ARRL DX Contest (CW)

This weekend was the ARRL DX contest in CW.

I also joined this contest with my computer for the CW.

The contest is a 48 hours contest and started at 0:00 UTC saturday morning.I wanted to be there from the start so stayed up till then as well.

Propagation was looking ok at the start.Alot of stations where strong here at my side and i was able to work most stations that i did receive as well.For me as a Novice,only 25 watts is allowed.

So sometimes it was very difficult to get a state that had a pileup.

But i worked what i could hear.I was up till 2:33 UTC and got 74 stations in my log then.

At 9:33 i was back at the radio and did work one station on 40M.Prop wasn't good enought to get more that time.So i had to wait till propagation getting open on 20M to NA.

This happend around 11:00 UTC.Last station worked that afternoon was at 18:32 UTC.

Propagation was still ok,but we had a birthday party at the neightbours...so qrt for me.

Worked 2 stations on sunday morning on 40M and then it was again waiting for the propagation on 20M to open up.Around 11:35 i worked the first station on 20M.Was sometimes difficult to find stations i did have in my log yet.I was very suprised to see that the 20M was open sunday evening till at least 22:16 UTC to NA.Normal it closes at 19:00 UTC.Maybe a good sign that the propagation is getting slowly better.
Last station worked was at 23:20 UTC on 40M.

I made a total of 229 QSO's and total multipliers are 62.

I was very happy to have worked W7RN from Nevada state.This means state number 50 worked for me and the day after also confirmed via LoTW.This in basic and 20M.

My total points where 42408.

Got more qso's and points then in 2009.So i am very happy with this result.

Some people say that it's very easy to do CW by computer.But let they try it before giving that opinion.The computer needs a good signal to decode.This is not always the fact and then it come's to my ears to listen if they got my call correct.I am very happy that the computer is in our HAM radio hobby.Also like the digimodes alot.The digimodes make it possible to make bigger distances for the 25W i am allowed to use.

SARTG and AGCW New Years Contest

Friday the 1st was alread the start of the new contest year.

First was the SARTG that started at 8:00 UTC and one hour later started the AGCW.

The SARTG New Years contest was in RTTY mode.A mode i like very much for contesting.

The contest was only 3 hours long and also in this time i walked with my Husky's,so i wasn't active all three hours.

This contest we had to exchange RST-Number-Name and in our own language "Happy Newyear".In my language this is "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar".

It was nice to see this in all other languages,at least from the stations i worked.

Total qso's was for me 76 into 25 DXCC's.

After the SARTG contest i was active for one hour in the AGCW New Years contest.

This one did start at 9:00 UTC and was also only for three hours.

This contest was in CW mode,for me CW is using MixW and computer.

I made 27 QSO's,also some with AGCW Clubmembers.Worked 11 DXCC's.

Nicest one would be LX/DL5SE as LX is always hard to work from my QTH.
Worked Daniel on 40M

9A CW Contest

After the OK DX RTTY i went to the 9A CW contest.

The contest already started saturday at 14:00 UTC.

As i do CW via Computer,i can only work the strongest stations.But still i manage to work some nice DXCC's.

I did work 7 stations on saturday evening on 40M already.

Sunday i did start at 10:00 UTC on the 40M band again.Worked only EU stations and went after one hour to 20M.

Here also mostly EU stations with some nice openings to Asiatic Russia.

At 11:23 i was able to work Frank,ZM2B.He is also active during contests and this was my 3th QSO with him already.Also got his confirmation already in via LoTW.

Later propagation also was open to NA and i did manage to work a few from the US as well.

Total QSO's where 70.

Total DXCC's on 20M 16.

Total DXCC's on 40M 14.

Total Points 4830.

CQ WW Contest

In the past weekend,28-29 Nov,was again the CQ WW CW contest.

I also was active during this contest with MixW as my CW decoder.

I started at 0:00 UTC saterday and worked on 40M untill 4:00 UTC.

In this time i got 97 QSO's logged.After this i went to bed for a few hours.

At 9:00 UTC i was present at the radio again,starting on 40M.At 10:23 i did switch to 20M and made multies from zones 14,15,16,17,18 and 20.

