CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - 2020
Call: WW2Y
Operator(s): WW2Y
Station: WW2Y
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: FN24
Operating Time (hrs): 16.5
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 133 68
2: 38 26
-------------------
Total: 171 94 Total Score = 19,646
Club: Mt Airy VHF Radio Club
Comments:
I caught the FN24 bug during the 2018 CQWW VHF contest while I was at a vacation
rental on the other side of Route 30 along the eastern side of Tupper Lake.
Situated on the western side of Mt. Morris's base, which is the home of the
defunct Tupper Lake's Ski Resort. You can imagine the difficulty of trying to
work stations towards the south through northeast where most of the activity
takes place, especially on 2 meters. I recall completing only 9 contacts and 5
grids on 2m running a 150 watt brick into a M2 2M9 antenna at 33 Ft. for that
event.
I returned to the region with 6 and 2 meter KW amplifiers to the lineup in
December, 2018 for the Geminids meteor shower roughly two miles north on Rt. 30
next to the Raquette River Flow. This vacation rental is located at a confluence
where Raquette River, Raquette Pond, Simon Pond, and Tupper Lake meet.
Fortunately, it was very cold for couple of weeks prior to my arrival so that
guy anchors can be secured in the ice for guying each of the two painters’
poles that were mounted to the uprights of the dock with zip ties. I’ve wished
I brought my hockey skates because the ice was so smooth without snow on its
surface and it would have been cool to navigate to all of the frozen waterways
right from the dock. It turned out to be a better location for radio as well as
the view of the winter landscape with distant peaks to the east. Mount Morris is
still too close and now positioned more to the south.
In early spring of 2020, I began to search for a vacation rental for the
upcoming CQWW-VHF contest. Most rentals are not available this year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Went to the Adirondacks in late April and early May and found
a potential site that was situated on a relatively high plateau looking over a
river valley towards the south. I thought to myself, this should work.
Returned home and ordered a Penninger Radio field Tipper mast base for the 35ft
Tipper mast, and 6M3 antenna to replace a 2el HB9CV 6m array that had been in
use. Also, searched for a new rooftop cargo carrier on the web and at camping
stores without success due to lack of stock and delayed manufacture shipments
during the current health crisis.
In early July, I began to make a list of what equipment to bring and to
configure the amplifiers primary voltage wiring from 240VAC to 115 VAC to be
compatible with a Honda EU-2200i generator. I checked and cleaned a Clam
Quick-Set shelter that was used for ARRL Field Day last year and gathered tons
of camping gear. Tested all equipment powered by the Honda inverter generator
under load with multiples of 50 and 25Ft Ft 3/12 gauge extension cords, two
power strips, FT-991 transceiver, Commander II and Acom 1000 amplifiers, 450G
rotor, tethered laptop connected to the internet, and Win-Test plus WSJT-X
software. Everything appeared to be running happily including the generator,
even in Eco mode! It was able to ramp up very quickly to supply current on
demand without having momentary voltage sag from the transient nature of on and
off CW, even when keying speed reduced to 18 WPM. SSB modulation seemed fine and
digital modes would have been obvious.
A week before the planned 350 mile, 6.5 hour trip, I found a used Thule Alpine,
a 92 inch rooftop cargo carrier on Craigslist advertised not too far from home.
The cargo carrier would be used for transporting the bulky 6.5 Ft long folded
shelter, a ski bag full of 2 inch OD diameter 6Ft mast sections, 6M3 boom, and
some small camping items to fill the voids. I was worried about running out of
cargo space in the Forester, but the cargo carrier turned out to be a life
saver!
I finished stuffing the car by 9:30 am Wednesday morning. I was relieved to have
an unobstructed view out the rear hatch window with all the crap crammed in
every nook and cranny along with antennas inside. Off I went hoping I didn't
forget something critical. I wanted to make sure this trip would be a plug and
play mission. I encountered some heavy traffic near Albany on I-87 which was to
be expected for this time of the year.
I pulled into the site by 5:30pm. To my amazement, I was standing in waist high
of florescent green vegetation, including sprouted new trees within the logging
trail and in the clearing where the shelter plus antenna site would be placed.
