Pre-contest remarks: Put up new 6M, 2M, and 903 temporary antennas in time
for the contest. Decided to leave the damaged but working 222 antenna in
place (half of a FO-16 tilted upward 20 degs.). I wasn't going to run 2304
because the looper looked like a broken pretzel, but decided to climb the
tower Friday night to install the transverter anyway (might be good enough
for a few local Q's). Climbed down and swore at the thermometer. Discovered
transverter not transmitting. Contest morning awoke to -5F but climbed
tower 1 hour before contest to fix it anyway. Swore at self for hooking up
wrong wire in dark the night before. Swore at thermometer again.
Post-contest remarks: the cold WX must have kept lots of folks home, as it
seemed there was a hotbed of activity on 6 and 2M. Too bad my power line
noise on those bands was S7-S9 most of the weekend and I couldn't hear half
of it. Had to leave the shack 3 hrs. Sunday afternoon to visit my Mom and
miss most of the 6M E opening. This reaffirms my suspicion that 6M always
opens as soon as I pull out of the driveway. Condx on the upper bands were
rotten right up until Sunday night when the bands seemed at least flat
again. I'd like to describe what I considered my 2 best contacts. WA1MBA on
3456: Tom is nearly 60 miles away. The challenge was I had no 3456 antenna
- after all, it was buried in a snowbank at the base of the tower, a victim
of the last icestorm. On closer inspection, however it was discovered that
the boom snapped just forward of the rear mount U-bolt clamp, leaving the
driven element and reflector on the mast - a 2 el. yagi - yet Tom was still
40dB/S9!
My other best contact was WA2LTM on 2304 at 100+ miles - I explained to
Doug it was not worth trying since the front half of my looper was bent
down 20 degrees and half the loops were crushed flat. Amazingly, I heard
him weakly and tried to peak but there was no directivity left in the
smashed antenna. What's truly amazing is Dougs' ears and ability to pull me
out despite a 60:1 power differential! Lastly, I've just got to say God
Bless all the die-hard Rovers that ventured in the deep-freeze to provide
us indoor ops with rare grids! Special TNX to K1DY/R and N6NB/R.
For what it's worth I posted my paltry breakdowns at
http://www.newsvhf.com/janscores.html
-73, Ron WZ1V, FN31mp
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