud of it! :) Many reported that my signal was booming in Europe and
the States. JA's were nicely heard at the first hours of the morning,
however not easily workable! It was a great pleasure working W6, HI, VK4.
I was so optimistic to fix the target at 1000 QSOs but conditions allowed much
more... I finished with 1573 QSOs which is a record for me! Thanks God!
Contest : CQ World Wide DX
Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Assisted
Band(s) : Single band (SB) 15 m
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating time : 23h37
QSO RATES:
Best 10 Minutes:
40 QSOs (240 QSO/h)
Best 1 Hour: 163 QSO (163 QSO/h)
Audio Recording of CN2R: Contest Log uploaded to LotW.
3V8SS - CQWW RTTY CONTEST 2009 - SO15 LP
It was planned that I'll take
part in this contest as SOAB (LP of course because HP is not allowed in
3V-Land). I started operating in all bands, but then I realized that, with such
an antenna for 20/40/80 I will not have a good ranking in AB Category... So, in
the second day I decided to keep focus on 15m only. The band was nicely open
(especially Day 2). There was a surprising short opening to JA in the morning.
I experienced the SB operation for the first time and I really enjoyed "extreme"
S&P and detailed band scanning. I got some wonderful catches like DP1POL
(Antarctica), FT5GO Glorioso DXPedition, KG6DX (Guam).
Being the only station to give 3V Multiplier greatly helped me.
The software I used is MixW 2.19 (See
Screenshot of the QSO with KG6DX). Audio Cable with ACC2 Connector kindly
offered by Lars, DF1LON.
BAND QSO CQ DXC
ST
POINTS
-------------------------------
80
40
20
15
478
21
64141424
10
-------------------------------
TOTAL
478
21
64141424
===============================
TOTAL SCORE :
140 976
Learned lessons for future RTTY Contests:
- Foresee the maximum number of Macros (for S&P, Pile-up...). Precise answer
make you win time!
- Foresee adequate additional cooling device for your TRX!
The whole log is submitted to contest commitee (Don't
worry guys!) and only 15m will be considered. It's also
uploaded to LotW.
3V8SS - WAE DX CONTEST 2009 - SOAB SSB
WAEDC SSB this year came during the month of Ramadhan were Muslims fast. The
challenge was to overcome thrust, fatigue and sleeping.
I red an article of Dick WC1M talking about Sleep Deprivation. A part of this
article talk about getting enough sleep before contest or "storing sleep". I did
this during the last two days before the contest and it gave good results!
Conditions on the bands were VERY poor! I relied on low bands but traffic was
difficult. 80m disappointed me! It was too noisy! 20m is still my station's pet
hate! Short opening Sunday on 15m then condition rapidly dropped down.
Contest
: Worked All Europe DX-Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Assisted
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Operating time : 13h42
My participation in this contest was just a
training and preparation for CQ Contests. Temperature was so high in the shack.
It was NEVER a comfortable operation. My average QSO rate was considerably
improved during this contest and reached 60 QSOs per hour. No QTC was
received/sent, this is what explains the low score.
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Assisted
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Operating time : 10h04
Before starting the contest, the target was
200 QSOs as it is my first serious participation in CW contests.
QSO rate was poor on saturday morning (around 16 QSO/h) but after miday, it
exceeded 30 QSO/h and reached 44 QSO/h at 18z (it was the peak).
15 & 20m were the best! It was also great for me to get two digit numbers in the
10 meter column!
Over 250 QSOs were done on Saturday at 18h. After having a shower and a cup of
milk, targets were re-set to 400 QSOs.
For the rest of the contest, QSO rate was varying from 10 to 30 QSO/h.
A QSO with 3V9A (YT1AD) was not possible without a notification SMS. The pile-up
on his QRG was enormous! He was skilled enough to handle the 150 QSO/h! He told
me later that this is his best result since he was activating 3V8BB. He made
over 4600 QSOs!
Due to loss of concentration and being overcome with fatigue, I stopped the
contest sunday on 18z with 563 QSOs in the log; much more than expected!
Contest : CQ
World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Assisted
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating time : 24h40
CQ WPX SSB this year was the first ever for
me. I hadn't the opportunity before to take part in due to studies.
It was well prepared thanks to the RDXC which was one week before and allowed
better understanding of the actual propagation conditions.
Using WinTest Software really helped me in this challenge especially that it was
connected to the internet. I loved the band map feature.
I also used HamCap for propagation predition. Very accurate results!
