CQMM DX coming up thisweekend

This weekend there was much activity from South America, so I joined the fun in the CQMM DX in which you can work every station.

I had great fun with QRP before in the CQMM DX contest in  2011,  2012, 2013 and 2017

Look at the PA1B QRP Blog entries of the CQMM DX contest:

Blog entry of 2011.    Blog entry 2012     Blog entry 2013

In the CQMM DX contest of 2011, I was suprised by the excellent propagation, which made it possible to work with stations in South America and North America with just 1 W or 2.5 W.

Exchange for QRP stations:   599 EUQ
In the CQMM DX contest a QRP station is immediately recognized by it's exchange.
My exchange is be 599 EUQ meaning continent Europe and QRP.
So as a QRP station, I immediately known that the QSO
is a 2 way QRP QSO when I receive such an exchange. hi.

Rules 2020
Click for    Rules 2020    or info on the    CQMM DX website

CQMM DX 2017

The CQMM DX contest brought my an interesting mix of
 - DX with 5 continents with QRP and QRPp
 - Using very low power, when the S-meter peaks  - 8 mW - hi
 - Making QRPp QSO's within Europe with 800 mW or less
 - Making 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's with other continents AF, NA, SA

CQMM DX 2017 - PA1B

CQ or S&P

As a QRP and milliwatt enthusiast I reduce my power, when the conditions go up. When I work with low power, I always use search and pounce. From time to time I also called CQ with 800 mW, but without success. The reason that I could not make any QSO in this way, is probably the activity. I heard stations calling CQ for a wile and then this station would leave the frequency after a few tries. 

Continents

I did not expect to work a total of 5 continents. On Saturday and Sunday I had only worked stations from Europe (EU) in 12 QSO's. But then suddenly after 18:30 UTC the ionosphere opened up to the west and the east, so I made 6 beautiful QSO's with:
EA8/DL3ASM  (AF), K1GQ   (NA), ZW8T  (SA), VA2WA   (NA),TA7I  (AS), CN8KD  (AF)
After this run the 20 meter band was empty. hi.

8 mW QSO with YQ6A

Early in the contest, after two QSO's with 360 mW, the signal of YQ6A was very strong. An earsplitting S⁺ +20 dB. This is S⁺ through the attenuator of 20 dB. I made the QSO with 8 milliwatts by answering CQ. 

1000 Miles per Watt QSO's

Making a more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's is not as difficult as it seems. When you use a power of 800 mW, all QSO's over a distance of more than 800 miles will be more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's. Just notice, what your S-meter shows you. hi. The number of QSO's in red in the table are more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's.

CQMM DX coming up this weekend

This weekend there was much activity from South America, so I joined the fun in the CQMM DX in which you can work every station.

I had great fun with QRP in the CQMM DX contest in  2011,  2012  and  2013,

Look at the PA1B QRP Blog entries of the CQMM DX contest:

Blog entry of 2011.    Blog entry 2012     Blog entry 2013

In the CQMM DX contest of 2011, I was suprised by the excellent propagation, which made it possible to work with stations in South America and North America with just 1 W or 2.5 W.

Exchange
My  QRP  RST  is   599 EUQ
In the CQMM DX contest a QRP station is immediately recognized by it's exchange.
My exchange is be 599 EUQ meaning continent Europe and QRP.
So as a QRP station, I immediately known that the QSO
is a 2 way QRP QSO when I receive such an exchange. hi.

CQMM DX was this weekend. I hope to meet you next year.

Rules 2017
Click for    Rules 2017   or info on the    CQMM DX website

Congratulations! Your log was accepted!

I just sent in the Cabrillo log for the SP DX contest and the CQMM DX contest.
Just in time, because I had almost forgot.
Often I leave the shack after the contest, when the contest ends in the afternoon.
Sometime I spent some time on the log in the same evening.
But often I forget the contest at all, until the next weekend.

After the contests I had little time to send in the Cabrillo files.
But today I luckily remembered.

Category
The most important part of the Cabrillo file is the Category.
Wrong category, no award.

Soapbox
I always spent much time on the Soapbox comments.
It's great fun to mention in the Soapbox, a single QSO that was made with very low power,
for example 10 milliwatts, using an attenuator.
Or the number of QSO's made with more than 1000 Miles per Watt.
Or a QSO that I made with South America, during the CQMM DX with just 2.5 W
But this can take quite some time to calculate the Miles per Watt and to write about it.

