ARRL DX CW Contest 2008
During the weekend of 16/17th February 2008, I participatedg in the annual ARRL DX CW Contest. This is an amateur radio competition where people around the world try to make as many different radio contacts with as many different US States and Canadian Provinces (plus Prince Edward Island) as possible, using Morse Code.
Equipment: IC-706MkIIG, 100W to Hustler 5-BTV Vertical antenna, Bencher CW Key, Heil Headset, Computer Rig-Control, logging with Win-Test 3.19 with the score appearing live on this page during the contest.
Category: Single-Op, Single-Transmitter, All-Band, Low-Power, Assisted. (SOAB(A) LP).
Current score
At 00:01:53 18-Feb-2008 UTC, I have the following score (note that any dupes are included in this calculation, as are any invalid QSOs):
| Band | Contacts | States | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 160m | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 80m | 31 | 15 | 93 |
| 40m | 52 | 16 | 156 |
| 20m | 76 | 27 | 228 |
| 15m | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10m | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 159 | 58 | 27666 |
I have had contacts with the following states:
- 160m:
- 80m: AR;CT;GA;IL;MA;MD;NC;NF;NH;NJ;NY;PA;VA;VT;WI
- 40m: AR;CT;DE;FL;MA;MD;NC;NH;NJ;NY;OH;ON;PA;TX;VA;WV
- 20m: AR;BC;CT;DE;GA;IA;IL;IN;MA;MD;ME;MI;MO;NC;NE;NH;NJ;NY;OH;ON;PA;PEI;TN;VA;WA;WI;WV
- 15m:
- 10m:
Post-contest comments
Again it was a struggle from the home QTH with barely 100W into a vertical in a valley, so I was limited to 'search and pounce' operating only. I also had a few other things to do, so the operation ended up being more part-time then I had hoped. It was disappointing to hear nothing at all on 15m, and there were several hours when I had literally worked everything that I could hear. All told, I am quite happy with the 159 QSOs, though it obviously will not win anything.
The only problem encountered was that I accidentally had the rig set on only 40W for the first 30 mins. Once this had been corrected, I found that I could not tune the vertical on 80m at all. The reason was revealed the following morning: my parents had neatly coiled up the radials while I had been away at University. (Note to self: check this first in the future!).
Previous Entries
I previously took part in this contest in 2006