Station: BY1RX
Attendees (not limited to OP): BA1AJ, BA1RB, BD1GO, BI1GRI, BI1MCZ, BI1TMQ
Radio: FlexRadio6500 * 2, since the competition only set up MS groups, we used RUN1 + multi for this competition.
Antenna: 10-meter wave band, 21 meters high, 5 units (rotatable), 16 meters high, 5 units (European direction), 41 meters high, 5 units (rotatable), 15 meters high, 4 units, 351 (rotatable).
15-meter band: 21-meter high, 5 units (rotatable), 15-meter high, 5 units (European direction), 10-meter high, 5 units (North American direction), 15-meter high, 4 units, 351 (rotatable), 30-meter high, 714 (rotatable).
20-meter band: 21 meters high, 4 units (rotatable), 15 meters high, 4 units (facing Europe), 15 meters high, 4 units, 351 (rotatable), 30 meters high, 714 (rotatable).
40-meter band: 30 meters high, unit 714-2 (rotatable), 40 meters high, unit 3 (rotatable).
Match process:
WAE is generally a more challenging competition because non-European stations can only communicate with European stations. This presents some difficulty for daytime communication in the autumn, and most connections primarily occur between the afternoon and the following morning. As a result, fewer operators participate. On Saturday morning, BA1AJ and BA1RB were primarily operating, using standard strategies involving calling on the 15m band, but with limited success. The transmission was only opened in the afternoon, and BI1GRI, BI1MCZ, and I also arrived at the base in the afternoon.
Starting at 6 PM, as strong convective clouds moved into Beijing, interference from thunderstorms began to appear on the spectrum, with noise levels reaching -90 dBm. Because the tower supporting the Yagi antenna was the tallest structure in the area, everyone temporarily stopped operating and set the antennas to their lowest position for safety reasons. Around 7 PM, there were heavy thunderstorms outside, and it was unclear where they struck, which caused a power outage at the base. It took an hour to restore power with the guidance of BD1GO, who is the station manager at the base.
After restarting, there was no unexpected activity on the 15m and 20m bands, but instead a period of silence. The frequencies were almost completely unusable for European competitions. As a result, the overnight operation at the base involved rotating shifts, with only one person operating the RUN console, focusing on 15m and 20m. After 2:00 AM, the RUN console primarily focused on 40m, although it was very busy with conversations between Russian stations, there were not many competition stations. Around 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, a significant buildup occurred on the 40m calling frequency, contributing to most of the QSOs that evening. However, this did not meet expectations. During this process, RU1A proactively suggested establishing communication with us on the 80m band. This was likely due to the rain, as after switching to 80m, the antenna's standing wave exceeded 10, making it unusable. The attempt to establish communication on 80m also failed.
The operation on the second day in the morning was taken over by BA1AJ. The overall propagation situation was similar to the first day, with 15 meters opening up later in the afternoon. In the evening, AJ took over alone at the base, operating on the 20m and 40m bands. Around 3:00 AM, he managed a small pile-up on the 40m band, completing the final push.
Summary:
During the 48-hour contest, BY1RX made a total of 544 QSOs with European stations, confirmed 514 QTCs, and achieved a score of approximately 210,000 points. Although the results were not as expected due to propagation conditions, the contest provided valuable experience for everyone in SSB operation.
Thank you to all the operators who worked during this period, especially Teacher Sheng, for their longest operating times and QSO count. We also thank BD1IIJ and BD1GO for their technical support, and BI1MCZ for their logistical support, which ensured the smooth running of the competition. Next month is CQ WW DX SSB, and we have thoroughly prepared for both this event and the recent CQ AA SSB competition to achieve good results!
RMKS: DE BI1TMQ, due to the fact that BD1IIJ's teacher was unable to attend the competition at the base this time, I will be writing the post-competition summary for the first time on behalf of the new students. If there are any parts that are not well written, please forgive me. 73!
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