Around 11:00 UTC i did check the 10M and i did hear some low signals.Little later o could work zones 15,33,35 and 38.As new DXCC on 10M i worked A25NW.

The 10M wasn't open for more at my end,so i jumped into the 20M again.Did work VK6AA for zone 29.Worked my first station from NA around 11:45 UTC...after this more followed.

After 18:00 the 20M went death,so again to 40M.Last QSO made was as 0:33 UTC.....Bedtime.

Sundays i started again at 9:00 UTC on 40M.After a while i found out that 10M was also some activity and went there.Made 6 QSO's,all new multies.

After this again to the 20M and later checking 40M as well.Because we can have differend propagation on 40M in daytime,i got some more new multies again working ON,LX,TF,OZ and G stations.Back to 20M after this till 18:00 UTC again...while the band went death again.

Was active till 0:00 UTC...till the end of the contest.

I wasn't active all the time...had some breaks to do something else.Also have three Husky dogs that wanted to enjoy a walk outside as well,hi.At some time,mostly between 19:00-22:00 Utc,i went for a break as well.Had also some extra QRM on the 40M this periode and as was too early to get NA stations for me on 40M.So i was QRX for that time and started again around 22:00 UTC.

Worked some very nice DXCC's again in the contest and also some New ones on the bands.

Got new B7P China on 40M.Also HC8GR as new one on 40M.

Other nice calls worked:

6Y1V,A73A,P49Y,KP2M,V26K,D44AC,8P5A,NP4Z,PJ4A.

My goal was again to get more point/QSO's as in the year before.

Total QSO's now are 554,but got some dupes as well.

Total points are 165.958

Last year i got around 90.000 points,so my goal was made more then that.

Contesting

I didn't update my blog for some time now,so now a update about my contest adventures from August...

SARTG WW RTTY 15-16 Aug.
Total QSO's: 206
Total points: 187370
Remarks: Some nice propagation...worked KH6,DV1 and some JA's as nice far DX.

RDA Contest (SSB-CW) 15-16 Aug.
Total QSO's: 109
Total points: 101370
Remarks: Very nice to work the Russian Provinces.Prop was good in that area.

EPC RUSSIA DX (PSK63) 22-23 Aug.
Total QSO's: 163
Total points: 162792
Remarks: Nice to work EPC members.

YO-DX Contest (SSB-CW) 29-30 Aug.
Total QSO's: 101
Total points: 18048
Remarks: Nice contest to work the YO Area's

SCC RTTY CHAMPIONSHIP 29-30 Aug.
Total QSO's: 260
Total points: 40918
Remarks: Propagation was ok,worked alot of NA and also ZS,PY,JA,LT,V5.

This where my contest results.Worked in all contest some nice DXCC's.Also very nice to see some friends again during the contest.Till next time...we meet again.

WAE Contest and PKW MHF1e40

In the past week,my girlfriend put the Rotary Dipole from PKW for 40M,the PKW MHF1e40,on the roof.It's just in steady position,little North-West/South-East.

This because during contests,many from NA are on 40M.So for me this would be the best position.But as it is only a Dipole....it TX as well as to the front as to the back.But i am very happy to have it up on the roof....around 8 meters above the ground now.

Before it was only standing at the back at the house at 4 meters....but even on this height i was able to work XW1B,Bruce in RTTY....just 8800 Km. :)

The past weekend,8th and 9th of August,was the WAE Contest in CW....(Work All Europe).

Means....we from Europe where only allowed to get outside EU in our log.

Knowing this and that the propagation isn't still very well......

Still i did manage to get 101 QSO's logged.Started also very good with KH7XS and KH6MB logged within my first 12 QSO's.

Also 10M was open and got some nice ones on this band as well....total 14 QSO's.

Worked these nice DXCC's on 10M: LS1D , FJ/VE3EY , 5N0OCH , PY2NDX , etc..

On 20M also nice DXCC's: CO8ZZ , HK1X , CX1AA , etc..

On 40M is did try out my PKW MHF1e40 on the roof.Could work some NA stations without any problem with my 25W.Also got FM5CD and FJ/VE3EY on 40M.

Saw that YN9H was also active on 7054....also worked him in SSB in a pileup.So i am very happy with my PKW dipole on the roof.

