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2008 ARRL September VHF Contest

09/15/2008 | N6VMO The great central California weather and my operating location made this September's contest very enjoyable, despite some equipment failures.

My plan was to operate two bands, 144Mhz and 1296MHz from the Satellite Amateur Radio Club site on Vandenberg AFB.

Saturday morning revealed a 'N' connector failure on the 1296Mhz antenna coax running up the tower. This caused a high SWR measurement on this band and I was only able to manage one local QSO on 1296.

The rest of the day went well, with 144MHz contacts trickling in until 1600PDT, a great time to break for dinner.

The local marine layer decided to hold off the coast and allowed me to work WSJT on 144MHz moon-bounce (EME)to increase my grid multipliers.

The clear skies made the full moon easy to track. I gathered 7 grids before another equipment failure occurred. While CQ'ing on the moon, I noted that my 144MHz 8877 amplifier grid current was excessive. This caused me to shut down and examine the cause. I discovered that my tower mounted 144MHz preamp relay had flashed over and destroyed the preamp. It was time to turn in for the night.

On Sunday morning, I removed the preamp, installed an 'N' adapter and continued operations until 1030PDT. I was able to pick up 10 more QSO points and a new grid multiplier.

My 144MHz QSO count is comparable to my past contest operations. I managed 66 144MHz Q's, 1 1296MHz Q in 22 grids. A preliminary score of 1518 points. -- N6VMO


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