Location: Man Cave in Berwick-upon-Tweed
Contest: CQ Worldwide SSB, 48 hours over October 27 and 28, 2018
Contest Software Used: N1MM
Portable operation: No
Radio: Elecraft KX3, PX3 Panadapter and Hardrock 50 operating at 50 watts SSB
Antenna: Cirro Mazzoni Baby Loop
Bands used: 40m, 20m, 15m
Hike: None….I sat for ~16 hours (it was fun!) spread out over Saturday and Sunday
Solo operation: Just me operating as M0SNA
Recommend: Yes
Photos: Copyright Paul Gacek 2018
The party started at 1am Saturday morning but at that instant I was deep in my slumber. It’s not that I have overslept but as a non serious participant, being armed with a water pistol for a radio station, showing up early can be futile, frustrating and unnecessary.
Maybe before delving into the potentially boring aspects of a ham radio contest, it’s worth going on a quick pictorial tour of Berwick upon Tweed, the Man Cave’s uber location.
All in all, Berwick upon Tweed and the Scottish borders are really quite a wonderful place to be. One aspect of enhancing that for me is to be able to operate radio, beyond my active pursuit of Summits on the Air (SOTA), at home.
Returning to the Man Cave and my contest; maybe non serious is selling myself short as I definitely had goals but very realistically these didn’t include a high score. Just wasn’t going to happen with 50 watts and a magnetic loop, which given it’s design has me transmitting at around 20 watts. For voice, that is close to nothing and definitely nothing compared to hundreds or possibly thousands of watts emanating from East European, Italian and North American stations with real contest antennas.
One very real goal was to see how well the loop performed now that it was mounted permanently at 2.2 meters off the ground and had a motor driven rotator to point it toward areas of interest.
Like kids collecting stamps, hams like to collect verification of contact with as many countries as possible. Some are really easy but the more exotic, further away ones are a little like having a Victorian Penny Black stamp, rare and much coveted. The definition of countries gets stretched out to around 335 for us radio stamp collectors and includes a series of obscure places that are typified by inhabitants generally being non human. Think South Sandwich Island deep in the South Atlantic where the ham population hovers around zero. It’s a Penny Black.
My goal was to see how many of the 335 “countries” aka DXCC Entities I could nab and of course the most important goal was to have fun.
Helium gas helps…..M0SNA, my new call sign isn’t punchy enough
Mike Zero Sierra, November, Alpha lacks punch on the air and is easily lost in the noise. I discovered mimicking the effects of helium gas helped a lot by stepping up my voice a few octaves. I also discovered the perils of departing from the NATO standard alphabet we use. For example, trying to get a bit of punch by using Mexico instead of Mike generated a lot of excitement as I was Kilo Zero Sierra November Alpha and hence a US station. Substituting Nancy or Norway for November, a month that seem to stump some people, also met with mixed results. This may not seem like a big deal but for a “Penny Blacks” to be valid both mine and the others stations logs must have each others calls signs accurately tabulated or not banana.
50 watts a bust….500 watts would be a huge help!
No surprise here and I came into the contest knowing this as my Viking foray a couple of weeks back made it painfully obvious. 50 watts in of itself isn’t the major issue but more any loop by design is inefficient and effectively loses slightly more that half the power from my radio. In effect, I’m only transmitting about 20 watts. Next trip back from California will include an RF amplifier of substance. Now we talking, no more knife to a gun fight.
Rotating the loop makes a noticeable difference
No surprise and it did seem to improve the performance of my water pistol station (I didn’t even have a knife in this fight!).
Hearing low to the horizon distant signals is encouraging for a loop
I could hear Thailand, India, Reunion Island and Bonaire and Brazil. Definitely encouraging to hear stations five thousand miles out and more.
New postage stamps,small and large are equally exciting
Cape Verde (D4C) was a thrill as was Morocco, Oman and Turkey. Closer to home, nabbing Andorra tucked away in the Pyrenees seemed a treat as was the little Principality of Luxembourg. I felt I went on a vacation contacting hams in fifty plus different countries over 16 hours!
