A totally unexpected arrival by post

Look what just arrived in the post! Apparently I won a section of the CQWW WPX contest. As far as I can recall, I hardly put two hours into that contest and my very limited participation was just for a bit of fun on CW.

It just demonstrates how easy it is to win a section of a contest in Ireland. There are few dedicated contesters in this country, so the chances are that if you enter a low power single band category you will win it. My score was hardly phenomenal. I see I was only 20th in Europe in that section, which puts a bit of perspective on it.

A pleasant surprise, but this one will be going in the draw with the rest!!

A bit of fun in CQWW WPX contest

John 9M6XRO, who I worked in the CQWW WPX contest.

I dipped in and out of the CQWW WPX (CW) contest over the weekend, but decided to leave the linear off. I stuck to 20m low power, and worked a total of 268 QSOs, a few on Saturday night and a bit more on Sunday. It was good fun. Highlights include working HD8A in Galapagos, also a VK3, a JH0, a 9M6, a BY5, a VE7 and a VP9. It did take a while sometimes to get through to the distant ones, but it just shows what 100 watts and a hexbeam can do! I don't take part in contests competitively, mostly just for enjoyment, and I had great fun with this one.
My claimed score is 86,240 and I worked 224 prefixes. Hope all of you who took part had fun.

PS: I worked HD8A on 20m SSB tonight, making a total of seven slots now, and I am currently the leading EI with the Galapagos dxpedition!