P40L-P49Y Contest Summary Information

AE6Y February 2007 Aruba Trip Notes – ARRL DX CW Contest

Andrew L. Faber, AE6Y, P49Y
2/23/07
[pub. ver.]

Tuesday, February 13 - Wednesday, February 14, 2007.  To maximize time in Aruba I took a 9:15 p.m. red-eye from SFO to Miami, arriving at 5 in the morning.  Got less sleep than usual due to the early hour of the flight and the fact that it only lasted only 4½ hours.  A five-hour layover and one flight later, I was in Aruba at 1:45 p.m. local time.  Chris, Andy and Cindy drove up exactly as I arrived. 

The temperature was about 80s and relatively non-humid.  [Actually the WX was virtually the same for the whole week – excellent].  It obviously hasn’t rained in a while, as there is no standing water at Frenchman’s Pass. 

The six main coaxes and the beverages had been left plugged in, since Ed, W0YK, had just left the day before, so station setup was a snap.  All antennas and both radios worked. 

I was going to Oranjestad to buy groceries, but stopped at Emily’s (P43E) and chatted with her and Carl (AI6V) and Sue (AI6YL) for over an hour, eventually deciding that I would rather take a run than go shopping.  I reminded Carl of the (imaginary) non-compete clause in our contract to buy the house, but he didn’t seem to remember it.  Not a problem, as he intends to do a single band effort from Emily’s.  After my normal run along Spaans Lagoenweg from Marina Pirata to La Granja and back, John Crovelli came by and we went off to La Granja for a relatively simple meal followed up by some ice cream at the Dunkin Donuts down the road.  As usual on the first day I arrive, my running was more like staggering.  Back home at 8:30, and talked to Lisandro on the phone, arranging to visit tomorrow. 

I have the computer set up on the table to the left of the radio desk, with everything run off one USB port, hooked up as follows: USB cable to Compaq 4-port USB expander, USB relay outputs to PTT and R1/R2 on the DX Doubler; USB to 2-serial port device to the rig control cable for both radios (com4) and to CW keying (com5); USB to PS2 to mouse and keyboard; external monitor.  It all worked fine, except that every so often the CW would slow down slightly (not stuttering, but literally slowing down) for about a second as some obnoxious background process took over the machine.

I got on 160 a bit before bed, working PJ4/K4BAI, PJ2/N1ZZ and PJ5NA, but mainly listening to note that on the beverages I could hear the stations they were working. 

Thursday, February 15, 2007.  Awoke at 8:30 after a sound night’s sleep and made a pot of joe using what looks like the same ground coffee I bought in November.  Surprisingly there was actually some food in the fridge, including the peanut butter and two jams that I had bought last fall and some cold cuts and soda left by Ed.  Got on the air a bit to test the setup, then a late morning drive to Ling & Sons, my favorite supermarket, to stock up on some contest food.  I way overbought, as a result of violating the maxim not to go shopping when you are hungry. 

At about 1:30, I went over to Lisandro’s and spent about an hour and a half with him and Lissette, who was home from work for lunch.  Their  home remodel is coming along quite nicely, and Lisandro’s air-conditioned shack is becoming an ultimate techno-lair, as was his former one.  In addition to radios, model airplanes and miscellaneous technology, it includes two high-powered servers running four monitors.  He’s threatening to be fully operational with HF privileges for WPX Phone in March.

By now it was late afternoon, so I took my usual run at Savaneta then went off to Azzurra in  Playa Linda for the dinner that Andy Bodony, K2LE, had arranged.  Unfortunately, though I had actually instigated this dinner, I could only stay for a short time (with Andy, John, and Martin, P49MR), as Chris had invited me for a home-cooked meal at their house. I got there 20 minutes late, made my apologies, and the evening turned out very convivial and gemutlich.  Carl and Sue were also there.  Disposable cameras that I had brought for the kids were a great hit, with Andy, particularly, going nuts with his.  Chris’s food was excellent, and JP had even found a nice bottle of Chilean red wine for him, Sue and me to share.  I brought over my own camera and tripod so we could take some group photos; Andy insisted on doing the honors by pressing the shutter button, then racing back to his place.  

Friday, February 16, 2007.  I checked the beverages in the cunucu, a good early morning chore.  They all seemed to be OK.  Then off to the Hyatt for my usual “luxury” breakfast sitting outside by their swan pond, followed by an hour at Eagle Beach reading a book in the sun and taking a brief swim.  I did a little shopping, ran at Savaneta, then went home and took a nap for about an hour and a half, until wakened by a call from the office on my cell phone at about 6 p.m.  I get the contest food ready: sandwiches in the fridge (peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and jelly, egg, tuna and chicken salads) then had some more sandwiches for a relatively light dinner.  I put out a bowl of M&Ms, soft candies and cookies (suggest more soft, chewy candies in the future) and a glass of water in the shack.  Checked the radio gear and I was ready to go.

