QSOs made: 2,022
DXCC entities worked: 141
New DXCC entities worked: 4
Total DXCC worked and confirmed: 286
Solar cycle 25 is really starting to ramp up now and this is demonstrated clearly by the fact that for the first time in many years, the country I’ve worked the most is the USA with 436 QSOs.
Unsurprisingly, 15m is the band I used the most in 2022 as I’ve made a number of entries in various contests over the year and as I normally do, I’ve concentrated on 15m. It is still my favourite band.
It’s also no surprise to see that I’ve worked more stations in Europe than any other continent in 2022 although it’s good to note that the percentage of North American stations is starting to creep up as well.
The four New DXCC entities worked in 2022 were Guinea, French Polynesia, Chatham Island and Central African Republic.
Another nice statistic shows that the majority of QSOs this year have been on SSB. With conditions improving, it’s nice not to have to rely on the data modes to make contacts.
It’s also quite refreshing to notice that the FTx modes aren’t the highest proportion of my data contacts. They’re fine to make contacts when conditions are bad but I’m very pleased that I’m making more QSOs with more traditional modes.
CW: 489
SSB: 846
RTTY: 432
FT4/8: 255
The Kenwood TS-890 and the Acom 1500 continue to perform flawlessly and each time I use the 890 in a crowded band, I’m astounded by the performance and how well the filtering works. When I look in my log at how close some of the QSOs are during busy contests, it’s just incredible. The Acom is a ‘set it and forget it’ amplifier. It takes a few seconds to tune but it just handles everything I throw at it completely effortlessly. I’ve still never heard the fans ramp up a level, even after running RTTY for many hours at a time. It’s a proper workhorse.
All in all, I’ve had a decent year despite having to make repairs to the Hexbeam again. This has taught me that buying second hand aerials isn’t a good idea and I’m unlikely to do it again. I’m seriously considering replacing the Hexbeam in 2023 but I’m struggling to find anything that can give me such good coverage in such a reasonable sized package. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
