50 MHz Fall Sprint - 2019
Call: WW2Y
Operator(s): WW2Y
Station: WW2Y
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: FN11
Operating Time (hrs): 4
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 27 Mults = 17 Total Score = 459
Club: Mt Airy VHF Radio Club
Comments:
Hello all,
I used my portable setup during my short vacation on a 2,220 Ft. hill top at
Westfield, Pennsylvania near Pine Creek Gorge located in Tioga County. The
station consisted of a FT-991 and a Kings Conversion SB-220 6 meter amplifier
running approximately 500 Watts. Antenna is a Diamond A502HBR two element HB9CV
phased array attached to a extended 24 Ft. painters pole at a height of 32 Ft. I
didn't bring a rotor because of the added complexity plus I needed to get out of
the chair often.
Everything was set up and operational a day before the sprint. It became
immediately apparent to me that the site was very quiet and void of noise
sources compared to what I'm used to back home. I managed to work a fair number
of people on SSB, CW, and FT8. Towards the west they were from EN81 through FN14
and towards the east, FN43 through FM16. Stations from FN43, FN42, FN33, FN32,
FN31, FN20, FN21, FM29, and FM19 were easy to work due to a relatively sharp
land drop off on the eastern side of the hill. Made 13 meteor scatter contacts
during early Saturday morning including an easy contact with Sky, VE1SKY in
FN74. Reading reports from PJ client, I was being heard in LA and MS. I
mentioned to Sky there's a 6m sprint tonight and he said he'll get on late after
being at the movies. I was psyched to operate in the sprint from the initial
assessment capabilities of the station leading up to it.
The sprint had some exciting moments and not so much. At the start, I only
heard three people calling CQ sprint on SSB in the direction of population
centers of the northeast corridor and they were relatively loud. I called them
and easily exchanged reports from afar with N2NT, W3LPL whom I tail ended,
WA3NUF, and K3ZO. I caught N2NT's attention easily while he was running people
towards New England with his antenna pointing their way. Not a single soul was
heard in the CW segment during the first 1.25 hours. I called CQ often on SSB
and CW in hopes of generating some action. It felt like as if I was being
skunked fishing in a prime spot after a long journey getting there!
Eventually, in desperation I fell into the event horizon of the ON4KST chat page
black hole. That move wasn't much help either, oh well. But, it did result in a
QSO with WZ1V on CW, thanks Ron! However,to my amazement I did find K2ERG
calling CQ on 50,097 CW at 00:27Z with a strong signal from FN12 who had no
takers. A quick call and he's is in the log. Now we're cooking! Right.... Well,
20 minutes goes by without an additional contact and hearing the same few
stations that I've already worked. I had a brief conversation with N2SLN asking
him "where's everyone?" His response is what I expected, "I don't
know." He drove 2.5 hours to his site a grid above mine. What's worse is
that he had fair amount of noise to deal with.
I've resisted the gravitational pull of the digital black hole for almost 1.75
hours. Once again I was lured in by the temptation because the lack of activity
on SSB and CW. I had only 10 QSOs at this point! It's now the point of no
return. I jumped on 50.313 and the 2.5 KHz window had a waterfall of strong
signals including number of needed grids. W9KXI went into the log at 00:47Z.
Things had begun to pick up for a bit. I was able to work few stations by
calling them. It was interesting to hear loud stations stubbornly call CQ in
vain and not get replies since everyone had been worked. I thought the idea of
running people by CQing would be a productive one since I was in a unique grid
and relatively loud, like a bucket of chum being tossed into the water. Well,
several minutes would go by and people wouldn't bite. Once again I had to resort
to answer their CQs to make progress. The funny thing is that they're loud and
they come right back.
At about 0135Z, I decided to try MSK144 on 50.260 to work the distant stations.
It Became immediately apparent that it was a smart move and worked Peter, W4IMD,
EM84 who had numerous loud pings on almost every sequence. He was an easy
contact and VE1SKY, FN74 makes a schedule with N2NT a few KHz below 260 via PJ
Client. Went down to 254 to listen and heard Sky easily again and waited for
them to complete their exchange. I was confident that he was workable in short
order and he asks everyone else who wants to try on PJ Client and I chimed in
"sure." Once again that was another easy one. Thanks for showing up
Sky! I'm sure others appreciated it too. I was surprised that many of the
regulars on meteor scatter were absent too.
I went back to try SSB and CW. Nothing heard and headed back to FT8 to grab a
few more for an hour before the final bell toll.
Lets find a way to promote the awareness of future sprints, and other VHF/UHF
contests. They are a lot of fun. Also lets find a way to encourage people to try
SSB and CW modes in order to achieve an equilibrium of activity in digital, CW,
and SSB modes so the bands can be properly utilized. I hate to imagine we
amateurs have forfeited our precious frequency bands to commercial and
government interests because of lack of activity.
It was nice to hear everyone who got on and thank you for the contacts. Hope to
hear you in upcoming sprints and the ARRL September VHF Contest.
Peter WW2Y
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