75 Characters
The Cabrillo file of the SP DX was immediately accepted.
The Cabrillo file for the CQMM DX was rejected at first.
The Soapbox line which are restricted to 75 characters in a line, so they were tooo long. hi.

Notes on paper
In the SP DX contests I made notes on paper during the contest.
I had great fun with QRP and QRPp in both contests.
So I wanted to catch these special moments, that I experienced,
while using the lowest possible power in these contest QSO's.      (Click to See the Notes)

South America in the CQMM DX with my crippeled Inverted Vee

I was looking forward to the CQMM DX contest.
It is a very fine contest with a lot of activity from South America.
I know from earlier contests, that I could still make QSO's with  Europe, Asia and North America with low power, with my crippled antenna.
On Saturday I made 9 QSO's with Europe with a power of 5 watts down to 100 mW.

But I was wondering if I could make a QSO's with South America.

On Sunday afternoon, after I switched to 28 MHz, I heard a station from South America.
At that time, I did not know whether the distance would be more than 5000 miles,
so I decided to use 2.5 W.
I use 2.5 watts and I used a lot of patience to make a QSO with PW2D.
The frequency must be absolutely clear, so I had to stay cool for a long time. hi

With a distance of far more than 2500 miles, this QSO is a more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO.
Later I heard other stations from South America, but they could not hear me, even with 5 watts. hi
The changes in propagation, are more important than the antenna.
So I say thanks to the fine operators of PW2D.

CQMM DX coming up this weekend

Starts: 1200 UTC Saturday
Ends: 2359 UTC Sunday

This weekend there will be much activity
from South America, so join the fun
in the CQMM DX in which you can work every station.

In 2011,  2012  and 2013,
I had great fun with QRP in the CQMM DX contest.
Look at the:  
Blog entry of 2011.    Blog entry 2012     Blog entry 2013

In the CQMM DX contest of 2011, I was suprised by the excellent propagation, which made it possible to work with stations in South America and North America with just 1 W or 2.5 W.

QRP
In the CQMM DX contest a QRP station is recognized by it's exchange.
My exchange will be EUQ meaning continent Europe and QRP.
So as a QRP station, I immediately known that the QSO
is a 2 way QRP QSO when you receive such an exchange.

CQMM DX coming up, this weekend.

Rules 2014
Click for    Rules 2014   or the CQMM DX website

CQ MM DX contest

I very much like this CQ Manchester Mineira DX contest.
It's a DX contest, so you can work any station.
There were many stations calling CQ MM.
In total I worked 5 continents.



I participated a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday evening.
Especially the hours late in the evening are of interest to me, since I wanted to work stations from South America.

I very much like the QSO's over long distances.
The 15 m band was "the band" for an number of excellent DX QSO's.

Nearly all QSO's were made with the maximum power of 2.7 watts of my FT-817, using  an Inverted Vee as antenna.
Only in 3 QSO's I used 800 mW or 80 mW.

All QSO's to South and North America are good for 1000 Miles per Watt, since the distance is more than 2700 Miles.

Thanks to the organisation and the operators for the fine contest.

eQSL from Chili

Recently I received an eQSL from Nicolas XQ1KZ from Chili for a more than 1000 MPW QSO.
We made the QSO in the CQ MM DX contest in 2012.
The distance is 6910 Miles. With 2.7 Watts this gives 2559 Miles per Watt.

I used an Inverted Vee.
Thanks to Nicolas XQ1KZ for a new DXCC in QRP.

CQMM DX 2012

I just sent in my Cabrillo file for the CQMM DX contest. I had some trouble to make the entry. I logged on paper and made a Cabrillo file in Excel. But the robot refused my entry based on version 2. So I used an online webform to make the Cabrillo file in version 3.

We were invited out for a birthday, so I only had time on Saturday and only made one QSO before we left on Sunday. I used the Lowest Possible Power in each QSO.
I started, late around 19:45 local time, so the propagation to Europe was good. At first I made some more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's in Europe. About one hour later the signals from North and South America came through.
The signal of N2MM was stronger than S9. Carol was S8 through the 10 dB attenuator, so the QSO could be made with 80 mW. The exchange was 599 NAY . The Y means YL.  Later AA3B was also worked with 80 mW.
It is years ago that I met AA3B with just less than 100 mW, so you don't hear me complaining about the propagation. hi.