Ciro Mazzoni Baby Loop continued to struggle to find a resonant point for the chosen frequency and really seem to lose valuable time sometimes only to find the calling station has disappeared once Im ready. This is possibly the single biggest draw back to a Loop as a contest antenna.
California sucks, it’s just better here!
While I’ve been a ham for many years, I’ve only really been active in the last few primarily in the Western US. With six to eight thousand miles of empty ocean to my west and south and primarily US operators to my east, operating from my Laguna Beach home which is flanked by hills definitely isn’t filled with exotic foreign callsigns. My signal weak, medium or strong struggles to get too far and reaching Europe, Africa or the central Asia is simply a pipe dream.
An equivalent radius, one thousand, two thousand miles etc nets a lot more ham stations from the Man Cave than it does from Lala-land. It’s just better here!
The passion continues
I believe a passion driven life makes for one that is potentially more fulfilling. Radio to me is simply magic and that sense of magic continues today as much as it did when I was a kid. The fact that a collection of electric components, a bit of metal acting as an antenna and electric power to light this up and launch a signal reaching around the world is simply miraculous. Unseen, unfelt and only heard by those who’ve been initiated, that’s the definition of magic!
Fun but the results were anemic….and surprisingly the least efficient band turned out to be most productive!
- 15m – 35 contacts
- 20m – 44 contacts
- 40m – 71 contacts
| Call | Date | Slot | DXCC | QSL | Zone | Delete |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S52OT | 2018-10-27 15:09:47 | 15M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| YL2SW | 2018-10-27 15:08:06 | 15M PH (SSB) | LATVIA | W | 15 | |
| P3ZW | 2018-10-27 15:03:34 | 15M PH (SSB) | CYPRUS | W | 20 | |
| N5DX | 2018-10-27 14:35:43 | 15M PH (SSB) | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | W | 4 | |
| K1RX | 2018-10-27 14:33:18 | 15M PH (SSB) | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | V | 5 | |
| N2SR | 2018-10-27 14:28:18 | 15M PH (SSB) | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | V | 5 | |
| KC1XX | 2018-10-27 14:25:35 | 15M PH (SSB) | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | W | 5 | |
| K5ZD | 2018-10-27 14:19:45 | 15M PH (SSB) | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | V | 5 | |
| CN2CO | 2018-10-27 12:37:18 | 15M PH (SSB) | MOROCCO | W | 33 | |
| HZ1SK | 2018-10-27 12:36:17 | 15M PH (SSB) | SAUDI ARABIA | W | 21 | |
| YT9X | 2018-10-27 12:35:04 | 15M PH (SSB) | SERBIA | V | 15 | |
| TC0F | 2018-10-27 12:27:10 | 15M PH (SSB) | TURKEY | W | 20 | |
| UA4CC | 2018-10-27 12:25:33 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| LZ9W | 2018-10-27 12:18:53 | 15M PH (SSB) | BULGARIA | W | 20 | |
| YP0C | 2018-10-27 12:17:17 | 15M PH (SSB) | ROMANIA | V | 20 | |
| SZ3P | 2018-10-27 12:16:40 | 15M PH (SSB) | GREECE | W | 20 | |
| A44A | 2018-10-27 12:15:04 | 15M PH (SSB) | OMAN | W | 21 | |
| IR8P | 2018-10-27 12:12:56 | 15M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| SX2X | 2018-10-27 12:11:22 | 15M PH (SSB) | GREECE | W | 20 | |
| J42L | 2018-10-27 10:13:00 | 15M PH (SSB) | GREECE | V | 20 | |
| UT7HA | 2018-10-27 10:05:44 | 15M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | V | 16 | |
| LZ5R | 2018-10-27 10:04:20 | 15M PH (SSB) | BULGARIA | W | 20 | |
