[3830] ARRL June VHF K7XC Limited Multi-Op LP

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                    ARRL June VHF Contest - 2019

Call: K7XC
Operator(s): K7XC K7CAN
Station: K7XC

Class: Limited Multi-Op LP
QTH: DM09jh - N NV
Operating Time (hrs): 24

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
    6:  107    78
    2:   16     7
  222:    5     5
  432:    5     3
  903:           
  1.2:           
  2.3:           
  3.4:           
  5.7:           
  10G:           
  24G:           
-------------------
Total:  133    93  Total Score = 13,299

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

4 Band, Low Power, Limited Multi Op, Tim- K7XC & Dan- K7CAN, K7XC Station-
DM09jh. 

Operating Conditions: 6M - Flex3000, 2M - IC-746, 222 - IC-706gmkIIg Ukrainian
Xvtr Mil Surplus Amp Module, 432 - IC706mkIIg Mil Surplus Amp Module.
 Antennas 6M - 6ele 24ft Boom DK7ZB Home-brew @ 27ft, 2M - 16ele 30Ft Boom M2
@23ft, 222 - 16ele 18ft Boom K1FO Home-brew, 432 - 29ele 21ft boom K1FO. 
The winds on Thursday & Friday were fierce so we didn't have the
time/opportunity to mount the 6M yagi on its own mast. Instead we punted and
left it on the same stack with the other antennas but swung it around 180
degrees so one person could be operating the usual 6M E/NE paths while the
second operator could be on 2, 222, & 432 to the typical paths of W/SW. It
worked out great as we were low power, so the interactions were manageable. 

I was very surprised at the beginning that 6M was weakly open, & that it
lingered in there for hours, often barely usable. Great conditions on the upper
bands & the new 222 Xvtr and Home-brew 4WL yagi played well. The effort to
install a run of 7/8" Heliax on 432 helped tremendously as no one was very
weak. The connectors for the second fun of 7/8" for 222 didn't arrive in
time so it managed well using a mixed bag of 3 shorter runs of low loss CQ-106
RG-8 style coax, kluged together with adapters in 4 places. 

It was Dan's first time participating in a multi-op, which he enjoyed greatly.
Up early Sunday Morning starting at 6AM the Rocks Were Fierce! Huge MS burns on
6M for over 3 hours allowing me to work anyone in any direction well past 700
miles or more. By not having any real Es it forced everyone out West to work the
closer in grids on MS, Kudos to K1JT as the latest release of WSJT-X was
flawless on FT8 & MSK144. Then with about 3 1/2 hours left, in desperation I
swung the 6M antenna out East... Poof with in 3 minutes the band went from
limping along to wide open! Soon the second hop was in to the East Coast and the
FT8 spectrum was completely packed past 3000 cycles! Here the adjustable SDR
waterfall  display extended out past 4500 cycles was a huge advantage. I hoped
from FT8, to SSB, to CW, and back 3 or four times always finding new stations to
work... Then BOOM it was 0300X and the band very quickly became extremely quiet.


All in all it was a rewarding experience. We didn't get everything on the to-do
list done in time but what was up played very well. Back in the 90s for 10years
straight my buddy W7KK (ex NR6E) and myself chased the top W7 score as a 2 man
limited multi op from some most awesome central Nevada Mountaintop locations. We
took grids with no residential activity like DM17, DM18, DM19, DM27, DM28, DN00,
DN10, etc and made them available using KW amps and large antennas. Between us,
NW7O(sk), W7TVF(sk), and a few others, the most of Nevada wasn't all that rare
when the FFMA was born. Fast forward 29 yrs and those same grids are back in
high demand again. It was pure joy to see folks like AG6EE/R, and other ROVERs
put those very grids back on the air again with KW amps and huge antennas! Never
before (Since I started in 1990) have so many rare NV grids been available at
the same time over a 48 hr period! LOTW FFMA totals should explode in a couple
of days to be sure! Thanks to all that pulled our signals out of the noise!
Still amazes me what 100W, large antennas, and some persistence can achieve on
VHF/UHF. 

73s and GL de Tim - K7XC & Dan - K7CAN, DM09jgh... sk   
Adapt, Overcome, Succeed!


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