Stew Perry Topband Challenge
Call: VE9AA
Operator(s): VE9AA
Station: VE9AA/M
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: FN66
Operating Time (hrs): 4.5
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 62 Total Score = 236
Club: Magnolia DX Association
Comments:
Mobile 160 anyone? Mobile is a lot like work on Top Band, (I don't recall it
being this hard) - whew !
A few days ago I thought I had this all figured out; I would dig my HS-1800/PRO
out of the snow, put it
on top of my spacious Subaru Wagon, add a coil and all would be right with the
world. I'd kick back and relax a bit, make a couple
hundred Q's and take it easy.
Uh-uh. Wouldn't work. I had water or corrosion inside the '1800 so as soon as I
would mount the thing I'd sometimes
get 1 or 2 spins of the motor and it would freeze and seize (-25*C here.)
RATS!
Enter backup plan (grudingly, after messing with it for 3 days). Use the
smaller mobile antenna on the MINI and, THEN all would be right with the world;
right?
Nope! That antenna was froze as well. I had it parked on 20m for the past few
months and it wasn't budging.
Brought it into the garage, thawed it out for a few days and then put it back
on the car, but couldn't get it on 160m, even
with my handy-dandy, plastic coffee can coil inspired by W1BB/m QST cover page
in the 70's.......as an aside, I last used this
very same coil atop a Webster BAndspanner in the mid 90's enroute to VE1PZ for
CQ 160m. IIRC I worked 4 or 5 countries
while driving there and back with a straight key strapped to my knee, a FT-101E
and a Ford Escort Wagon. I recall getting bit by the metal
case of the 101E, so RF was sizzlin', hi.....This time at least the car was
stationary, but able to move.
Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, I had to redo all the capacity hat
wires on top of the coil as they had mysteriously come unhooked inside
the can over the past 20 years. Imagine ! Quality stuff I tell ya.
So,I finaly get it all working in the middle of a snowstorm and leave it.
Do the RAC Winter and have almost no gas left in the tank both literally and
figuratively. Do a brief stint after the RAC, take a break, come back the car
then closing in on midnight I worry I might fall asleep in the car and suffer
CO poisoning so I leave the windows down a bit and just do short stints.
Midnight.....have to go to bed. I am beat.
Get up (a little late) for EU sunrise and no matter how fast I rev the engine I
cannot get DL5AXX's attention. He is peaking about 579.....no way to get him.
SIGH.
What a lovely signal. I hear SE0X calling someone and he nearly is S9, but
never hear him call CQ. W1's are no trouble. Anyone over s9 here is usually
workable.
The W1's are all 20-30-40/9 so I worked pretty much all of them. MOst all 2's
and 3's as well. W4's are very thin on the ground.
Suprisingly, N0NI is worked fairly early on with only a couple of repeats.
Toni has great ears !!
K9NW has persistance and we take probably 20 overs to complete but he has
endurance. Thanks man !!
At 3:30am when I get up and out to the car I can hear K7RAT CQing. Not sure if
Tree is piloting this stn, but at times he is loud. I mean like 589 loud, but I
can't get a QRZ.
Dang. EVery time I tune past I call though just in case. One time he hits S9
and after many (and I mean MANY!!!) calls he puts my call together and we
complete, probably for
my best mobile DX to the west to date and for sure during the STEW. Again,
thanks a lot for your patience !!
Finally @ 4:21am I need to go back inside and back to bed. These 62 contacts
in 4-5 hours were likely as hard as my 1100 in 14 hours previousl in the RAC
Winter.
Thanks for all the contest contacts all year long. This was my 129th this year
and one of my favorites. I try to do something a little different in this
contest every time out.
Cheers,
Mike VE9AA, 2009 MINI COOPER, FT-857D, SD-330 with plastic coffee can coil and
wire cap-hat... and my ol' buddy N1MM riding along with me.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|