[3830] TBDC NP2J(K8RF) Single Op HP

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                    Stew Perry Topband Challenge - Pre-Stew

Call: NP2J
Operator(s): K8RF
Station: NP2J

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: St. Croix USVI
Operating Time (hrs): 7,5

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 215  Total Score = 1,785

Club: 

Comments:

"SAGA OF NP2J"

(apologies to CE0XA: see 1965 QST: "Saga of CE0XA" )
(My "Elmer" was W8ZCT (later W8ON) Gene Liggett (SK), a member of
CE0XA, First San Felix Operation)

    or

"What a week of Screw ups!"

******************************************************

Well this story is the kind that you usually keep to yourself.

Who wants everyone to know all the dumb stuff you did in order to sooth a case
of Contest withdrawals
 and chill a 105 degree fever of "Topband Disease"????



I run a pair of phased Inverted L's each about 60 or so feet high.
One of the two verticals is near edge of the hillside I am on and it catches a
lot of wind so I take it down for Hurricane season.
(See May 2021 CQ magazine page 18 for picture of vertical)
Most of the bad Tropical storms we get are late in the year; September thru
early November.
So I was waiting as long as possible to put the vertical back up.

****************************************************

The Saga begins:

Monday:

I had a 70 foot mast built up laying on the ground, with the 1000+ feet of rope
for guy wires ready to go!
The bottom of the mast is 2.5" thick wall tubing, tapers down to
1.25"
Uses 4 sets of four guy ropes.


Tuesday:

The big day: Time to raise the mast up in the air!

I decided to use a falling derrick approach to raising the mast.
I use 30 feet of old 3" Telrex Boom material for either a gin pole or pole
for falling derrick method.

I am on a hillside so the guy wires are at different elevations.
So when raising a mast you have to constantly be adjusting guy lengths as the
mast is raised.

Well, I raised the mast about half way up and I didn't have a guy tightened up
properly (Big Mistake #1)....

So, a gust of wind swung the mast side ways and the mast fell into the
"Bush" that covers most of my lot.

So much for all that work.

Went inside, grabbed the Rolling stones "Some Girls" disk and fired
up: "WHEN THE WHIP COMES DOWN"


BTW during this time frame the weather was horribly hot and muggy.
It had been raining off and on,
just often enough that the humidity was horrible.
15 minutes outside working and you are soaked with sweat.
After an hour or two you are just completely drained and exhausted,

Wednesday and Thursday:

Both days were spent untangling the mess of rope and wire tangled in the 15 foot
high bush.
Sweat. Sunburn. More Sweat. Even more sweat.
Go inside and jump in cold shower. Remove small Tan-tan leaves stuck all over
sweaty body.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Fun.

Friday:

OK, ready to try again!

Learning from big mistake #1, I kept the guy wires tight as I raised the mast
Got the mast up about 80% of the way up.....

BAM!!!! Mast broke in half and came crashing down.

Back inside.... Jam to "THE WHIP COMES DOWN".....again....


Analyzing what happened, I had mistakenly used a piece of 2" tubing in the
middle of the mast
 that was a piece from an old HyGain beam and it was not standard .058"wall
thickness.
There was a critical guy attachment point where this thin walled tubing was
used.

 SNAP!!! (Big Mistake #2)

 
Now around about this time I am questioning my sanity.
Is it really worth it?
What a crazy hobby...

Time for another Stones tune: "Shattered".....


But, My Elmer, Gene W8ZCT's favorite saying was:

"Keep plugging away"

His other favorite saying was:

"A BIG SIGNAL is a LOT of work"

(Back in 1971 when I was 13 years old,
 I helped Gene put up a full size rotary 80 meter dipole up 135 feet.
He knew a thing or two about big signals)


Saturday (Contest Day):

At this point was about to say the Hell with it....
I must be crazy.... (XYL probably thinks so, but she is keeps it to herself,
hi!)

I haven't gotten this thing up all week... how can I get it up now?
And if I do, I'll probably be too tired to operate...hi!

But,the weather was getting better, the rain had stopped and the air wasn't so
thick.
The Gods were cooperating, weather wise!

W8ZCT's words haunted me:

"Keep plugging away"
"A big signal is a lot of work"

So I decided not to give up after so much effort.

Why quit when this close to finishing??
(Even if you are totally exhausted, dehydrated and delerious)

"Keep plugging away"
"A big signal is a lot of work"

Mast got up in the air at 5PM local time (2100z)

Quickly put up the elevated radial, hooked up the coax cables and phasing line
to the switch box.
( Big Mistake #3: Biggest mistake of them all!!!
 Didn't check one detail, too big of hurry to get on the air)

Ran inside to check SWR, SWR OK!!! Time to get on the Air!!!
 

Got on, Band was noisy, signals were weak, rates were terribly low....
I just thought conditions were bad, QRN bad etc.(QRN was S7 to S9+)

I guess I must of been badly dehydrated, low on some vital nutrients or some
such thing as I kept getting cramps in my hands.
Sometimes just touching the keyboard would cause my hand to cramp in pain.
Kept drinking fluids and ate some chili while operating and the cramps finally
disappeared.

The only European stations I seemed to be working were far North, SM, OH and
Russians.
Mid EU very weak.
No Southern Europe at all. Strange....not even the Italian big guns.

Things were very, very slow, best hour was only 35, snore...

Very late,about 0600z, I took a listen to NP2X to see how he was doing.
We both usually get out about the same but Fred was working European stations I
couldn't even hear!

A light finally went on in my brain.....

Something was wrong big time.....

Went outside to check the phasing switchbox.
I decided to bypass the switchbox with a barrel connector.

Went back inside and the band sounded completely different!!
Signals were loud, noise was way down!

Finally realized that the cables to the direction switchbox were reversed!!!
Duh!!

So 95% of contest the vertical array was beaming SOUTH instead of NORTH!!!!!

Had to laugh, what else can you do!



I get 3 to 4 "S" units of Front to back with this array,
which means both RX and TX were down about 20 DB!!!!!

My ERP to North was nearly QRP.....

Can I file a QRP entry??? (Just kidding!)

So if you were wondering what happened to my signal, now you know!

The array beams straight North so there is probably a back lobe on pattern that
enabled the far North EU contacts.
There is a real deep notch off the back side which nulled out all the Southern
EU stations.
Now it all makes sense. Duh. 

Thanks to all that struggled with me to make a contact.
Sorry to have missed so many of my fellow Topband addicts!



Hope to see everyone in CQWW SSB and CW on 160!

(Willy UA9BA hope CU in CQWW!)

73

Dan K8RF op: NP2J


Rig:  K3S, AL82 to pair of vertical phased verticals pointed the WRONG
way!(didn't even work any SA)

***********************************************

Congrats to NP2X, who looks to be the winner of Stew Perry "Master of all
Seasons" plaque

***********************************************

I sponsored a Stew Perry Plaque for highest combined Low Power score for all 4
Stews.

The winner won't be decided util final scores are posted, but right now W0UO is
slightly ahead of my friend Brian VE3MGY.

Hats off to both these hard core Low Power Topbanders!!

*******************************************************

CW forever, Digital NEVER


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