This year, I chose to fully focus on 28 MHz with the Optibeam5-10 monobander. While the IARU contest was somewhat disappointing, both CQWW contests were successful.
With over >2000 QSO in SSB and >2000 QSO in CW, I can only be very satisfied with this antenna.
For both contests, I claimed to have set a new national record, but things turned out somewhat differently.
In the SSB section, the record set by Mark ON4WW (formerly ON4AMT) has stood since 1988. With also the ON8BK's third place ever, the year 1988 seemed to be a "Grand Cru".
After the contest, I received a friendly email from Marc putting his record into perspective: 100 W, a 7-element Yagi, and manual logging without any corrections from the jury. This was in contrast to my 1500 W, 5-element Yagi, but with a fully reviewed log. This did not feel right. Competing on an even playing field is fun and motivating, but this was different. >10dB more power isn't competition.
Moreover, I had the lingering thought that disqualification might be in the air. My signal was not okay, but I only received a comment about it halfway through the contest from a top U.S. station. I was dealing with an issue I wasn’t aware of because I had never used the combination of N1MM voice keyer with the FlexRadio before. Reducing the mic gain, turning off the voice processor on the mic—nothing helped. Later, after researching online, I discovered what the problem was. The signal from N1MM is controlled via the DAX software running in the background. The TX level there was fully open, but I hadn’t realized it. CAT and DAX are two applications that run in the background of the Flex SDR software. In principle, you never need to look at them except during the initial setup.
In the final results, I lost 7.3% of my points. This is less than the contest average of 8.6%, but in my opinion, far too much. Moreover, it was enough to place me below Mark’s result. I analyzed the error log, and the main factor was the loss of three multipliers. One was due to a typo in the call sign, which is very unfortunate. A KL7 was not found in the log, leading to the loss of both a DXCC and a zone multiplier. That was very costly. It’s a pity I didn’t have the right hardware at the time to record the contest. I can’t verify what happened, but it resulted in a significant reduction in points.
In any case, it is no disgrace to finish in second place like this.
Top 5 all time single operator unassisted 10 meter :
After this contest, I gathered the necessary equipment to record 48-hour contests in full.
The CQWW CW contest, on the other hand, went as hoped. A new national record in the unassisted category and even a better score than my 10M result in the assisted category.
5th place zone 14, 6th place Europe and 14th worldwide. Happy with it.
The conditions were excellent. This time, I stopped a little earlier on Sunday evening because a neighbor was experiencing RF interference (due to using very old TV and radio equipment with absolutely no immunity).
In CW, however, I did miss the capabilities of the FlexRadio combined with Skimmer. Unassisted creates constant stress about missing multipliers. Knowing they are out there but not seeing them and having to search while running significantly reduces my fun factor. The best way to avoid being accused of assistance is to stay on one frequency as much as possible, which was also my strategy. Nowadays, large stations have such strong in-band capabilities that they actively seek out contacts themselves.
At the end of this year, I will probably compete in 10m CW-assisted again and maybe also try SSB-assisted. But first, the WPX contests…
