[3830] ARRL FD K1LT 1B LP

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                    ARRL Field Day - 2019

Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT

Class: 1B LP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 19.5

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:   251             
   40:   639             
   20:   158             
   15:    84             
   10:    25             
    6:                   
    2:                   
  222:                   
  432:                   
  903:                   
  1.2:                   
  2.3:                   
  3.4:                   
  5.7:                   
  10G:                   
  24G:                   
----------------------------
Total:  1157    0       0  Total Score = 2,314

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

My claimed score does not include multipliers or bonus points.

I repeated the one transmitter one participant Field Day that has been
my standard the last couple of years, including the arduous trek to
the barn, except that I wanted to add a "free" VHF transmitter which
is only available to parties of three or more.  I tried to recruit an
assistant to set up, but I was not successful.  So I ran class 1B1
again but added the VHF transmitter anyway.  I just won't include
those 6 meter QSOs in my score.

Friday I started setting up.  I shoved a 35-foot mast of military
surplus 5-foot aluminum mast sections up through a short tree to
support an open-wire fed 80-meter dipole, the other end of which was
hanging from the highest point on the house.  Then I reopened the hole
and planted my portable full-sized 40-meter vertical, if you count a
10-foot 4x4 as portable (no handle).  Last year I carefully stowed the
radials so the ends were as straight as possible, which paid off this
year with minimal tangling while unrolling the 32 radials which are
permanently attached together at the center.  Finally I bolted the
3-element 6-meter yagi to a 20-foot aluminum former boom and lashed
that to the side of the barn.

The goal of the VHF transmitter was to determine if the additional fun
of operating a second station was worth the burden.  The burden was
carrying the extra K3, P3, laptop and power supply out to the barn and
erecting the antenna.  I figured I could just stay on FT8 since that
mode seems to have absorbed all potential 6-meter activity.

Unfortunately, I could not get WSJTX 2.0.1 (or 2.0.0) to use the K3S
audio via USB on a Linux laptop.  It would receive just fine but when
the software commanded the radio to transmit, no transmit audio
occurred and receive audio would no longer work.  This same
combination works fine with a Windows desktop computer instead of the
Linux laptop computer.  After screwing around for a couple of hours
while still operating CW on HF and missing the nice east-coast opening
at the beginning of the contest, I ran back to the house to fetch a
couple of cables to hook up audio the old-fashioned way.  That change
worked, and then I was able to rediscover the other problem: my new
K3S does not like to emit more than 70 watts on 6 meters.  If one
attempts to push more than 70 watts, the radio silently reduces power
to 0 watts.  Also, even at 50 watts, the radio will still randomly and
silently reduce power to 0 watts.  Eventually I came to understand
these numerous limitations and I started to accumulate FT8 QSOs on 6
meters after a few hours.

Meanwhile, the K3 on HF worked most of the time, except when it
didn't.  First, this radio has an intermittent problem that causes
main receiver audio to rapidly fade away.  When the radio is cold, no
amount of screwing around restores audio on the main receiver.  The
sub-receiver always works, except when it doesn't (more in a moment).
When the radio is warm, the main receiver can be restored sometimes by
transmitting, sometimes by changing crystal filters, and sometimes by
turning the pre-amp on.

Second, the sub-receiver always receives but routing a signal to that
receiver from the appropriate antenna seemed to be erratic.  On 80,
40, and 20 meters, I used the open-wire fed dipole for antenna 1 and
the 40-meter vertical for antenna 2.  On these bands, the audio in
each ear seemed to correspond to the performance of the antennas.  On
15 meters, I could not get the sub-receiver to produce a signal unless
I set that receiver to use the built-in splitter, even though I could
switch to antenna 2 and receive and transmit.  So it seems like
somehow the "alternate main antenna to sub-receiver" routing does not
work on 15 meters or maybe I am just senile.

I started on 40 meters which typically works best from my location.
After about an hour I tried 20 meters, but signals were very weak and
the rushing noise was very loud (not sure what kind of noise it was -
just plain old loud band noise) and it was hard to be heard.  So I
returned to 40 and stayed there for quite a while.  In the early
evening I again tried 20 which then had stronger signals and a little
less noise.  Just before dark I refilled the Honda 1000i generator.
After dark I alternated 40 and 80 although 80 had very loud and very
continuous static, which seemed to be worse for me that for others.
After dark it got fairly chilly so I had to run back to the house to
fetch a sleeping bag to sit in while operating.  At 2AM I slept for 4
hours.

In the morning I refilled the generator and then worked my way up the
bands all the way to 10 meters.  20 was much less noisy and more
productive for a while.  15 was productive except that it took a long
time for people to notice the band was open so rates stayed low and I
lost time messing with the sub-receiver.  10 meters opened but again
rates were very low.  6 meters had a nice single-hop E skip opening
almost everywhere.  I eventually worked 41 stations in IN, MA, MD, MI,
MN, NE, OH, OK, ON, PA, SD, TX, and VA.

Near the end of the contest, the HF K3 started to randomly shut off
while transmitting.  I previously had a problem like this with the K3S
a couple of contests prior, so apparently, the Samlex power supply is
the common point of failure.  This power supply was happy for almost a
year prior to becoming unhappy with the K3S.

Overall, the contest was a little slower and the equipment was a lot
more annoying.  6 meters would have been a nice addition if it didn't
require so much fiddling to get it to work.  It was hard to tell if
the HF slowness was less activity or worse conditions or my distracted
attention or all of the above.  Assuming that all of these problems
are resolved, I'll probably try to recruit sufficient set-up help to
qualify for class 1A.

Score making equipment: Elecraft K3 and P3, Samlex power supply, old
laptop with the one true serial port, old IBM Model M keyboard, old
Acer LCD monitor (makes big characters and herring-bones), Johnson
Viking KW Matchbox, 80-meter dipole, 40 meter vertical.

Distraction equipment: Elecraft K3S and P3, less old laptop, very hot
Astron 20A power supply, 3-element 6-meter beam.

I should qualify for the 100% emergency power, W1AW bulletin, and web
submission bonuses (250 points).


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