ARRL DX CW Contest Saturday, February 17-Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Contest notes more or less as dictated during the contest.  Unlike last year, 20 is open just before the contest begins, and I warm up 14040 for about ten minutes.  It seems like a good idea, as a number of my early callers are those who work me in that span.  At the start 20 is open all across the US and Canada.  I have a 201 first hour with 47 mults, far preferable to last year’s miserable 78 QSOs when  I was forced to start on 40 and ended up on 80.  [Would have had a few more contacts, but had to stop to do a little reprogramming on my software, CQPWIN, Ver. 10.6, to correct as minor bug introduced in the latest updating and not detected until the heat of battle.]  I send at 38 wpm to speed the pileup.  After almost an hour and a half on 20, all on 14040, I QSY to 160, since I have odd numbered hours on Friday night per my deal with John.  The rate isn’t very good, so after 23 contacts I move to 3527 and run off 144 Qs on 80 in the next hour.  First CAs are superstations N6RO and W6OAT, followed by my law partner Bob, AA6VB, with his vertical and 500 watts.  First move is at 0251Z, N1UR in VT from 80 to 160. 

After a brief spell on 40, I return to 160 at 0306, and things do pick up a bit with 80 Qs in the rest of the hour.  Reliable Andy, VE9DX, calls in on 160 at 0328Z for NB [and we later work on all bands but 10].  40 is finally ready for me at 0400Z and produces a very gratifying 172 contacts in the next hour.  I try 160 again at 0534Z, then bounce back and forth between 80 and 160, later adding 40 into the mix for the rest of the night. 

Something in the laptop wants to keep restarting the computer to finish installing unspecified upgrades, and a screen flashes up about every 15 minutes and stops everything else.  I finally let it restart, so hopefully it will stop bugging me.  I try dual CQing on 3022 and 7035 out of boredom.  VO1HE calls in on 80, and I move him to 40 for a double mult (NF).  He can’t move to 160, unfortunately.  A few minutes later I try moving VO1HP to 160; I do hear him, but he comes back to 80 and says no contact, sadly.  However, when W3DQ calls in on 40 from DC, I don’t need the mult on that band, but we do have a successful move to 160.  [Both of these move later for me on the high bands as well, which is very obliging of them.  They must get asked endlessly for moves.]  VY2TT gives me PEI on both 40 and 80.  I’m falling asleep during contacts.  It’s 1101Z and I’m at 40: 476/56; 80: 360/55; 160: 187/45.  Total is 1301/206 for 794k points. I take a 15-minute power nap in a living room chair, which does perk me up.

It’s 1230Z and 40 is still open with a steady rate of about 120 per hour.  This is 0830 local time and more than an hour and half after sunrise.  I hear on the second radio PJ4A (K4BAI) seeming to have success on 14025, so I conclude it’s a reasonable time to go to 20.  Now at 618/56 on 40, still needing DE, ND, and VE4.  I make a pot of coffee, but in my tired state I forget to pour the water into the machine, so a second try is required (fortunately the coffee maker doesn’t burn itself up).  I move to 21025 at 1311Z.  W3DQ obligingly gives me a double mult on 15 and 20.  Then at about 1400Z I take a 15-minute break as John Crovelli comes over to borrow the Alpha 87, which he had asked for last night on the air.  He amazingly has 58 mults on both 160 and 80.  [He later confirms that he had a 174 hour on 160 in the 0200 hour;  this is why he always likes the even hours on Friday night – next year I gotta get them.]  I don’t have to do as many moves to 20 as I did last year, since I had such a good  start on 20 last night. 

I try to move AA1K in DE from 15 to 20; I can hear him, but just then the Logikit CMOS-4 keyer goes nuts and keeps sending strings of dots or dashes, so the move fails.  I take it apart, try resetting it with and without batteries, but give up after a few minutes.  [I vaguely recall this is a known problem due to defective parts, but this particular unit had operated flawlessly for four years, so why choose this contest to fail?]  I plug the paddle into the left radio and use the internal keyer in that radio for the rest of the contest.  Unfortunately, my sending is much worse with the internal keyer than with the outboard one.  It’s embarrassing.  I even try readjusting the Bencher paddle, but it doesn’t help much.  I also now don’t use the right radio for making Qs.  [In retrospect, I could have plugged an extra paddle that we have into that radio.  A backup keyer would be a good idea also.] 