I was greeted by a random formation of flies as if I was a host star of an
unorganized solar system that followed me wherever I went. They looked like deer
flies, but they didn’t draw blood, fortunately. Also, I noticed the place
lacked mosquitoes at this point in time; guess it had been fairly dry for at
least several days. I applied small amounts of bug spray just in case. This
unforeseen growth wasn't there two months ago! Mother Nature is impressive, when
you think about it. A thought about the unexpected recovery of forests and
vegetation near the Chernobyl site popped into my head. Then a sobering reality
quickly sinks in. I have unexpected amount of work cut out for me. It's time to
back out of this jungle and head into town to purchase a machete, pair of
loppers, and a bush hook. Once that was accomplished, I need to find a place for
a decent meal along with a mug of beer, and to find a hotel for a restful
night’s sleep. I found a Super Wal-Mart on the main drag and I felt confident
they'll have everything I need for tomorrow's morning bush whacking experience.
Everything on the list was purchased, had dinner, and booked a room.
I woke up at 5:30am, headed out of dodge by 6:30am to acquire ice for the
cooler, more bottles of drinking water, food including sandwiches, and filled
the generator plus spare cans with gasoline. Oh yes, I didn't forget to grab
beer to reward myself later in the day, hopefully!
I drove to the site before 8am and began hacking away at the brush, removing
downed branches and sticks. This took roughly 3 hours to complete and I'm
already feeling somewhat tired and drenched in sweat, since it is very warm at
89 degrees F. It was very muggy too. By noon, sun’s radiant intensity abated
somewhat by thin clouds rolling in from the southwest. Rain is now in for
tonight’s forecast. Now, I feel energized because I was finally doing
something different installing the mast, antennas, and cables instead of
whacking away the brush. Raised and guyed the mast, aligned the antennas with
the compass, and grabbed the MFJ-259B analyzer to confirm antennas are tuned
properly. The shelter is now in place along with tarp flooring, tables, and a
cot. Hauled the radio gear out of the car and connected it all together at the
operating position. Finally the generator is placed 75 Ft. away and off to the
side of antennas. Fired up all of the gear and turned the antennas to check for
unexpected noise sources. Both bands appeared to be very quiet, except for 2
meters while the antenna is pointing at the generator. The rise in noise floor
is not objectionable, but I wanted to see if attaching two 31 mix cores at the
extension cord plug connecting to the generator will attenuate the noise
sufficiently. It did. At 6:30pm I started to cook for dinner and drank large
quantities of water before opening the beer.
After having dinner, I noticed that Jay, W1VD is presently on the ON4KST chat
page and sent him a message to try working each other on 2m. He replied saying
I'll call you on CW. His CW signal appeared and I could hear the FT-991's AGC
being pumped. I was immediately excited how loud he was and I sent a quick reply
back by sending Jay a 599 report. He replied on SSB saying no need to be on CW.
I switched to SSB and carried a brief conversation with Jay. He asked me if I
was planning to operate in this weekend’s contest. I told him yes. After our
contact, I called CQ several times without a reply, then I decided to check out
WSJT-X make sure I don’t have RFI issues locking up the laptop while being in
transmit mode with a KW of power. WZ1V, Ron answers me on FT8 and all is well. I
went back to SSB to call CQ again at 9:40pm and VE2DIV, Francois in FN25 above
Montreal calls me on the back of the antenna with a decent signal. He was
curious what I was doing in the Adirondacks and I explained my setup and the
intent of being there in the first place. We carried a long conversation for
more than 30 minutes. It was refreshing to meet someone on SSB and have a
stimulating conversation with someone as if I was in a time warp when people
actually spun the tuning knob and made activity on the band the old fashion way.
After our contact I was really exhausted and felt happy that everything is in
place. I shut everything down and heard a loud Eastern Whippoorwill sending out
its calls near and afar while I was preparing to crash for the night. This bird
moved around often and its calls went on for almost an hour. It was one of the
coolest things to hear at night.
