2010 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
02/03/2010 |
W9SZ
Every year I enter this contest as a Single Op (QRP) Portable. Sometimes I wonder why. Maybe its for the adventure of it. I never know what conditions will be like, weather-wise or otherwise. Ive set up and taken down antennas in ice storms and blizzards as well as on cold, clear weekends in past years.
This year brought unseasonably warm temperatures (45 degrees F) with rain and wind. I only had part of Sunday to operate due to other commitments on Saturday. When I woke up on Sunday it was raining. It kept raining most of the morning but I decided to set out at about 10 am because the weatherman had promised it would quit around noon. But I came really close to giving it up while eating breakfast!
I got to the hilltop at about 11 am. It was still raining but a little less. I waited till about 11:30 am when it had diminished to a drizzle and started setting up the antennas. The rain quit around noon but the wind was ferocious. I was sure the antennas were going to blow over. Somehow, by tightening the guy ropes on the masts to within a pound of their lives, none of them fell over this year. The hilltop was sort of a cross between a muddy swamp and the remains of snow drifts. My antennas were set up in the muddy swamp area but I had to walk through a pile of about 6 inch deep snow with a few inches of water at the bottom to get to the antenna masts (Armstrong rotor!). Every time I stepped through the icy water in my boots, my feet froze and Id have to warm them in the car. The station was set up in the car and I kept the car running most of the time to stay warm.
I did make a discovery. My microwave dish mounted on a tripod wanted to blow over. I came up with the idea of bracing two of the tripod legs against my car on the windward side to keep it from falling over. This worked quite well.
Conditions were poor. I got started at about 1 pm local time. I had no trouble working people through 432 but the higher bands were much more difficult. All bands 902 and above had rapid, deep QSB. Signals would be S7 to S9 one moment and down in the noise the next. But people stuck with it and were willing to put forth the effort to complete the QSOs. Thanks to everyone I worked!
I managed to work K2DRH on all bands from 144 through 3456 MHz. I knew conditions were poor when Bob was weak on 2304 and 3456. Usually hes quite loud at my end on these bands. Bob gave me my only microwave QSOs. Other operators who I might have worked through 10 GHz were noticeably absent on Sunday afternoon. In fact, a lot of the regulars I have worked in past contests were noticeably absent in this one. Maybe it was the football games?
There were a few brief openings. I managed to work K9MU, W0VB and N4QWZ on lower bands. W0VB in EN34 was probably my best DX in this contest.
The temperatures started steadily falling in the late afternoon. They were below freezing after sunset, as evidenced by formerly wet feedlines and masts now being covered with ice. I pulled the plug at 7 pm, packed up and went home.
So will I operate QRP Portable in this contest next year? Well see! -- W9SZ
This year brought unseasonably warm temperatures (45 degrees F) with rain and wind. I only had part of Sunday to operate due to other commitments on Saturday. When I woke up on Sunday it was raining. It kept raining most of the morning but I decided to set out at about 10 am because the weatherman had promised it would quit around noon. But I came really close to giving it up while eating breakfast!
I got to the hilltop at about 11 am. It was still raining but a little less. I waited till about 11:30 am when it had diminished to a drizzle and started setting up the antennas. The rain quit around noon but the wind was ferocious. I was sure the antennas were going to blow over. Somehow, by tightening the guy ropes on the masts to within a pound of their lives, none of them fell over this year. The hilltop was sort of a cross between a muddy swamp and the remains of snow drifts. My antennas were set up in the muddy swamp area but I had to walk through a pile of about 6 inch deep snow with a few inches of water at the bottom to get to the antenna masts (Armstrong rotor!). Every time I stepped through the icy water in my boots, my feet froze and Id have to warm them in the car. The station was set up in the car and I kept the car running most of the time to stay warm.
I did make a discovery. My microwave dish mounted on a tripod wanted to blow over. I came up with the idea of bracing two of the tripod legs against my car on the windward side to keep it from falling over. This worked quite well.
Conditions were poor. I got started at about 1 pm local time. I had no trouble working people through 432 but the higher bands were much more difficult. All bands 902 and above had rapid, deep QSB. Signals would be S7 to S9 one moment and down in the noise the next. But people stuck with it and were willing to put forth the effort to complete the QSOs. Thanks to everyone I worked!
I managed to work K2DRH on all bands from 144 through 3456 MHz. I knew conditions were poor when Bob was weak on 2304 and 3456. Usually hes quite loud at my end on these bands. Bob gave me my only microwave QSOs. Other operators who I might have worked through 10 GHz were noticeably absent on Sunday afternoon. In fact, a lot of the regulars I have worked in past contests were noticeably absent in this one. Maybe it was the football games?
There were a few brief openings. I managed to work K9MU, W0VB and N4QWZ on lower bands. W0VB in EN34 was probably my best DX in this contest.
The temperatures started steadily falling in the late afternoon. They were below freezing after sunset, as evidenced by formerly wet feedlines and masts now being covered with ice. I pulled the plug at 7 pm, packed up and went home.
So will I operate QRP Portable in this contest next year? Well see! -- W9SZ
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