CQ WW CW 2018 – Epic Low Bands!

CQ

 

WOW!

The low bands left me speechless after what was a record breaking weekend from my humble QTH. Amazing conditions on 40m, 80m, and especially 160m. Started out with 149 Q hour, but downhill from there. That compares to an almost 400 Q hour at ZF1A(N6MJ) and TI7W(KL9A?) who were also on the contest score board. Those guys rock!

160m

Friday night the band was full of signals from EU. I could hardly believe it. Worked OH2XX, RU4PU, G3TXF, MW5B, HB9CZF, SJ2W, DF6QV, PJ4K, a very loud TK0C, II9P, RA1QD, OH5Z, SM0HRP, EF8R, LA8OM, SJ4F, OH1XX, and UA1OMS.

Saturday night was even better. Had a nice little EU run that knocked my socks off. Worked OE2LCM, OM5KM, SP1NY, EU4E, YL2PP, OH1LEU, DL0HQ, DL4MM, RC3FL, OL1A, RW3PZ, ES9C, UA4M, SM3NXS, OK5T, E77E, S58N, S53A, RU3OW, HA7I, OG6OF, OG2M, G8W, LA1MFA, and later RT0C. I don’t normally list the stations I work, but it was such a special weekend on top band, I thought it was appropriate for a shout out!

This is a new record number for zones, countries and Qs.

80m

58 countries is a new record. No EU runs, but plenty of EU stations to work. Had a few short JA runs.

40m

7 MHz was amazing! The band was open to EU around the clock. Runs started about 2 PM local and overlapped with JA runs starting after local midnight. I never thought I’d have more Qs on 40m versus 20m, but here we are. My mult total seems low, unfortunately, but I may have missed a few during the 20m run in the morning. At some point, it became necessary to prioritize a band, so there you have it.

Had a pipeline into zone 16 all weekend. That’s always a good sign from here. Means the band is in excellent shape.

20m

14 Mhz was pretty typical, but like I said earlier, with 40m on fire, prioritizing became necessary. 20m may have suffered a bit because of it, but no complaints. It’s all good.

15m

Better than anticipated. Seems like the guys down south have much better propagation at this point on 21 MHz than us northerners. Nevertheless, no runs of any mention and no EU. Plenty of zone 3 through 9 and zone 30 through 33. Even a few zone 35 and 36 guys.

10m

Special thanks to the hardworking guys at K7RI for my only Q and mult on 28 MHz! Could have QSYed a VE7 for a couple of extra mults (VE7 border is only 50 miles away), but it didn’t happen.

Summary

My plan was to get more sleep, but the low bands were so amazing, I didn’t want to miss anything. Ended up powering through day one and took a very short nap on day 2. I expect they’ll be some great scores this weekend. This is one CQ WW that I will not soon forget. Thanks to all for the Qs and an exciting weekend on the radio! Last but not least, thanks to these stations for a 5-bander: 6Y3T, CR3DX, EF8R, HQ9X, J8NY, JA3YBK, KH6LC, PJ2T, TI7W, TK0C, VA7ST, VE3MGY, and VE6SV.

73, Mitch, K7RL

 

Call: K7RL
Operator(s): K7RL
Station: K7RL

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: WA
Operating Time (hrs): 45
Location: USA
Radios: SO2R

Summary:   Compare Scores
Band QSOs Zones Countries
160: 142 15 42
80: 168 23 58
40: 1226 31 91
20: 1055 32 102
15: 153 18 36
10: 1 1 1
Total: 2745 120 330 Total Score 3,116,250

Club: Western Washington DX Club

 

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: