ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Call: W2GD
Operator(s): K2SG, K2TW, N2HN, N2OO, N4HY, W2CG, W2GD
Station: W2GD
Class: M/S HP
QTH: SNJ
Operating Time (hrs): 34
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 1230 Sections = 74 Countries = 46 Total Score = 380,000
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Comments:
Station Description:
Former Marine Radio Service Coast Station, located on Barnaget Bay, near West
Creek, NJ
IC756ProII + Alpha 87A + IC746 Slave RX
IC765 + Alpha 76PA
NE Sloper with Delta Loop Reflector hung from 300' tower in salt marsh
Inverted L, 65' vertical, with 4 elevated radials, on edge of salt marsh
Phased 1000' terminated beverages NE
560' terminated beveage West
700' unterminated beverage South
The Story:
Three weeks before the contest a work party re-erected the NE/SW sloper array on
the 300 foot tower in the salt marsh, located over 500 feet from the station
building. We also walked/repaired beverages and re-tuned the Inverted L.
Ten days later the NJ shore was hit by a severe wind storm (winds to 70 mph)
which damaged the SW sloper (found dangling from a guy at 140 feet) and ripped
down the Inverted L (broken pull rope). Under reasonable weather conditions we
figured being able to fix everything the day day of the contest.
Oh, did I mention the station is located on Murphy Drive? <True - no joke!>
We had been closely monitoring the weather forecasts, and it became apparent by
mid-week that contest weekend would not be very calm and tranquil. Converging
low pressure systems were about to produce a Nor-easter, with high winds and
heavy rain on the coast and over a foot of snow to the west and north.
As we started our 2 hour trip south to the station Friday morning from NW New
Jersey, it started to snow. By the time we drove through the transition zone
into rain about 20 miles from the coast over an inch of the white stuff was on
the ground. At the station it was raining heavily and the winds were starting
to pick up.
We assessed the damage and decided it was imperative the Inverted L be repaired,
regardless of weather condx. We needed an omni-directional antenna. In the
driving rain, the self-supporting 60' tower was climbed, antenna untangled,
extension mast dropped, rope restrung through the pulley, and antenna put back
in its original position. It was odd the feed point was measured to be 33 ohms,
,up from 13 just weeks before. No time to diagnose the change, we put a
feedline on it, pruned for minimum SWR and went back inside to get dry/warm.
The NE sloper array was next, the SWR curve was off the scale. After some hot
coffee and a change of clothes, it was back out into the salt marsh. We found
the sloper pull rope had loosened and the bottom half of the sloper (bottom
half folds back to the tower, what K3LR calls a lazy V) was nearly lying on the
ground. Fighting the steadily rising wind and beating rain, we managed to get
it properly elevated and adjusted. Back inside to dry off (again!)
One more trip out into the wet - to hook up the NE, West and South beverages.
Fortunately this went smoothly and quickly, the feedlines fed into the building
and up through the crawl space up into the room used as our shack. Real
progress. But it wouldn't be our last trip(s) outside as the day and night
progressed.
We set up two complete stations. Beverages rx antennas are shared by three
receivers. The run position also has a slave receiver with independent beverage
selection - a necessity to be sure we didn't miss stations calling from diverse
directions - the NE beverage doesn't hear US stations at all well (did someone
say cone of silence?) The second complete station is used for multiplier
chasing. The two transmit antennas can be swapped instantly between positions.
Marty, W2CG, managed to get the computers talking and the internet connection
working after trying several computers/modems to overcome RF problems, something
we didn't find to be a problem in previous years. When we got the slave rig
hooked up we observed it wanted to turn itself off! We'd seen this in past
operations, IC765s seem especially susceptible to RF for some reason.
Substituting an IC746 fixed the problem. About 15 minutes before contest start
we seemed to be ready . But then we ran some more antenna checks....something
was not right (again) with the NE array. Wild SWR swings were observed...the
87A kept faulting. K2TW and W2CG volunteered to make the difficult trek back
out to the big tower 500' away in the rising winds/rain to determine the cause
and hopefully fix the problem while the rest of us started the contest using
just the Inverted L.
We had a nice run of around 100 stations the first hour, several loud Europeans
called as well as welcomed points from NP4A, PJ2T, and P40TA to name a few. It
seemed we worked out the Carib in just the first 60 minutes! Runs seemed to
come in waves...we started on 1828.5 and essentially stayed there all weekend.
Twenty minutes into the contest, TW and CG reported back via HT that they found
the sloper and delta loop reflector once again dangerously near the ground. By
tightening ropes they got the system working properly - for the moment.
Switching to the NE array seemed to instantly bring another string of European
callers. This antenna really rocks.
The first few hours produced the best rates of the contest as normally happens.
Conditions seemed about the same or maybe a little better than 2002 to EU. But
there was a real gale blowing outside...and both of our transmit antennas were
showing radical changes in SWR, playing havoc with the somewhat sensitive 87A.
Eventually the Inverted L became unusable. W2CG and W2GD went out and didn't
find anything obviously wrong. After tightening the horizontal leg we went back
inside, still not sure what was wrong. Fortunately the SWR had returned to
something usable.
Things proceeded another hour or so, our transmit antennas were taking a beating
from the forces of nature, with continued periods of radical SWR swings.
Finally the NE array had constant SWR spikes. Another visit to the big tower
was needed. This time CG and GD found the problem. easily...the bottom sloper
element was arcing against the bottom horizontal leg of the delta loop, lighting
up the sky. Repositoning the end of the sloper cured the problem. We noted on
this trip out to the tower the water had risen another foot, completely
flooding the area around the tower base and most of the path from the building.
We hoped a third trip would be unnecessary!
By sunrise our QSO numbers and mult totals were at or above last year's second
place effort. We felt very good considering all of the problems and minor
equipment failures we experienced. We went off to breakfast together - to
discuss what if any additional changes we needed to make outside. And then it
started to snow....the storm was now just off the coast pulling in colder air
from the north. With the blizzard like conditions the next few hours, the snow
static was incredible, the discharges making our power output meters bounce
around. None of us wanted to brave it outside....we scattered for needed sleep.
As 4 p.m. local time rolled around we again gathered. The rate began to pick up
and we were off to the races again. We had hoped to break 1300 contacts but we
ultimately fell short. But it was evident we were working more EU stations to
increase the point/qso ratio. The NE gain array, something we didn't have in
2003, was doing the job. More effort was made to chase every packet callout and
remain vigilant for missing section multipliers. We never heard VE4 and VE5,
and apparently missed WTX. It was a thrill when S9SS called in, but as sunrise
approached we never heard the VKs and ZLs. T32WW was finally worked as our last
mult 15 minutes before sunrise after chasing him all weekend.
When we finally shut things down about 2 hours before the official end of the
contest, we had inproved our score 10% over the prior year despite all of the
little visits from Murphy, not the least of which was the Nor'easter. Our
appreciation for what those who make their living at sea must endure was greatly
enhanced.
We have a long list of improvements to make before Stew Perry and the CQ 160 CW
weekends. We'll be back.
Special thanks go to the owners of property for the use of this near perfect
160M location and also to those memebers of the Old Barney Radio Club who made
the great food we enjoyed Saturday night when their winter banquet was cancelled
do to the very icy road conditions.
73, John W2GD/P40W
w2gd@hotmail.com
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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