CQWW USA: K5ZD FAVORED TO REPEAT; LOW POWER BATTLE WIDE OPEN IN '07

By Jamie Dupree NS3T, radio-sport.net 

After posting the number one US claimed score in the CQWW SSB contest, defending US CW champ Randy Thompson K5ZD is the American favorite for the 2007 CQWW CW Contest.

"(My) station worked fine in CQWW Phone and SS CW," said Thompson, "so I assume I am ready," he added with a smile.

Thompson has won the US Single Operator All Band CW category 8 times in his contesting career.

"Highest world finish was #6 in 2000," said Thompson, the same year he set the existing USA record of 8,756,568 points.

Thompson told radio-sport.net that he's "very proud of that one, although it is only a matter of time before it (the record) goes to someone else."

Among those who will be chasing Thompson this year will be Ken Claerbout K4ZW, who will again operate from the super-station of N3HBX outside of Washington, D.C.

Claerbout had the 4th highest USA claimed score in the 2007 SSB leg, with 4.8 million points. Last year he notched 6.5 million points in CW from N3HBX for USA 2nd place.

Claerbout says his CQWW plans include only "an hour or two" of sleep in a 48 hour weekend and more importantly "making sure I'm well rested going into the contest."

The Virginia ham doesn't want to repeat the final hours before this year's SSB test, when Murphy arrived early on a number of fronts (plumbing problems, late antenna work and an SO2R box problem) depriving him of a pre-contest nap.

Thompson K5ZD fully expects K4ZW to be competitive again this year, along with K1DG.

Meanwhile the US CW low power category is wide open this year, as defending champ Ed Sawyer N1UR will be in zone 28.

"I will be operating for the 5th time (in East Malaysia) as 9M6AAC," said Sawyer. "I will be back at N1UR for ARRL DX CW 2008."

Also out of the country is second place 2006 finisher Ann Santos WA1S. She'll be part of the J3A multi-op team in Grenada instead.

Those two departures may make last year's 3rd place finisher, Marin Bloomquist N5AW, this year's favorite.

I'm sure with last year's top two competitors out there will be other good operators who will try their hand at low power who might normally enter another category," said Bloomquist.

The past three years, Bloomquist has finished third in the US low power category, beaten out each time by East Coast stations.

"Overcoming the East Coast advantage is difficult," said Bloomquist. "So far I've only managed to do it once in the 6 years I've been at this location (2004 ARRL DX Phone)."

"In order to have any chance of winning I probably need decent conditions on 15 meters," said Bloomquist, "good enough for some reasonable European and JA runs to reduce some of the pressure on 20 meters."

"Certainly working lots of JA's on 15 and 40 meters is one thing we can do that the East Coasters generally can't," said Bloomquist, who worked over 200 on 40 meters in this year's ARRL DX CW Contest.

Bloomquist says for him, 20 meters is where he is often at a disadvantage.

"I have pretty competitive antennas on the low bands and am able to hold my own with the East Coast low power folks there," says Bloomquist.

"Twenty meters is the killer. I have difficulty running Europe on 20."