[3830] 144SprngSprnt K1WHS Single Op HP

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                    144 MHz Spring Sprint - 2021

Call: K1WHS
Operator(s): K1WHS
Station: K1WHS

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: FN43mj
Operating Time (hrs): 4

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 63  Mults = 20  Total Score = 1,260

Club: 

Comments:

The 144 sprint snuck up on me. I had been traveling down south for three weeks
prior, and had less than a week to prepare for the Monday sprint. There were two
great tower climbing days, but I had commitments then and could not do any
antenna work. The other days were cold and/or stormy. The last three days in
particular, were not conducive to climbing due to high winds.  As it stands, my
144 yagi array has been broken for over two years. One of the top yagis has the
1/2" heliax feedline ripped out of the driven element by high winds.  There
were two really bad windstorms this past winter, and the 144 H frame got twisted
from due west all the way down to east of south!  I had hoped to fix the mis
alignment, but these last three days were all way too windy for me to attempt
anything up on the tower.

So I started hauling gear up to the shack on Saturday and Sunday. It is amazing
all the stuff you need to make a station work these days. I brought all the 222
MHz gear up as well.  It was quite a job hooking everything back up. Simple
things were forgotten, and many trips were made back and forth from the house to
the hill shack. On Monday before the sprint, I brought up the 144 MHz exciter, a
k3, and hooked it up. Then I started working on the computers. I selected the
least bad (old) laptop to use for the internet. I turned it on to verify that it
worked. The first mistake was agreeing with the message on the computer that
said I should "refresh" my web browser. Like a fool I did that and it
bricked the whole thing. That's what I get for using a WIN XP machine! After
much reading and study, I found out that XP would not run with new versions. I
loaded a proper older version that should work, but it did no better. After a
few tries, I gave up and found my next youngest laptop. It had a bad BIOS
battery and a dead and flat battery.  It was an XP machine as well. I did get it
running and earmarked it for my  Chat Page laptop.  Then I took my rather newish
WIN 10 laptop for logging and FT-8 chores. Getting all that stuff to run took a
lot of time and another trip to the house for a missing USB  FTDI adaptor. Then
off to a zoning board hearing as some builder is putting in a housing
development that abuts my property.  20 new houses are going in. (There goes my
semi quiet location)  I got back home at 6 PM and spent the next hour getting
the computer running with logging and digital modes. I was actually ready when 7
PM rolled around. I had to skip eating dinner, but that was a small price to pay
for getting on for a sprint!

When the starting bell sounded, I heard WZ1V and K1TEO in Connecticut, but they
were soooooo weak. I was worried that my antennas had even more stuff wrong with
them! Signal strengths were awful and the power line noise was very bad. It
peaked SW and west.  Copy was difficult with all the raucous noise. The high
winds did not help. Figuring out where my rotating antenna was pointing was an
exercise in frustration. Having a busted antenna means that the antenna pattern
is messed up. The fact that the wind whipped the array more than 120 degrees off
the true heading added to the difficulties. I was not really sure where it was
pointing, so I guessed at the directions, and hoped I would hear something. A CQ
call would often produce callers who were too weak to copy amid all the power
line noise. I was not very diligent at making noise. I did a lot of twiddling
and listening.

I spent most of my time on SSB and CW.  Signals seemed quite weak with
occasional good signals squeaking in. I think the problem was a weather front
passing through right as the sprint commenced. It had been raining off and on
all day. The winds picked up late afternoon and the skies started clearing
before nightfall. The turbulent atmosphere made for tough conditions. I ended up
with 63 QSOs in 20 grids.  1260 points I think.   I was not even expecting to be
on at all, so I am claiming a moral victory. Reason:  The generator turned on
and ran just fine. My 5 GHz wireless internet link from my house to the shack a
half mile away was working.  My KW amplifier turned on and worked perfectly
after spending a cold winter in an unheated building. The building was not over
run by (expletive deleted) mice.  Life can be good! I have two buildings. The
222 thru microwave bldg is actually mouse free. I saw ZERO droppings all winter!
The six and two shack has some evidence of mice but not too bad. I am working on
that bldg this summer to seal it up as well. I have to crawl under it and screw
in some 1/2' plywood and aluminum flashing. I think the pesky rodents have an
entrance under the floor.

Of the 63 QSOs, 51 were SSB or CW, while 12 were the FT8 route at the end of the
sprint. I was not thrilled with the FT8 as the calls heard were ones that I
normally hear on CW with few exceptions. VE3WY was worked on FT8 a few minutes
before the sprint ended. That was a new grid too. I managed to turn the busted
144 array around to the NE and worked VE1SKY with humongous signals. Sky was +15
or so and was probably out in my driveway pulling my leg.   I did try to use the
ON4KST chat, but am not sure if that helped me, as it takes away from BIC time.

Now if I can just get 222 fixed before next week! Toward that end, I managed to
get the broken in half 30 ft yagi off the h frame and managed to single handedly
lower it all alone down my 100 ft tower. I am not sure how that all happened,
but I am very happy that it did!

Dave K1WHS


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