[3830] IOTA GA1J(MM0BQI) SO24Mixed LP

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                    IOTA Contest

Call: GA1J
Operator(s): MM0BQI
Station: GA1J

Class: SO24Mixed LP
QTH: EU092
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  CW Mults  Ph Qs  Ph Mults
----------------------------------------
   80:   39       26      40       23
   40:   49       35     198       50
   20:   60       36     262       55
   15:   29       21     127       32
   10:    2        0       6        5
----------------------------------------
Total:  179      118     633      165  Total Score = 2,107,784

Club: 

Comments:

Very low key attempt this year that seems to have yielded one of my highest
scores!  Only one radio and three wire antennas.  Conditions were okay but
possibly quieter on the island front.  Keeping things very simple I decided to
put major effort into mult hunting and it paid of massively. The antennas were
constructed on site from three fibre glass fishing poles and a couple of reels
of wire.  Rig was a K3 and logging by N1MM.
80m inverted L with two elevated radials.  Works fine for EU and DX but Just
can’t seem to make it work into the rest of the UK from here.
40m �" tried and tested simple quarter wave vertical with four elevated
radials �" this antenna rocks!
20/15/10 �" tri-band ground plane with common feed point for all
elements.  (Photo on the IOTA contest website) Feed point 5m above ground.  4
radials for 20 and two for 15 and 10.   Adding more radials for 15/10 messed up
20m so stuck with only two radials on these bands.  Very little difference
between this and the 40m vertical on 15m.  10m was very weak and watery and I
must have missed the stronger openings so only a few Qs here.
The weekend went very well with no radio equipment issues. Generator packed in
for a time which was a great excuse for some sleep! Main problem was QRM from
the local fish farm.  Since my last visit they have installed a lot of
telemetry gear round the cages linking back to the barge used as an office. 
This produces a lot of background noise but the new seal scarers wiped out the
bands on many occasions.  Not sure if they are motion sensitive or just send
out noise randomly but when they were in full swing little could be heard on
the bands.  Kayaking across the bay you could actually feel the vibration
coming through the hull of the boat.
Some large packet induced pile-ups with the rate meter reaching 240/174/130 
Qs/hour.  Great while they lasted but running LP you can only expect to keep
your clear frequency for a limited time. With the resultant boost to run rates
caused by cluster spots we need to keep an eye on how we monitor cluster usage
in the various section of the contest.  K1TTT used to produce some great stats
identifying who spotted who during a contest but I am not sure if he still does
this. Anyway, I was delighted to be spotted! I managed to get a patchy cluster
connection by tethering my phone to the laptop and sticking it on the hill,
taped to a 5m pole in a plastic bag. Fine on a deserted island but not
recommended in more populated areas!  Being assisted certainly added to the
score but not sure by how much.  By the time a cluster spot was a minute old
there was little chance of breaking the pile so it was marked on the band map
to be revisited later on. Trawling the bands was the most productive method of
mult hunting,
Most impressed with the operating of DL1KZA. I worked them when they were
calling CQ and as I tuned up the band their mult station was calling another
station a few KHz away.  Superb use of technology and station design.
I saw loads of postings on the multi-multi subject when I came home.  I think
we should try this section within IOTA.  It will increase the amount of
congestion on the bands but the flip side is there will be more targets to aim
for when conditions quieten down.  I would also keep the current multi two
section as this is ideal for small groups of operators to compete in a lively
environment without needing huge resource.  You could call the multi-multi
section ‘anything goes’ and this would allow those with the big amps to
compete globally with similar stations…
Thanks for the Qs and hopefully see you again next year from the Summer Isles.
73
Jim,  MM0BQI �" GA1J


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