OM Activity Contest with MP3 recordings of contacts – March 2023

I also made contact logs during the OM Activity Contest, though with different settings than for the SSB League. If a contact was made in both contests, it’s possible to compare the difference in audibility.

Before the OM Activity Contest, I checked the ionogram in Pruhoniče. I usually monitor the ionogram quite often as a good indicator of short-distance propagation conditions, even during contests like this.

I find Števo OM7KW calling on 3756 kHz, so we exchange a few words. Števo tunes up higher, and I start the OM Activity Contest on this frequency. Snow is falling outside the windows, and the reception seems noisier than usual.

Since N1MM+ can’t yet display a multiplier list, I’m also using a piece of paper with letters on it in the OM Activity Contest to mark off the individual multipliers. About twenty minutes before the end, only one is missing: the letter H. On the bandmap, I see that Martin OK1VHH has been spotted, but there are several stations there. By the time I switch to the second receiver to check that spot, OK1VHH’s signal is no longer there. I try to find him on the band while simultaneously calling him. In the end, there are 81 contacts—far more than the ionograms and static crackling would suggest—but the multiplier “H” is missing.

A slightly different QSOrder setting produced shorter MP3 recordings. Give it a try—you might find yourself in there. If not, try calling next time, and then your signal will appear in the archive.