 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
Missed the June contest due to being on "night float" rotation at work. So for September, guess what? More night float! I did manage to get on for one hour and made two contacts. I almost didn't submit a score, but wanted to show my support for the contest, the portable category, and the ARRL.
Two QSOs, two grids, total score: 4 points! Things can only get better!
73, Jim N3AWS EM90
Sunday sunset KF0Q/0 EN43dw |
My station was nestled in the corner between the corn and the alfalfa at the end of a field road on a hundred acre farm here in southeast Minnesota. I do not own this land – I just ask permission from the owner/s of the property a few times a year when I can fit a contest in. I have never had an issue with them, and they seem to hardly know that I am around. There is a decent paved road leading to the property and a nice field road too to the site (about a half mile from the pavement), which makes it easy to get to. The site is just a few miles inside EN43, which can be nice sometimes as there is less activity in the grid.
I used 2 portable push up masts that have guy ropes tied off at 120 degrees for mounting the 8 yagis. The larger 36 ft mast has three tiers of guy ropes while the smaller mast for 222 on up only needed one set. The ‘6MX5 was damaged this summer and I needed a couple lengths of aluminum tube for the repair. Even though the parts were ordered several days in advance they still hadn’t showed up in time for setup on Friday afternoon! I normally put the 50MHz antenna on the top of the stack, but this year I got started without it and put the KLM yagi for 144 on the top. Late Friday night however; the parts arrived so I was able to fix the M2 and mount it Saturday morning. (As we all found out six never really opened any way).
The operating position was atop my 24” deep folding camping table inside a tent. An Astron power supply was used inside for just one load; the 902-144 xverter. Two rotor boxes were used for the CDE AR33 and Yaesu 1000 rotators on the pushup masts. Most of the 7 feedlines and 2 IF cables fit neatly in the corner of the tent where I didn’t have to trip over them too much. One thing that hadn’t occurred to me was the lack of heat available at the operating position. Typically I have plenty of heat from the gear, but running low power this time out (and with temps in the upper 40’s in the morning and night) it was cold!
An IC746PRO used for 50MHz and the IF for 902,2304,3456 as well as 146MHz FM for local contacts. I added a optoisolator inverting circuit to the PTT output of the ‘746 PRO to get +12V on xmt used for the PTT H needed on all my Down East xverters that are set up for 10W common IF on 144. PTT keying between the IF rig and the xverter was performed manually by selecting the correct line and plugging it in to the ‘746PRO cable. A 4 - position N coax switch was used to switch between each xverters or the 146 antenna. The 2304 and 3456 xverters were tower mounted in a Nema 3R hoffman enclosure along with an Astron SS-18 power supply.
Antennas: M2 6MX5, KLM 16LBX, Butternut 2MCV-5 Vertical, 222 ‘FO style homebrew 16 element, M2 432-9WL, Directive Systems LY’s 902 –3456MHz: 3333, 2345, 1376, 9112
Rigs: IC746PRO, FT736R, Down East 902-144, 2304-144, 3456-144
I got on the air a bit later than expected, but I wanted to make sure all the gear was working on all bands. I was pleased with the 144 station this time out - working some grids to the south that are typically a challenge for me with higher power. I was thrilled to work K9SM in EM59 some 350+ miles to my south late Saturday! It was really nice run in to and run the bands with Tim and Pat K0PG/R, K9ILT/R with the rover stack pointing right at me! I had no idea that I would have so many contacts on 902… SSB for that matter!
For all the effort my setup was not without problems. My larger stack of 144 and 6M antennas tossed around in the wind repeatedly and caused my bearing to drift big time. I must have twisted my back while mounting the 2304/3456 transverters up on the mast before the contest. I pulled the switch Saturday night and went home to get warm and get some rest. The 5KW generator sputtered now and again on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon I found out why. After I turned the unit off for refuel – I couldn’t keep the generator running for more than 2 minutes. The low lube light said that the level was below safe. I added oil (that didn’t work). (Obviously I checked it before the contest start -). I pulled the spark plug and discovered no spark. Then I drained and refilled the crankcase to the correct level to no avail. At this stage I concluded that the low oil circuit was hyperactive. The station went quiet for a few hours Sunday afternoon while a figured out another source of power – which turned out to be my 130AH rover battery! The battery did the trick for the next sevral hours. In total I ended up with some 213 qso’s, and beat my previous score from ‘2001 substantially. Finished up (at 0258Z) with K0MHC/0 for EN26 on 902 CW … Thanks Jim! Not sure what the next adventure will be – perhaps I will try portable for the January event some time.
