Esteemed Reflectorites:
Thought I would take a few minutes to summarize the VP5/W8AV and VP5FXB
operations on 160 meters.
We had three antennas at VP5JM's to use on 160. They were:
1) Full size 160 meter inverted vee mounted on the fence on Jody's fence. The
apex of this antenna was in the neighborhood of 20' AGL (Above Ground Level).
2) Full size 160 meter inverted vee mounted on the 40' tower that also
supports the PRO-67 and the 80 meter rotatable dipole. Feedpoint for this
antenna was about 35' AGL.
3) Modified Delta Loop designed by K8RF. This was mounted on a separate tower
that was erected for the contest. The apex of this antenna was about 60' AGL.
This was the antenna that was used in the 1994 VP5VW operation.
Out of the three antennas, the fence dipole worked about the best. So it
became the antenna of choice for my operation on the band. The delta loop was
eventually retuned to be used as the 80 meter station antenna since it worked
better on that band and eliminated a lot of the interstation interference
between the 80 meter station and the 40 meter station.
Needless to say, 160 is a challenge from VP5. The first nite that I got on
the air as VP5/W8AV was Feb 17 (UTC). We could not get into the hamlet until
Monday (2/16) due to the fact that N9CK was there for the RTTY contest the
week before and our contract for the the hamlet did not start until Monday
afternoon. Besides, I was too tired on Monday night to even think about
operating. Conditions on the first operating night were poor due to the fact
that the band was very noisy. The QRN was typically about S-7. Although
there were two short beverages there (one NE and one North), they didn't help
at all since there were maybe 300' in total length. Sorry Guys, I know that
there were a lot of you calling, I just could not pull you out of the QRN.
Worked only 18 stations that evening.
Conditions the next night were dramatically improved, lower noise and louder
signals much easier copy. The same was true for night #3. I wish I could
have stayed up later and spent more time on the band, but we were all pretty
beat from all the antenna work were were doing in the hot sun all day to get
antennas ready for the contest. Night #2 logged 120 stations and another 99
stations the following night.
Thursday night UTC was another back in the QRN well. Again the band was
extremely noisy. I had spent part of the day stringing a short 300' beverage
toward the northwest for W6-W7 so that I might be able to hear them in the
contest. I know that there were some calling but the QRN was just to high. I
only worked 18 stations that night and was having concerns that 160 might be a
bust during the contest. I also had to fix a troublesome DIN plug that was
causing problems in the 930 with the beverage antennas. I apologise to all
the west coast and EU stations that were calling me during the nights before
the contest but I could not hear you on the nights of the high QRN and was
just to exhausted to stay up on the nights with good propagation. Only 17
stations in the log that night.
Friday night before the test the band seemed in great shape. There was
virtually no static on the bands this evening and things looked great for the
contest. I did log 38 stations before the test. Thanks to all who gave me
signal report comparisons before the test. That way i got a good feel for how
the VP5 signal was going to stack up.
The first night of the contest we had 623 stations in the log on 160. K6UR,
yes you are in the VP5FXB log!! I did not do a breakout of the various call
areas that I worked, since I just got home last night and went right to bed
after spending the whole day in airports/aircraft. But a preliminary look at
the log shows that there were quite a few w6/w7 stations that are in the log.
The second night on 160 in the test was a disaster. I am very sorry to all
that called that I had to ask for fills on callsigns, but our old friend Mr.
Static was back in full force. The QRN levels had the S-meter sitting on S-9
all night long. Only 150 stations went into the 160 log that night as we just
could not hear you. The QRN levels on the beverages were just as high as they
were on the inverted vee. I did manage to pull out a few W7's at our sunrise
but most of the time the signals were at the ESP level. At the end of the
test between 2257 and 2359 we got another 16 in the log. The QRN was back
down and signals were better.
Total qsos on topband
VP5/W8AV - 257 with a good portion of EU and SA
VP5FXB - 789 with 57 mults.
If I read the alltime records right, that should be right up toward the top DX
QSO total on topband. I also want to apologise for my lack of operating after
the contest. I have an agreement with the XYL on DXpeditions. We go for
two weeks. I play all the radio I want the first week and the second week
belongs to her. It has worked well over the past two dxpeditions that we have
done.
Also my apologies to all the EU stations that were calling that I could not
hear. Beacuse of the lack of good beverage antennas there I just could not
pull you guys out. It was not possible beacuase of all the land development
there, to put up any better ones. The island has really changed in the three
years since I last visited.
73................de Goose
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/topband.html
Submissions: topband@contesting.com
Administrative requests: topband-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-topband@contesting.com
|