It's over and time for a Kubuli!

Final results:

2108 QSO's (5133 points) X 142 multipliers (114 countries + 28 zones) = 728,886 points

All logs have been uploaded to LOTW.

For now, it's time to celebrate with a Kubuli (Dominica's beer) and explore the island the next couple of days.

2nd Night

After a pretty productive 2nd night I'm up to 1900 QSO's X 130 multipliers (102 countries/28 zones) for 595K points. I ran more EU last night as my points/QSO went up from 2.32 after the first night to 2.41 total now. It's still nowhere near the 2.72 I had from ZF2TG. Here's the breakdown by hour last night:

Hour/QSOs:
19/3
20/18
21/45
22/82
23/95
0/66
1/80
2/66
3/77
4/56
5/62
6/86
7/58
8/20
9/20
10/12
11/19
12/4

No JA's in the log. I heard a few on this morning but they didn't hear me.

When the band opens back up I should have about 5 hours of operating time left. I hope to break 2000 QSO's and get that multiplier total up.

I received a few nice comments on the blog last night from folks that answered my CQ's-good to know it's being enjoyed!

First 11 Hours

Here are the results so far:

1031 QSOs (2397 points) X 99 mults (76 countries + 23 zones) = 237,303 points

I'm already way ahead of my CQWW SSB score but I'm way behind the pace I had from ZF2TG in 1992 when I had 2985 Qso's X 31 zones + 111 countries=1,087,862. Of course, I had an amplifier there vs. 100W here.

Here's the breakdown by hour:

Hour/QSO's
0/121
1/124
2/124
3/178
4/150
5/95
6/83
7/75
8/32
9/12
10/36
11/1

I had a rough start as I couldn't find any place to CQ without QRM and 100W wasn't enough to clear any frequency. I realy didn't get into a groove until the 3rd hour (178 QSO's) when I established a good run frequency around 7.050. The last 3 hours were painful as I was really fighting back the urge to go to sleep. The rate slowed to a point in the 11Z hour where I could not resist sleep any more. I really need to work on my sleep schedule (and my fitness) going forward as I was not very productive those last few hours.

I need to pick it up this evening if I'm going to have a chance to come anywhere close to my ZF2TG score. I'm also not working enough EU as my avearge points/QSO are only 2.32 vs. the 2.72 I had at ZF2TG.

I'm going back to taking a nap now and will be back on the air around 20Z.

500 QSO's in the log, now it's contest time

I put 500 QSO's in the log today and they have been uploaded to LOTW. My LDG Autotuner is not functioning so it looks like I will be limited to 40, 20, 15 and 12/10M with the loops. The QSO's so far have been evenly split between 40, 20 and 15M with a nice EU opening this morning on 15M. I tried 12M and even 10M a couple of times but nothing heard.

Today was rainy until afternoon then it cleared off. The rain kept the temperature down to a very comfortable level today. I purchased contest supplies today (Diet Coke, snacks, bottled water etc). EU started opening on 40M today about 20:15Z this afternoon and it was open this morning until at least 12:30Z to the states so looks like in between there will be my breaks.

Now it's about 2.5 hours before the contest starts. I'm going to eat dinner and try to take a quick nap (or at least lay down) until about 23:30Z.

I'll try to blog tomorrow afternoon with 1st day results, but no promises. See you in the contest!

J75W On the Air

It's been an interesting couple of days. I arrived in Dominica yesterday afternoon around 3:15. Everything seemed OK until I went through customs. When the customs officials saw my Icom 7000 I was asked to put up a $300 U.S. deposit on the radio. They said that the deposit was required in case I should try to sell my radio on the island during my stay. I tried to convince them otherwise but they would not budge. I did not have $300 U.S. in cash with me so I had to leave the radio with them overnight. They also wouldn't give me a hard copy of my license until I paid the deposit. Fortunately, this morning, Gwen the very friendly owner of Seacliff Cottages where I'm staying gave me a check to leave as the deposit. Customs will give me the check back when I leave (with the radio) and I'll simply tear the check up then. I went back this morning and collected the radio and my license. I must say this treatment was totally unexpected and I hope serves as a warning to anyone that brings a radio into Dominica.

I woke up at 6:00 this morning with the sun so I had some time before I went to the airport to get the radio. I used this time to measure and build the antennas. I constructed 2 full-wave 40M loop antennas with 1/4 wave RG6 matching sections.

