Here’s a quick post while I finish getting things cleaned up and processed from the contest. This was my first solo heavy duty contest and it was a blast!
Here’s my stats from N1MM and SH5 (a free sort of stats program that reads N1MMs database):
519 QSOs
250,740 points
Those numbers far exceeded my expectations before I started. I’m still blown away I can get that many contacts on 100watts and a wire strung across my yard. Before the contest, since I’ve started on HF, I’ve had less then 1200 total contacts, including those I’ve had in other smaller contests. So in 1 weekend I did near the equivalent of ½ of all my previous QSOs combined.
QSO breakdown by band:
80m | 144 QSOs | 70 mults
40m | 98 QSOs | 72 mults
20m | 277 QSOs | 110 mults
My online time showed as 36 hours in N1MM. I’m not sure if it uses just how long the program is running or some other method for deterring that time. I specifically closed N1MM whenever I stepped away in case that was the case and everyone asks me how much time I spent participating. It’s a pain so if there’s some “switch” in N1MM vs closing it to say I’m not actively contesting, it would be good to know. Of the 12 non-operating hoursI slept a total of 7 of those 12 “off” hours.
I got Alaska (AL1G in Anchorage) for the first time during the contest. When I finished, I ended up with QSOs for 47 of the 50 states (almost WAS in 1 weekend), missing only Vermont, Montana & Wyoming. I saw VT during the contest but never calling CQ or coming back to me when I called CQ.
I got QSOs in 21 CQ zones 1-11, 13-17, 20-21, 31-33 and 38. SH5 shows a total DXCC count of 68 for the weekend. I got New Zealand again (ZL2BR) and South Africa for the first time (ZS2EZ) who is about as South East as you can get in Africa.
I can’t wait for the next contest!!!
73, K2DSL
Congratulations on your excellent showing in the contest. I operated for around 14 hours and wound up with roughly half of your score with a similar setup. (100w, G5RV). I only really operated on 80m on Friday night, which definitely cost me a bundle, but I just “play” in contests, so that’s OK with me. I was thrilled with my score in any case.
As for the off-time, I believe that the way that N1MM calculates it is by taking a look at the time between QSOs. Once there’s 30 minutes or more, it starts counting that as an off-time. I think there’s no other real way to it to calculate an off-time (though I guess it’d be nice to have a switch), but I think that the idea is that for most contests off-times must be a certain minimum length anyway, so that’s why they do it that way. My time calculations will get messed up especially if I’m just making a few QSOs, stepping away for a few minutes, then coming back, since it’ll show me “active” for more time than I really was. I think the only real way to get a truly accurate time would be to keep a log.