ARRL June VHF QSO Party
Call: W9RM
Operator(s): W9RM
Station: W9RM
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: DM58
Operating Time (hrs): FULL
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 724 231
2: 29 19
222:
432:
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 753 250 Total Score = 188,250
Club: Other (specify when prompted)
Comments:
This was a beta test of the future home QTH. I only brought two bands. This
was a Field Day type operation from my newly finished outbuilding and I spent
the first day of my visit pulling power in and wiring a breaker panel. After
feeding several heavy duty extensions right off the breakers, I had first power
at the QTH.
I had assembled two 30' telescoping fiberglass masts for the 6M 6M5X and the 2M
2M5WL. I was prepared for some wind but seriously underestimated how strong it
could get. I fought a running battle with antenna slip and was then hit with
gusts recorded locally at 90 MPH when a dry cold front swept in during my early
morning 2 hour break from WSJT skeds. Amazingly, the antenna system survived
this test and I now consider it "Antarctic Roaring-40's" approved !
In the mountain west, 6M is THE band. I only brought 2M because of the rarity
of DM58 on that band. There is little local activity and I spent considerable
time listening to guys near Denver talking locally who evidently don't realize
their true 2M range, given a decent station on this end. I worked several
rovers on 2 all the way out in the DM80's, 300 miles away over the Divide, even
though there is no tropo to speak of in the dry climate. I had good luck with
my WSJT skeds on 2, with a success rate of about 75%.
>From a midwest perspective, I thought 6M was only fair to good. Many short
openings to various places but no SOCAL and only brief double-hop to the east
coast. Those 2X hop fellows I did work were all falling over themselves
thanking me for the grid. They figured I was just another boring W9 when I
first called them. I actually had one guy tell me to stand by because he had
better things to work. I lost an easy 5 or more grids and who knows how many
Q's on a early opening to FL, when I had a RF-in-the-audio issue that was cured
by lifting the ground on the 6M PA keying line, of all things.
Equipment was a single FT920 + DEMI 2M transverter. Amplifiers were a recently
converted MLA2500 (what a GREAT amp !) running a conservative 600W on low drive
and my trusty BEKO 600W SSPA on 2.
All in all, a pretty good start from what will be an "acceptable" QTH and a
pretty decent score from what was a totally portable operation. I have a
'date' with the local power co-op today to start the process of fixing several
nasty line noise sources and, next year, I plan on at least one tower and the
start of a decent 6M array. See you all in the CQWW VHF test next month from
the same DM58 location !
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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