2023 CQ World Wide DX contest SSB on 10m band

Over the weekend I participated in the CQ world wide DX contest SSB on 10 meters low power, non-assisted category.

Conditions on 10mband had been down for a while, but I had high hopes for the US East Coast and Caribbean stations as they were sounding good at the beginning of the contest week.

However, only certain stations could be heard at the start of the contest, 9:00 AM Japan time on Saturday morning, and even, RUN, running at 100W, few were called. Moreover, the stations that could be heard were soon exhausted. Since the contest started under such conditions, I hoped for QSOs with European stations in the evening. Europe started to open around 3:00 p.m., and although I was calling , S/P, around at first, by nightfall I was running and getting called. 400 QSOs achieved here.

I expected to be in North America the next morning. However, conditions did not rise and were similar to the first day. I expected Europe in the evening on this day as well. It opened as expected and the time to RUN and be called seemed to be longer than the first day. I achieved 800 QSOs here.

The last time zone, Monday morning Japan time. Normally, I would have more multis for North American and Caribbean stations, but conditions did not increase and only 4 multis were recorded. Still, I were able to enjoy a strong 10-meter band from the past few years. Next up is WW/CW.

IC-7610, 6ele Yagi, N1MM

By the way, if you have ever looked at a map of the Japanese archipelago, you know that the archipelago is an island from northeast to southwest. From the continental United States, this means that the archipelago stretches almost straight from Area 8, which is located in the northeast, to Area 6, which is located in the southwest. In other words, Area 6, where my station is located, is 2,000 km further away than Area 8 when viewed from the continental United States, and is 1,000 km away from Tokyo, the capital of Area 1, which is located in the middle of the Japanese archipelago. So, QSO with North America is more difficult than 8 Area and 1 Area.

JA area map

2023 OC DX Contest Phone and JA domestic contest

During the weekend I was scheduled to participate in the OC DX contest Phone on 15m band during the day and a Japanese national contest on 80m band at night. 

I drove up the mountain about 600m and set up the HB9CV for 15m and the inverted V antenna for 80m at a height of 8m in a square with the sea in front of it. I started OC DX CW at 3 p.m. Japan time and was able to exceed 100 QSOs in about 3 hours. 

150 QSOs was close to breaking the record, but the sun was setting and it was getting cold on the mountain and rain was forecast for the next day, so I had to retire from OC DX CW at this point. I will try again this weekend to break the record for OC DX CW. 

By the way, I still hold the phone records for 15m and 10m.

Unfortunately, the direction looking down the sea was northeast and opposite to Oceania, as I was aware of the domestic contest in Japan.