[Fourlanders] June Contest Report

Tue Jul 17 16:27:04 EDT 2007

Based on the claimed scores listed on the ARRL contest site, I am
guessing we will place 7th or maybe 6th. There were some high scores.
It looks like K8GP, W2SZ, W3CCX, K5QE and K3YTL were all unlimited
with higher scores (listed in order of scores claimed). W4IY had a
higher score, but may have been limited. Anyone know for sure? Did I
miss any other unlimited's?

The K5QE score is impressive. I guess we need to build one or two
rovers like his white Dodge as shown at the SVHFS conference.

Brian
NX9O

On 7/16/07, Bob Lear <k4sz at alltel.net> wrote:
> W4ZST 2007 FourLanders June Contest Report
>
> Once again the FourLanders W4NH ventured to Mile High Campground in
> Western NC EM85jm for the ARRL June VHF QSO Party.  We had a larger crew
> than usual, bolstered by some new members, allowing us to go back to
> Multi-Op for the first time in couple of years.
>
> This years crew consisted of Jim W4KXY (6m Band Captain), Sherman W4ATL,
> Kim WG8S, Paul W4SKI, Bob W4ZST (2m Capt), Kos N4NIA, Bill KI4US, Brian
> NX9O (222 Capt), Steve K4RF, Ivan K4VJM, Jeff W0ONR, Ron WW8RR (432
> Capt), Jim WE8W, Gary N8CQ and his son Josh.  Josh graduated from High
> School on Saturday Morning of the contest and came along with Gary for a
> Father-Son campout.  Congratulations to Josh on graduation.
>
> Special Thanks to our newest members this contest; Kos N4NIA, Bill KI4US
> and Gary N8CQ for joining us and acclimating so quickly to operating
> with the group.  They also did journeyman work during set-up and take
> down, both of which went quickly and smoothly due to the large crew.
>
> We did experience a couple of short rain showers during set-up time in
> Friday, but it dried up quickly so we got back to it and still managed
> to have all the antennas in the air before dark (and dinner).  The tower
> trailers worked well with only a minor problem with the 432 tower
> hanging up when being cranked down.  This will get some needed attention
> by K4VJM and W4ZST before the next contest.  Our earlier attempts to
> solve the problem are on the right track and now we've come up with some
> more ideas.  The only other problem we had, which is what caused us to
> be cranking the 432 tower down, was due to one of the new antenna mount
> Connect-Quick plates that kept coming apart on the lower 432 antenna.
> Ivan finally analyzed the problem and permanently repaired it the second
> time we had it down.  We are quite pleased with the Connect-Quick plates
> for the antennas.  No other mechanical issues during the contest.  The
> weather was outstanding for the rest of the contest though quite cool at
> night.
>
> Jeff W0ONR outdid himself with the food again.  We could not have eaten
> any better anywhere.  BBQ, Baked Ham and Meatloaf for dinner entrees,
> Brats and Sandwiches for lunches, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Pancakes and
> French Toast for our breakfasts were excellent and hard to beat.
> Sherman made the suggestion that we use "Not Hungry" for our W4NH
> phonetics and he was certainly right on.  We gave Jeff an Apron with his
> name and call embroderied on it to use while contest cooking.  Thanks
> again to Jeff for all the great meals.  Anyone on a diet would have
> suffered!
>
> Operations wise, we had a record score and QSO totals for our group from
> Mile High, almost 1000 Q's and 400K points.  The unofficial breakdown by
> band is:
>
> 6m:  542 Q's, 140 Grids
> 2m:  262 Q's,  73 Grids
> 222:   79 Q's,  45 Grids
> 432:   90 Q's,  36 Grids
> 903:   10 Q's,    8 Grids
> 1296:  11 Q's,   8 Grids
> 2304:    3 Q's,   3 Grids
>
> On 6m we ran W4KXY's new FT2000 along with a Commander Amp.  The set-up
> worked flawlessly and all the ops were quite pleased with the
> performance of the new radio and the station set-up.  2m had one minor
> problem with the 2m transverter oscillating.  Turns out it was probably
> a combination of jumper lengths and a filter that was inadvertently
> placed after the amp rather than before as it should have been.
> Removing the filter solved the problem.  The 2m station was an FT920 to
> a DEMI transverter driving a Commander II.  Brian had some problems with
> his 222 transverters and swapped the old and new ones out couple of
> times, but was on the air with them using his FT1000MP and Lunar Link
> Amp.  432 also had some problems when Ron made a connection and an
> unexpected arc occurred taking out his IC475.  Strangely enough the arc
> was from the coil to contacts of a small relay.  We hope the radio will
> be a minor fix.  He set-up with his backup IC706 and had no further
> problems.  Ron has a HB K2RIW style amp on 432 driving the stacked pair
> of FO25's.
>
> Right before leaving for the contest, the W4ZST 1296 amp died so K4RF
> brought has HiSpec amp along and I managed to incorporate it into the
> microwave station successfully.  We did have a problem with noise
> (oscillation) for a time with the amp, but finally solved it by
> adjusting the input tuning.  We think we missed some Q's on 1296 because
> of offset problems and hope to improve on that situation before the next
> contest.  No problems with the 903 or 1296 staions other than missed Q's
> that we've found no explanation for.  The simple set-up made it possible
> for the overnight ops, Paul W4SKI and Bill KI4US to make several
> microwave SSB contacts, even though they had no previous experience with
> my gear.  All my work trying to get it the way I wanted is paying off.
> Thanks guys for making those Q's and I appreciate your comments about my
> gear and station set-up.
>
> All in all, it was a great contest.  It was made easier by having
> additional folks making set-up and take down faster and easier.  The
> antenna quick connect plates left on the masts now will make the next
> time even easier.  No more more looking for a tape to set the stacking
> distances.  Still going to work on the tower trailer ideas to make
> things simpler for myself and the group.  Having the extra tent for
> storage of our extra containers and equipment also worked quite well.
> Thanks Brian.
>
> This contest cost each of us full participants $53.  We had more camping
> spaces than usual, but the cost was spread out over a larger group and
> that broke down to $25 each.  The fuel split came to only $6 each as
> Brian's nice diesel generator is running less than a gallon an hour for
> the contest and making plenty of juice for us.  Jeff's great food
> selection ended up costing us about $22 per person for all the meals.
> It would be hard to do anything else and have this much fun on a weekend
> for only $53!!!!  About the same as last year.
>
> Contest Pix from Sherman W4ATL
>
> http://shermanbanks.net/June_VHF_2007.html
>
> Pix from Kim WG8S
>
> http://w4nh.org/gallery/main.php
>
> Pix from Paul W4SKI
>
>   www.mtnlist.com/W4NH
>
> If anyone else has pix posted on the net or available, let me know.
>
> Thanks to all who participated and hope you can all come again in
> September.  We have made our reservations for the campgound and planning
> for another good contest.  Be sure to keep the September  8,9 weekend
> open on your calendars, it is only 7 weeks away!!
>
> 73, Bob W4ZST, FourLanders President
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