| RD4F | 2018-10-27 10:02:22 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| UY3Y | 2018-10-27 10:01:55 | 15M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| UZ2I | 2018-10-27 10:00:51 | 15M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| P33W | 2018-10-27 09:09:49 | 15M PH (SSB) | CYPRUS | W | 20 | |
| UW1M | 2018-10-27 09:04:49 | 15M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| RA3XM | 2018-10-27 08:54:19 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| RL4A | 2018-10-27 08:48:59 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| RT5Z | 2018-10-27 08:47:11 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| C4A | 2018-10-27 08:43:04 | 15M PH (SSB) | CYPRUS | W | 20 | |
| UA4M | 2018-10-27 08:42:08 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| R2VA | 2018-10-27 08:40:22 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| CQ3W | 2018-10-27 08:33:16 | 15M PH (SSB) | MADEIRA ISLANDS | V | 33 | |
| R7AB | 2018-10-27 08:24:01 | 15M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | V | 16 |
| Call | Date | Slot | DXCC | QSL | Zone | Delete |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S53EO | 2018-10-28 08:36:36 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| S52OT | 2018-10-28 08:35:39 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| 9A7Y | 2018-10-28 08:33:54 | 20M PH (SSB) | CROATIA | V | 15 | |
| CN2CO | 2018-10-28 08:28:19 | 20M PH (SSB) | MOROCCO | W | 33 | |
| S50C | 2018-10-28 08:17:48 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| CT9ABO | 2018-10-28 08:16:49 | 20M PH (SSB) | MADEIRA ISLANDS | W | 33 | |
| YT1A | 2018-10-28 08:08:57 | 20M PH (SSB) | SERBIA | W | 15 | |
| EE5T | 2018-10-28 08:02:47 | 20M PH (SSB) | SPAIN | W | 14 | |
| UW1M | 2018-10-27 16:08:09 | 20M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| HG7T | 2018-10-27 16:06:39 | 20M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| IZ4COW | 2018-10-27 15:37:23 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | V | 15 | |
| SN8B | 2018-10-27 15:36:05 | 20M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 | |
| OK2D | 2018-10-27 15:31:46 | 20M PH (SSB) | CZECH REPUBLIC | W | 15 | |
| I1NVU | 2018-10-27 15:31:06 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | V | 15 | |
| CR6P | 2018-10-27 15:29:32 | 20M PH (SSB) | PORTUGAL | W | 14 | |
| OM7RU | 2018-10-27 15:27:22 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVAK REPUBLIC | W | 15 | |
| IR2L | 2018-10-27 15:26:06 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| S53K | 2018-10-27 15:24:30 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| S52NR | 2018-10-27 15:21:35 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| SO100ZHP | 2018-10-27 15:19:58 | 20M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 | |
| R7KZ | 2018-10-27 15:15:58 | 20M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| IK2YCW | 2018-10-27 15:14:28 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | V | 15 | |
| YL2SW | 2018-10-27 15:13:10 | 20M PH (SSB) | LATVIA | W | 15 | |
| LY2MM | 2018-10-27 14:14:11 | 20M PH (SSB) | LITHUANIA | V | 15 | |
| EA5ON | 2018-10-27 14:05:29 | 20M PH (SSB) | SPAIN | W | 14 | |
| HG4F | 2018-10-27 14:03:17 | 20M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| UW5Y | 2018-10-27 12:53:39 | 20M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| S51A | 2018-10-27 12:51:41 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| IR4M | 2018-10-27 12:49:11 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| S50G | 2018-10-27 12:46:58 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| IR4X | 2018-10-27 12:44:49 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| S57DX | 2018-10-27 12:43:02 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| YL3CW | 2018-10-27 10:38:20 | 20M PH (SSB) | LATVIA | W | 15 | |
