ARRL January VHF Contest
Call: N8RA
Operator(s): N8RA
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Connecticut FN31tl
Operating Time (hrs): 13
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 64 25
2: 53 16
222: 2 1
432: 2 1
-------------------
Total: 121 43 Total Score = 5,375
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
There is only so long a sailor can be on dry land before the desire to go to
sea becomes unbearable.
There is only so long a contester can be away from the sport before the
longing becomes unbearable.
After 2 years of being off the air while we transitioned to a new QTH, I
started taking some time here and there to piece the station back together.
The short-term goal was to get on for this January?s VHF contest. Our new
QTH was in part chosen for its promise as a ?good VHF location? and I was
anxious to try it out.
Observations and comments:
The first angst came a month ago, upon unpacking the Orion. I found it had
lost all its configuration parameters, did not power up well, and would not
retain any new parameters. Suspecting a backup battery in it somewhere (not
documented in the manual nor could I find it on the schematic) the T-T
archives had a discussion of an encapsulated Lithium cell that sometimes
needs to be replaced, plus a warning that if the Orion is not powered on
every month or so that it could totally discharge and fail. Hmmm, after
being packed away for 2 years, this might be it. Leaving the radio on for a
day to attempt a recharge did not work so I ordered the part from Mouser and
replaced it. Voila! the radio powered up properly and now retains the
entered config. (The old Li cell read 0.25V.)
For antennas, I erected a 20? mast about 40 feet behind the house with two
5el 2M yagis (one at the top and another 18? below it pointed 60 degrees
apart with a coax relay to select which one), and a 3el 6M yagi at 15?. The
rotor is an Armstrong type activated after loosening the brake with ½?
wrenches. I felt a bit like a fixed portable rover station
There is an S3-4 line noise from the W-SW on 6M that hurt that band. It is
not heard on 2M. I do not yet know about HF. That noise disappears during
rainy weather so is likely something outdoors. Of course, it was a dry
weekend so the noise made 6M difficult.
And when the mast was turned to point 2M toward the house, the receiver
noise floor increased by a couple of S units. This hiss type noise did not
sound different than the usual band noise and it would be easy to disregard
it if it had not been directional (just as W1HIS has been cautioning us
about). The source turned out to be the basement LED ceiling lights, so I
went around turning off all LEDs in the house for the weekend and scrounged
up some incandescent bulbs to put into table lamps for nighttime lighting.
6M did not seem to be affected by the LEDs though. Time to order those
ferrites!
The house itself seemed to be a highly effective shield for 2M! It is higher
than and directly between the temporary antennas and Boston area grid FN42.
When switching between the two 2M antennas, the off axis one could hear FN42
stations weakly off the side, but the on axis one pointed at it thru the
house had nada! This neighboring grid was not worked on 2M but all the grids
around it were! Go figure.
MSK144 saved 6M. Even with the line noise problem out to the west, this
amazing mode allowed logging 13 more grids, some on meteors and some on
tropo blips. It was sure ?fun? to mediate N1MM logger and WSJT-X for PTT
control and setup of the Windows sound manager since I also route my
microphone thru the computer.
To put a stake in the ground on two other frequency bands, I made a few
contacts on 222 and 432 Mhz. For 222 I simply laid the driven element half
of a yagi on the joists of an unfloored raised deck and pointed it at the
prechosen target station. For 432 I was going to do the same but forgot to
change the feedline connected to the radio for that band. Those 432 MHz
contacts were made on a clip lead attached to a mobile mag mount sitting in
the basement! Good ears guys!
All in all, it was great fun trying out the new location and renewing old
acquaintances. The location does seem good for VHF but low power and
especially the small and low antennas were limitations. The best SSB contact
was having my CQ answered by an FM08 station 400 miles away on 2M! But in
many cases stations that I could clearly hear could not hear me at all;
frustrating, but also motivating to get a better setup constructed this
summer.
TNX all and 73,
Chet, N8RA
FN31tl
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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