As predicted, this UHF contest was a real challenge for me to even be on the air, much less competitive. It all came together at the very last minute when repaired preamps, transverters and sequencers arrived on Thursday from both SSB and DEMI. Both Jerry and Steve really went out of their way to get me back on the air in record time. However they both warned me that there might be more failures later since lighting damage is such a difficult thing to repair since it tends to stress stuff that doesn’t blow outright. This is pretty well known about lighting damage, but I had little alternative since new equipment has longer lead time than was available. Of course they were right.

Jerry nailed all the sequencers and the 432 preamp, but was unable to repair the 1296 preamp in time (the jury is still out on IF it’s repairable). Steve got the 903 and the 1296 tranverters working as well as the microwave sequencer (modified with preamp & relay voltage supply) working, but the 1296 was down to 10mw thanks to an obsolete M67715 final. The microwave sequencer failed to supply 28V to the preamp relays and I traced it down to a failed contact on one of the switching relays. But wiring an old homebrew relay box in conjunction with the sequencer as a workaround for the one bad switching relay achieved the required result.

The lightning bit 1296 transverter failed to switch into TX while I was still testing it. Meanwhile W9HQ had sold me another old DEMI 1296 transverter (the S/N says it’s even older than mine) that arrived on Friday and worked fine (with a few switching modifications), but without the 1296 mast mount preamp it would be relatively deaf. I decided to go with an old SSB rover transverter I’d used 15 years ago in EM64 (the guts of the LT23 stripped down and nominally 1W out). I used to tower mount it with a small brick amp for about 10W out and it was mostly still working. A new voltage regulator chip and a new M57762 (luckily I had one) and I was in business again. The 3456 final amp in the tower box was toast, so I used the tower mounted 12V power supply for it and rigged the 3456 amp switching over to the old 1296 transverter tower box. Late Friday afternoon I hauled up the 432 preamp, the now partially gutted 2304 and 3456 preamp/relay/amp box and the 1296 transverter box. I was up the tower until well after dark.

Of course not everything immediately worked. Back up the tower on Saturday morning to find that the 1296 transverter RX/TX switching was not working (an RCA phono plug jumper that tested good on the ground then failed on the tower). No noise from the 2304 preamp translated to water in the feed line. When I took down the box to troubleshoot the 3456 amp, I apparently didn’t seal up one coax 100% (we have had monsoon rains and terrible humidity here in IL this year, my yard is a jungle). Luckily it affected just the Superflex rotor loop and not the 1 5/8 hardline. I drained it out (a temporary fix, it will have to be replaced) and replaced the connector on the bottom. I got this all done in three trips up and down the tower and still managed to shower and start the contest only 5 minutes late! Needless to say I was pretty tired by then.

While the first hour was pretty good, you could tell right away that conditions absolutely sucked. The 1296 kludge up worked well and I could hear again on 2304. The IF gain was pretty low on 1296 so I ran it through a 2M preamp in the shack and boosted it up to a better level. Rovermainia VII was not as heavily populated as previous years and the rovers who posted plans were mostly out of my rover range with the flat to minus conditions. I was thrilled when Zack W9SZ heard me in EN50 through the corn with only 20mw on 3456. But by late afternoon it was so slow I was able to catch a much needed hour nap (tower work in the heat and humidity takes a lot out of you). The evening was better and by bedtime I was on track for a decent effort. Nothing remarkable though. 6 hours of sleep sure felt wonderful.

Sunday morning conditions seemed to improve but the stations were just not there to work. I heard very little from the Twin Cities and even less out of Chicago. St Louis was a wasteland. W9FZ/R was doing his stalwart job and I would have swept him in 8 grids on all 5 bands we have in common had my 902/3 transverter not quit transmitting about mid morning. The promised delayed lighting damage, sigh. The rest of the stuff held together but I lost at least 10K from that failure. K9JK/R gave me some much needed mults by running a grid corner but the biggest thrill of the morning was to hear Steve AG4V 460 miles away in EM55 and work him on 1296. So while at least some prop was there, there were few around to work it!

I had to unplug around 1600Z and lost most of the next hour to a thunderstorm that had front winds in excess of 50MPH. The last hour was really slow after that. Considering the flat conditions and the ongoing equipment nightmares I’m pleased with the result, though it’s really down from the past two years. Anybody have a 902/3 transverter or 3456 (Toshiba brick) amp for sale?

73 de Bob