I fell asleep for some time and I was awakened by the sound of occasional water
droplets splattering on the shelter’s roof above me at 12:30am. Grabbed my
cell phone to see what the weather’s current NEXRAD radar map indicated and it
showed a green to yellow blob coming my way. I climbed out of the sleeping bag
to see if the shelter’s sidewall screens were seeping through with water and
all appeared to be okay at the moment. I tried going back to sleep and had a
hard time doing so, because I began to feel an occasional very fine water
droplets splashing on my face and I became concerned for the condition of the
equipment. I found an extra tarp I bought for the trip and draped it over the
station equipment and went back to sleep hoping the rain would stop by daybreak.
I was awake by 6:00am and the rain was slightly more intense and water was
leaking inside to a degree. I could see water droplets on top surface of the
tarp. I began to notice mosquitos intruding my personal space while cooking eggs
under large tree while it was raining lightly. Applied bug spray and all is good
for now. I ate breakfast and checked the radar map often to see when the rain
would stop so I can have fun on the air. A slight cold front finally comes
through at 9:00am and the sun had begun peeking through the broken clouds. Trees
were still dripping water droplets due to the wind after the rain had stopped
for some time. By 9:15am, I fired everything back up to check 50.260 MHz using
MSK-144 mode, my favorite digital mode and nothing was heard for several
minutes. I moved to 2m to work Stan, W3XTT briefly on 2m FT8. Then I tried to
generate activity on 144.200MHz using SSB as well as CW to stir up anyone to no
avail and went to 6m. Same thing occurred there too. Decided to teeter on the
FT8 event horizon to work John, WA1EAZ in FN42 on 50.313MHz and went back to
50.125MHz to call CQ on SSB. I was quickly rewarded with an answer from Mike,
WB7BVW/m who was traveling in northwestern Wisconsin on vacation. He didn’t
know what grid he was in, but that was okay. I spent rest of the day Friday on
and off the air conserving fuel while making contacts into the Midwest,
southeast, and New England on all three modes as evenly as I could. FT8 on
50.313MHz is crammed with loud signals in one 3 KHz channel as if people were
addicted to a narcotic while playing snake charming flutes in 15 second
sequences. I tried FT4 on 50.318MHz multiple times and it was a vacant every
time I checked. Took some time off to go swimming at a nearby river to get
refreshed and cleaned up from all of the sweat and grime I’ve accumulated for
the last two days. My last QSO of the day was hearing Dan, K1TO in EL87 at
8:40pm who was calling CQ on FT8 with a S9 plus signal. I exchanged a report
with him and sent a TX5 message saying go to 50.130 SSB. He replied saying
he’s looking for a microphone. A cycle later, another one arrives saying he
can’t find it. I went to bed early to get some needed sleep for tomorrow’s
contest.
I guess it’s the fate of the traditional modes as we know it and I’m having
a difficult time accepting it. I enjoy the digital modes very much, but I’m
greatly concerned about our precious radio spectrum that has been basically
abandoned above 28MHz for several 3 KHz channels. CW is practically nonexistent
and SSB is becoming scarce during a band opening, even during most contests for
long stretches at a time. There was an exception to this in this year’s June
ARRL VHF contest while 6m was really experiencing a very rare weekend long
sporadic Es conditions. CW skimmers are disappearing as quickly as they appeared
a decade ago. There has been some talk about possible solutions to this, but no
action has been taken. I’ve been quietly sitting back hoping it’s a
transient phenomenon that will play itself out. Unfortunately, it hasn’t.
Fortunately, the ARRL has realized that allowing chat room communication between
people during VHF contests to coordinate potential contacts has elevated the
activity level greatly for everyone. Think about the ones who venture out in
rovers, portable sites, and hill toppers hiking in remote areas putting in
tremendous amount of energy and effort to make many happy. VHF contesting needs
all of the help it can get to survive. Also, I would like to see the Hill-topper
category to be less restrictive in hours allowed to operate and to use a bit
more power. Battery technology has advanced greatly in recent years for their
size and weight. Imagine someone who spends several hours hiking up to a peak
with packed gear only to operate in poor radio propagation conditions for 6 six
hours only to be turned away unsatisfied. Especially, if conditions improve
afterwards, this is common. I wish CQWW would heed on these pressing issues.
