Stew Perry Topband Challenge
Call: K6VVA
Operator(s): K6VVA
Station: K6VVA
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: CM97
Operating Time (hrs): 5.5
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 124 Total Score = 124
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
Up until a week before the SP, I was still trying to find a portable
160m antenna site to mitigate my poor QTH/antenna & RFI always setting
off the alarm sysem. Working East of the Mississippi has never been
very fruitful from here, so 160m is not the most "joy" packed QRV.
During the year, I had made inquiries in attempts to hang a sloper or
Delta Loop from a 1500ft+ TV tower with the base at over 2000ft+ AMSL
elevation, as well as the most recent plan from a 500ft power generation
station smokestack a few hundred feet from the salty Pacific Ocean.
Post 9/11 security issues axed the latter possibility, even though
15 years ago I had been wayyyyyy up that super tower with an open
receptiveness to placing a commercial FM antenna there at the time!
Then my mom passed away 4 nights before the SP, and contesting was
the furthest thing from my mind. But after 3 days of intense funeral
related arrangement making, my voice going horse from calling friends
and relatives, etc., I decided I needed a CW fix and planned to get
on and maybe spend an hour or two in the contest with even 20w if
this would keep the alarm system from going whacko. I even thought
about real QRP with my TS-480S at 5w. Then I remembered the agony
of my 1st SP last year with 100w & my Windom (apex) at only 25ft,
and the results of 36 Qs in 4.5 hours ;-(
I decided to turn on the hose and thoroughly soak my ground rod area
right outside the shack window thinking this might help. I actually
believe it did. My Windom Apex was now at 42ft, and managed to use
100w on Saturday moring at 7AM local for about 45 minutes and made
14 West Coast Qs including, of course, N6TR and K7RAT. Couldn't
figure out why Tree was so weak compared to 7RAT, until I found out
post-SP he had been QRP.
Two of the local 440Mhz gang treated me to a late breakfast which
was muchly appreciated with the events of the past week. I also
discovered the cost of #14 stranded copper wire had increased
dramatically in the last year when I went to Home Depot (still
toying with the idea of trying to throw up some kind of Inverted L
before the rest of the SP).
Still in need of some mental diversion from the reality of family
events, about 2PM Saturday I embarked upon the hasty errection of
an Inverted L. Gheeez. The makeshift dipole insulator "base" was
tied with twine between a fruit tree & pine tree at about 8ft off
the ground. The vertical section of wire I looped through a pulley,
and could only get about 22 feet up and then the rest a very long
sloping portion from about 30ft high to maybe 15ft AGL at the end,
partly hanging through one fruit tree for support...looking straight
into a 1,000 range of hills about 2 blocks away toward the East Coast.
But the story of David & Goliath came to mind as I was working :-)
I did make 4 (now expensive) radials, which I zig-zagged around and
through bushes & other fruit trees, sometimes only 3 to 5 feet off
the ground. Never did find my insulators to put on the ends, so
just wrapped the wire around either bushes or trees. I did have
several thoughts of neighbors calling to report "burning bushes"
on the property but it never happened. I cut the radials extra
long and never did adjust them (maybe one reason I couldn't get
the SWR down by just changing the length of the vert/horiz piece?).
At such a low height of the radiator, the best I could get was
about 4.6:1 SWR so figured I would use the tuner to deal with this.
Rolled up part of the RG8-X into a sloppy RF choke which I supported
on a ladder right under the antenna insulator. Doing this several
hour outside antenna project was actually good therapy for the
family situation at hand.
For some reason, the LDG AT-1000 wouldn't get me below about 1.8:1
but that was OK. Then came the moment of truth...would this whack
out the alarm system? Thankfully, no. So I got even more bold,
and with baited breath, found I could actually get close to 800w
with the AL-80B and no alarm squawking! If I changed freq too far,
the SWR would go close to 3:1 & ERP dropped to about 500w.
I didn't check to see if the ground was getting hot outside, but
jumped back into to the SP a little after 4PM local, and incredibly,
worked PJ2/WB9Z at 5:02PM local on the new antenna! I was amazed
that most signals from the East were louder than with my higher
250ft+ Windom which is broadside in that Direction! But, power
line QRN was also worse with the Inv L.B
But since I had accepted a kind invitation from my ISP (co-owned
by two fellow hams) to come to their Christmas dinner party, my
excitement with the new Inv L got put on hold at 5:46PM Local to
join the group at a Golf & Country Club. Nice dinner, and as fate
would have it, ran into a VERY attractive...and intelligent lady
who I knew (also single), and, well, the SP took a more lengthy
backseat 'cuz we ended up dancing for several hours. More good
therapy. As difficult a decision as it was (you'd have to have
been there), I politely excused myself (after two more dances)
from the party and returned to the SP at 11:30PM Local.
After nodding off several times, I hit the sack at 1:30AM, but
got back on for a while, then back to bed, then back on and ended
up with 5.5 hours SP QRV instead of my intended 1 or 2 hours max.
But thanks partially to the SP, I had a less depressing weekend than
would have been the case. Thank you, SP sponsors!
In the Spring, I'll resume my quest for the ultimate "portable"
kick-butt 160m antenna site for next year's SP, hopefully with
better results :-)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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