Although it has been a week since the competition, I still feel like it just ended yesterday.
I found a farm stay with very open surroundings. It's located in the Zhuhai and Zhongshan area, which are part of the Pearl River Delta alluvial plain, but unlike other cities in the area, these two have mountains, ranging from 2 to 400 meters in height. Previously, I tested the environment (primarily reception) in the surrounding areas, but the results were not satisfactory due to the obstruction caused by the mountains. This location is at least 10 kilometers away from the mountain, and I feel that the reception is much better than before. The farm stay owner also provides rooms with air conditioning and complete utilities.
OP: BH7JUO, BA7NFR (Xiao Mo). Equipment IC775, K3S. Antenna: 3-band spiderbeam + 15m support pole + G450 rotator, 40m delta-loop, triple-dipole + BPF. This farm stay has inherently low ground noise, but the 40m band still produces a lot of noise when using a standard inverted V antenna. Therefore, I tried the antenna recommended by DJ0IP.https://www.dj0ip.de/my-favorite-antennas/my-favorite-40m/) It has vertical polarization characteristics, a low angle of inclination, and is suitable for DX (long-distance communication). The antenna is relatively easy to install, and in practice, I didn't find it significantly quieter than other antennas. However, any station that can receive a signal will be able to hear it. A few RBNs in Europe received my signal, with strengths of 20-40 dB, which was quite puzzling.
According to the forecast on Thursday before the competition, there was a small geomagnetic storm. On Saturday morning, there was significant magnetic disturbance, but it gradually subsided in the afternoon. Before 12:00 PM on Saturday, both 15 and 20 meters were good for European propagation. From 12:00 PM to 6:00 AM on Sunday, 20 and 40 meters were open worldwide, and low-power 20 meters could also be used for stacking, covering the entire Europe, with occasional activity in North America. The early morning was a good time for DX (long distance) communication; aiming your antenna at Japan on 15 and 10 meters would likely yield results. "Mosquito legs" (short-distance contacts) were also productive. However, there weren't many Japanese stations active in the early morning, and they started appearing around 2:00 PM. Occasionally, you could also turn your antenna towards Southeast Asia to connect with several older friends. Around 2:10 PM, both 10 and 15 meters were open for European propagation; 15 meters remained open throughout, while 10 meters was quite unstable and even managed to stack for a period of time, attracting many I4 contest stations. A senior ham radio operator said that summer is the worst time for propagation, so this 10-meter activity was a lucky break.
This was a successful and enjoyable competition, full of memorable moments. The lift, radio, BPF, and three workstations all functioned reliably, except for one laptop which kept malfunctioning.
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