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The big numbers continue to roll in from around the world in the 2009 CQ 160 CW Contest, as a number of records from around the world will likely be broken.
In Europe, both the Single Op and Multi-Op record books will be re-written, as Clive Penna GM3POI took full advantage of the great conditions to be the first European single op to break two million points.
"A good weekend and it reminded me of a similar weekend I had in the last (solar) minimum when I got WAS in 14 hours," Penna told radio-sport.net.
GM3POI worked 2,217 stations for 2.11 million points. A good round with the log checkers would allow him to top the existing European single op record of 1.8 million held by Marrti Laine OH2BH.
In second in Europe behind Penna is Ville Hillesma OH2MM, who operated OH0E to 1.8 million from the Aland Islands.
As for Laine, he tapped out 1.5 million this year, but lost QSO's because of bad weather at CU2X in the Azores.
"I met CT1GFQ on the same plane back from Azores. We both concluded that our CU (QTH's) are not sexy while the band opens up as well as it did," said Laine.
In the Multi-Op battle, Team ES9C leads in Europe with 2.08 million points.
"Indeed that was an awesome contest," said ES9C leader Tonno Vahk ES5TV. "I am waiting for other Multi Op results with great interest."
The Estonian effort would knock off the existing European multi-op record of 1.57 million points set in 2008 by Team 4O3A, which couldn't match their score from last year.
"We had bad weather - all the time we were in clouds, and we could not join top scorers this time," said Ranko Boca 4O3A, whose team scored 1.3 million.
In second right now in the European multi op chase is HG3DX at 1.92 million points, with Team OM8A close behind, also well above the record at 1.88 million.
The overall multi-op race is extremely close, with the leader being the defending World champ Team CT9M from the Madeira Islands in Africa. They are at 2.51 million points, short of the overall world record of just over 3 million by CN2A in 2007.
Just behind is Team VY2ZM at 2.49 million, meaning this one will certainly be settled by the log checkers.
The top Single Op score also comes from Africa, as Valery Komarov RD3AF operated EA8AH to 2.21 million from 1636 contacts and 138 multipliers. That's still short of the overall world record of 2.9 million points by D4B.
In the US, the record books are also being rewritten by the 2009 CW test, as the Single Op High Power, Single Op Low Power, Single Op QRP and Multi Op records seem likely to fall.
Six US multis quickly claimed more than the record of just over a million points set just a year ago by Team W8JI. W2GD is at 1.32 million, with K9RS at 1.29 and WE3C at 1.27 million, all with a good chance to set a new multi-op record in the US.
In High Power, the 2007 record set by N5OT (W4AN @W8JI) of 838,113 was overwhelmed this year, as three US ops topped it by almost half a million points.
The leader right now is Doug Grant K1DG, who operated his contest station in Maine to 1.33 million points. Not far behind in second is Jim Roberts VE7ZO, who had 1.31 million from W8JI. Last year's US SOHP champ Peter Briggs K3ZM is next at 1.27 million.
"I tried really hard to defend my plaque," Briggs told radio-sport.net, saying he stuck with his strategy.
"I concentrated on working Europe, which is my strength. I managed 688 contacts there. Dozens of those required lots of work to pull out the callsigns," said Briggs, who won last year with only 773k.
It certainly isn't over for any of the top three, as only 60,000 points separate first and third place, making log checks extra important.
In the low power category, the world leader is Jeffrey Demers N1SNB, who trekked to Bermuda and knocked out over 700 thousand points.
The US Low Power record is probably gone as well, as Bob Raymond WA1Z had a whopping 428,156 points for the top claimed score. The existing record by W8/T98T is 353k.
In second is Julius Fazekas N2WN, who also topped the old record at 369,380 from his QTH in Tennessee. Third is Ed Parish K1EP, who came in just above that record as well with 356k.
"Not a bad score from a condo," he said.
The USA QRP record book is also being re-written, as two ops already have shattered that mark of 124,915 made by K3BU.
Leading the way is Gary Breed K9AY with 212,895 points. Not far back in second is Pat Collins N8VW at 200,000.
"The contest was historic," said new CQ 160 contest director Andy Blank N2NT.
"The best conditions I ever heard. There will be records broken in all categories," Blank added.
CN2R (W7EJ) - Single Op High Power
TA3D - Single Op Low Power
OK1IW - Single Op QRP
CT9M - Multi Op
"Wow," was the simple statement from Chas Fulp K3WW, who knocked out 953k from the US.
The early leader in the new Assisted category is Harry Booklan RA3AUU, who claimed 1.96 million points from his P33W operation on Cyprus. As of now, that's the highest known score from a single operator in any category.
The initial top score in Assisted from the US is actually in the hands of the contest's director, Andy Blank N2NT.
"I had 966K SOA, and that will not be enough," Blank told radio-sport.net.
The creation of the Assisted category was one of a number of changes and tweaks that Blank made to the CQ 160 rules since taking over as contest director.
One new item was the exchange for stations outside of the US and Canada, as CQ Zones were used, though they did not count as multipliers.
Other than a few individual cases, the exchange did not seem to cause any problems for various competitors or their logging software.
Check out the details on those and all of the rule changes for 2009 at the CQ 160 web site.
2009 CQ 160 CW Contest
2200z January 23 - 2200z January 25;
more on the rules at the
CQ 160 web site.
