Very good ideas and advice and stories all around. The spotting practice reminds me of the time we were in Vanuatu at YJ0V. Typically, we would call once and perhaps no answer, The second call would bring back maybe two. Next call was 10. Then the next one seemed to be 100.
I really focused on accuracy in the contest. It paid off validating the cluster spots before working them as many were wrong or in some cases not even there! I suspect some rare multipliers were put there to drag traffic to less desirable run stations? Now the torturous wait got my UBN’s 😢
Good wrap-up of a fun contest, that turned out like Randy said in the pre-contest video: lots of activity on 10 and less then usual on 15 and 20. Nice to work Randy, Dan, Bill and Kevin on several bands, as well as Kevin before the contest in a very good flow getting the run going. The low bands were noisy and very crowded in Europe (and probably most other places), but it was still possible to get reasonable runs going on 80 and 40. It would be great to contest from the Caribbean some time.
I think the bands were unusually crowded, 20m was like 40m and 15 and 10 were packed every 1KHz, there wasn't any room even up to 29.100 here in Europe. 73 LB1TI / LC9A
It is interesting to hear that every location has its benefits and limitations. And the challenge of contesting is to figure out how to overcome the limitations of your location, antenna, radio, capacity of the band, ability of the operator, the atmosphere, your body, and many other things. Maybe that is why some people hate contesting. They want comfort, not challenges. But the nerds love it. And their score is a measure of their success. It is interesting that that is the only thing we measure. The number of contacts times some sort of difficulty factor. I wonder if the number of miles traveled by your signal to make a contact was factored by your antenna height, antenna type, power output, and your location’s contribution to propagation then what that would reveal as a score. So rather than be jealous of your advantages, I wonder how I fared against someone with a setup similar to me. Low power, single operator, unassisted seems to be inadequate as a category and as a way to describe my setup. I can only compare myself this year to myself last year. I can’t compare myself with a 40m horizontal loop at 30 ft and 100 watts in a suburban HOA neighborhood in Ohio to someone with a similar setup. Maybe the log file should be expanded to capture more information about the setup. Thanks for the video. It got me thinking.
the best way I would believe is to find a friend or another station who lives relatively close to you and has similar restrictions. That is as "fair" as you could make it
Fantastic! Thanks
Brilliant analysis again. Can't wait for the CW leg!
Love the after contest break downs. keep talking Randy always interesting. Thanks all.
Randy is a wealth of knowledge. Dan I hope you are getting well. I know that pain
Very good ideas and advice and stories all around. The spotting practice reminds me of the time we were in Vanuatu at YJ0V. Typically, we would call once and perhaps no answer, The second call would bring back maybe two. Next call was 10. Then the next one seemed to be 100.
I really focused on accuracy in the contest. It paid off validating the cluster spots before working them as many were wrong or in some cases not even there!
I suspect some rare multipliers were put there to drag traffic to less desirable run stations?
Now the torturous wait got my UBN’s 😢
Good wrap-up of a fun contest, that turned out like Randy said in the pre-contest video: lots of activity on 10 and less then usual on 15 and 20. Nice to work Randy, Dan, Bill and Kevin on several bands, as well as Kevin before the contest in a very good flow getting the run going. The low bands were noisy and very crowded in Europe (and probably most other places), but it was still possible to get reasonable runs going on 80 and 40. It would be great to contest from the Caribbean some time.
I think the bands were unusually crowded, 20m was like 40m and 15 and 10 were packed every 1KHz, there wasn't any room even up to 29.100 here in Europe. 73 LB1TI / LC9A
Great job as always guys. CU soon Kevin? . . Mike in NB (VE9AA)
@@ve9aa Yes, see you very soon at PJ2T!!
It is interesting to hear that every location has its benefits and limitations. And the challenge of contesting is to figure out how to overcome the limitations of your location, antenna, radio, capacity of the band, ability of the operator, the atmosphere, your body, and many other things. Maybe that is why some people hate contesting. They want comfort, not challenges. But the nerds love it. And their score is a measure of their success. It is interesting that that is the only thing we measure. The number of contacts times some sort of difficulty factor. I wonder if the number of miles traveled by your signal to make a contact was factored by your antenna height, antenna type, power output, and your location’s contribution to propagation then what that would reveal as a score. So rather than be jealous of your advantages, I wonder how I fared against someone with a setup similar to me. Low power, single operator, unassisted seems to be inadequate as a category and as a way to describe my setup. I can only compare myself this year to myself last year. I can’t compare myself with a 40m horizontal loop at 30 ft and 100 watts in a suburban HOA neighborhood in Ohio to someone with a similar setup. Maybe the log file should be expanded to capture more information about the setup. Thanks for the video. It got me thinking.
the best way I would believe is to find a friend or another station who lives relatively close to you and has similar restrictions. That is as "fair" as you could make it