I worked the 2023 CQ WPX contest this weekend as single operator QRP. I used the EFHW vertical beam on 15m and 10m with some activity on 40m and 20m using the S9V31 vertical. I started with the beam pointed just East of North on 15m. Propagation conditions were interesting as we had just come off a strong geomagnetic storm. 20M was very noisy and it seems that most activity was centered around 15m and 10m which fell in line quite nicely with my antenna plans. I worked QRP on this contest ion 2019 and 2020 and closed about 50 QSO’s with scored just under 5,000. This weekend I worked 106 stations across 26 countries and 86 unique prefixes for a claimed score of 15,824. Here are some charts regarding the contest performance:
Most all of the contacts were made on 15m and 10m. I would point the antenna East of North early in the day and then switch to more Southerly and then more Westerly directions during the course of the day. Changes take less than 5 minutes to implement. I think that the antenna is a winner. There are just a few improvements I’d like to make:
Replace the hysical links with traps to simplify band changes.
Pre-deploy additional mast stakes to simplify moving the reflector element.
See if I can replace the adjustable matchbox with a fixed one for operation only on 15m and 10m bands.
Predicated gain is about 4dBi which is considerably better than a plain vertical and provides good low level radiation. I tested directionality by switching between the S9V31 vertical on stations facing away from the beam. I should note that trying to make contacts with just the vertical was difficult. This antenna might end up being an interesting choice for field day this year as domestic contacts were not difficult to close.
Adventures in Amateur Radio 