I started operating at 11z after finishing with my job. It was a bit late for
15m but 20m "was money and most of the activity was there" as Al 4L5A expected!
Working on Low bands was so hard. In the second day, the expanded 40m was
amazing and the expected QSO number on this band exceeded the targets.
Only one QSO was made on 10m with V55X. Both we use 100W!
A total operating time of 29h was performed. Here are my detailled results:
Contest : CQ World Wide WPX
Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode :
PHONE
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Operating time : 29h
As expected, the Russian DX Contest was
exceptional this year as it is the final qualifier for the 2010 World Radiosport
Team Championships in Russia. Big activity on the bands.
Propagation was very bad "as expected". 10m band dead! 15m showed some slight
openings but closes very soon.
I made 21h40 of operating time during which I
performed about 700 Q's and more than 1 million points! A good result for me
comparing to the used antennas (Inverted-V and a Quater wavelenght Vertical).
For the first time in this contest, I was assisted by DX Cluster. This helped me
finding new multipliers. I spotted my self only ONE time, just to check
propagation, but it's a pity to find others spotting them selves continously.
BAND
QSO
QSO Pt
DXCC
Oblast
160
0
0
0
0
80
128
726
39
13
40
183
1149
39
28
20
257
1512
49
29
15
131
1088
19
29
10
0
0
0
0
TOTAL
692
4475
145
99
SCORE
4475 * (145 + 99) = 1'091'900
Operating time: 21h40
3V8SS -
ARRL DX CONTEST 2009 - SOAB LP
Call: 3V8SS
Category: Single Operator
Power: Low Power
Band: All Band
Mode: CW
Country: Tunisia
BAND
QSO
QSO Pt
STATES/PROV
160
0
0
0
80
0
0
0
40
23
69
16
20
1
3
1
15
28
84
14
10
0
0
0
TOTAL
52
156
31
SCORE
4'836
3V8SS -
CQ WW CW 2008 - SOAB LP
2008 CW Contest was my first ever
contest using Morse Code. Bands were so crowded especially on the low bands. 10
& 15m were almost dead. The G5RV wasn't optimized to work on 20M. I concentrated
on 40 and 80m bands. Here are my claimed results:
I worked only about 7 hours/48 and this is due to the quick loose of
concentration. I must thank all the OMs with whom I made QSOs for their patience
and for working QRS for me.
3V8SS -
CQ WW SSB 2008 - MS LP
The CQ WW SSB DX Contest was finished and time is now to
evaluate the work and compare with previous contest results.
It is known that the solar cycle is passing by its lowest level and it is not
surprising to encounter very bad propagation conditions in most of the bands.
Condition were poorer than in last year's contest.
'Apparently the skip was going right over our heads'
Moreover, if you didn't well prepared the contest, results will never be as you
dream.
Only a G5RV was used during the contest. It worked good at 80, 40 and 15m bands
but with an SWR of 1.5 on 20M.
Here are my claimed results:
Contest : CQ World Wide DX
Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi Operator - Single
Transmitter (MS)
Overlay : Radio club
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating time : 21h26
The contest logging software is a registered copy of WinTest
3.17 which is an excellent contesting software and the best ever.
3V8SS - CQ WW SSB 2007 - MS LP
I participated with my friend Halim in the CQ WW SSB Contest
2007 from the scout radio club station 3V8SS in Sousse city, for two days (27-28
October). Here are our claimed scores:
Contest : CQ World Wide DX
Contest
Callsign : 3V8SS
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi Operator-Single
Transmitter (MS)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Operating time : 17h12
We really enjoyed participating in this big contest. We noted a nice opening on
both 15 and 20m bands. Also some openings on 10m. The Low bands were extremely
crowded.
We were using a KENWOOD TS-440 and a G5RV. Some problems appeared in the logging
software (CT by K1EA) due to the change of summer time.
3V8SF - CQ WW SSB 2005 - MS LP
I took part in this contest in M/S Low Power operation with
my friends in 3V8SF (Sfax City) using wire antennas.
Contest : CQ World Wide DX
Contest
Callsign : 3V8SF
Mode : PHONE
Category : Multi Operator-Single
Transmitter (MS)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power
(LP)
Zone/State/... : 33
Locator :
Operating time : 29h13
Call: 3V8SS Location: Sousse City, Tunisia Address: Maison de Scout Avenue Abou Jihed 4011 Hammam Sousse Locator: JM55hu LONG: 10.5941 E
LAT: 35.85662 N
Google map TRX:
