ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes Summary Sheet
Contest Dates : 22-Jan-00, 23-Jan-00, 24-Jan-00
Callsign Used : N5XU
Operators : KB5LBN, W5JLP, N3TNN, K5TR, KM5FA
Category : Multi-Limited (L)
Default Exchange : EM10
Name : University of Texas Amateur Radio Club
Section : South Texas (STX)
Country : United States of America
URL : http://n5xu.ae.utexas.edu/vhf/00janvhf.html
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Mults
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6CW 1 1 1 0
6PH 43 43 43 11
2PH 77 75 75 14
222CW 1 1 2 1
222PH 18 17 34 7
432PH 35 35 70 8
1296CW* 4 4 12 4
1296PH* 4 4 12 3
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Totals 175 172 225 41
(* Submitted as check log only, not included in totals)
Claimed Score = 9,225 points.
Equipment:
(http://n5xu.ae.utexas.edu/n5xu/vhf.html)
Band Radio Amplifier Feedline Antenna
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50 Kenwood TS-600 Henry 3CX800A7 RG-213/U Cushcraft 50S3
800 watts out
144 Yaesu FT-726R Mirage 3016 RG-213/U Cushcraft 13B2
160 watts out
222 Down East Microwave AM-6155 Eimac 8930 LMR-400 13-element yagi
28-222CK with 400 watts out
Realistic HTX-100
432 Yaesu FT-726R Tokyo HyPower HL-60U 1/2" Andrews Directive Systems
60 watts out Heliax DSFO432-25
1296 UHF Units None Mast-mounted 45-element
transverter with 3 watts out with RG-213/U loop yagi
Yaesu FT-290R
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Plus:
Hustler G270R 2M/70cm vertical
52 MHz vertical
Super CMOS Keyer III
Bencher Paddles
Astron RS-35M
TR Log 6.47
W9XT Contest Card DVK
Propagation was disappointing this contest. We saw only three minutes of
workable Eskip on six meters, and no enhanced propagation on any other bands.
In fact, propagation above 144 MHz seemed down from normal conditions. This
was the first contest in a long time in which we were unable to work outside
of Texas on 144 MHz. We didn't even work or hear a single Dallas area station
on 222 MHz or 432 MHz. 1296 MHz continues to be a fun band, and we improved
our own personal distance record by working W5UWB in EL17ax at 160 miles. The
first station to work us on all five bands was W5DF/R with our first 1296 MHz
contact at 2047 on Saturday.
We had quite a few operators this contest. Monique N3TNN/5 operated for
several hours on Saturday, mostly working 144 MHz and 432 MHz SSB stations
while Ken KM5FA worked 50 MHz and 222 MHz. George K5TR took over on Saturday
night and helped make sure that the QSO totals and rate stayed as high as we
could drive them under the poor conditions. Sunday morning was kind of slow,
but Louisa KB5LBN and Johanna W5JLP showed up and each made contacts with
some of the rovers driving around the Texas Hill Country. These were the
first SSB contacts that either of them had made above 30 MHz. Ken KM5FA
worked the duration of the contest, and had the good fortune to be pounding
out CQs at the right time and place to work a couple of stations on 50 MHz
sporadic E. The sporadic E event probably lasted twenty minutes or more, but
with most stations just below the noise floor (Sunday night, starting at 0145
UTC to southern California.)
Nothing beats the opening rate of the contest. The 36 hour we had at
1900 is the best single VHF contest hour ever from this station. The rate
picked up again toward dinner. We only had two zero hours on Sunday, a
seemingly inevitable problem on VHF from N5XU when the bands are dead (it was
not for lack of zealous effort, however.) For 180 raw QSOs, we made 143 band
changes. There were a lot more FM stations to work this contest than ever
before, which was something of a surprise. We only worked one FM station
outside of our own grid square, though, and we had some problems working
stations on 70cm FM, where our radio does not cover 440-450 MHz (it is a Yaesu
FT-726R, and 440-450 MHz was a separate band module that we do not have.)
46% of our QSOs were with our own grid EM10, and the FMers, poor band
conditions, and fewer rovers were a large reason for this.
Nothing went seriously wrong with our equipment this contest. This was
our first contest with real power on 222 MHz. Last semester, the University
Coop Bookstore donated funds to UTARC that helped us purchase an AM-6155
amplifier. Terry AB5K donated an Amphenol transfer relay, and George K5TR did
the conversions necessary for 222 MHz. This amplifier puts out over 400 watts
on 222 MHz, and helped us make contacts on 222 MHz with a lot less trouble
than in the past. We worked one new grid square on 222 MHz that we probably
would not have made without the amplifier. If there had been any rover
activity out to our east, we likely could have worked a few more grids that
way, as well.
One thing we had trouble with at the end of each day was the rotor. All
of our antennas are on one rotor, and all of the moving around one does during
a VHF contest can be a lot of strain. Toward the end of each day, our rotor's
brake would sometimes not engage. When this happens, the antennas tend to
settle slowly clockwise to south as the wind blew around. This was especially
annoying on Sunday night when six meters opened up to southern California and
the rotor kept trying to rotate to the north! This will obviously need to be
looked at.
--
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Kenneth E. Harker "Vox Clamantis in Deserto" kharker@cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin Amateur Radio Callsign: KM5FA
Department of the Computer Sciences President, UT Amateur Radio Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124 Maintainer of the Linux Laptop Home Page
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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