Today held the EU HFC contest. This is a 12 hour contest of high rates and all about proving who is the best. This contest is Single Operator Only and QSO’s are allowed only between European stations through out the entire contest.
This year I entered All band, CW High power. Using my contest call sign M7K. So my thoughts. I had some slight equipment issues, meaning that I could not get full power output on 80 or 40m, and I had no antenna for 160. However 20-10m worked perfectly even getting a small opening on 10m for a few hours. I do not think I took full advantage of the 10m opening with such a little number of multipliers on that band.
For the first four hours of the contest I managed to hold a steady rate of 100 Q/h. It may sound like a lot but it leaves a lot of time just calling CQ. Then after four hours the rate started to slow some more. Making around 70 Q/h rate overall. I put this down to poor conditions and lack of activity. This contest is known for its high rates So you can imagine that I was surprised to be going so slow.
In the end I decided to go QRT after 9 hours, deciding that the extra 3 hour wouldn’t affect my positioning a great deal. My results are posted below. Also see comments on 3030 Scores
Equipment:
Kenwood TS590 SG, Ameritron AL572 Amplifier @400W
Hex beam @12m, 40m dipole @15m , 80m 1/4 wave vertical, No 160m Antenna