I woke up at 7:00am Saturday morning feeling refreshed and had breakfast.
Afterwards, I decided to try my favorite digital mode, MSK-144 on 50.260MHz to
see if I can make casual contacts with anyone without checking 2m conditions
first. More on that note later. W9DC and N8LRG were being decoded while the
latter is having a QSO in progress that was filling the page quickly. I was able
to work W9DC and N8LRG easily. K0TPP was a dependable as usual. Checked out 6m
SSB and 2m SSB and didn’t hear anyone. On 2m I switched to FT8 at 8:15am and
noticed a bunch of decodes showing up from W9VHF in EN71, and others. W9VHF in
EN71 went into the log and W1FKF FN43, N3AAA EN90, W3XTT FN01, N2WK FN03, K1RZ
FM19, KE8FD EN80, K2DH FN13, and VE3CIQ FN15 soon followed and the band closed
up at by 12:30Z. I must have caught the end of a decent tropospheric band
opening and I wished I had checked the propagation maps earlier. I've realized
that if conditions have been decent on 6 and 2 meters for several days leading
up to the day of contest, it’ll turn out to be poorer when contest begins.
I’ve observed this often.
Took a break and went into town to replenish ice supply for the cooler, food
plus snacks, and refilled generator and fuel cans. After returning to the site
and unloading fresh supplies, I headed out again for a swim at the river few
miles down the road to cool off, since it was very hot at midday once again.
Came back about an hour later, turned everything back on and parked myself on
50.130MHz. At 1740Z, I sent out a CQ to see if anyone answers. To my surprise
K3KYR, Gordon answers me from Bombay, NY in FN24 who I’ve seen his call in
many VHF contest results from years ago. We chatted for good 20 minutes up to
the start of the contest. He tells me his M2 9 element beam has been in
disrepair for some time, but it was somewhat functional. I told him I’ll get
in touch with him once I return to the area to possibly help him with the
repair. He was kind enough to give me the first contact once the bell rang at
1800Z.
I called CQ for several minutes without an answer until 1805Z I hear a weak N1
calling me off the back of the antenna several times, once I realize it was
Mike, N1JEZ in FN44. Then we quickly moved to 2m SSB for a double. I spun the
dial briefly without hearing a signal and returned to 6m SSB to pick up a few
more stations before returning back to 2m. At 18:35Z, I tune across W3SO FN00
calling CQ with a Q5 signal and he heard me fairly quickly for an exchange at
383 miles. I bounced back and forth between CW and SSB a few more times before a
QSO with KT1J in FN34 on FT8 and WA2JMG FN23 on CW. Nothing else heard and went
to 6m to work W4SPR on CW at 19:07Z. By this time, 6m FT8 had many red signals
on the waterfall indicating the band is open. I tried calling CQ a few more
times on SSB and CW without success. At 19:11, switched to FT4 and heard only
K0GU in DN70 who was booming in red on the waterfall calling CQ test. He went
into the log and I spent time there to run and netted almost all of distant QSOs
on 6m with WO7R DM32, AA7V DM43, and K0NR DM78 all within 16 minutes. K0GU
continue to bang away steadily and I didn’t hear anyone else giving FT4 a
whirl. At 19:30Z, switched to SSB and Arliss, W7XU EN13 had a decent run going
and worked him. I moved to CW and netted 2 more stations from New England, W1EAT
FN34, and AF1N also inFN34. QSY back to FT4 and N1AV DM43 is in the bag,
followed by VE3QN FN25. I spent the next 10 minutes on 50.318MHz without having
further replies. During the 2200Z hour, on 2m I picked up some more CW and SSB
contacts including KD2LGX FN13, N2SLN/R FN23, and VE3ZV EN92.
