ARRL June VHF QSO Party
Call: VE4EAR
Operator(s): VE4EAR
Station: VE4EAR
Class: Single Op LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 349 115
2: 2 1
222:
432:
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 351 116 Total Score = 40,716
Club:
Comments:
It's all about location, location, location, and a little bit of timing.
Saturday, i could find no strong openings in any direction. There were a few
weak contacts but nothing substantial. The 2m contacts were locals. As 6m was
not productive, I carried on the with the regular "Honey-Do" list items with
frequent checks across the bands.
The signals that did come out of the noise were often buried with static
crashes. We had a steady stream of thunderstorms roll through the region until
late Sunday afternoon. This didn't help the receiving conditions any and
several times I had to QRT until the storms passed.
I did copy a Cayman Island station Saturday afternoon for a nice double hop
path. Unfortunately he was busy working an obviously much stronger pileup as he
faded after 5 minutes, never to return.
Sunday morning flipped the radio on only to find conditions to the SE fading
fast. Apparently the band had been booming earlier. Made a few contacts but
other obligations kept me out of the chair.
Tuning around the band I heard several weak stations in the SW US so swung the
beam that way. Then I did something I rarely ever do...I started calling CQ on
CW. I figured it would be safe as the band was almost dead and there was no
fear of a pileup. Worked several 7 landers and then picked up a very weak WE1WV
or so I thought. His grid was JN88 and that made no sense I figured maybe CN88
as that was closer to where I was pointing. Unfortunatley QRM broke out and I
was never able to confirm the call and grid. As it turns out, it was actually
OE1WEU calling! My first European station on 6m and I blew it. That was off the
back of the beam...if only I had turned it 180 degrees, what would I have
heard.
Without spotting assistance I had no idea what was going on around me, just
what I could hear.
Off to more yard work until late in the afternoon. Was hearing a few stations
but you could tell conditions were a changing and suddenly everything finally
popped open. 6m sounded like 20m and everyone was scrambling for a place to
run. Of course I had just settled into a steady run when I got the dreaded call
from upstairs. Unexpected company had arrived and my presence was requested
(actually demanded) There went 3 hours but thnakfully when I got back on at
0030 things were still alive and managed to put 250 stations into the log into
the last 2.5 hours. Now that is fun!
Worked 3 new grids, all out in the DM area and confirmed Deleware as the last
of lower 48 states. Just need HI and AK now for WAS. Maybe next year!
73 Ed
VE4EAR
IC7700 @ 150W
OB6-5 5element yagi @ 55 feet
N1MM
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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