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Two weeks after an ARRL DX CW Contest that saw much more action on 15 meters than in recent years, the hope is that this weekend's ARRL DX SSB Contest will enjoy good propagation as well, as a Single Operator shootout seems to be brewing in the Carribean for this year's contest.
The Single Op All Band title is up for grabs this year, as defending champ Andy Faber AE6Y won't be back at his P49Y station this weekend, opting instead for a visit for WPX SSB at the end of March.
With Faber on the sidelines, the list of single ops heading to a prime DX location has grown in recent days:
Add in a few other ops who might make noise from KH6 or South America, and depending on who goes High Power or Low Power, it has all the making of a wide open battle in 2010.
Of that group listed above, only TO5A was in the Top Ten last year, giving a whole new infusion of energy into the SOAB fight on the DX side.
While P49Y won't be on the air, his station will be, as John Bayne KK9A will be active as P40A, most likely in the LP category.
"Our station has been pretty successful this month," said Faber AE6Y, "with W0YK, P49X, setting a world record in the RTTY contest, then he and W6LD breaking the MS record in ARRL CW as P40L."
For Bayne, it's an opportunity to win the Low Power category for a sixth straight year.
In Multi-Multi, the PJ2T station is being used for a Single Op effort this year, which means a big opening on the Multi-Op side, as Team PJ2T has won a Multi-Two or Multi-Multi crown in six of the last seven years.
Instead this year, WB9Z will be using the station for a top Single Op effort.
Their departure from M/M could help KL7RA, which finished second last year behind PJ2T; two weeks ago, Rich Strand KL7RA put together a top ten M/S outing in ARRL CW.
"Maybe a good sign for KL7 contesting this year?" Strand wrote on 3830.
Over in Multi-Two, defending champ 6Y1V will instead be hosting a Single Op as well, as WE9V will be at that Jamaica superstation instead.
Those changes certainly open up some possibilities in the 2010 ARRL SSB.
The ARRL DX SSB Contest runs 48 hours from 0000z March 6 to 2400z March 7.
It is a close race in W/VE for the top single op, as Avramov ran the Penn State University K3CR station to 5.61 million points.
He owns a lead of over 190,000 over Ken Widelitz K6LA, who checked in with 5.42 million from his PEI contest station at VY2TT.
Back at 5.2 million is Mark Pride K1RX.
On the DX side, Barcroft ZF2AM is the leader at just under 6 million points. His lead is almost 1 million points over Bill Kollenbaum K4XS, who took KH7B to 4.95 million.
In Single Op Low Power, Ed Sawyer N1UR seems to have taken his latest battle with Art Hambleton K1BX, as N1UR owns a 360k point lead in the W/VE section.
On the DX side, Kurt Pauer W6PH has the top score at 3.1 million from the Bermuda QTH of VP9GE. In second is Dave Cree G3TBK, who chalked up over 2.7 million from St. Vincent as J88DR.
In QRP, the claimed score leader in the US and Canada is George Briggs K2DM; on the DX side, Laurent Fontaine F5MUX remains on top.
The Assisted category has a very familiar leader, as Chas Fulp K3WW is the top W/VE score in the clubhouse, with a 400k point lead on Rich DiDonna NN3W.
The DX Assisted high claimed score is in the hands of Will Roberts AA4NC, who operated from V31RR in Belize, scoring 4.98 million points.
In the Multi-Op ranks, the big score comes from Team P40L, which should break the DX Multi-Single record, thanks to a 6.42 million point score.
That gives them a 750k lead on V31TP and 850k on P49V.
The W/VE Multi-Single race will go to the log checkers, as K9RS leads KT3Y by 93,000 points.
The Multi-Two lead in the US and Canada is in the hands of Team N3RS, which owns a 900k lead on K8AZ.
On the DX side, Team 6Y1LZ has 9.3 million, and 1.25 million point lead on PJ4X.
Finally in Multi-Multi, it looks like the five year winning streak of Team W3LPL has come to an end in the ARRL DX CW contest, as Team K3LR has the lead in the US and Canada with 15.9 million points
The DX M/M lead meanwhile is comfortably in the hands of Team PJ2T.
