A problem similar to the one with the VHF PA led me to figure out why the logging of contest contacts had stopped working. The N1MM+ log shares contact data via the UDP protocol. However, if multiple programs access that data at the same time, a problem arises. During one update, PSTRotator began using that data, which prevented the recording feature from working. All it took was ensuring that qsorder would be the only program using that data, and now it works. So you can listen to the recordings from the August round of the OM Activity Contest.
The rules for the OM Activity Contest have changed. Contest stations now have an additional 5 kHz. It will probably take some time for this change to catch on among contestants, but the first stations were already taking advantage of it.
Since I skipped the SSB League the week before, I was curious to see how things would go in the OM Activity Contest. Propagation conditions in the SSB League weren’t good, and many stations made 20% fewer contacts than usual.
They weren’t good in the OM Activity Contest either. Contacts came in slowly, and signal strength fluctuated wildly. Some minutes the signals weakened, then strengthened a moment later, and so on. After the opening contact with OK1DD:
Jožko OM4DU was the first to call, but the signal was lost during the contact. The second entry in the log is therefore Michal OK1FUU:
Tibor OM7CF had an excellent signal:
Peter OM6TX’s experience from numerous contests is a real asset. Even with a weak signal, he can decode QRP signals:
I had the hardest time making a contact with Vláďa OK1FUJ. During the OM Activity Contest, I called him about three times at different times. And I wasn’t the only one. I heard several stations trying to make contact, but they couldn’t get through. I finally managed to make the contact:
In the end, I made 42 contacts. They were hard-fought, but surprisingly, as many as 20 multipliers could yield 840 points.
Number of contacts per minute in the August round of the OM Activity Contest
However, there were many more stations on the band that I either didn’t hear or that didn’t hear me. Here are the announced recordings: