2011-12 Winter 80m Fox Hunt Analysis

The 2011-12 winter season of the 80m CW QRP Fox Hunts is over. Below are the final stats and maps for the event.

Welcome all you fox and hound participants and curious onlookers who are interested in my analysis and unofficial running results of this 2011-12 winter run of the 80m QRP Fox Hunt. In the past I have attempted to generate some additional interest in these QRP Fox Hunt events by providing online audio of the events as well as analysis through several scripts I’ve written to generate various standings and static maps. See my main QRP page link above to review past and recent content. This year I attempted to use my mad skills to leverage Google Maps and dynamically generated KML to cram several ranking views of both Foxes and Hounds into maneuverable and interactive maps. Read on to see the details of what I’ve done.

I am pleased to see most all Foxes used either N1MM and my UDC or provided the required log format to the qfox Yahoo Group reflector. When automatically parsing logs it is very importatnt that the entries follow a given format and in this case its “GMT_HHMM Hound_Call RST State Name Power”. More specifically an example log entry should look like this “0200 K1RA 559 VA 5W”. After manually checking and performing some minor cleanup of the logs and ensuring proper format I then wrote a script to collect Lat./Lon. and grid square info for all logged calls from an online server and saved the info to my server for later display. Next I wrote several more script to rank data extracted from the logs and plot that info on Google Maps using KML, a markup language for plotting points, lines and text on maps. Below are several map views into various ranking I developed. I will attempt to update these weekly through the remainder of the season. These are unofficial standings and are for entertainment purposes only. Please no wagering!

Its 03/28/2012, and I’ve collected 80m logs through week 20 and used them in the analysis maps below. These are my final UNOFFICIAL results.

All 80m Foxes
The map below ranks Foxes according to the number of Hound QSOs they completed. Their ranking is from highest to lowest. Within the map you may click and drag or use the buttons in the upper left to zoom and manuver. In the upper right you can toggle various may views to include a satellite view. Click on a green # icon to view the Fox details to include the total number of Hounds contacted, 1st & 2nd half season contacts, their best DX Hound, their average DX in miles, the number of states contacted and a state list breakdown. Finally, click on the View Larger Map link below this map to open another window and see a more interactive map listing all Fox calls and # QSOs with the ability to click and toggle more info on/off. Use these View Larger Map links throughout below if you are having trouble seeing the embedded image maps within this page.

All 80m Hounds
The map below ranks Hounds according to the number of Fox QSOs they completed. Their ranking is from highest to lowest. Within the map you can perform all the maneuver operations stated above. If you see some blue icons, you may need to zoom in to see all the icon number details. Click on a green # icon to view the Hound details to include their best DX Fox, their average DX in miles, the total number of Foxes contacted and a Fox list breakdown. Fox calls listed with -1 or -2 represent a Fox worked in the 1st or 2nd half of the season. Finally, click on the View Larger Map link below this map to open another window and see a more interactive map listing of all Hound calls with the ability to click and toggle more info on/off.

Best 80m Fox DX
The map below ranks the Top 30 DX Fox QSOs according to their distance in miles. Their ranking is from longest to shortest. Within the map you can perform all the maneuver operations stated above. If you can’t see all the green icons you may need to zoom in. Click on a green # icon to view the Fox details the Hound they contacted and their details, the DX in miles and the logged QSO. Click on any colored line to see a quick overview of the Fox to Hound DX. Finally, click on the View Larger Map link below this map to open another window and see a more interactive map listing of calls with the ability to click and toggle more info on/off.

Best 80m Hound DX
The map below ranks the Top 30 DX Hound QSOs according to their distance in miles. Their ranking is from longest to shortest. Within the map you can perform all the maneuver operations stated above. If you can’t see all the green icons you may need to zoom in. Click on a green # icon to view the Hound details the Fox they contacted and their details, the DX in miles and the logged QSO. Click on any colored line to see a quick overview of the Hound to Fox DX. Finally, click on the View Larger Map link below this map to open another window and see a more interactive map listing of calls with the ability to click and toggle more info on/off.

Pick an 80m Fox
The next form will allow you to dynamically generate a pop-up map that will plot all Hounds contacted by a particular Fox. Select a Fox call from the 1st half (-1) or 2nd half (-2) of the season then click Submit. You will then be redirected to an interactive Google Map that will list the Fox and all the successive contacts they made listed numerically down the left hand side of the page. Click on the Fox call to bring up detailed info about their log to include Best DX, Shortest DX, Average DX and a State breakdown. Click on any Hound call on the left to bring up details about that particular Fox to Hound QSO to include that actual log entry and the distance between stations. You may likewise click on any green # icon in the map to obtain the same info. Click on check boxes in the left pane to toggle info on/off.

Pick 2 80m Foxes
The next form will allow you to dynamically generate a pop-up map that will plot all Hounds contacted by two particular Foxes. Select a Fox call from each list box below and click Submit. You will then be redirected to an interactive Google Map that will list and compare both Foxes and all the contacts they made listed down the left hand side of the page. A red icon next to a call indicates a Hound was only contacted by Fox #1. A blue icon indicates a Hound was only contacted by Fox #2. A green icon indicated both Foxes contacted the Hound. Click on the Fox call to bring up detailed info about their log to include Best DX, Shortest DX, Average DX and a State breakdown. Click on any Hound call on the left to bring up details about that particular Fox to Hound QSO to include that actual log entry and the distance between stations. You may likewise click on any # icon in the map to obtain the same info. You may need to zoom in to the map to see all numbered icons. Click on check boxes in the left pane to toggle info on/off.

Pick an 80m Hound
The final form will allow you to dynamically generate a pop-up map that will plot all Foxes contacted by a particular Hound. Type in a Hound call and then click Submit. You will then be redirected to an interactive Google Map that will list all the Foxes and whether or not the Hound completed a contact. Click on the Hound call to bring up detailed info about their season to date to include Best DX, Shortest DX, Average DX and a Fox breakdown. Click on any Fox call on the left to bring up details about that particular Hound to Fox QSO to include that actual log entry and the distance between stations. You may likewise click on any colored icon in the map to obtain the same info. Click on check boxes in the left pane to toggle info on/off.

If anyone is interested in the log I used or the call sign position data, it can be seen at the following link. Again I cleaned up some of the logs and had to remove some bogus/busted calls if they had no valid location data.

If you are interested in my 40m Fox Hunt analysis please click here to see something I did similar to above with the 80m Fox Hunt logs for this season.

Comments, questions, suggestions, etc? Please use the comments form below to leave a reply or you can contact me directly at k1ra @ k1ra . us

73 and enjoy!

8 Responses to 2011-12 Winter 80m Fox Hunt Analysis

Bill Cunningham says:

January 13, 2012 at 5:50 pm

Great job, Andy, and very interesting. I miss my old QTH, especially the inverted L that produced the longest QSO path to Pacific NW 🙂 At present, have attic antenna farm with dipoles on 2 perpendicular axes. The 80m dipole is a real cloud warmer made from 20m dipole – trap – loading coil, with Z-shape extensions sloping down the roof. Finally got the loading satisfactorily adjusted and am just happy to be QRV on 80m. Would feel lucky to finish the season with 50% pelts, especially with local QRN source near low end of the hunt window.

72,
Bill C
Pat Whelton - KZ5J says:

January 14, 2012 at 11:10 am

Andy. Thanks for taking the time to put together some very interesting visual statistics. While I didn’t read all of the accompaning narative I did play around with data that pertained to my station and close competitors. Very interesting. Any chance you will do the same for 40 mtrs?

Again thanks for putting the package together.

Regards,

Pat – KZ5J
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Dale - WC7S says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:15 pm

This is simply wonderful. A very useful and interesting presentation. Thank you Andy, very helpful too!
Jim Stoneback K4AXF says:

February 21, 2012 at 11:10 pm

Amazing work, Andy! Awesome!
Jay Henson says:

March 28, 2012 at 2:33 pm

Nice work Andy! This just adds pleasure to the fun of the hunts. Thanks.
Bert says:

March 29, 2012 at 5:54 am

Well, what can I say? The only Fox I managed to work this season was 2 separate contacts with Jim, K9JWV. On 80M I’m obviously severely compromised by my antenna restrictions. Both contacts were made with my 40M Delta Loop which is quite uniquely radially mounted on TV Feedline Standoffs(12″) on the back wall of my mobile home. It gives me a 1/4wave radiator, vertically polarized on 80M. Even at full power(100W) I have only managed to work 17 states and 9 Countries. QRP I have only 3 states, CA, OR and UT(K9JWV). I am working on an experimental Helical antenna for 40, 80 and 160. It will consist of 265ft of wire wound on a 12ft length of 3″ diameter PVC Pipe, mounted vertically on a large plastic shipping pallet that I have obtained for the purpose. Its ends will be tied together through the interior of the pipe and it will be fed at the center to electrically form a loop so that it will function as a balanced antenna, isolated from ground. At a later date I may perform further tests on it with its bottom end connected to a number of radials, buried under the grass in the back yard. I have friend, Fred, K6DGW of the Northern California Contest Club who has designed a similar helical radiator wound on 1.5″ PVC pipe. I’m going to try mine a little physically larger to allow the wire to be a little wider spaced on the pipe. I’ll give it try, hopefully next Winter Fox Hunt Season. Thanks to our organizing committee and our devoted Foxii for a great Fox Hunt experience this year. Bert, K6CSL
Johnny AC0BQ says:

March 29, 2012 at 10:45 pm

Nice job Andy! Your database work and map overlays are very interesting.
Thanks for your efforts.
72
Johnny AC0BQ

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2011-12 Winter 80m Fox Hunt Analysis

8 Responses to 2011-12 Winter 80m Fox Hunt Analysis

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