In the preparation phase for CW part of CQ WW DX contest we tried to avoid the technical problems we had the last two years. Its possible that some stuff can break during the contest and it usually happens. Several weeks before the contest we tried to use all parts in excess, hoping that they wouldn´t sustain any serious failures during the contest.
2 element yagi for 80m which failed during the contest last year was profoundly tested in many contests before CQWW, and moreover we prepared an alternative - 2x Bobtail curtain (3 element) directed to NW-SE and NE-SW.
We solved long lasting problems with our receiving antenna system (6x beverage antennas).
Major changes have been made in our computer system and network. All PCs were upgraded with 3,2GHz processor and more RAM was added. This contributed significantly to the stability of the whole system.
Up to the last minute Wolfgang OE3WLB and Brano OM2KW have been working on PA and improved antenna switching system. PC network and PC-TCVR communication was optimized by Julo OM7JG an Ivan OM3LA.
Wolfgang in the middle working on R140 power amplifier.
Rasto OM3BH, Jozo OM3NA and Tibi OM3RM prepared the beverages. I can understand Rasto now, why he was so angry preparing the beverages in the past. He was doing this allways alone...
Main multiplier station. In the middle OM2500 Power amplifier shared between two FT1000mp´s. Acom commutator, ICE 419 band pass filter, two PCs.
We spent 2 days preparing the beverages, changing about 600 m coax cable, because the 75 Ohm tv-coax cable we used before was of very bad quality. Most of the beverages are located on neigbours-farms and it happens that we have to remove the beverages.
2x beverage - for Carribean and south America.
On Friday afternoon our friends from Croatia appeared. Zeljko 9A2R, Mate 9A4M, Zvonko 9A3LG and Braco 9A7R. They are very funny guys we know from our IOTA activities in Croatia. They fit really well into the team.
Braco 9A7R
Zvonko 9A3LG, Zeljko 9A2R and Milan OM5KM chasing multipliers.
About 1 hour before contest started everything was prepared, everything worked well and after short tactical and technical conference we split up the assignments and began the pile-up on open bands.
We started on 40m and after first hour 212 QSO were logged. After 12 hours 1774 QSO and after 24 hours 3340 QSO were in our log. Braco 9A7R took bids concerning the final results. The best bid came from Tibi OM3RM, who was guessing 11,7 millions.
The propagation especially on low bands was excellent, the multiplier total rose very quickly. Pile-up on 80m into the states was phenomenal. Its a pity that we could not reach the magic 100 DXCC countries on 160m. We ended up on 160m with 99 DXCC countries.
We observed the online score board of OE4A and talked time to time with our friends and contest rivals at OM7M, OK5W and 9A1P. The comparisons were very optimistic and encouraging for us, although the international team at OE4A had great rates and was very close in QSO totals. This time 80m antennas made the difference. 80m receiving antenna which failed in ssb part, made magic. After the first night we were about 600000 points ahead of OE4A team. The propagation was good the second day too but not as good as on the first day. The 20m and 15m bands were open, even 10m band opened up for short time into the states. . We worked couple of stations from the 5th zone. It was short opening but it was nice surprise with such a low solar flux.
Although our setup was quite complicated, there were no failures, everything worked flawlessly. N1MM software and our network worked without any failure. Thanks Tom N1MM for this great software.
Our team worked with enthusiasm, we all were in good mood.
Last but not least, the work of the whole years on the setup, antenna systems payed off with unbelievable pile-ups and great score. It was an experience we will never forget.
We are for sure we broke our old Slovak record which is truly a success considering the minimum of solar activity. We are optimistic and looking forward to the announcement of the world wide results. We expect 1.place in Europe and hopefully 3rd place world wide. This would be a great result from central Europe.
This is our score
Band QSOs Pts Cty ZN
1,8 322 544 99 25
3,5 1157 2128 129 36
7 1566 3335 144 39
14 1658 3570 148 38
21 1028 2329 140 37
28 176 321 95 27
Total 5908 12228 755 202
Thanks for calling us. Without your call this result wouldn´t be possible.
Jozo OM3NA for OM8A team
Score: 11 702 196
