2019 Statistics

Another busy year of HF operation.  Unlike 2018 (which was almost all FT8 digital mode work with only a handful of CW and SSB contacts thrown in), this year we really branched out with more CW and a little SSB.  Band conditions all year have been poor but managed to make some non-FT8 contacts.  Still wishing for more solar activity leading to propagation improvements but that may be months or years out yet; we’ll take what we can get.  Here is the cumulative summary of achievements (2016 thru 2019)…

On the DX front, confirmed countries year over year as follows:

  2019

  2018

The grand total at end of the year is 117 countries with two on 60m that don’t count towards DXCC; the other six have not confirmed at all, or only by card.

Domestically I added the 17m band to Worked All States (WAS) award (confirmed via LoTW on all 50 states) and am shy only two states on 15m.  I remain in the 40s count on 12m, 60m, and 80m.   The state tally of all bands and all modes looks like this, year over year:

  2019

   2018

Hope to add 15m to the list in 2020 and add states to the other six bands.   On 80m WAS  is a pipe dream without a different antenna; amazed that I am at 46 states.

On CW (Morse Code) I have 40 states confirmed on QRZ out of 43 logged:

2019:40/43 (+31)

  2018: 9/15

On phone I have 9 states confirmed in QRZ out of 10 worked (WA was Echolink so I’m not counting it) :

  2019: 9/10 (+2)

  2018: 7/9

Both maps should improve next year as I hope to do more CW and phone work in 2020.  Pending band conditions, of course– 2020 may be no better than 2019 for good propagation.

A big long-term goal is to work and confirm all 50 states in LoTW to achieve the Triple Play Award (confirmed all states in CW, phone, and Digital modes).

At year’s end I have triple play on 8 states, 36 in CW, 9 in SSB, and 50 digital mode.

To help visualize this I created a color-coded LoTW state map.  The map shows gray for digital mode only, yellow for digital+CW, blue for digital+phone, and green for all three modes (triple play):

  2019 (+6 Triple Play)

2018

2017 (why not?)

Differences between QRZ maps and the LoTW map is simply that not everybody uses LoTW so I have to work harder to make contacts to get the LoTW QSL.

2019 was good for hunting US counties.  My year-end total is 1762 confirmed out of 3137 counties (56.2%).   My 2018 tally was

2018 Statistics

Finished another busy year of HF operation.  As with 2017, almost all digital mode work (FT8) with only a handful of CW and SSB contacts thrown in.  Band conditions all year have been poor for SSB and even CW, especially considering my compromise all-band antenna low to the ground.  Looking forward to better solar activity leading to propagation improvements but that may be months or years out yet so we’ll take it when we can get it.  Here is the cumulative summary of achievements (2016 thru 2018)…

On the DX front, confirmed countries year over year as follows:

  2018

  2017

This gave me the DXCC award (mixed mode with digital endorsement) along with QRZ’s equivalent DX100.  Yay!  My grand total at end of the year is 109 countries with two on 60m that don’t count towards DXCC; the other six have not confirmed at all, or only by card.

Domestically I still have three bands (20, 30, and 40m) confirmed on all 50 states but am now on the edge for 15m and 17m and in the 40s on 12m, 60m, and 80m.   The state tally of all bands looks like this year over year:

2018

2017

Hope to add 15m and 17m to the list in 2019 and add states to the other five bands.   On 60m and 80m I can probably get close to 50 but WAS on those is a pipe dream without a longer antenna, so that may never happen.

On CW I have only 9 states confirmed via LoTW out of 15 logged:

  2018: 9/15 (+3)

2017: 6/13

On phone I have 7 states confirmed via LoTW out of 9 worked (WA was Echolink so I’m not counting it) :

  2018: 7/9 (+2)

2017: 5/8

Both of these maps should look very different in a year as I plan to do more CW and phone work in 2019.  Yeah, I said that a year ago but conditions didn’t support my intentions. Probably not all 50 states, but that is my goal.

My focus in 2018 was still US counties.  My year-end total is 1540 confirmed out of 3137 counties (49.1%), nearly half of the entire US.   My 2017 tally was 1113/3137 counties (35%).  Net for 2018 is +427 or 8.2/week on average; this rate will decrease in 2019 as my pool of active remaining counties drops off, another good reason to try new modes.   Still have all counties confirmed in only five

2017 Statistics

Finished a busy year of HF operation.  99% digital mode work (JT and FT) with only a handful of CW and SSB contacts thrown in.  Here is the cumulative summary of achievements (2016+2017)…

On the DX front, confirmed contacts with distant entities (mainly individual countries) as follows:

69	71	57
LoTW	QRZ	Card

This mixed bag is due to some stations confirming one way or another, not always all three methods.  Considering this plus some not confirming in any fashion (booo…), I have contacted upwards of 80 DX stations.

Waiting for cards from some countries, which is important because I have several which do not log using LoTW and I may use cards for the DXCC award (100 countries) instead.  Then there are a few which do not QSL with cards.

Domestically I worked all 50 states on three bands (20, 30, and 40m) and need only four states on 17m.  The tally of all bands looks like this:

There is hope of getting all 50 states on the higher frequencies (6-17m) when propagation improves, but that may be years out yet.  On 60m and 80m I can probably get close to 50 but WAS on those is a pipe dream without a longer antenna, so that may never happen.

On CW I have only 6 states confirmed out of 13 logged:

On phone I have 5 states confirmed out of 8 worked:

Both of these maps should look very different in a year as I plan to do more CW and phone work in 2018.  Probably not all 50 states but that is my goal.

My focus in 2017 was really in US counties.  My year-end total is 1113 confirmed out of 3137 counties (35%).  Confirmed all counties in five