[3830] CQWW CW V26K(AA3B) SOAB LP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: V26K
Operator(s): AA3B
Station: V21N

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Antigua
Operating Time (hrs): 43

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   18     7       15
   80:  578    16       63
   40: 1337    24       87
   20: 1259    30       89
   15: 1614    29       94
   10: 1482    26       81
------------------------------
Total: 6288   132      429  Total Score = 8,650,059

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

Sorry for the delayed 3830 report.  My lap top would not connect to the WIFI
networks at the resort.

I was driving to work on Monday 11/19/12 when my wife called me to tell me that
she had just heard from Pansy Carty that the V26B shack was destroyed in a fire
the previous evening.  Fortunately Roy Carty, the station owner, had escaped
the fire was in the hospital for observation.  I went through a full range of
emotions â€" it was great to hear that Roy had survived, but I was very
disappointed by the loss of the station and was unclear as to whether or not my
planned CQ WW CW operation could be salvaged.

I was able to speak with Roy late on Monday afternoon.  He felt that he could
get an adjacent apartment up and running by the contest and we could route the
necessary cables to this adjacent building.

I decided to take Tuesday 11/20/12 off from work and spent the day buying
supplies and pre-wiring connectors to support the anticipated work in Antigua.

We arrived at the station on Wednesday 11/21/12.  It was an awful sight.  The
building was gutted.  The fire had burned through the roof.  I saw the charred
remains of multiple control boxes, FT1000MP and MLA2500.  All the cables going
into the shack were cut and some were melted.  It struck me that it was amazing
that Roy had survived.  I was also able to get a quick look at the adjacent
apartment â€" it had not been occupied for some time and there was no operating
position.  Roy and his helpers were busily cleaning it up and building an
operating table.

I started the field work on Thursday 11/22/12.  Roy had successfully built up
an operating table and provided a refrigerator, freezer and bed in the shack. 
The apartment was ready to go!  

I located the remnants of the coax cables for 9 antennas, labeled the cables
and installed connectors on the ends.  I also found several pieces of RG213
that had survived and built up a single piece that was long enough to reach
from the apartment to any of the antenna feeds scattered about the property.  I
was able to get decent SWR readings on all of the antennas except the 40M stack.
 Fortunately, there are 40M wire beams fixed on Europe and North America so loss
of the 40M stack was not a killer.  I next started a similar process for the
rotor cables using 12 pin Molex connectors.  I found the first rotor cable,
built up an extension cable and got the 15M rotor working.
I was pretty tired Thursday afternoon but did manage to get on 40M for about 60
QSOs.  It was rewarding to know that my radio survived the trip and there were
no apparent RFI issues in the new operating position.

I returned to the site on Friday 11/23/12 after doing some food shopping.  I
located rotor cables for the 20M and 10M antennas and got them working.  I had
to climb the 10M tower to splice the rotor cable as it had been melted up to
about the 30’ mark.  Meanwhile, Roy arranged for the repair of the shack air
conditioner.  

All the work was completed approximately 1800z on 11/23/12.  The apartment was
set up and comfortable.  I had working antennas for all bands and working
rotors for 10M, 15M and 20M.  Band changes would require going into the field
and moving the coax and rotor extensions from among the various feeds, taking
approximately 10 minutes to complete.

The contest was a blast!  I spent most of time running.  I apologize to all
that wanted me to move bands â€" it was just not practical given the antenna
switching process.  My results were down from last year, but I have no
regrets.

My special thanks to Roy Carty V21N and his family for their heroic efforts to
recover from the tragic fire.  He got out of the hospital on Monday and
immediately began working on moving the station, which was successfully
accomplished in four days.  Also, I got excellent advice from Brian, N3OC and
strong encouragement from Team Antigua and my FRC brethren which helped me stay
focused on the end objective of maximizing my score!

73, 

Bud V26K / AA3B


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