George, K5KG told me about and Lambert, J73LC (who I met at the airport this morning) arranged the services of the amazing Donford. He is a local guy who is renowned for his climbing and antenna erecting abilities. He came by this afternoon and climbed coconut and palm trees on the property to put up the antennas. Here are a couple of pictures of his work today:

We put up 2 antennas. A delta loop in the backyard behind the cottage broadside to North America and a square loop across the street broadside to Europe. Here is a view of the EU loop. It is hard to see, but the loop is betwen the fourth and sixth trees from the left:

The early results of these antennas are amazing. I was working loud EU pileups on my CQ an hour before sunset. I had so many calling I had to go split and even that was unmanageable at times. When I switched to the NA antenna, NA signals came way up. This looks like a great combination so I can null out 2 point NA signals to concentrate on 3 point EUs.

What I've seen of the island looks beautiful. This is a very mountainous, jungle-filled island and very green. I hope to do some exploring Monday-Wednesday after the contest.

The location here at seacliff seems perfect for radio. It overlooks the northeast coast of the island and is at a pretty good height above the sea. I'm sure most of the outstanding antenna results are due to the location.

I rented the one bedroom cottage. It has no air conditioning, but a ceiling fan is really all that is necessary to keep it cool as the temps are in the low 80's in the daytime and mid 70's at night. We have gotten a couple of rainshowers during the day and evening to cool things even more. It also has great WiFi internet access. Here's a picture of the cottage from the front:

Here is the view across the street to the Northeast. This is the same view the EU loop has....

CQWW is less than 24 hours away. I feel this is going to be a lot better result than I put up in C6.

Heading to J7

I'm in the airport in Orlando as I write this awaiting my flight to San Juan. Yesterday I tested the rig/computer setup for J7 and got packed. I purchased a MicroHam Microkeyer to key CW with N1MM. One thing I forgot was that I needed an external keyer to use with my paddles. This necessitated a trip to AES in Orlando to pick up an MFJ-401D keyer. Everything checked out OK with the rig setup, the Microkeyer keyed the rig perfectly with N1MM under Windows Vista and a 1/4" Y adapter allowed me to use the paddle/MFJ Keyer with it simultaneously.

I also went to Lowes and purchased 2 145' sections of #14 stranded wire for the loops. This will make it easier to set them up as I should only have to trim a couple of feet for resonance. I also bought some extra RG-6 for the matching sections. I have decided to go with 2 single element loops as constructing a 2 element system is too complicated to pull off given the time I had to get ready. I will try to aim one NE and one NW to cover EU and NA through an antenna switch. I am also bringing a G5RV for other bands, but I will only put that up if I have time after getting the 40M antennas ready. One thing I decided NOT to bring this time is my Buddipole as I will use the G5RV to cover the other bands. 40M is the priority so losing the Buddipole is OK on this trip.

I am travelling with 4 bags; a SKB hard sided golf case with the 2 40' fiberglass masts and lots of 100' coax sections, a large checked bag with the non-electronic equipment, a carry on with the electronic radio equipment and my laptop bag with the work laptop and the contest laptop. The SKB case comes in handy because the airline lets you check up to 70 lbs. in golf cases whereas you are allowed only 50 lbs. in suitcases.

I almost guessed perfectly on the weights. I had 73 lbs in the golf case and about 45 lbs. in the suitcase. I moved a couple of the 100' RG8X sections from the golf case to the suitcase and I ended up at regulation 70lbs. in the golf case and 50lbs in the suitcase avoiding any overweight luggage charges.

I will be in San Juan on business today-Wednesday and fly to Dominica Wednesday afternoon. My plan is to set up the station inside on Wednesday evening and put up the antennas on Thanksgiving and Friday(if necessary). I am hoping this will be a lot less hectic than what I experienced in C6.

V25W Cancelled

Unfortunately, it is necessary that I cancel my trip to Antigua for ARRL 160M. There is not a rig or amplifier at the station I rented. I (mistakenly) thought there was. That means I would have needed to buy and lug an amplifier and something to be able to use receive antennas. I just don't have time to pull this off. Operating low power with no RX antennas on 160M would have been painful at best. This and the fact that it is better that I be home at the time for business reasons necessitated the cancellation. I hope to be able to visit there for another contest next year.