Tag Archives: CQWW

CQWW SSB 2017

The CQWW SSB event runs over the last weekend of October and covers all contest bands from 1.8 MHz to 28 MHz. The event is one of the largest international events of the HF calendar and encourages stations to operate from far-flung and exotic parts of the world.

We opted for the sun-drenched shores near Ongar in Essex, using our contest site at the Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker. We had decided before the event it would be more of a casual entry, as the contest had started at 00:00 Hrs on the previous Friday/Saturday morning. We have previously taken part in the event, with a most notable event in 2015.

This year we used a 7 MHz vertical, with elevated radials, and a 3e multiband beam for 28/21/14 MHz @ 10m.

3e Multiband Beam7 MHz Vertical

The HF bands remained in good shape, with some good openings on 28 and 21 MHz and the vertical worked well at 7 MHz. The lower HF bands were predictably crowded, so I concentrated on search and pounce on the higher bands.

George M1GEO and Fred G3SVK with a great sunset behind.

QSO and DXCC per band.

28 MHz provided some interesting DX with a lot of station from Argentina, Brazil, French Guiana, Chile, Suriname, Namibia, South Africa, Qatar and Reunion Island.

28 MHz QSO Map

All Bands QSO Map

In total, we worked 417 QSO in 76 DXCC and had some fun on the bands.

 

CQWW SSB 2015

This weekend saw members of the bunker group activating the site for the CQWW SSB Contest.  Operating from the Dave M0YOL’s caravan awning, we set up two stations, one at each end.

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We arrived about midday on Friday 23rd October and got setup. Dave M0TAZ was underway with the construction of his 21 MHz beam while George M1GEO and Dave M0YOL were setting up the caravan. Some time later the 14 MHz beam was built and put on the SCAM12.

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Then food! Here, we see the pre-contest dinner inside the awning, with (left to right) Dave M0YOL, Dave M0TAZ and Chris G8OCV.

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… and breakfast …

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Station 1

  • Icom IC7700 HF transceiver
  • Heathkit SB200 amplifier
  • Yaesu GX600RC rotator

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Station 2

  • Kenwood TS990 HF transceiver
  • HAL 1200 amplifier

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Antennas

  • 14 MHz 3 element homebrew yagi
  • 21 MHz 4 element homebrew yagi
  • 1.8/3.5 MHz doublet; 26 metres
  • 28 MHz vertical dipole; 8 metres
  • 7 MHz ground-plane vertical; ground level22281497689_620db97656_k-281x500

The shack was powered by two Honda EU20i 2kW slient generators with phasing harness, delivering a solid 4kW of mains power.  We were a bit worried with the heavy rain on Saturday, so we fashioned an umbrella to help protect the electrics!

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During the evenings, it got pretty cold. Here, George M1GEO operates with hood up for insulation, while Dave M0TAZ’s amplifier reports 8C inside the shack.

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Band conditions were good (and busy), and many QSOs were made over the weekend.  At the start of the contest, some of the lower bands became very packed!

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Overall, we worked 1434 in our casual operating weekend.  You can see the full log here. Some interesting contacts include Tunisia, many Caribbean Islands, China, Ceuta & Melilla, French Guiana, Liechtenstein, African Italy, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.  For more information, look at the full countries breakdown!

Band QSOs
160m 66
80m 137
40m 276
20m 481
15m 348
10m 126
All 1434

A more comprehensive breakdown of QSOs per band can be found here.

chart

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cqww15_asia

cqww15_eu

cqww15_oc

cqww15_carrbean

cqww15_usa

Operator QSOs
M1GEO  740
M0TAZ  551
M0YOL  143
All 1434

Much more analysis and breakdown can be found on the CQWW 2015 SNBCG pages.  Analysis by SH5 v.2.39, Dmitriy Gulyaev UA4WLI.

A big thanks to Dave, Dave and Dave (M0YOL, M0TAZ and G7UVW) as well as Chris G8OCV, Pete G0IAP and George M1GEO for making the weekend possible.