2005 ARRL June VHF Contest
06/15/2005 |
K2DRH EN41
It started out like every other contest; equipment in need of repair and lots of tower work to be done. Somehow it all got finished in time and Saturday dawned full of promise. Es had been pretty scarce the previous week engendering hopes of a big opening on the weekend because we were about due. The contest started out so slow that I had to keep looking at the calendar to be sure it was the right weekend. Conditions were pretty flat and there was little to do but work at it one at a time. There were decent short duration Es openings to Texas and to Florida on 6M, but nothing really exciting that would produce a sustained run.
I was working one of those Es openings when disaster struck. Apparently a main power feeder pole went down due to a vehicle accident around 0100Z or 7PM CDT. Quickly putting Plan B into action, I flipped off the main breaker and ran out to the garage. The 7.5 KW generator is electric start but it had no battery so I had to jump start it with the lawn tractor. After inserting a back feed breaker in the garage main box I was back in business with only maybe 20 minutes lost. Tropo conditions were improving as the day cooled off and I had about an hour and a half of good activity with lots of Qs going into the log. I distinctly recall remarking while QSYing from 903 to 1296 that the generator would probably need gas soon. Within seconds of that prophetic statement it went down and I never made it to 1296.
This time I noticed it seemed to run really fast when it was cranking but it caught and came to life so I just attributed it to a strong tractor battery and a good connection. About 10 minutes later it died, never to return. That I could turn the flywheel easily with my finger told me it that wasnt going to run again soon (I later discovered some bolts had vibrated loose and it blew a head gasket). I was still in the garage with the door open when the lights came on in my neighbors house signaling a return to power. I ran downstairs, flipped the main on and the house came alive again. Id barely made it back upstairs and into the shack, rebooted the computers and started to get on for a WSJT sked at 0300 I was already late for when the all the lights went off again. This time they wouldnt be back again until 0830Z. I went into the basement with the light switch turned on so I would know right away when power was restored and tried to sleep on the spare bed, but I just pretty much laid there in the dark wondering what I was missing.
Of course I blew all my WSJT skeds and later sent around an email of apology to all the operators I stood up. With the conditions improving the way they were and the reports later that I missed a double hop opening to California Im sure I missed out on many Qs and mults that should have made it into my log. When the power finally came back on at 2:30AM CDT all I could hear were a couple multis calling CQ. I stayed up and worked some of the stations I made skeds with on random WSJT (a relatively easy process) but sadly could not find them all. Before I knew it, it was daylight again. Qs went steadily into the log again, but there were no runs.
By about 1830Z or 1:30 PM no sleep, no openings and a dead band due to the heat of the day conspired to make me take a nap. I turned the 6M antennas east and south anticipating that sounds of an Es opening would wake me up if such were to occur, never anticipating a mid-afternoon aurora. Luckily I woke up only a short while into it and after shaking out the cobwebs got down to business. The next three or so hours put over 250 Qs into the log. 6M was most productive and I found that by tracking the edge of the advancing and receding aurora between 30 and 50 degrees I could stay into the further South and East stations while still hearing the Midwest ones, albeit a bit weaker.
The evening passed with little success on the higher bands to the east, but good paths to the South and Northwest. As the final bell approached I turned my antennas NW and was pleasantry surprised by a number of familiar stations on 2M Id not heard yet, so the contest ended with a small but intense pileup.
73 de Bob -- K2DRH
I was working one of those Es openings when disaster struck. Apparently a main power feeder pole went down due to a vehicle accident around 0100Z or 7PM CDT. Quickly putting Plan B into action, I flipped off the main breaker and ran out to the garage. The 7.5 KW generator is electric start but it had no battery so I had to jump start it with the lawn tractor. After inserting a back feed breaker in the garage main box I was back in business with only maybe 20 minutes lost. Tropo conditions were improving as the day cooled off and I had about an hour and a half of good activity with lots of Qs going into the log. I distinctly recall remarking while QSYing from 903 to 1296 that the generator would probably need gas soon. Within seconds of that prophetic statement it went down and I never made it to 1296.
This time I noticed it seemed to run really fast when it was cranking but it caught and came to life so I just attributed it to a strong tractor battery and a good connection. About 10 minutes later it died, never to return. That I could turn the flywheel easily with my finger told me it that wasnt going to run again soon (I later discovered some bolts had vibrated loose and it blew a head gasket). I was still in the garage with the door open when the lights came on in my neighbors house signaling a return to power. I ran downstairs, flipped the main on and the house came alive again. Id barely made it back upstairs and into the shack, rebooted the computers and started to get on for a WSJT sked at 0300 I was already late for when the all the lights went off again. This time they wouldnt be back again until 0830Z. I went into the basement with the light switch turned on so I would know right away when power was restored and tried to sleep on the spare bed, but I just pretty much laid there in the dark wondering what I was missing.
Of course I blew all my WSJT skeds and later sent around an email of apology to all the operators I stood up. With the conditions improving the way they were and the reports later that I missed a double hop opening to California Im sure I missed out on many Qs and mults that should have made it into my log. When the power finally came back on at 2:30AM CDT all I could hear were a couple multis calling CQ. I stayed up and worked some of the stations I made skeds with on random WSJT (a relatively easy process) but sadly could not find them all. Before I knew it, it was daylight again. Qs went steadily into the log again, but there were no runs.
By about 1830Z or 1:30 PM no sleep, no openings and a dead band due to the heat of the day conspired to make me take a nap. I turned the 6M antennas east and south anticipating that sounds of an Es opening would wake me up if such were to occur, never anticipating a mid-afternoon aurora. Luckily I woke up only a short while into it and after shaking out the cobwebs got down to business. The next three or so hours put over 250 Qs into the log. 6M was most productive and I found that by tracking the edge of the advancing and receding aurora between 30 and 50 degrees I could stay into the further South and East stations while still hearing the Midwest ones, albeit a bit weaker.
The evening passed with little success on the higher bands to the east, but good paths to the South and Northwest. As the final bell approached I turned my antennas NW and was pleasantry surprised by a number of familiar stations on 2M Id not heard yet, so the contest ended with a small but intense pileup.
73 de Bob -- K2DRH
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