2019 CQWWDX Claimed Scores
The claimed scores for the 2019 CQWWDX SSB and CW contests have been posted and NCC calls are once again well represented in the rankings.
SSB Weekend
Unfortunately, extremely challenging conditions characterized the October phone weekend and North American scores turned out to be the worst in many years.
The K3LR multi-multi crew managed to produce 6,744 contacts but this was their lowest Q total since at least 2003. Compared with their record-breaking 2011 total of 13,422 contacts (claimed basis), the 2019 contact total was exactly half, dramatically demonstrating the drastic impact that a low sunspot count can have on contest results.
The 2019 SSB score from K3LR was not without its highlights. The ops achieved DXCC on four bands and even worked 60 countries on 160! Their 20 meter total of 2,532 contacts and 149 countries would be respectable in any year.
Tim’s final claimed score of 12,385,720 puts K3LR in first place in the US and 11th in the world. However, perennial rival W3LPL’s claimed score of 12,366,519 points was a mere 19,201 points behind, so it is certainly possible that after the logs are checked, the LPL gang could end up ahead. If so, it would end a very long string of K3LR phone victories in the world’s most popular contest. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for Tim and his ops!
Over at K8AZ, things did not go well. After spending nearly every weekend during the summer working on the station, Tom and his talented ops must have expected a very good weekend, but terrible band conditions combined with antenna problems that kept the station off the air for six hours to keep the score well below the station’s potential, and K8AZ ended up in 4th place US with a score of 2.7 million points. The awful conditions during the phone weekend impacted North America a lot more than Europe, and the top MS station in the US ended up only in 23rd place in the world! W2FU was not active this year during the phone weekend.
Two NCC members traveled to Curacao to join the PJ2T team for the phone weekend. I refer to Jim, W8WTS, a veteran member of the Caribbean Contesting Consortium, and Ray, ND8L, NCC secretary/treasurer and new member of the CCC. The two joined six other ops in a multi-multi effort that came in fourth in the world with over 10,000 contacts and a claimed score of 20.4 million points. The picture shows the operators (left to right): W8WTS, VE4GV, K8IV, ND8L, W0CG, KF4DX, K8PGY, and CE4CT.
Other active members during the phone weekend included K8ZT, whose QRP score put him in third place in the US, K8CX, K8LY and K8MR.
CW Weekend
Fortunately, band conditions for the CW weekend were not nearly as bad as they were for phone, but they were still below the average of the last decade. Tim’s crew at K3LR came up with 7470 contacts, but the excellent ops at W3LPL used their geographic advantage to the fullest and managed to best the ‘LR crew by 781 contacts. Frank’s team found 200 more contacts on both 80 and 160, and over 300 more on 15 meters. Tim’s operators managed to find 3 more zones and one more country than the LPL guys, but their superior multiplier total could not overcome Frank’s east coast contact advantage. A great job by both teams!
In an extremely tight race in the multi-single category, the ops at W2FU managed a score of 9.1 million points which placed them fourth in the US behind K1LZ, W3UA and N4WW. The ‘FU gang was neck and neck with the N4WW crew operating from Florida and about one million points behind the K1LZ and W3UA teams operating from Maine and New Hampshire, respectively. W2FU kept up with the leaders on 80 and 20 but fell behind on 160, 40 and 15. Following up in fifth place was K8AZ, where Tom’s further western QTH exposed them more to the polar absorption prevalent that weekend. Tom also experienced additional antenna problems which kept them off the air for several hours.
Other activity by NCC members in the CW weekend: K8ZT achieved 7th place world and top US score in the assisted QRP category. K8CX managed nearly 2,000 contacts in the SOAB HP category. Other scores were submitted by N8TR, K8LY, NJ3K, and W1NN. NJ3K is one of the newest NCC members (elected in July, 2019) and has been contributing good scores to the club since. Thanks, Bruce. Another top NCC operator, K8MR, operated from K5KG in Florida and was unable to contribute a score to the club this year.