73,
de
Well this was a "TOUGH" contest here in EM80 by any standard.Both bands I was working(6 & 2 meters) were pretty FLAT.Two meters was much better than Six but nothing to brag about.This was only my second VHF contest and I guess I was a little spoiled from the conditions back in June 2003 when both bands were pretty wide open here.My score this time does NOT look very impressive on paper but it was the best I could do under those conditions.Guess we will see how they compare to others when the totals are all in!Looking forward to the next contest anyway,GOOD or BAD conditions I am READY.
Clayton,
EM80,
NFL
When will we ever learn? A carefully considered schedule is always laid out ahead of time and communicated to the VHF contest community. Fooey! Our first stop in north central Iowa was so good we trashed our planned leaving time and stayed as long as the Qs kept coming.
We headed off to Minnesota and ran into some rain and construction near Rochester. We wound up taking the wrong road and found ourselves almost to Iowa, instead of almost to Wisconsin. We always try to make lemonade out of lemons, and we wound up overnighting in Decorah, Iowa where we stayed in the VIP suite at the Motel 8 (living large on the road). Sunday morning found us on a great hilltop putting out EN43. As we moved on, we found a new favorite spot for EN42, so the Iowa detour worked out well. It kept us from making a couple of planned stops later Sunday, but our QSO rate was fine, and we were enjoying the trip.
A real highlight was having Mark, N8KWX surprise us at our EN62 spot. He brought along his Laser gear, allowing us to make a light QSO.
It's great to travel along with the regulars, and get to meet some new friends too. Overall, 972 miles, 13 grids, and about 450 Qs each.
We made our best score to date, with about 78K each. We're already working on our January plans, hope to see you then! 73, Tim K0PG and Pat K9ILT the "Rovairs Extraordinaires"
Turkey farm at our EN23 spot. They sure smell different on Thanksgiving! |
Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin. |
Mark, N8KWX, in laser QSO with Pat. |
W1RDB accumulates contest number two. |
Without too much effort, we managed to get on 50-1296 (minus 903). We brought the transverters for 903, 2G, 3G, and 10G, but didn't get them set up because of the short time we had. We used an old 'NKR lash-up of single-boom, multi-band yagis. No two elements of the antennas were in the same plane. They worked, though.
Things we learned:
- If you're not ready for June you won't be any more ready for September. The 5GHz rig still isn't tuned up. The PAs and LNAs for all the microwave bands are still on the workbench. And the bandswitcher is still lacking something-or-other...
- In New England at least, if you go to a conveniently accessible site you'll share it with a FB rover/portable. In August N1JEZ elmered us through a couple of tight microwave shots. In September W1BQ showed us what a truly impressive road-worthy antenna farm looks like.
- No matter how rudimentary your equipment or antennas, you work more folks with them than if you had left them at home. (Corollary: You win more contests by submitting logs than by not doing so. I took Rhode Island one year and Canada another by using this tactic.)
ARRL ...Sept... VHF...Contest...2003...NØURW...EN41GO... *** During editing of my 1st soapbox entry ,,, I suffered a fatal error & poof,, no more soapbox,,, it had vanished so I re-posted the edited version.***
Greetings All...It had been raining here since friday night & didn't look to be stopping any time soon...( yes we really needed the rain,, a couple of weeks earlier would of been better but you take what you can get) In the past I try to be well prepared for contest weekend..This time I was not... Too much going on ,so ham radio had to take a 2nd place on the priority list...As the contest started out Saturday,I found no tropo on 6 meters ,,,, The June & July contests had blessed me with fabulous conditions on 6 & 2 meters.. But not this time...6 meters is my primary band now , (4-6 el.yagi's) after taking down my monster 2 meter array..( 8-11 el. yagi's ) just after the July cq vhf contest for major upgrades... It will be back up bigger & taller & with elevation control by the June 2004 contest...I put up a small 7 el. homebrew antenna on 2 just for the contest...It worked well as I made several contacts both days , but missed alot I would of normally had no trouble contacting with the monster.. I decided to switch from the low power section to the hi-power section in a attempt to grab a few new grids & contact some of the distant rovers I could just hear...( it worked ) I unplugged the 170 watt bricks on 2 & 6 ... Plugged in the old 600+ watt mirage brick on 2 & the Heathkit HL-2200 amp. ( converted to 6 meters)
The increased power helped me alot with no tropo to speak of on 6 both days. I did pick up a few east coast contacts Sunday morning on 6 ( scatter ). I'm happy to say my 222 setup was still working great, even in the rain, & even after turning up the drive in the dem transverter to feed my amp to 265 watts. After having problems with my 432 setup in June & Aug. , it too was working great... ( about time ) ... I found my 1296 setup was water logged & just barely made 1 contact. A BIG thanks goes out to everyone I did make contact with,& once again the rovers were a main part of my log...Just wish 6 would of opened up...even a little would of been nice... Some how the rest of my family misunderstood which weekend the contest was & had planned lots to do at home. So as to not make the xyl any more mad than she was , left me with just over 12 hours of actual sitting in front of the radios.
