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🇬🇧 CQ WPX CW 2022 -- lessons learned
🇬🇧 CQ WPX CW 2022 -- lessons learned
On the last weekend of May I participated in the CQ WPX CW Contest, one of the biggest contests in the calendar.
I had different plans for Saturday, but it turned out that I have a free weekend and can spend some time in the
contest. I did not have any plan for this particular contest, it was my first WPX, but I made some observations
to make my next attempt better.
🖼️ Map of my QSOs from http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/. I think I made 10 new DXCCs!
I started a bit late, about 9 LT, 7 hours after the contest started. I discovered that although I can hear some
stations my SWR goes into infinity. Luckily, It was just a loose antenna connection, so tightening the SO-239
barrel solved the problem.
After making some QSOs on 40 meters I switched to 20 meters and… my receiver was deaf and the waterfall showed
only stripes. I don’t know what is causing these problems, sometimes they are there, sometimes not. Some time
later they were gone and I could start making QSOs on 20 meters.
🖼️ Stripes on 20 meters. This blocks my reception on the 20 meters and they are sometimes in the late morning or early evening.
It turned out that spending some money on a narrow CW filter for my FTDX3000 was a very good idea. I could
definitely tell the difference between a 350 Hz filter (600 Hz crystal + DSP) and 300 Hz one. Narrowing
bandwidth down to 50 Hz gives some ringing, but that’s another story.
Some time ago I learned the trick from a fellow and very experienced ham. One part of that trick is to set AF
gain high, like 70 percent or even higher, and adjusting volume with RF. Other part is described in the
FTDX3000 manual on page 46, I believe you can also find it in manuals for other radios. It definitely
helped when working weaker stations. I still can not work with AGC turned off as aforementioned ham suggested…
And if your RS/SQL knob sets squelch on HF… you’re doing it wrong. Really wrong.
🖼️ Some boring stats. My real location is JO81OC (http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/)
I’m using a somewhat compromise antenna, G7FEK for 80, 40 and 30 meters. My ATU does a good job and I can tune it
to every HF band except 160 meters. I am aware that I lose some power with that, but I am really proud I could
work DX on 15 and 10 meters. Yes, the stations on the other side of the antenna were Big Guns, but that’s what
Big Guns are for.
🖼️ Enough of radio. Sunday walk in a park. We’ve met Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, I can’t remember the names of the other ducks.
Was my start a success? Well, I spent as much time as I could, almost as much as I wanted, and I did my best. My
claimed score is far from the top ten SP from last year. But, I made some new DXCCs, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia,
Argentina and Kazakhstan. Western Coast US was a big surprise for me, too. I tried many times to work station
from Pakistan, but no luck this time. I heard Nepal, and Chad, but they could not hear me.
🖼️ Countries worked in the contest (http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/)
Few advices for contesting greenhorns:
🖼️ Dokąd nocą tupta jeż? Możesz wiedzieć, jeśli chcesz! (Sorry, I’m not going to translate this nursery rhyme, you’ll have to watch it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHa222Q0T2I)
Plans for improvements? Well, I have to replace my power supply -- I am afraid to work with more than 50 Watts
and I think it is the cause of specific noise I can hear both on speaker and phones. However, I can not hear it
on the FTDX USB soundcard. It would be also nice to have a vertical antenna on the roof for higher bands.
Receive only antenna, like Loop on Ground, could be useful too, but it’s forbidden in TB-WIRES overlay I
chose.
🖼️ More boring stats (this time from N1MM)
On Saturday I worked 80-something thousand points. Next day I made 100 thousand and went for a walk with my
Daughter. Early evening I
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By Husaria CW
5
11 ratings
🇬🇧 CQ WPX CW 2022 -- lessons learned
On the last weekend of May I participated in the CQ WPX CW Contest, one of the biggest contests in the calendar.
I had different plans for Saturday, but it turned out that I have a free weekend and can spend some time in the
contest. I did not have any plan for this particular contest, it was my first WPX, but I made some observations
to make my next attempt better.
🖼️ Map of my QSOs from http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/. I think I made 10 new DXCCs!
I started a bit late, about 9 LT, 7 hours after the contest started. I discovered that although I can hear some
stations my SWR goes into infinity. Luckily, It was just a loose antenna connection, so tightening the SO-239
barrel solved the problem.
After making some QSOs on 40 meters I switched to 20 meters and… my receiver was deaf and the waterfall showed
only stripes. I don’t know what is causing these problems, sometimes they are there, sometimes not. Some time
later they were gone and I could start making QSOs on 20 meters.
🖼️ Stripes on 20 meters. This blocks my reception on the 20 meters and they are sometimes in the late morning or early evening.
It turned out that spending some money on a narrow CW filter for my FTDX3000 was a very good idea. I could
definitely tell the difference between a 350 Hz filter (600 Hz crystal + DSP) and 300 Hz one. Narrowing
bandwidth down to 50 Hz gives some ringing, but that’s another story.
Some time ago I learned the trick from a fellow and very experienced ham. One part of that trick is to set AF
gain high, like 70 percent or even higher, and adjusting volume with RF. Other part is described in the
FTDX3000 manual on page 46, I believe you can also find it in manuals for other radios. It definitely
helped when working weaker stations. I still can not work with AGC turned off as aforementioned ham suggested…
And if your RS/SQL knob sets squelch on HF… you’re doing it wrong. Really wrong.
🖼️ Some boring stats. My real location is JO81OC (http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/)
I’m using a somewhat compromise antenna, G7FEK for 80, 40 and 30 meters. My ATU does a good job and I can tune it
to every HF band except 160 meters. I am aware that I lose some power with that, but I am really proud I could
work DX on 15 and 10 meters. Yes, the stations on the other side of the antenna were Big Guns, but that’s what
Big Guns are for.
🖼️ Enough of radio. Sunday walk in a park. We’ve met Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, I can’t remember the names of the other ducks.
Was my start a success? Well, I spent as much time as I could, almost as much as I wanted, and I did my best. My
claimed score is far from the top ten SP from last year. But, I made some new DXCCs, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia,
Argentina and Kazakhstan. Western Coast US was a big surprise for me, too. I tried many times to work station
from Pakistan, but no luck this time. I heard Nepal, and Chad, but they could not hear me.
🖼️ Countries worked in the contest (http://tools.adventureradio.de/analyzer/)
Few advices for contesting greenhorns:
🖼️ Dokąd nocą tupta jeż? Możesz wiedzieć, jeśli chcesz! (Sorry, I’m not going to translate this nursery rhyme, you’ll have to watch it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHa222Q0T2I)
Plans for improvements? Well, I have to replace my power supply -- I am afraid to work with more than 50 Watts
and I think it is the cause of specific noise I can hear both on speaker and phones. However, I can not hear it
on the FTDX USB soundcard. It would be also nice to have a vertical antenna on the roof for higher bands.
Receive only antenna, like Loop on Ground, could be useful too, but it’s forbidden in TB-WIRES overlay I
chose.
🖼️ More boring stats (this time from N1MM)
On Saturday I worked 80-something thousand points. Next day I made 100 thousand and went for a walk with my
Daughter. Early evening I