N1MM+ didn’t like ZL/G either, had to force log it for zero pts.
Dropped down to 12hr section as Condx were dire, and anyway with an external shack, my tootsies get cold.
Towards the end worked VK6LW, and 10m, didn’t hear any G’s calling!!
VK6VZ and VU3KBL ! Was also on 10m good sigs with me, but they didn’t hear me..lol
Some excitement, did get a short run LP to VK / ZL on 20m.
Aprox 11 hrs on.
163 QSO’s, open 12hr section.

Ken.. G0ORH

Well that was hard work. Starting the contest with an “A” index of 23 is
rarely good news, and it certainly was not this time. Taking the bands in
turn, 10 was very disappointing, with only a handful of QSOs. 15 was better,
but nothing like its usual form. 20 was the banker band. 40 almost totally
closed overnight, and 80 was not much better overnight, although up to then
was running nicely. The early hours were dire with very low rates here.

Activity was again a little patchy – without the VEs and the travelling
British, this would not be much fun. Noticeable that the serial numbers from
many of the ZLs and VKs were low, suggesting they were just dabbling. Can’t
think of too many high spots – perhaps finally getting VE7 on 80m was one –
I didn’t think the band would open, but I never heard VE7 on 40.

Still a lot of issues with people not understanding what the Contest is all
about, and calling from all parts of the non-Commonwealth. And everyone was
still calling “BERU” – well almost everyone.

FWIW, here’s the score, which is way down on last year. I’ve had to fudge it
a bit, as WinTest did not like the ZL/xxxxx calls and rejected them.

But thanks for all the QSOs, and let’s hope for better conditions next year!

BAND QSO DUP DXC HQ POINTS BONUS AVG

——————————————–

80 60 1 20 3 300 740 17.33

40 81 1 28 5 400 1160 19.01

20 128 2 30 6 630 1460 16.02

15 49 0 25 3 235 780 19.90

10 10 0 8 2 50 200 25.00

——————————————–

TOTAL 328 4 111 19 1615 4140 17.85

============================================

TOTAL SCORE : 5 955

73

Don, G3BJ / G5W