There were quite a number of known active VE3 stations who were absent during
this contest. I heard and called W8ZN, EM87 consistently on 6m throughout the
day on SSB and FT8, but couldn’t get Terry’s attention because he was being
called by multiple stations whenever I ran across him. I’ve learned after the
fact that I should have parked my transmit signal at the bottom of the FT8
spectrum so that the decoder starts decoding signals first while it’s in
answer first mode. Oh well, maybe another time Terry. Also, I heard and called
Bill, AA2UK FM29 on 2m FT8 as well, but I believe his noise level is high. I had
a mini run of 6m stations on SSB during the 2300Z hour into south Florida,
including a call from KC8KSK in FM03. The band crashed just before the 0000Z
hour. This was probably a good thing, because when I moved to 2m SSB, KA2LIM in
FN12 who was very strong and had no takers. I called and worked him for a new
one. The activity at that point was so low that I asked Ken where everyone is.
He said they all must be on digital. I concurred. Spent the next few minutes
reminiscing with Ken about the old days when there were stations abound.
Roughly 15 minutes later at 00:20Z, I called CQ twice using CW on 144207.5MHz
and Howard, WA3EOQ in FM09 answers with a Q5 signal for the most distant contact
via the troposphere at 437 miles during the contest. Immediately afterwards,
VE2GDR in FN25 and VE2OTA in FN35 both moved the bands on SSB for three more new
grids. At the beginning of 0100Z hour, I spent the entire time on FT8 calling
stations on 144.174 for new grids, including KG2H FN33, W1VD FN31, N2NT FN20,
VE3CIQ FN15, W3XTT FN01, and VE2PN FN46. At 01:50Z, I switched to 6m FT8 for the
rest of the night to pick off needed QSOs and grids, which included the only
contact in FN21, K3ISH. My last QSO of the night was at 02:30 with K1KA in FN42
and had 58 QSOs in the log. Once I shut down the equipment and generator, the
Whippoorwill was doing its ritual as usual and I drifted off to sleep. I should
have probably stayed up longer but felt quite spent from the last few days.
Plus I wanted to be functional in the morning for the MSK-144 aspect of the
contest to knock off more multipliers on 2 and 6 meters I’ve would not have
otherwise.
Woke up later than I expected and ate breakfast quickly because I ‘m eager to
get back in the chair. Everything warmed up and running by 10:40Z. I dialed in
144.150MHz using MSK-144 to see if there’s any ping activity on meteor
scatter. I noticed a strong burn from N4SVC’s CQ from EM80 and I was able to
complete the contact fairly quickly at a distance of 1102 miles. Next one was
with Ray, W9VHF in EN71. I tried a few more CQs for several minutes to no avail.
Switched to 6m and snagged 8 more contacts, including VA3SK FN06, and K1RZ FM19.
Then I switched back to 2m to work W0VTT in EN33. After working VE2HAY in FN35
on 2m FT8, I noticed that K1TEO was booming in and I didn’t want to work Jeff
on that mode. I loaded up the TX5 message saying go to 195 SSB. He disappeared
quickly and I knew he figured it out. In a flash, he started calling me on
144.195, SSB and worked him with S9 signals both ways. We quickly moved to 6m
for a double. Shortly after moving back to 2m SSB, N2SLN/R is now in a different
grid for another double. Rovers really make things fun and interesting by their
contribution. Thanks guys! Ten minutes later WZ1V, Ron calls me on CW for
points. I went to FT8 and was called by Charlie, N1RR for a FN41 multiplier.
Decided to try 6m SSB/CW for several minutes and nothing heard. Decided make
the move up to 50.313MHz, FT8 for 6 more QSOs while aiming mostly towards FN42/
FN32 and VE3PJ FN14 made it into the mix. I gave FT4 another shot and managed to
work the gang at N4SVC and Peter, W4IMD EM84. There was no one else present. I
wish everyone who must be on digital use FT4 instead of FT8. It’s a much more
efficient mode, especially during the periods of dynamic QSB. It was proven to
be very effective during the ARRL June VHF contest. What happened to the
momentum? By 14:30Z, AB3CX called me on CW and he was placed into the log,
followed by Dave, K1ZZ FN31. I decided to switch to FT8 for more contacts
before returning to 2m at 15:20Z. Signals on 2m seemed to be up a bit towards
the south. I tried calling AA2UK again on FT8, but I couldn’t catch his
attention. N2NT’s signal was definitely elevated now and he noticed I was
lurking on FT8. Suddenly, a modified TX5 message pops up saying go to 50099 CW.