| SO4R | 2018-10-27 10:36:36 | 20M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 | |
| OH8X | 2018-10-27 10:35:17 | 20M PH (SSB) | FINLAND | W | 15 | |
| LY2J | 2018-10-27 10:32:41 | 20M PH (SSB) | LITHUANIA | V | 15 | |
| 4U1A | 2018-10-27 10:27:20 | 20M PH (SSB) | AUSTRIA | W | 15 | |
| HA9A | 2018-10-27 10:21:11 | 20M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| IO5O | 2018-10-27 09:26:55 | 20M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| OM2Y | 2018-10-27 09:20:46 | 20M PH (SSB) | SLOVAK REPUBLIC | W | 15 | |
| E7DX | 2018-10-27 09:17:56 | 20M PH (SSB) | BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA | W | 15 | |
| HA3DX | 2018-10-27 07:44:11 | 20M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| 9A7A | 2018-10-27 07:41:47 | 20M PH (SSB) | CROATIA | V | 15 | |
| 9A9A | 2018-10-27 07:37:20 | 20M PH (SSB) | CROATIA | W | 15 |
| Call | Date | Slot | DXCC | QSL | Zone | Delete |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F4DVX | 2018-10-28 05:25:06 | 40M PH (SSB) | FRANCE | V | 14 | |
| 9A1TT | 2018-10-28 05:06:48 | 40M PH (SSB) | CROATIA | W | 15 | |
| LY1FW | 2018-10-28 05:05:28 | 40M PH (SSB) | LITHUANIA | W | 15 | |
| HG6N | 2018-10-28 04:35:31 | 40M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| DF0HQ | 2018-10-28 03:55:29 | 40M PH (SSB) | FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY | W | 14 | |
| OL7T | 2018-10-28 03:50:21 | 40M PH (SSB) | CZECH REPUBLIC | W | 15 | |
| OK7GU | 2018-10-28 03:49:21 | 40M PH (SSB) | CZECH REPUBLIC | V | 15 | |
| DA2X | 2018-10-28 03:46:59 | 40M PH (SSB) | FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY | W | 14 | |
| R7AB | 2018-10-28 03:45:55 | 40M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | V | 16 | |
| SO7M | 2018-10-28 03:39:14 | 40M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 | |
| II2S | 2018-10-28 03:37:13 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| SN3A | 2018-10-28 03:34:59 | 40M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 | |
| OK5Z | 2018-10-28 03:25:16 | 40M PH (SSB) | CZECH REPUBLIC | V | 15 | |
| IR8P | 2018-10-28 03:23:00 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| C37NL | 2018-10-28 03:19:28 | 40M PH (SSB) | ANDORRA | V | 14 | |
| LY5W | 2018-10-28 03:12:35 | 40M PH (SSB) | LITHUANIA | V | 15 | |
| UA4S | 2018-10-28 03:06:06 | 40M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| RA3Y | 2018-10-28 03:01:36 | 40M PH (SSB) | EUROPEAN RUSSIA | W | 16 | |
| LY2KA | 2018-10-28 03:00:03 | 40M PH (SSB) | LITHUANIA | W | 15 | |
| HG7T | 2018-10-28 02:56:50 | 40M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| S50C | 2018-10-28 02:55:16 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| 9A5Y | 2018-10-28 02:48:08 | 40M PH (SSB) | CROATIA | V | 15 | |
| LC1U | 2018-10-27 07:28:45 | 40M PH (SSB) | NORWAY | W | 14 | |
| OM7JG | 2018-10-27 07:24:48 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVAK REPUBLIC | W | 15 | |
| OR2M | 2018-10-27 07:20:45 | 40M PH (SSB) | BELGIUM | V | 14 | |
| DP6T | 2018-10-27 07:17:00 | 40M PH (SSB) | FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY | V | 14 | |
| CR5E | 2018-10-27 07:10:49 | 40M PH (SSB) | PORTUGAL | W | 14 | |
| CN3A | 2018-10-27 07:09:10 | 40M PH (SSB) | MOROCCO | W | 33 | |
| ED9E | 2018-10-27 06:56:06 | 40M PH (SSB) | CEUTA & MELILLA | W | 33 | |
| LX7I | 2018-10-27 06:48:42 | 40M PH (SSB) | LUXEMBOURG | W | 14 | |
| D4C | 2018-10-27 06:43:51 | 40M PH (SSB) | CAPE VERDE | W | 35 | |
| OG60F | 2018-10-27 06:27:49 | 40M PH (SSB) | FINLAND | V | 15 | |
