ARRL June VHF Contest
Call: NV4B
Operator(s): NV4B
Station: NV4B
Class: Single Op Port QRP
QTH: AL
Operating Time (hrs): 18
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 125 74
2: 10 7
222: 4 4
432: 4 3
903:
1.2: 0 0
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 143 88 Total Score = 13,288
Club: Alabama Contest Group
Comments:
I operated from Town Hill in Hamilton, AL (EM54xc), elevation 756 feet and about
200 feet above average terrain.
It had been so long (2011) since 6 meters was this hot for the June VHF
Contest, I hadn't even planned for an almost-6m-only strategy. I spent all of
my project time leading up to the contest tweaking the 222 station and getting
the 1296 station QRV only to make zero QSOs (out of one attempt) on 1296 and
just two 222 SSB QSOs. 6m was so incredible Sunday that I made just one QSO
each on 2 & 222.
I was 90 minutes late starting due to pop-up thunderstorms in the area. There
was a bit of tropo enhancement on 2m+ to start, but continuing thunder caused
me to miss several potential multipliers. 6m opened for the first time just
after 2200Z to the Upper Midwest. A number of QSOs with locals on 6m rounded
out Saturday.
I got QRV on Sunday just after 1300Z. I was hoping to catch some tropo on the
higher bands when I turned on the 6m rig and found it wide open to the
Northeast. That opening continued for three hours, interspersed with some QSOs
with the Southwest. At 1650Z, I made my first double-hop sporadic-E QSO of the
contest with WJ9B in DN13. The double-hop opening continued for well over an
hour, but I was only able to make four more double-hop QSOs, one of which was
with K7CW in CN87 at a distance of 2,034 miles for my best DX of the contest.
I heard several others between CN82 and CN88, as well as three VE7s in CN79 and
CO90, but none of them heard me.
Starting around 1800Z, we had a quite-short opening to the east, with huge
signals from the Carolinas and Virginia. This was followed by another opening
to the Upper Midwest with some propagation continuing to the Southwest.
Finally, around 2300Z, there was another huge opening to the Northeast. The
band quieted down around 0000Z, and I pulled the plug at 0030Z.
I attempted to add 1296 this time, but I could not hear W4ZRZ 90 miles away.
More work is needed before I try it again. In particular, my homebrew 10-el
Yagi may not be up to the task. The 222 setup played better this time, but my
interfacing still has some issues. I think I also need a better antenna for
432. I could barely hear W4ZRZ, and could not hear KX4R at all on this band.
I've had a hard time hearing on 432 in previous contests, so I think the
writing is on the wall with regards to my 6-el homebrew Yagi. Also, I did not
have my 432 "brick" because the inline fuse holder broke, and
although I could have jumped around it temporarily, I didn't bother, so I'll
fix this for next time. Even though this basically boiled down to a 6-meter
contest, "running the bands" is a big part of the fun for me, so I
want to get the UHF bands in the best shape I can.
There was one major issue with 6m. Last year, I added a Yaesu FT-690RII for 6
meters so I would have the full 10 watts. I still need to confirm this on the
bench, but its power output seems to drop off precipitously as my battery
voltage drops below 12V. By mid-afternoon Sunday, I had an extremely hard time
being heard. Switching to a fresh battery turned things around in short order.
When I run the rig mobile, I have no problem being heard on a quarter-wave whip,
so I think the 10W PA really wants 13.8V. I have been researching power supply
options and may invest in a couple of identical 12V SLA batteries, which I
could wire in series to power a 13.8V DC-DC converter. This would have the
added benefit of allowing me to power 28V equipment, such as what I'm planning
to run eventually on 902 MHz. This issue caused a great deal of frustration,
much as in 2011 when I had <5W and 2 elements. I should have been able to
do better with 10W and 3 elements.
I'm looking forward to the CQWW VHF Contest. I may experiment with a simple
rover operation if I don't go hilltopping again. Thanks to all for your
patience with my QRP signal.
6m: Yaesu FT-690RII (<10W), 3 element Yagi
2m: Yaesu FT-817ND + Ramsey PA-10 (<10W), 4 element Yagi
222: Yaesu FT-817ND + DEMI 222-28 (5W), 6 element Yagi
432: Yaesu FT-817ND (<5W), 6 element Yagi
1296: Realistic HTX-100 + DEMI 1296-28 (3W), 10 element Yagi
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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