I knew this had to be John at N2NT and I instantly changed bands to 6m, CW.
W1AN is apparently calling CQ on the same frequency and I tuned up and down
somewhat to listen for N2NT’s call. Guess W1AN realized there was a scheduled
contact in progress and he was kind enough to standby or QSY. Seconds later, I
hear N2NT calling me and I’m able to copy him pretty well. It took a couple
of quick transmission cycles to synchronize for an exchange. He was solid Q5
copy towards the end of the contact. Now he’s in the bag. This is the first
analog QSO between us after couple years of trying from FN24 on either band.
I’m convinced we could have done it easily on 2m when I received that QSY
message on FT8. Found W1AN a few KHz lower calling CQ and worked him for a new
multiplier as well. I quickly jumped back to 2m FT8 to work K3WHC FN10, K1RZ
FM19, and a few more. I spent a few minutes calling AA2UK, since his signal was
relatively strong at this point and I really wanted the FM29 multiplier. We
never succeeded.
Finally at about 1823Z, 6m started to show a sporadic Es cloud developing
somewhere over Maryland and northern Virginia. Found a frequency to run on SSB
and Pete, K2PS in EL98 answers me. No one else from Florida followed, but I had
a string of contacts from grids EM34, EM60, EM64, EM65, EM66, EM72, EM73, EM74,
EM75, EM76, EM77, EM83, EM84, EM93, EM94, EM95, EM96, FM03, FM04, FM05, FM06,
and FM14. The marginal opening lasted for about an hour and made roughly 55
contacts during this period. It’s not a great rate, but it was the best run of
the contest from here and I was happy to take advantage it. I did manage to
work a few stragglers on 6m in between 2m FT8 contacts in the next hour
including K9IL EM56 and K2XA on CW, N5RZ EM00, and W8PAT EN81 on FT8.
With 20 minutes remaining in the contest, I checked to see if there’s anyone
else to work on 2m SSB and CW, didn’t hear a soul. Switched to FT8 and saw a
list of decoded stations that I’ve already worked. I knew there were some
stations on 6m FT8 to be had. I’m back on 6m FT8 with the antenna pointed
towards New England. In five minutes I snagged K1BZM FN51, K1DY FN54, and
VE2NR/R FN26 for the remaining new grids. A few more stations went into the log
before the closing bell, including N2SQW FN22, N4MNW EM73, KX4HA EM84, and W5BN
FN33.
I shut down the station equipment and generator after letting the 6m amplifier
cool down for several minutes. My cell phone alerted me there’s a severe
thunderstorm warning with strong winds possible heading my way. I’ve already
heard a distant rumble and observed the darkening of the skies towards the west
through the tall pine trees. I quickly disassemble the equipment and hauled the
precious cargo including the generator into the car with about ten minutes to
spare. I have resigned to the fact that I’m leaving the mast, antennas,
cables, shelter, tables, stove, chair, cot, cooler, bucket, and other small
items in place until next morning. I stayed inside the shelter to ride out the
storm which produced a heavy downpour, along with fairly intense lightning and
thunder. Fortunately, the wind was not as bad as predicted. This finale lasted
for 20+ minutes. Water was seeping through the shelter walls at a magnitude
higher rate than last Thursday’s night rain.
Once the storm had passed, I went into town to book a room and went to a local
pub to eat real food and drink a cold beer. I was finally relaxed and had some
time to reflect about the contest, such as memorable contacts, band conditions,
things I should have done, etc. I went to the hotel and took some time to look
at the scores that had been already posted on 3830 and literally crashed for the
night. After having breakfast the following morning, I head back to the site
just before 7:30am to tear down the mast, antennas, shelter, and pack everything
back into the car. Finally, I head for home at noon. Arrived home at 7:30pm and
had a quick bite to eat before unpacking the stuff for the next 1.5 hours.
I thought it was a great time despite of all the preparation and unexpected
chores that had to be completed in order to make it a successful adventure.
Would I do it again? Yes, definitely. I want to thank K1RZ, N2NC, N2NT, and W2KV
for the encouragement and motivation to make this possible.
73,
Peter WW2Y
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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