2008 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
01/21/2008 |
KC2TA
I've not been active on "the world above 50 MHz" for a number of years, but caught the bug again. Having picked up a TS-2000 early in 2007, I was on the beginning steps of the journey to becoming more active. That all came to fruition last July when I was lucky enough to tune to six meters during an opening to the west & southwest. That was it -- I was hooked again.
I was using my CL-33 thru the rig's tuner on six for a number of months. Wouldn't you know that during the week leading up to the contest I couldn't get the tuner to accept the antenna. So, I threw together a dipole and got it up as best as can be expected when the trees in the yard have only been around since the house was built twelve years ago -- so they aren't great for getting dipoles off the ground. Plus, I have a tubular tower that is NEARLY impossible to attach a dipole to. With the nearest "large" trees over 200 feet away, the best I could do was about 25 feet up.
But it worked! EL87, 88, 96, 97, & 99, EM70 & 90 with a dipole up 25 feet. Got some decent reports locally on it also.
Conditions weren't all that good and it was probably as cold IN the basement shack as it was outside, but it was fun to get back into the fray. Bumping into guys I hadn't spoken with in six or seven years can be a real experience. Trying to remember names, locations, bands and operating habits was well beyond my abilities.
Having other activities that had to be completed, i.e., taking my daughter back to college and watching the Giants beat Green Bay, Sunday had already been set up as a light contest day. From what I was hearing when I did run into the shack, there wasn't much I hadn't already worked.
But Sunday did result in a few new grids on two. FN00 and FN33 answered my CQ after I tried calling them in vain for twenty minutes -- both ssb & cw, earlier in the day. Caught FN43 on first call. I know to the purist these don't sound like much, but I just built a 7 element yagi for two a couple of weeks ago (DK7ZB design)and found that the coax on the tower was not in great shape, so I had a bit of a high SWR resulting in lower power being used.
I've seen better, but I'll take my total of 175 q's in 32 grids -- at least for this year. The tower is being dismantled, the yagis pulled and things will get moved to new digs sometime later this spring/early summer. BUT...there will be a station operational on three bands come next January.
The tower stays up until AFTER the CW DX contest!
73's,
Hank -- KC2TA
I was using my CL-33 thru the rig's tuner on six for a number of months. Wouldn't you know that during the week leading up to the contest I couldn't get the tuner to accept the antenna. So, I threw together a dipole and got it up as best as can be expected when the trees in the yard have only been around since the house was built twelve years ago -- so they aren't great for getting dipoles off the ground. Plus, I have a tubular tower that is NEARLY impossible to attach a dipole to. With the nearest "large" trees over 200 feet away, the best I could do was about 25 feet up.
But it worked! EL87, 88, 96, 97, & 99, EM70 & 90 with a dipole up 25 feet. Got some decent reports locally on it also.
Conditions weren't all that good and it was probably as cold IN the basement shack as it was outside, but it was fun to get back into the fray. Bumping into guys I hadn't spoken with in six or seven years can be a real experience. Trying to remember names, locations, bands and operating habits was well beyond my abilities.
Having other activities that had to be completed, i.e., taking my daughter back to college and watching the Giants beat Green Bay, Sunday had already been set up as a light contest day. From what I was hearing when I did run into the shack, there wasn't much I hadn't already worked.
But Sunday did result in a few new grids on two. FN00 and FN33 answered my CQ after I tried calling them in vain for twenty minutes -- both ssb & cw, earlier in the day. Caught FN43 on first call. I know to the purist these don't sound like much, but I just built a 7 element yagi for two a couple of weeks ago (DK7ZB design)and found that the coax on the tower was not in great shape, so I had a bit of a high SWR resulting in lower power being used.
I've seen better, but I'll take my total of 175 q's in 32 grids -- at least for this year. The tower is being dismantled, the yagis pulled and things will get moved to new digs sometime later this spring/early summer. BUT...there will be a station operational on three bands come next January.
The tower stays up until AFTER the CW DX contest!
73's,
Hank -- KC2TA
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