This CQMM DX contest brought 3 new DXCC's: FM, OX and CE.  
Martinique with 360 mW, gives a very nice QRPp more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO.

This survey, showing the bands is also interesting. To North America was slightly less power needed at 15 m than on 20 m. Notice that the difference between 80 mW and 360 mW is just ONE S-point. 4x is 6 dB is one S-point.
By comparing the info in both tables, you can find out, on what band each DXCC was worked.
21 out of 28 QSO's were more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's. This is a staggering 75%.

CQMM DX coming up this weekend

The CQMM DX is a very special contest for QRP sytations.
A QRP station is recognized by it's exchange. E.g. SAQ meaning South America QRP. So as a QRP station you immediately known, that the QSO is a 2 way QRP QSO, when you receive such an exchange.

Last year I had great fun in the CQMM DX contest. Look at this Blog entry of 2011.

In the CQMM DX contest of 2011, I was surprised by the excellent propagation, which made it possible to work with stations in South America and North America with just 1 W or 2.5 W.

Next weekend there will be much activity from South America, so join the fun in the CQMM DX in which you can work every station.

Click for the CQMM DX website or Rules 2012

More than 1000 MPW eQSL's from the CQ MM DX contest.

Using the lowest possible power in a contest QSO is not so difficult as it seems. In the CQ MM DX contest I was suprised by the excellent propagation, which made it possible to work with stations in South America and North America with just 1 W or 2.5 W.

2 Way QRP QSO with Brasil

After 8 QSO's with 1 W and 2.5 W, I heard PY2WC calling CQ, so I tried 2.5 W.
I fell off my chair when Waldir answered: SAQ, which means that he was using QRP and this was a 2 way QRP QSO. It was only after a few QSO's, also with 2.5 W, I realised that I could have made the QSO with a lower power.
More than an hour later I heard Waldir again and made a second QSO, but now with 1 W (980 mW). Thank you Waldir for a new DXCC in QRPp, thus less than 1000 mW.

Tip: Just make a second contest QSO, with a lower power if you can.
My most memorable very low power QSO with 0.85 mW with RT6A is a Dupe. hi

Confirmed "More than 1000 MPW" QSO's

This list shows only the 1000 MPW QSO that are confirmed via eQSL.
I actually made many more 1000 MPW QSO's in the CQ MM DX.

After I receive an eQSL, I determine the distance using the QTH Locator and the Miles per Watt.
I place the 1000 MPW info in the comment field of the return eQSL.
E.g. 2.5 W and 6062 miles to GG66un gives 2425 miles/watt - 73, Bert

Power Overview

Most QSO's were made on 21 MHz.
Although I made many DX QSO's 34% of the QSO's were made with QRPp.
And 70% with more than 1000 MPW.

The Soapbox:

In total I made 56 QSO's in the CQ MM DX contest. I worked SA, NA EU and SA. I had great fun.
My RIG is a FT-817 and the antenne is an Inverted Vee.
I always use QRP, but never a fixed power of 5 watts.

Thanks to all the excellent operators that made this contest QSO's possible.

CQ Manchester Mineira DX Contest

Wat een contest. Dit is écht bijzonder.
Veel activiteit uit Zuid Amerika, maar toch een echte DX contest.
Ik heb al een aantal QSO's gemaakt met Brazilie met 2,5 watt. Dus meer dan 1000 MPW.
En zelfs een QRP station uit PY gewerkt, dus 2 way QRP. hi.
Verder nog 3 andere continenten.
Ik ga snel weer door in de contest.

This is a very special contest.
The contest is organized by the group CWJF from Brazil.
There is a lot of activity from Brazil, but it's really a DX contest.
I worked SA, AS, NA, EU.
My exchange as a QRP station from Europe is 599 EUQ (No number)
QRP stations are recognizable from their exchange.
When I met PY2WC he gave 599 SAQ, so we made a 2 way QRP QSO. hi
Just worked K3WW with it's Excellent Ears on 20 mtr with just 1 watt.