GM4DMZ's CQWW story

[Alastair Beaton]

Hi folks,

If only to keep Doug, KR2Q, happy, here's the "in-depth" tale of the GM4DMZ
multi-multi effort...

We spent the usual several weekends building up our antenna systems for the
contest, sorted the PC network problems (thanks to help from the great guys
on this reflector!), set up the gear so it looked nice, and had virtually
everything ready when...

Last Tuesday/Wednesday night we had a spot of bad weather. Winds gusted to
over 100mph. The 20m tower folded into an interesting "r" or shape, bringing
down a tree, and most of the 6-el Yagi just vanished. The 40m mast came
crashing down, the Top Band antenna snapped and the 10m mast became an
archway, a sort of alloy gazebo at the bottom of the garden. The 15m tower,
a tilt-over mobile unit, was telescoped and tilted so survived intact, and
the 15m Yagi and 80m delta-loop were pretty much OK after a bit of tweaking
and pulling. 

So, on Thursday night we found how to cut a 20-foot section out of a tower
using only a junior hacksaw, and bolt it back together. We built a 3-el Yagi
out of the bits of the 6-el which we found across the road (ain't MININEC
wonderful?), bought and cadjoled new poles for the other masts, worked round
the clock and finally made it on the air by midnight. 

We were pretty tired all weekend, but managed to get some sleep at various
times. Unfortunately, this meant that some bands were neglected for a time.
Our link to the Cluster never materialised, but a few locals kindly provided
a few spots by "conventional" Packet. The Collins 30-S1 caught fire, and the
20m amp went BANG in a big way, which meant the remaining amps were hauled
back and forward. The 2x3-500Z PA also failed, but was repaired. 

We tried telling ourselves that ham radio is a HOBBY, but didn't believe it.
It's a MANTRA, a CULTURE, a WAY OF LIFE! That's what XYLs find so hard to
understand. Despite the disasters, the wind, the rain, the lack of sleep,
the contest was brilliant! We all enjoyed it thoroughly. We'll be back next
year. Bigger, better, badder! More power! More aerials! Stronger coffee! 

Band    QSOs    Zones   Countries
160      450      8       53
80       667     17       70
40       757     22       91
20      1023     32      114
15      1155     34      127
10       286     15       56
Totals  4338    128      511
Provisional score = 4,615,497

73
Al, GM4BAP


 ______________________________________
|                                      |
|         Alastair J.S. Beaton         |
|         Tel: +44 1463 231197         |
|         Fax: +44 1463 717854         |
|                                      |
| A member of GM4DMZ, Scotland's first |
| Multi/Multi entry to '95 CQWW-DX-SSB |
|        GM3WOJ, GM4AFF, GM4BAP,       |
|            GM4TXX, GM4YXI            |
|______________________________________|  


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