Next, the R1/R2 key, F9, stops switching radios.  I see that the USB relay connection at the relay box has come open on that circuit, which must have been due to John’s having jostled it while removing the amp;  fortunately, the fix is just to use another relay output (there are four, and I only need two), so it’s easily resolved.  It’s 1518Z and I’ve been on 15 for 1:38, now at 243/42 with a lot of 7’s and 0’s left to work.  I’ve been monitoring 10 on the second radio and don’t hear a thing, even though yesterday it was open at this time.  Then I hear W0AIH calling CQ over and over, and work him at 1524Z.  About 15 minutes later I can start to hear some guys responding to PJ2T’s CQs on 10, so I go there.  I call K1TTT on 28011 and work him easily though he isn’t loud.  I CQ on 28024 using the C31 pointed up the East Coast.  In about 10 minutes, I get a strange mix of seven more mults on 10 (TX, MA, NJ, NH, IA, AR, CT).  It’s very confusing why only these stations.  I give up after a few more minutes and return to 15 at 1551Z, with nine Qs and eight mults on 10.

A milestone: QSO number 2000 at 1702Z (with 256 mults for 1.57M points).  Old reliable Alan, KO7X, in WY finally calls in on 15 at 1747Z, and we move to 20 for a double mult [surprisingly, he doesn’t ever call on the low bands this weekend].  Another move, W3PP in DE, to 20 for another new one.  It’s been a long run on 15, all at 35 wpm with the C31 pointed north and the monobander NW.  At 1820Z I have 730/55 on this band.   Another nice double mult is VE9HC (NB) on both 15 and 20.  We also try 40, but I can’t hear him.  Using 14111 and 21111 as move frequencies works well.  At about 1915Z I must be mis-spotted on packet as there is a sudden flurry of dupes.  Although I normally just work dupes, I start manually sending QSO B4, I am so annoyed.  It’s been fun on 15, but it’s slowing down, so I take a food break at 1939Z, at 909/56 on 15, 321/53 on 20.  There’s a gratifying pileup on 14024.  VO1HE calls in with a new mult.  A move to 15 fails, as the band must have closed down. 

Resuming on 20, I stay on 14024 for the next 3½ hours.  Nice steady rates of 173, 172 and 133 in the 20, 21 and 22 hours.  W0ZTL calls in at 2023Z for the first ND of the whole contest.  I try to move him to 15 unsuccessfully.  Then, amazingly, two more NDs call.  [ND and VE4 are the toughest mults in the contest, apart from the 4 Canadians that aren’t on at all, LB, NT, YT and NU;  ultimately, I work both ND and VE4 only on 40 and 20.]  At 2128Z the room suddenly goes dark, as the overhead light has burned out.  I operate for a few Qs, but it’s tough to use the computer without being able to see the keyboard, so I quickly give in and replace the bulb. It finally starts to slow down on 20, but I don’t want to leave before I have to, fearing a long night on the low bands.  I try 80 at 2338Z, but after a handful of contacts, I decide to have some dinner.  The first day totals are 2968/279 for 2.4M points.  Band totals are 10: 9/8; 15: 909/56; 20: 879/58; 40: 618/56; 80: 366/55; 160: 187/46. 

I’m back on 80 at 0010Z, the start of the second day.  To 40 at 0031Z where I hang out on 7032.  I try to move K0HW in SD to 160, but pick a bad frequency, so the move fails and I lose my 40m run frequency in the process.  Although moves are exciting when they work, to paraphrase famous coach Woody Hayes’s comment about throwing the football: there are three things that can happen in a move attempt and two of them are bad.  And the worst of the three just did happen, but I reestablish myself quickly on 7034.  40 is crowded, but there is a steady stream of callers much better than on 80.  I stay there until 0245Z, when I think 160 might be in order for a while.

The 40m run is very nice, spoiled only by a big gun’s key clicks emanating from about 300 Hz below.  Still waiting for DE and ND on 40.  I only have VE4 because I was going to ask a close station to QSY, and it turned out to be VE4VV calling CQ!  Having just said that, K0QQ calls in at 0244Z for ND.  Unfortunately, he can’t move to 80.  I go to 160 for the last 10 minutes of my even hour and work 19 stations but no new mults.  In the 0300 hour I work 106 Qs on 80, with a QSY of W3PP to 40 (DE) and K0RU (KS) to 160 for new mults.  It seems as though John on 160 wipes out my 80 rx when using the beverages, but not when using the inverted vee to receive.  

