CQ WW CW 2008 Strategy: Another Major Contest With Less Than Ideal Band Conditions

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted November 17, 2008

Just as competitors in this year's CQ WW DX SSB Contest had to again alter their strategy to deal with lackluster propagation, the same reality confronts those bidding for top honors in the CQ WW CW test.

"I expect propagation to be similar to the CQWW phone contest," says WRTC hopeful Kevin Stockton N5DX.

"Which means good conditions on 160 & 80 and mediocre conditions on 40, 15, and 10. 20 meters will be packed," Stockton added.

As has been the case the last few years, it might help to put one radio in the shack on 10 meters and let it scan for any openings - because those contacts and those multipliers could be rare.

"10 meters will be very marginal and very critical, requiring constant monitoring," said Jose Nunes CT1BOH, who has won the CQ WW CW Single Op crown four of the last six years.

Nunes, who will operate as CS9M from Zone 33, told radio-sport.net that he also expects limited propagation on the other high bands.

"15 meters will close early. I don't expect 20 to stay open much after sunset."

"The low bands, again this year will play a very important role," he added.

"The highlight of the weekend may turn out to be 160 and 80 meters," said John Crovelli W2GD/P40W, who told radio-sport.net that band conditions this year have been frustrating from a contesting point of view.

"Propagation is totally inconsistent day to day," said Crovelli.

"Obviously 160 will be important for mults," says Randy Thompson K5ZD, who is looking to repeat as the US SOAB HP champ. "80 just depends on conditions, but it has produced big numbers over the past few years."

Many top operators interviewed by radio-sport.net seem to feel that this year could be a repeat of the conditions from the 2007 CW test.

"Looking at the CQ WW SSB results, it strikes me that conditions this year are likely to be similar to last year," said Joseph "Bud" Trench AA3B, who will again defend his low power title from V26K.

I would anticipate that things will be challenging on 15M and we will be lucky to see much productivity on 10M."

Last year Trench acknowledged that he struggled on 15 meters, and had to spend much more time in a Search and Pound mode to gain needed multipliers.

A "struggle" might well define what Jeff Briggs K1ZM faced during the CQ WW SSB test from his VY2ZM super station, as 10 meters was completely closed and 15 provided very limited openings.

"Last year I had eight 200+ hours on 15 meters in CQ WW phone and this year by way of comparison, I had one 200 hour," Briggs told radio-sport.net.

"So I opted to marginalize 15 meters in favor of staying on 20m," Briggs said. "My QSO total on 20m was excellent, winding up at 3,319 Q's which largely offset the loss of 3-pointers on 15 meters."

That's pretty much the winning formula these days, making up lost ground on 10 and 15 meters by making more contacts on 40, 80 and 160.

"I made a net multiplier gain of +13 on 160, +7 on 80 and +2 on 40 meters. Even 20 meters was a net +20 in multipliers," Briggs reported.