"Every cloud has a silver lining," the PA’s source apparently told himself, and a few days before the CQ WPX Contest, it broke down—setting the stage for OM0A to set a new record.
However, that first meant switching to the “low-power” (100W) or QRP category. And to stay motivated, I checked the OM record table. The band-specific categories were particularly challenging, since I’d done relatively well in the all-band category last year (8th in the EU). Since propagation conditions in this solar cycle are unpredictable—and bearing in mind contests where I managed only 2 (that’s two) contacts on 10m—I decided to go with 15m LP Assisted. It’s a pleasant daytime band with plenty of DX stations. So why not?
Amateur radio is also about the beauty and uniqueness of distant lands…
I kicked off the contest at 4:12 UT with a contact with A73A from Qatar, followed by VU2RCT from India, a pair of Saudi Arabian stations, FR4NT from Réunion, and then the first European, YU5A. The rate isn’t high, but making contacts with 100W is easier than I expected. The DX cluster is pushing the 10-meter band. Wow, so this band has opened up after all!
Percentage breakdown of contacts by continent
We’re pleased to have multipliers like KL7RA (Alaska), HK1NA (Colombia), KP4RV (Puerto Rico), and several U.S. stations. But almost every contact is a multiplier. For example, KI1G, K6ND, KU2M, and WX3B—all U.S. stations—are multipliers, even though they’re from the same country. Their prefixes—that is, the first part of their callsigns—are different. The number of contacts is steadily increasing, and on Saturday evening I break Janka OM8LA’s record. But it would be premature to call it a day—after all, other contesters might have the same goal! Saturday wraps up with a QSO with G4AYR (England), my 234th contact.
JH4UYB—now that’s the perfect way to wake up on Sunday! After all, who better to wake you up than someone from the Land of the Rising Sun! The Japanese are pros. No other ham radio operators know how to listen so well. It’s a joy to make contacts with them. Domo arigato!
JH4UYB’s array of antennas
There was a big battle for XP1A. It’s obvious—it’s probably the only station from Greenland, so everyone wants to log it. That single contact took about an hour. Luckily, it wasn’t all at once. That’s not usually a good tactic in a contest—spending long minutes trying to make a single contact. Toward the end, there were also a few contacts on call: CO3JA (Cuba), YB5EHQ (Indonesia), OM7ACA (Slovakia), HI8EFS (Dominican Republic),…
OM0A’s point total in the CQ WPX SSB 2014
I’ve surpassed 301,000 points. My log shows 442 contacts, 355 multipliers at 850 points each. Is that a lot? Or a little? We’ll see how the competition fared. One thing is certain, though: CQ WPX did not disappoint again. It put on a spectacular show for ham radio operators, featuring interesting propagation conditions and plenty of rare stations.