Got total more QSO's and multies then last year,but have to wait how much points i get,after all logs where checked.As i do my CW with my computer,sometimes callsigns and numbers aren't correct.Or the other stations doesn't have my callsign correct.

In N1MM i got total 9.999 points till now.

Contesten

Since i am back home i am also back to the radio.Every day i get more and more time,can sit down longer with my back.It's nice to kill the day with some radio time.The first weeks i was only allowed to lay on the bed....wow what can a day take a long time then.Since i am up and also walk more,the days fly by again.

On the 1th of July was the RAC contest.Propagation wasn't very well that day.Made 25 QSO's in CW and SSB mode.Worked 10 Canadian stations during the contest in 4 ProvincesThis where ON,NS,QC and SK.Nice also to work XE2WWW,Jorge.

The weekend of 4/5 July there where also a few contests.

In the "Independence of Venezuela Contest" i made 27 QSO's

In the "DL DX RTTY Contest" i made 250 QSO's

In the past weekend of the 11th and 12th of July was the big "IARU HF World Champions Contest".

Last year i also joined this contest and wanted to try to get more QSO's/points this year.I made more hours this year at the radio and this also came out in the points.

Made 402 QSO's in CW/SSB.

I'm very happy with this result.Worked also some very nice stations during the contest,like:

CX1AA,8N3HQ,8H8HQ,9Y4HQ,OZ1HQ,P44HQ,YS1YS,LX0HQ,CO7PH,ZF1A,HD2A,XE1KK,

KH7XS,GJ0KYZ,A71A and many more.

Nice was to work KH7XS without a pileup :)

Some results from the contest you can see here:

CQ WPX CW

The past weekend was the CQ WPX Contest in CW.Last year was the
first time i joined this contest.I'm not able to operate CW with a key and understand all,i
make use of my computer and MixW for this.A combination what can work very
good as well,only not the weak signals.


Last year i got a certificate from CQ,i was as Rookie low power, #1 from Netherlands, #5 from Europe and #6 from the World.Total points 187.110.
As i have just a simple setup,i am proud to get results like this.
Just working with 25 watts,3elm Tribander at 6 meters above the ground and windom FD3 for 40M.Also only 3 bands allowed here and not even the whole bands.
40M we,as Novice HAM,can only operate between 7050 and 7100.So the CW section isn't for us.But with big contests,many will also go above 7050...good for me :)

The goal this year was,to get more QSO's/points then last year.
I was very happy to see that also the 10M was open.This got an extra band for me as we have only 10,20 and 40M on HF.Both days the 10M was open.Saterday even to NA and SA.Worked 2 stations in NA and 1 in SA.Also whole Europe was open on 10M.
Propagation on 20M wasn't that good in my eyes.Got some nice QSO's,but didn't see as much NA as i did last year.
Got also a new DXCC in CW,TU2CI.

My results:
I made 501 QSO's and came total to 299.280 points.

BARTG RTTY and RDXC

The past weekend was again one with many Contests.
I was active in 2 of them,but due not too much time,didn't get many in my log.

I started with the BARTG RTTY Contest.
This is a 48's hours event,started at 02:00 UTC on Saterday the 21th.I was active mostly on 20 meters and worked a few on 40 meters as well.There wasn't much RTTY above 7050,because of the RDXC Contest.
Still got to work some very nice DXCC's again in this mode.
Got in my log: JA6ZPR,J5UAP,YV5AAX,LT0H,JH7XGN,E21YDP,ZS2EZ,J88DR,YB4IR,9M6XRO and PR7AR.
These are the more exotic callsigns...some you don't get every days i mean :)
Nice to see that the propagation is getting longer,20 meters is longer open as for 1 month ago.
Maybe this is a sign of the Sporadic E season to begin.

In the RDXC i did work 125 stations.For me,digital modes and CW work better,just working with 25 watts.Worked in the RDXC in mixed mode,most in CW.
Nice DXCC's worked are:
JA7DLE,YW4D,6W1SJ,YE1ZAT,VQ9JC and V47NT.

Hope the propagation will be good the next weekend as well,while the CQ WW WPX contest will be taken.Hope to work then as much as last year.