High Band Openings Provide Extra Action in 2008 IARU HF; ZD8Z Sends Strong Message

By Jamie Dupree NS3T radio-sport.net
Posted July 14, 2008

For the second straight major contest, the HF bands had a little more life in them, though it once more wasn't spread evenly around the world, as the 2008 IARU HF Championships saw another active year.
As for who is out in front, even without a claimed score as yet, the presence of Jim Neiger N6TJ back at ZD8Z on Ascension Island, with pileups in both modes, sent a clear message that he will be a force in the SOAB Mixed category this year.
"Sure he has a killer score," said Paul Newberry N4PN.
"Still loud into vertical," read one of many comments from Europe on the packet cluster about ZD8Z, who was running a blistering pace on 15 meters early in the contest, while working split.
Defending SOAB Mixed champion Hrane Milosevic YT1AD was not at his usual contest post in Tunisia this year, instead operating as YT5A from his home.
The change in locale seems likely to prevent YT1AD from grabbing a repeat victory, especially when a quick look at the packet report for the weekend shows that ZD8Z was spotted more than 20 times as often during the IARU test.
Another score to watch may be that of Jeffrey Briggs K1ZM, who was back at his VY2ZM contest station in Canada. He was heard furiously working 5-point Europeans on the low bands much of Saturday night.
"Had this been a 48 hour test, I think the Sunday rates would have been exceptional," said Rich DiDonna NN3W, who anchored a Multi-Single effort at N3HBX that ran up just over 2 million points.
"The noise levels were very low for July. The activity level was good, although seemed a bit light on Saturday afternoon," DiDonna added.
Some of the top single operator scores in the US included Doug Grant K1DG, who chalked up 2.27 million points in a SOAB Mixed effort from N1LI in Maine. Krassy Petkov K1LZ checked in with 2.02 million points for another top score.
"First time I've ever done this contest (except for WRTC)," Grant K1DG wrote in his 3830, adding, "Lots of fun, especially the nice surprise 10M European opening."
Away from the East Coast, the IARU was a battle in terms of WRTC qualifying.
Scott Robbins W4PA made just over a million points from K4TD's station in Alabama, but felt he could have done better overall.
"Like the Russian DX Contest I did myself in a little by not operating enough SSB," Robbins wrote on his contest blog. "I get to running people on both rigs on CW and forget what I'm doing and don't go up there to pick off more QSO's."
Down in Texas, the WRTC competition was front and center as well for Richard King K5NA, who posted 1.39 million points, edging out N3BB and K5PI. All three though were behind Kevin Stockton N5DX at 1.57 million.
"After two straight years of winning M/S in the IARU, I tried mixed-mode because I wanted to see how I would do for WRTC qualification," King told radio-sport.net.
King's goal was a 55-45 balance of CW and SSB, but he fell short of that.
"I am very skewed towards CW and ended up doing 63% CW and 37% SSB, almost a 2:1 ratio. Since I used Skimmer that also contributed to pulling my attention back towards CW," King added (see story at right.)
In the low power ranks, one US leader is Ed Sawyer N1UR, who used his New England QTH to both grab European contacts and beam west to an active US.
"I decided to take a shot at the USA LP SSB record and successfully put a new number up," Sawyer told radio-sport.net, adding that "USA participation on SSB was actually pretty decent."
Sawyer again did not operate the full 24 hours, opting instead for a nap during a "lull in activity."
"(I)thought the 1 hour sleep investment would be better than slogging it through at 30 an hour with 1 point Qs and no HQ stations to work at the time," he explained.

Check back with radio-sport.net this week as more scores from Europe and the US come in for the 2008 IARU HF Championships!

CW Skimmer Gets IARU Workout

With use of the CW Skimmer okay this year for single operators, a number of hams put it to the test around the world, as contesters continue to wait for decisions on how the controversial wide band decoding software will be treated.
"Contesting with CW Skimmer is still an operating challenge, it's just a different kind of challenge," said Bob Wilson N6TV, who made 1779 contacts for just over a million points from California.
"You really do have to become an expert in the "point and shoot features" of your contest software band map to operate with it effectively," he told radio-sport.net.
The reviews of Wilson and others were certainly familiar ones when it comes to packet cluster use.
"Perhaps I spent too much time chasing CW Skimmer spots instead of running, as N6RO outscored me on QSOs even though we had exactly the same multiplier. He did not use CW Skimmer," Wilson added.
"I don't think it helped me much because I don't yet know how to use it effectively," said Richard King K5NA.
"My Skimmer listened on lower antennas and beverages that I could spare from the main SO2R station. And it was a distraction," he told radio-sport.net.
"I spent a lot of time looking for Skimmer spots instead of doing what I should have been doing, CQing," he added.
"Does not feel just like packet, but the end result should be similar," said Chas Fulp K3WW in his 3830. "Maybe less distraction, but not much."
As for whether the Skimmer was a big "game changer" in the IARU, there were certainly two sides to that argument.
"I don't think Skimmer made much difference here," said Tor Clay N4OGW
"I think I would have found the mults I got S&P with or without skimmer, and of course many more come while calling cq."
"My opinion is that Skimmer should NOT be allowed for the single-op category in the future," said King K5NA.
"But it is new and interesting technology and will be fine for assisted or multi-op categories."
"Is it an advantage over unassisted single op? No question," said Scott Robbins W4PA, who used six Skimmers for all bands at K4TD.
"Does it look and feel like packet? Definitely. If I didn't know what it was, I would have assumed I was looking at packet spots. Is it different than unassisted traditional single op? Sure."