There was some discussion whether to do another multi-op for this contest, whether M/2 or M/S. Certainly it was a challenge when we entered M/2 with just 3 operators in 2023. Could I put together a team of 4 or 5 good operators this year? I wasn't sure, and I wasn't sure whether to make the attempt. There was only lukewarm interest among the few I canvassed.
With several ongoing challenges with my station and the difficulty of getting ready in time I decided to do another single op this year. I could deal more comfortably with station issues since I'm familiar with them. It was also an opportunity to see if I could surpass my 2024 result where I put over 5000 contacts in the log for the first time. Another opportunity might be years away since the solar cycle seems to be firmly descending from its peak.
First up was fixing problems before the contest. Here's a summary:
- My home brew prop pitch rotator controller repeatedly corrupted the display during the SSB weekend and failed completely the next day. I could still turn the motor. Since I didn't want to have to run to a window (with a powerful flashlight at night) to determine antenna directions I set to work. I replaced the LCD and took the opportunity to modernize it with the latest variant that has stable contrast and uses serial (I2C). That didn't fully cure the problem. Replacing the Arduino Uno did fix the problem. It was stable and reliable during the contest.
- I put the Acom 1500 amplifier back together after hopefully resolving the faults it was experiencing. It suffered an arc fault during the contest but otherwise performed well. I'll have to dig into it again.
- The 160 meter gamma match was arcing when the power exceeded about 700 watts. I did a thorough inspection of the components and wires. One plate of the series variable capacitor was slightly out of true. I carefully straightened it and the arc fault disappeared. Hopefully it'll stay fixed for the ARRL 160 meter contest this weekend. The damage may have happened when I added the switch for the 30 meter antenna.
- Wind damage to the northeast-southwest was repaired hours before the contest started. I temporarily pinned the problematic section of twinned wires to a PVC pipe. I'll find a permanent solution later.
- I couldn't figure out the details of N1MM and SO2R-Mini configuration to seamlessly switch between conventional SO2R and 2BSIQ. I can do it with separate function key files but that is difficult to substitute on the fly. DX Log does this better. I ended up with my usual configuration and a promise to myself to sort it out in time for the next contest.
I planned to do even more but winter weather arrived early. The ground is now frozen so there is no convenient way to do concrete work until spring. The rotatable side mount for the lower 15 meter yagi is complete, yet the antenna remains firmly attached to the tower. I had hoped to get it done before the contest for stacking gain to east Asia. It isn't difficult work but I need better weather and a helper on the ground.
I was a little anxious leading up to the start of the contest even though I was as ready as I could be. It might be surprising to hear that I don't really enjoy single-op contesting. I feel isolated and uncertain of my abilities, and worry about the mistakes I will make. It takes time to get into the right frame of mind. Then 0000Z arrives and I become too busy to entertain negative thoughts.
My primary concerns were whether I could do enough 2BSIQ to push my QSO higher than in 2024, and how the poorer conditions would shorten the European runs on 15 and 10 meters. I was less concerned about 20 meters and the low bands. I knew I had a big challenge beating last year's score and surpass 5000 QSOs. I should also note that unlike many serious competitors, I do not practice. That is one reason why I am rarely if ever near the top of contest results.
In the end I fell short. I was disappointed but not surprised. What really stunned me was the score by my friend Vlad VE3JM. Our stations are of a similar size and only 150 km apart. Even so he beat me by more than 50%. That's humbling. Well, I do know how he did it: aggressive and almost full time 2BSIQ.
The question I keep asking myself is whether I care enough to work at my 2BSIQ skills. No, not really but maybe it would be fun to try. As I said above, I don't practice contesting skills other than the occasional smaller contest -- I made 1000 contacts in the LZ DX contest the previous weekend. Unless my attitude changes my scores will decline along with the sunspots over the coming years.
Enough about that bit of personal angst. I'll figure it out, one way or the other. Most of the station improvements I'm planning don't hinge on it since they add value to all modes of contesting.
What went right during the contest:
- There were only a few minor technical glitches. It could have been worse considering how complex my station has become.
- I punched through most multiplier pile ups with one call. There are advantages to big antennas and high power.
- Many double mults (zone and country) answered my CQs on all bands. Examples include VK6 on 80, TZ, TF, 9J, ZD, 3B8, DU, BY and more. Running is a surprisingly good way to work mults. After all, many of those operators are casual contest ops and avoid the stress of a pile up.
- I had no difficulty operating close to 48 hours. There were many unavoidable short breaks and a short sleep break the second night. I followed the same strategy last year. I probably would have been okay without the brief sleep, however those were the overnight hours when few stations were available to work. Had 20 opened to Europe after their sunrise I would have stayed in the chair.
- Propagation wasn't great but it was good. As almost everyone noted, Saturday's mild geomagnetic disturbance disappeared on Sunday. The low bands also improved the second night.
What went wrong:
- The recently repaired Acom 1500 amp suffered an arc fault in the RF deck while running on 10 meters. As I said in my 3830 report, it made a loud "FOOM!" sound. But I kept running and turned the transmitter to its full 100 watts while I considered what to do. I shrugged then reset and warmed up the amp. The pile up was lessened but still going strong when the amp came back online. There were no more failures during the contest, however I reduced power slightly just in case.
- I regularly abandonned 2BSIQ and even SO2R when the European pile ups were intense (which happened on all bands from 40 to 10 meters) or callers were very weak. The need to concentrate made focussing on the other radio difficult. Others with more skill can do it, but not me, at least not yet.
