ARRL January VHF Contest - 2021
Call: K8GP
Operator(s): K1RA W8ZN
Station: K8GP
Class: Limited Multi-Op HP
QTH: FM09te
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 271 57
2: 255 48
222: 32 12
432: 79 19
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 637 136 Total Score = 101,728
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Terry W8ZN and I set up a small 2-op, four band station at the workshop he's
built for his DSE antenna biz, on property (FM09te @ 2300') he expects to retire
on in the next few years. We each had K3s in an SO2R (Single Op 2 Radio)
configuration which allowed us to run SSB/CW/FT8 on 144 & 432 MHz and 50
& 222 MHz respectively with ~1000W per band. I had a third radio, a TM-721A
triband 146/223/446 MHz radio that allowed me to work the FM mode with 25-50W.
We used single yagis on the bands and a triband FM vertical supported by a
tripod on the roof and the pneumatic masts of the K8GP rover parked out back.
As typical for a January VHF contest, conditions were flat to depressed. No
tropospheric enhancement on 144 MHz and above as expected with dry, cold
weather. There were a few short lived eSkip openings (<30mins) on 50 MHz
which reached out north to VE1 Nova Scotia and south to FLA. Meteor scatter
using the MSK144 mode added a few QSOs and new grids out to 1000+ miles on both
50 & 144 MHz in the late night and early morning hours. We did use a fair
amount of FT8 on all bands during this contest, which at least on 222 & 432
MHz allowed us to work into VE3 Ontario and North Carolina, which we couldn't
have done with SSB or CW. Unfortunately we worked many locals on FT8, which
should have been unnecessary, as QSOs could be made much faster using SSB &
CW. We did make many (180) QSOs on FM thanks to the work of John KM4KMU sparking
activity on that mode with his pre-contest emails and announcements.
To see our contest station set up and our 50, 144, 222 & 432 MHz grid maps,
check out my pix album here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/G3M17vuBCpN59ene6
73
andyz - K1RA @ K8GP (L/M)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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