I go to 160 at 0402Z and quickly work N4OGW in MS, but then fruitlessly call CQ on a quiet band for about 5 minutes, so I return to 40.  A personal jammer, sending dashes on my frequency shows up, as he does several times in the contest.  Fortunately he isn’t strong or persistent enough to be a real problem.  The band is so quiet that with the beam pointed NW, I hear an Israeli station CQing on my frequency.  40 is great for about an hour and 20 minutes, then I decide to try 80.  The 0400 hour is 108 on 40, which is far more than usual for me in the middle of the night.  I’m at 1080 by 59, and have clearly run out of mults to work on 40.

I bounce around among 80, 160 and 40.  It’s now 0640Z (0240 local) and everything seems to have collapsed on the bands. This seems like a good time to take a nap, though I’m actually not particularly tired.  After looking at the rate sheets from the last few years, I think I can afford a 2:15 nap instead of only 1:30, so I set the alarms in my watch and lie down in bed, with my feet elevated on cushions.  I’m at 3630/283 for just over 3M points. 

Boy, that was a nap that went all too fast.  It’s now 0940Z and I’m back at it after some OJ, a cream cheese and jelly sandwich and some fresh coffee.  40 and 80 are really slow.  I just had 5 minutes between contacts on 40 (1022Z).  I finally get called by a WV on 40, K3XO, and I move him to 80 for a needed mult.  Also move W9XQ in NM from 80 to 160.  Things slow up on 40 in the 1200 hour and my personal jammer decides to return as well.  It’s way past sunup, but the goal is to stay on 40 as long as possible, since the high bands are usually very slow at this time for us. 

Finally to 20 at 1245Z, and it’s better than expected on 14031.  I have to move, as an EU that I can barely hear is also running on the same frequency. I move VO1HP in NF from 20 to 15 at 1341Z, but forget to save my run frequency, so have to go up high in the band to get away from the EUs.  I move to 15 in the 1400 hour and have 104 QSOs in the 1500 hour.  A milestone at 1516Z, the 4000th QSO.

I’m again monitoring 10 on the second radio.  John CQs for 10-15 minutes with very little result.  I CQ for a while myself, then decide I might as well just let him do it for me, especially since he is high power, so more likely to get something stirred up.  I do work a very weak VY2PA in PEI, and W1ZT in MA is the only one who answers me.  So I stay on 15 for another few hours.  Without 10, it could be a very long afternoon just slogging away on 15 and 20. 

Just before 1900Z, W6OAT suggests we try 10.  I QSY to 28030 and can’t hear him, but I actually do get some answers to CQs.  It’s very strange, as signals are quite readable, but there just aren’t very many.  Nothing like the grand pileup last year, when the band opened to the north then spread slowly to the west.  It’s very spotty; for example, many OH, but no MI at first.  Even two CAs, the first being W0YK [who later describes the Q as ESP, though I hear him clearly.]  As usual, I can hear the SA stations, but often not the NA stations they are working.  Strangely, several KH6s have very solid signals. 

I go back to 15 at 2000Z, with 49 by 21 on 10.  I’m still listening to 10 on the second radio, this time to Joop, P43JB, calling CQ.  About 20 minutes later I start to hear his callers again, so I return to 10 and have a lot of fun and actually have a reasonable rate for a little while (69 Qs in 35 minutes).  Each mult adds almost 15K to the score, so it’s fun to watch it add up.  I finally give up on 10 at 2127Z and go to 20, expecting to run out the contest there, as I have the past few years.  The 2200 hour yields 140 Qs, a good rate for LP, as I camp out on 14030 (P40W is a little below me and P40LE below him – W6LD calls it P4 alley).  VE4MG calls in on 20 at 2332Z, and I try unsuccessfully to move him to 15.  But at least he gives me my last mult on 20.  20 slows way down in the last hour.  I should have moved to 40 earlier, but I finally do so in the last 10 minutes.  At 2354Z, W7ZQ calls in from WY, and we successfully move to 80 for a new mult on that band with 4 minutes to go!  

Right after the contest ends, John Crovelli calls, and I call Emily, with us all agreeing to do our post-contest dinner at Texas de Brazil, a Brazilian churrascaria restaurant just across the road from the Playa Linda, and near both Amazonas and Tony Roma’s. John Fore also calls and we discuss the contest – he had worked me in the last hour on 20.   I pick up John and we drive over together, meeting Emily, Carl and Sue there.  It was loud and crowded at first, but we get an outside table and it turns out fine.  Back home a little before midnight, and, though I actually don’t feel terribly tired, I fall asleep instantly.

