ARRL 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest - 2022
Call: NV4B/R
Operator(s): NV4B
Station: NV4B/R
Class: Rover HP
QTH: AL
Operating Time (hrs): 16
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
222: 24
432: 28
903:
1.2: 2
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
------------
Total: 54 Total Score = 27,932
Club:
Team:
Comments:
I operated principally from Colbert Heights Mountain in EM64dq on Saturday, with
additional short stops on the mobile antennas only in EM55va and EM65aa. Sunday
morning, I started from Woodall Mountain in EM54vs, then returned to Colbert
Heights Mountain for a few minutes near the end of the contest.
This contest presented quite a few challenges, yet somehow, I managed to beat my
score from last year by about 15%.
A minor illness prevented me from doing any work leading up to the contest,
which meant that I didn't have any new bands or other improvements to the
station other than what I've done for other contests/roves this year. In fact,
it wasn't until Saturday morning that I was sure I was going to rove at all.
Activity was palpably lower this year with several big-gun ops altering or
cancelling plans due to illness or other commitments.
Another challenge was weather -- although I managed to stay dry until around my
planned tear-down time at Colbert Heights Mountain in EM64dq on Saturday,
Huntsville was affected by severe thunderstorms pretty much the entire
afternoon, eliminating the possibility of working many of the UHF ops there.
After spending most of Sunday at Woodall Mountain, I felt it was a good strategy
to return to Colbert Heights and attempt to work some of the "fresh
meat" that was QRV Sunday but not Saturday. Although a good idea in
principle, the weather quickly turned and made it dangerous to set up antennas.
I scrambled around in the final hour looking for a dry (and lightning-free) spot
where I could set up antennas in EM64, and failed -- miserably -- driving into
even worse thunderstorms. My last QSO occurred at 1711Z.
Finally, propagation was mostly absent all weekend. QSOs that have been
relatively easy in past contests required real effort in this one. Still, I
managed a handful of 400+ mile QSOs from my hilltop locations.
Despite all of the challenges, it never ceases to amaze me what can be worked at
222 and up. I worked one new grid on 222 and three new grids on 432 in the
contest. I really hope the ARRL keeps this one on the schedule so that when I'm
(hopefully!) feeling 100% next year, I can further refine my rover operation at
222+, add more bands, better promote the contest ahead of time locally, and have
even more fun.
Equipment:
222: Yaesu FT-736R + Mirage C2512G at 120W, Directive Systems 10-element
"Rover" yagi, M² HO loop
432: ICOM IC-9700 at 75W, Directive Systems 15-element "Rover" yagi,
Efactor horizontal loop
1296: ICOM IC-9700 at 10W, Directive Systems 25-element loop yagi
Best DX:
222: WQ0P EM54vs<>EM19wf 537 mi/860 km
432: AA5C EM54vs<>EM13se 488 mi/781 km
1296: WD9EXD EM64dq<>EM57rp 205 mi/329 km
Average DX per band:
222: 198 mi/319 km
432: 189 mi/305 km
1296: 167 mi/268 km
Mode breakdown:
FT8 Q65 FM
222 22 1 1
432 25 0 3
1296 2 0 0
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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