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'LOFTY' GOALS AS VK4EMM LOOKS FOR OCEANIA DX DOUBLE REPEAT
By Jamie Dupree NS3T
After winning both ends of the Oceania DX contest in 2006, John Loftus VK4EMM says he's ready for the CW round, after the Aussie contester knocked out over a million points in the SSB weekend.
"This year’s Oceania phone contest was a real thrill for the excellent participation – especially from Europe, Russia, Japan and many other parts of Asia," said Loftus.
Loftus said he also noted that participation seemed to be up again this year. "Oceania was also well represented with many new entrants."
Band conditions were up and down, a reflection of the current propagation trends. Still, it was a good workout for many wondering what CQ WW SSB will bring in a few weeks time.
"Propagation on 15m and 10m was subject to rare openings and rapid fading," said Loftus, who made 43 contacts on 10 meters.
"15m added 154 QSOs with only a brief opening to get two EU stations, Italy and Austria."
Loftus did have a solid two hour opening on 20 meters to Europe as well and "above average propagation conditions" on 40 and 80 meters.
"While my score for the phone weekend is well down on previous years, I am pleased with my sustained effort over the full 24 hour operation," said Loftus, who netted almost 1.1 million points from 691 contacts.
If VK4EMM's hunch about better participation from Oceania turns out to be true, that would be another good piece of news for Oceania DX organizers.
In 2006, the number of submitted logs were up by 13% in 2006, mainly due to an increase in VK participation.
"Yes, we would love to repeat that," says Brian Miller ZL1AZE, the chair of the OCDX Contest Committee. "The sharp rise in activity by Oceania stations is mainly due to a significant growth in the number of VK entrants."
Miller says much of that is as a result of promotional efforts by the VK Contesting Club and the VK contesting community.
"It is also pleasing to note the increasing participation of YB (Indonesia) stations," said Miller. Also of note is a significant increase in the number of phone logs from Europe."
"It appears that the increased activity from Oceania stations, along with the availability of new awards for the 2006 contest, has also spurred the participation of non-Oceania stations, particularly those from Europe," said Miller.
"Brian ZL1AZE is a tireless champion and team-leader for building the Oceania contest," said Loftus VK4EMM. "The Oceania contest is successfully building the critical mass that is needed to encourage more participation."
Miller says he would still like to see more "participation from some of the rarer Pacific Island DX locations," but overall, he feels the contest is heading in the right direction.