Monday, February19, 2007.  Slept like a log until 9:30 a.m., and felt quite dull upon awakening, but a pot of coffee helped greatly.  Then had breakfast at the house and checked email.  John came over at about 10:30 and returned the 87A, which he actually hadn’t used.  I checked it out, and found as Ed had mentioned that output seemed low on all bands – max 1300 watts into a dummy load.  I measured the line voltage at 222 volts, so I opened up the amp and changed the transformer tap from 240 to 220, but that didn’t help much.  I also did a bit of outside maintenance, including rolling up the three beverage radials in the yard and raising the EU beverage so it isn’t a hazard to human navigation. Also put the three beverage feedlines in a plastic bag attached to the tower so the shack window can be closed.  Then put gas in the car and added air to the tires.  The right front had looked low, and the four were at 15, 20, 20, and 25 pounds (am I the only one who ever does this??  I put in 32).  I feel safer driving around now, but the ride is definitely harsher. 

Then off to Baby Beach for my obligatory hour on the beach.  It was pleasant, though actually a bit crowded.  Today is a national holiday for the end of Carnaval, so the traffic is very light but the beaches are crowded, and just about all the picnic areas on my running route on Spaans Lagoenweg were in use.  After a run, I got cleaned up and did some packing and station turn-off.  I typed my formerly handwritten  Visitor Notes and printed them (thanks to John and Ed for the printer – it’s a delightful addition to the shack). 

I had arranged with Lisandro and Lissette to have dinner, but Lisandro had mentioned that most restaurants were closed, so they would make some calls to find an open place.  I was stunned when he told me on the phone that they had made a reservation at none other than Tony Roma’s.  And this after my importuning to John Crovelli had finally succeeded in changing our post-contest dinner from there to Texas de Brazil.  I have told John that I view an Aruban trip as successful if there is only one dinner at Tony Roma’s, so I guess by that measure this was a successful trip!  In all fairness, I have to admit that my hamburger was pretty good.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007.  Chris picked me up a bit before 7, along with Cindy, whom we dropped at school, and Andy, who had cut his hair really short with a little queue at the back.  He seemed embarrassed, and had his T-shirt pulled over his head.  I may have created a monster, as Chris mentioned that she had been reading the Summit Racing catalogs I brought for JP and now wanted side steps and mag wheels for her new RAV-4.  Sorry, JP.  Then back to CA, starting on the 8:50 a.m. AA flight from AUA to MIA, and a long flight to SFO, arriving at 5:00 p.m.

General observations.  My main mistake in the contest was not trying hard enough to move 0s and 7s from 80 or 40 to 160.  I think I was misled into thinking they would just call in on 160 as they do on the other bands, but clearly a more aggressive strategy is required. 

Physically, I felt pretty good during the contest.  There were times when I would find myself nodding off or daydreaming during contacts, but no major hallucinations.  I took one 15-minute power nap Saturday morning, and a two and one-quarter hour nap starting about 0230 local time on Sunday.  I lay on my back in bed with my feet elevated, and this may have reduced the fluid accumulation in my feet that worried me last year.  I noticed once again that in some ways the second night seems easier than the first one, as my body seems to have adjusted by then to the general discomfort and to be in a calmer state.  After the contest, I felt fine and had much more energy than John at the dinner (maybe because he worked harder during the contest?).

Here is a comparison of my scores for the last four years, along with John’s for three years.  One can see the influence of 10m propagation, and also that John consistently trounces me on 160m mults.

Band	P49Y 2007 LP	P40W 2007 HP	P49Y 2006 LP	P40W 2006 HP	P49Y 2005 HP	P40Y 2004 HP	P40W 2004 LP
10m	148/34	167/35	378/51	542/54	1196/59	1010/56	872/56
15	1248/57	1488/59	1098/59	1102/59	1365/59	1144/59	1088/57
20	1210/59	1311/59	1070/59	1273/58	1463/59	1268/59	978/57
40	1135/59	1110/59	924/58	944/58	1021/59	1001/58	778/56
80	632/57	880/58	561/57	679/58	518/57	521/59	609/58
160	222/47	417/58	234/45	360/54	261/48	334/52	369/55
Total	4595/313	5373/328	4265/329	4900/341	5824/341	5276/343	4694/339
Score	4,314,705	5,282,112	4,209,555	5,012,000	5,957,952	5,408,424	4,773,798