- I had one longstanding problem with N1MM that, for whatever reason, depends on computer processing speed. It only happened a few times probably because I was unassisted and the high rate of skimmer spots was absent.
The lists of positives and negatives are quite short. There was no drama for me in this contest, and that's good. Yet I still didn't do terribly well. Sure, I'm not competitive but I would like to do better.
More automation and better choices with audio routing (which receivers play in one or both ears) will help, and I aim to work on those gaps. But technology can't compensate for poor operator skill. Travel to a remote island could also be helpful my score. But the truth is that I don't really enjoy running even though I do it pretty well, and 2BSIQ more than doubles the amount I don't enjoy it. Yet do it you must, and lots of it, if you are to do well. Having a big signal makes running easier but more intense; running with QRP only works when you are a rare multiplier.
Band QSOs Zones Countries ------------------------------ 160: 175 10 41 80: 659 16 66 40: 1079 29 90 20: 998 30 82 15: 881 28 91 10: 766 23 82 ------------------------------ Total: 4558 136 452 Total Score = 7,038,360
The shortness of the high band openings to Europe cost me a lot of contacts. 2BSIQ could have made up the shortfall by maximizing use of the shorter openings. Stations to the south and east, with longer openings, would suffer less from not doing 2BSIQ.
With regard to other statistics, my dupe rate (not included in the totals) remained at about 2%. My multipliers increased, in countries but not zones. That reflects my occasional multiplier sweeps on one radio. It is those extra multipliers that kept me within 500,000 points of last year's score. Of course log checking could change that.
What about the highly competitive SO AB HP category that I entered? I didn't participate in the live scoreboard because I am too low to be of interest and I don't really care how others are doing. For now all I have is what was reported to 3830. It doesn't include all participants since a few won't post or delay their post. Read the detailed reports of the top scorers for insight into their strategies and preparations. If you prefer video you should check out the Q5 channel on YouTube for extensive interviews with the main players.
Here's a 3830 screenshot taken while writing this article, with one or two top scorers yet to report:
My raw placement is about the same as last year. It should be obvious from the clustering of scores that a little 2BSIQ could have raised my rank by 4 or 5 positions. What I have to decide for the future is whether I care to try or focus on organizing multi-ops for this contest. Nearby good CW contest ops are difficult to find, either being uninterested or preferring to enter as a single op from their own stations.
An important point to note about these incredible scores is that the operators value running over hunting; that is, it is better to accumulate QSO points rather than multipliers. 2BSIQ for nearly 48 hours is very difficult so there has to be a reason. The thing is that many of the multipliers you need will call you. Those mults are single ops and multi-ops that mix running and hunting; they don't just run.
I worked few of the top SOAB HP (unassisted) on more than two or three bands, since we're all mostly running. Yet I worked many of the assisted single ops and multi ops in semi-rare locations on all 6 bands. When they hunt they call you. You won't work the perpetual runners (whether one radio or two, rare mult or not) yet it works out in the end.
Even with his intense 2BSIQ operation, Vlad VE3JM is unlikely to retain his top-10 rank. He surpassed his own objective but without sporting a country prefix more attractive than VE there is little hope for improvement. I'm okay with that but others travel to do better. And if you have the skill then why not? It's fun, and instructive, to see how far upward they can push scores.
There are many more stories I can tell about the contest, but I don't want to bore readers. However, one that I would like to end with is about someone else. That is my friend Chris VO2AC in the photo. Although he and his family live in eastern Ontario (where he's VE3FU), he is from Labrador and that is where he built a remote station. It's a relatively rare multiplier in many contests, including CQ WW (zone 2).
He makes a point of watching cluster spots and working his friends on as many bands as possible. I worked him on 5 bands but refused an offered move to 160 since I'd already worked Yuri VE2IM (VE3DZ) there. Chris travelled to Goose Bay for a family function and CQ WW CW occurred during his travel back to Ontario. He operated his remote from VO2, VE1 and VE3. In the picture he's operating the contest from the Halifax airport.
After the contest I watched the reports coming in to 3830. I was particularly interested in my category despite my modest score. Compare yourself to the best if you want to learn how to improve. I've spoken to Vlad VE3JM about how he does it. I've learned a few things from him and I've implemented some of it. I don't know how far I'm willing to stretch myself in pursuit of higher contest scores.
Now that the contest if over the bands are far quieter than during the weekend and even the days before the contest. This is typical. Although anti-contesters (not the non-contesters) like to complain about how we fill the bands on many weekends, when we're not there the spectrum is severely underutilized. Even the contest focussed DXpeditions have vanished.
Contesters are among the most active hams, not just on contest weekends. We rag chew, DX, experiment with digital modes and generally make frequent use of our privileges. I hear the same contester call signs on FT8, the DXpedition pile-ups, the DX themselves, on VHF, top band and more. When we rest following a major contest, the bands become eerily quiet.
Postscript
While I don't wish to end on a sad note, I received bad news today. My friend and fellow contester Cary VE4EA passed away. Since losing his tower in a storm several years ago he was very active as a remote contest operator, utilizing stations in Canada and the US. Mostly he used the station belonging to Gary VE4YH, who is himself not a contester.
We teamed up for a remote M/S entry in the recent ARRL Sweepstakes CW contest from VA1EET, the station being built in Nova Scotia by Kevin N5DX. SS is slow enough that we had plenty of time to chat and joke between QSOs. I also spent a lot of time with him when I visited Winnipeg this summer. He'll be missed.
