ZS2EZ RTTY CONTESTING
Ever since starting HF operation in 2005, RTTY has been a mode dear to me. It was thus a natural progression to move into active RTTY contesting, starting with the 2005 CQ Worldwide RTTY event. Since then I have not missed a single major event (CQWW, CQWPX or RTTYRU) and have participated in many of the smaller events. My highlights so far have been earning a plaque for #1 in Africa (SOAB HP) for the 2007 and 2009 CQWPX RTTY events, #1 in Africa in the 2007 WAE Contest (the only time I have entered this particular event) and Continental Leader in the 2006, 2008 and 2009 ARRL RTTY Roundups (SOAB HP).
Contesting from way down near the Southern tip of Africa (I am located in the city of Port Elizabeth, roughly 800km (500 miles) from the Southernmost tip of the continent) is very challenging. Propagation (particularly on 15m and higher) is nowhere near as good as our Northern neighbours (often 10m is open in Bloemfontein, some 500km North of Port Elizabeth, yet absolutely nothing is heard here!! There are hardly any regular RTTY operators within 2000km, with two of them (ZS2Y and ZS2DL) being in the same city as me, and not more than 5 semi-regular operators in Southern Africa. Additionaly, Southern Africa is outside the general East-West beam pattern for NA and EU operators. Add to this a small suburban lot making antennas a challenge (the property is narrow, some 19m wide with a large swimming pool taking up considerable space), effectively eliminating 80m, and the posting of any sort of competitive score becomes a massive task! Despite this, contesting (particularly in RTTY) has become a really enjoyable pasttime!!
I began contesting using MixW and a homebrew soundcard interface, coupled to a Kenwood TS-570S and TH3JRS yagi. This evolved into using N1MM Logger and MicroHam MicroKeyer into a Kenwood TS-870S (with Kenwood TL-922 amplifier) and Cushcraft A3S yagi. I have bought and tried Writelog along the way, but found that I much preferred N1MM Logger!
As there are a large number of RTTY contests on the calendar, I have decided to limit my 2010 RTTY Contesting activities to the following contests:
ARRL RTTY Roundup
CQ WPX RTTY
SCC Contest
CQ WW RTTY
Makrothen
JARTS
OK RTTY
Whilst I make a casual appearance in some of the other events, it will be in a non-competitive role.
ZS2EZ 2009 RTTY CONTEST REVIEWS
In recent times I have found my scores improving steadily, despite the extended solar minimum. As there are so few RTTY contesters in Southern Africa, I have found myself competing against my previous year's score in each contest, and generally improving on it! The 2009 CQ WW RTTY contest was my most satisfactory contest to date, and I am really looking forward to the 2010 event!!!!