I hate to even admit how bad this one was...
Band: QSOs x Grids
50: 6 x 5
144: 36 x 22
222: 6 x 5
432: 3 x 3
Comments:
I intended to work only the bands that have permanent/good antennas
here (144 and 222) but contest fever struck again! Things didn't
exactly go smoothly, but then it just wouldn't be a VHF contest
without a few glitches. Wednesday: 144 & 222 fired up with no smoke
or explosions (what?, no spiders in the high voltage supplies??!!).
Thursday: heavy rain and gusty winds, but I decided to put up a 6m
antenna. Gave up on the big beam after getting knocked on my butt by
gusts of wind a few times and instead mounted a much smaller antenna
on the temporary mast at 20'. The amp didn't seem to mind whatever
water got in the connector from the rain. Friday: geez, I think I
could get 4 yagis at very low height running on 432... why not? Got
that done and then through stupidity blew up the 144 amp!!!! Spent
the rest of Friday, Friday night, and Saturday morning frantically
trying to resuscitate the amp. Got it "sort of working" right at the
start of the contest. Whew!
Tropo conditions were absolutely the worst I've seen in years.
Horrible. But the hour of E skip on 144 Saturday evening was a very
nice treat! Why not 4 yagis at very low height on 432? Because it
doesn't work worth a darn, that's why not! Only made a couple of Q's
on 432, and congrats to those who managed to get me in the log on
that band. 6m wasn't far behind with the antenna acting more like a
dummy load. Umm, about that water...? (low height and small crummy
yagi probably had more to do with it though). This was my poorest
score in a number of years, due in part to having only two bands
working well, horrible tropo conditions, and being tired from too
many hours getting ready (read: too many hours of amp repair).
Activity seemed WAY down, but it may have been due to lack of ANY
tropo enhancement. I could find very few stations on 2m who had 222
capability, which contributed to lack of 222 Q's. I fell asleep
several times. Nevertheless, it was fun as always! I'm a masochist,
I'll be back for the next contest!
I'm not sure what, if any, improvements can be made before the
September contest. If I feel reasonably well this summer and can
find tower sections nearby, I may be able to do something about the
6m and/or 432 situation, but that's a pretty big "if". There's also
still the possibility of doing a "band swap" and making my two good
bands something different than what I have now.
See you all next time!
73,
Paul, N1BUG FN55mf
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