Still this was a very good test in the rain under very poor conditions from my qth & I was very happy with my score... This being the 2nd year without any 6 meter enhancement has me re-thinking my strategy...
January will be here before you know it & I have lots to do before then . I'll listen 4 U to call in January so look for me on 6.... Dan (Ö¿Ó)
What a difference a few months make compared to the June VHF QSO Party. No Es, F2 or tropo from Bermuda in the Sept. contest. I stayed at Ed, VP9GE's QTH. Hurricane Fabian had knocked off the electricity at his home, so I ran the contest "Field Day" style with generators. Only contest QSOs completed were on 6M. I CQed often on 2M but nil heard.
High points were working W2SZ/1 on 6M Sunday afternoon(who I missed in the June contest) and having a nice dinner at the "Lobster Pot" restaurant in downtown Hamilton with my family to celebrate my son's 22nd birthday. After dinner I finished the contest with a weak Es/scatter opening between 0100 - 0200 utc Sept. 15 to the northeast states. K1TOL had a great signal peaking a solid 579. WA2BPE and W3CMP were worked during this opening.
Some stations heard but not worked on 6M: W4IY, W8GG em78, K1WHS, K1JT, K1SIX, W2FU, K3YTL and N2PA. Believe W2FU heard me calling on CW, he would qrz, but could not complete. Seemed most ops had their antennas pointed away from Bermuda. At 1846 utc on Saturday I heard a station saying their grid was "EN19" on 50.150 ssb? That was the best DX heard.
Best DX worked on 6M was AA4ZZ EM96, K1TOL FN44 and WA2BPE FN12. A lot of work for only a few contacts. Was hoping for a tropo or big Es opening, but was not to be this time. Ran the IC-706MII at 100 watts to a 5 el M2 yagi at 20 feet on 6M, same radio with an amp and a "Jr Boomer" for 2M. Impressive to see how quickly the hard working people of Bermuda recovered from Hurricane Fabian's damage.
The Jr. Boomer 2M yagi at VP9/N0JK. Note the brown leaves on the trees. Ed said the salt spray from Hurricane Fabian killed many of the trees and plants. |
My oldest son Kevin, N0TZZ in Bermuda. |
Jon VP9/N0JK and Ed VP9GE enjoying dinner at the Lobster Pot restaurant. |
Looking towards the northeast USA from the 6M5X yagi. |
After the contest, N6NB/R and N6MU/R, joined by sports car rally driver Rob Hughes (left to right), pose with our 10-band rover vehicles in CN80. |
While N6NB/R operated in DM15, "designated driver" Rob Hughes took this sunset photo looking west toward the mountain ridge where the N6NB HF/VHF antenna farm is located. |
Thanks to Rob Hughes, a seasoned sports car rally driver, for helping with the driving and for setting as fast a pace as possible in an antenna-laden vehicle (definitely NOT a sport car).
For more details, please visit www.n6nb.com and check the page on roving.
73,
Wayne, N6NB
|
Finally the Rain stopped when I reached EN22/32 early Saturday evening |
Working thru 24Ghz from EN03/02 South Dakota late Sunday afternoon. |
Gene
N0DQS
|
Responsibility for content of all posted material rests exclusively with the item author. ARRL staff assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, and accuracy of items appearing on this page. All questions and comments should be directed to the item author. |
