OM0A is a must in the CQ WPX SSB Contest! In a contest with limited time and antennas, choosing the right category is the most important thing. Under current conditions, I have only one antenna available: the Diamond W-8010. I have no Yagi or Moxon antennas for transmitting, nor any receiving antennas such as a Beverage antenna. Using a simple antenna for the higher HF bands isn’t a good idea during periods of low solar activity. Band openings are short, and signals are mostly weak. An antenna like this doesn’t stand a chance there. The lowest band for the Diamond W-8010 antenna is 80m. However, on this band, it is usable only within a range of a few tens of kHz, which is also far from sufficient. So I’ll go with 40m.
The second step is selecting the power output. “In a contest, 90 percent of the result is determined by the power of the power amplifier and the quality of the antenna,” says Jožo Fero Perly (OK1IF). That’s true. It would be easy to use the available power, but I prefer a challenge, so I chose QRP—that is, 5 watts.
I also chose this category a year ago in the CQ WPX SSB Contest, but back then without a DX cluster, and now with one. Using the DX cluster even with QRP has certain benefits, because stations that other contestants aren’t interested in can still be spotted, yet they’re suitable for a QRP station.
I’m starting the contest early Saturday morning. It’s harder to get calls, but the contacts keep coming in steadily. As my family wakes up, I take breaks and focus more on them than on the contest. In the afternoon, a technical problem arises: the internet client that provides the connection stops working. I update the firmware, but it doesn’t help. After an hour of troubleshooting, I connect to the internet via a LAN cable.
My plan to transmit in the evening doesn’t work out. Fatigue gets in the way. On the first day, I managed to participate in the contest twice, making about 50 contacts each time. Among other things, I took a break for a required COVID-19 test.
On Sunday morning, I continued searching for new stations. In the lower part of the band, up to 7100 kHz, conditions are noticeably better than higher up. Yet according to the PSV, the antenna is tuned slightly higher (7150 kHz). I’m transmitting with the usual breaks, but more frequently now. I haven’t been able to make any DX contacts outside of Europe. For example, 5B4AIF from Cyprus came in excellent, as did several Turkish stations and UA9 (the Asian part of Russia).
CQ WPX 2021 Statistics for OM0A
I’m wrapping up the evening with 180 contacts, which, with 153 multipliers, give me 55,386 points. Once again, CQ WPX was excellent!