| LY2J | 2018-10-27 06:23:39 | 40M PH (SSB) | LITHUANIA | V | 15 | |
| IR9W | 2018-10-27 05:57:17 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| C31LK | 2018-10-27 05:56:06 | 40M PH (SSB) | ANDORRA | V | 14 | |
| YL2SM | 2018-10-27 05:49:36 | 40M PH (SSB) | LATVIA | W | 15 | |
| US1Q | 2018-10-27 05:32:49 | 40M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| IK2YCW | 2018-10-27 05:26:43 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | V | 15 | |
| ED3M | 2018-10-27 05:21:00 | 40M PH (SSB) | SPAIN | W | 14 | |
| E7DX | 2018-10-27 05:12:36 | 40M PH (SSB) | BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA | W | 15 | |
| YT1HA | 2018-10-27 05:10:02 | 40M PH (SSB) | SERBIA | W | 15 | |
| S54K | 2018-10-27 04:55:44 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| SP8K | 2018-10-27 04:52:19 | 40M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 | |
| YP0C | 2018-10-27 04:45:13 | 40M PH (SSB) | ROMANIA | V | 20 | |
| DL0AO | 2018-10-27 04:44:16 | 40M PH (SSB) | FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY | W | 14 | |
| UW5ZM | 2018-10-27 04:35:01 | 40M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | V | 16 | |
| IR4M | 2018-10-27 04:32:00 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| YT0W | 2018-10-27 04:29:23 | 40M PH (SSB) | SERBIA | W | 15 | |
| LZ5RC | 2018-10-27 04:16:29 | 40M PH (SSB) | BULGARIA | W | 20 | |
| LZ9W | 2018-10-27 04:15:08 | 40M PH (SSB) | BULGARIA | W | 20 | |
| EF8R | 2018-10-27 04:07:59 | 40M PH (SSB) | CANARY ISLANDS | V | 33 | |
| IR6T | 2018-10-27 03:58:36 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| S56Y | 2018-10-27 03:42:48 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| HB9H | 2018-10-27 03:30:46 | 40M PH (SSB) | SWITZERLAND | W | 14 | |
| HG8R | 2018-10-27 03:23:05 | 40M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| CR6P | 2018-10-27 03:21:05 | 40M PH (SSB) | PORTUGAL | W | 14 | |
| TM2T | 2018-10-27 03:10:59 | 40M PH (SSB) | FRANCE | W | 14 | |
| IU4FLO | 2018-10-27 03:05:36 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| 9A7A | 2018-10-27 03:02:40 | 40M PH (SSB) | CROATIA | V | 15 | |
| S54ZZ | 2018-10-27 02:50:23 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| ES9C | 2018-10-27 02:48:40 | 40M PH (SSB) | ESTONIA | W | 15 | |
| OK1CF | 2018-10-27 02:43:58 | 40M PH (SSB) | CZECH REPUBLIC | V | 15 | |
| HA8M | 2018-10-27 02:41:14 | 40M PH (SSB) | HUNGARY | W | 15 | |
| IQ4FA | 2018-10-27 02:39:56 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| S53M | 2018-10-27 02:38:26 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| UT0W | 2018-10-27 02:32:06 | 40M PH (SSB) | UKRAINE | W | 16 | |
| S56X | 2018-10-27 02:30:14 | 40M PH (SSB) | SLOVENIA | W | 15 | |
| IR4X | 2018-10-27 02:26:04 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| IR2L | 2018-10-27 02:21:45 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| IO5O | 2018-10-27 02:18:09 | 40M PH (SSB) | ITALY | W | 15 | |
| SN8B | 2018-10-27 02:15:23 | 40M PH (SSB) | POLAND | W | 15 |
Paul Gacek 
Excellent write up Paul. I am convinced to travel next year to Scotland for my vacation.
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Come visit!!
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Your man-cave location looks really terrific. Although I know that very green looking grass means rain, probably lots of it. Scotland is such a great place.
How does this loop compare with the Alex loop?
You have it right; have fun and don’t worry about the score. Without a real contest station fun is the best thing to have. Another great posting which I enjoyed very much.
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