Sunday, October 17, 2021

Worked All Germany (WAG) contest.


The Worked all Germany (WAG) contest was this weekend. It's an event in which you can operate both CW and SSB. I chose the CW only option for the contest. I entered low power (100 watts and under), single op and assisted (using spotting new works) It was very well attended and during the contest I received a station from Israel calling German stations.  It was a shame I could not call him, as with this contest DX can only contact German stations. Oh well, it was nice hearing them anyway. 

The contest is 24 hours long, which is nice as it does not occupy all of your weekend. Conditions were good for me on 15m, 20m and 40m. I did try 80m on Saturday evening, but it provided no contacts for me. On Sunday I stayed on 15m as I was up early and the band was open. I wanted to stay away from 20m for as long as I could, as this was the band I mainly stayed on during Saturday. This way I would not run into Dupes on 20m.  The contest software I used was N1MM+

I was using my Icom 7610 radio which for contesting is a great radio, the antenna was my Ultimax DXtreme  it's 52 feet long and about 30 feet off the ground and about 6 feet at the feed end. I used my solid state CW paddle by 9A5N. The key worked very smoothly and worked without issue. 

Speaking of issues, it would not be a contest if there were not some hiccups. First off I thought (for some reason) the contest started at 1600 UTC. I sat at the radio 10 minutes (1550 UTC) before the contest started. I was shocked to see the band's full when I turned on the radio. A quick investigation on my part had me realize the contest started at 1500 and not 1600 UTC, so I was an hour down before I even started. 

At times, I found myself calling a station, and I was not being heard, don't get me wrong this does happen but not with stations that are booming in. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed N1MM+ software was showing me that my transmit XIT  (transmit increment tuning) was on! The reason the station was not hearing me was because I was transmitting way off-frequency. This for some reason happened a few times. 

The last comedy of errors was at one point on Sunday when I was on 15m the band just went dead! Hmm, maybe propagation on 15m just dropped off. I went to 20m, and it was the same, so I checked the solar conditions,  maybe I missed a huge storm forecast. Nope solar conditions were fair.....oh wait a minute it's 1500 UTC and the contest is over!! 

Contest summary 

40m  34 contacts with 18 multipliers 

20m  51 contacts with 21 multipliers  

15m  30 contacts with 17 multipliers 

Total contacts 115 

Score 19,320





8 comments:

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Congrats on the nice score Mike. I missed this one, should take part as it is just like the PACC contest in the Netherlands. I always get a lot of response from German stations in that contest and should return the favour. May be next year... Propagation was excellent this weekend, I'm surprised you didn't do any 10m? 73, Bas

VE9KK said...

Good evening Bas, it was a fun contest and the op's are very good. The CW speed is at a medium speed range. As for 10m I did check it now and then and at this end it was dead. I did see spotting on 1m, but I was not able to anything on my waterfall.
73 and have a good week,
Mike
VE9KK

Saquib said...

This is amazing! Worked all Germany (WAG) contest huh! I don't have the required setup to go out for a full blown Dxing COntest. I am a new amateur from India.
I write my ham expericene @ https://itshamradio.com please do read my artciles and let me know your thoughts
de
VU3HZW

VE9KK said...

Very nice to meet you, saquib. Thanks for stopping by my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. Welcome to ham radio, and I am sure in your retirement (as your QRZ page said you are now retired) you will find ham radio a great way to pass time and exercise your mind. I did check out your web page and later this evening when I get time I will read your post and if there is an email there I will send off an email to you.
Have a great week,
73,
Mike
VE9KK

Saquib said...

Hello Mike, You misunderstood my QRZ page, I ain't a retired guy. I am in my early 30s!
here's my email vu3hzw@itshamradio.com

VE9KK said...

Good morning Saquib, sorry about that I miss read your QRZ page when it said
"uSDX retired"I thought you were retired.
73,
Mike
VE9KK

MadDogMcQ said...

Nice one Mike! That's a good amount of contacts. I had to chuckle at your little comedy of errors, lol. I wish someone at our Club would run a Competition day to provide guidance to newcomers. I was also looking at your EFHW - looks interesting. I use one too, 40-10 and it tunes up on 80 at a push. They're great antennas but I just don't understand why they're so darned expensive.

73, Tom.
www.m7mcq.com

VE9KK said...

Good afternoon Tom very nice to hear from you, yes I always find that during a contest there are a number of errors that bring a smile to my face. I do believe the RSGB has some how to contesting links on their website. As for me I started watching YouTube videos and jumped in and when I was not sure of something I looked it up. You are correct it would be nice to have something in your local group. Yes the Endfed's are not cheap and I am not sure if it's the construction of the unit or they know they have you as you need a small antenna that can do most bands. (with a tuner)
Very nice to hear from you Tom and have a great what is left of the week.
73,
Mike
VE9KK