I started the contest with stupid mistake – I didn’t read rules just before the contest and started at 0000z…. Also family responsibilities decreased my operating and sleeping time.

First night – the same, like everybody described – 1x USA, 1x VY. Second night was a lot better, but I spent a lot of time with Search&Pounce. The result was enough mults, but lower number of QSOs.

I had no enough time to built of any serious RX antenna system, but enough to hang of one K9AY loop for USA/VE direction using beverage transformer and resistance. This loop did an amazing work. I heard DX stations of the same strong as on TX vertical, but band noise was lower a lot. A lot of stations, which I called (60 % of North America) I wasn’t able to read on TX antenna (due to QRN and QRM), but was readable on K9AY loop. What a tool!

Big problem was behaviour of (EU) stations. DX station was able to read me, but I wasn’t able to read answer due to „neverending callers“. This system of calling is bad – to call in the case, if anybody else call too, without hearing of answer – to me, or to other guy. K9AY is not able to eliminate the station of 599 +40 dB over the whole EU. Why station, which is able to produce hour rates at least of 120 QSO had to work 40 or 60 QSO per hour? Thanks to every DX operator, who has patience to call me 3, 4 or 5 times, till the time when no pile of EU big guns are calling over him…

The second illness is a lot of clicking stations. There wasn’t rarity to hear cliks or interferences +/- 5 kHz on good filtered FT-1000.

Nevertheless, this contest is matter of heart, especialy CW part.
Thanks to every participant. See you next year.

Final score:   424 213
Category:      SO HP
Rank:          WW #24   EU #13   OM #3

Call: OM7RU
Operator(s): OM7RU
Station: OM7RU

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Dolna Micina
Operating Time (hrs): 28
Location : Northern Europe

Summary:

 QSOs       State/Prov   Countries   Total Score
------------------------------------------------
 951        20           64          435,204
------------------------------------------------

Club: Dozen Dashes CC

Used equipments:
Yaesu FT-1000MP MarkV Field
ACOM 2000A (1,5 kW OUT)
Vertical 30,5 m (+ cap hat, + 2 elevated radials)
K9AY loop (only to North America)
MicroHAM microKeyer, WinTest

Riki, OM7RU
www.tucek.sk/om7ru