[Fourlanders] June contest summary

[Bob Lear]

I should have gotten this out sooner, but you know how it is.  I have
put some good time in on the house and we are ready to move upstairs.

The Fourlanders took over the top of Soco Bald again for the ARRL June
VHF QSO Party.  Grid Square EM85jm.

First set of pictures from the contest by Dusty NR4N are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsf_cotton/3626852079/in/set-72157619670243893/

And Randal N4AC also has pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rdepriest/June2009VHFContest?feat=directlink

And Sherman W4ATL has pix at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154758&id=1457993032&l=5353539e2d

We had a great time, set a club record points total for operation at
Mile High Campground, about 350,000 points, although since 6m was open
all over the country, I expect we will maintain our usual seventh place
nationwide.

Operators were:  Ron WW8RR, Jim WE8W, Scott NN4W, Tom K4TJD, Bob W4ZST,
Brian NX9O, Jim W4KXY, Sherman W4ATL, Ivan K4VJM, Randal N4AC, Bill 
KI4US, Skip K4AWC, Jeff W0ONR, Kim WG8S, Paul W4SKI, Dusty NR4N and Gary 
N8CQ.  We had several visitors from Waynesville, Maggie Valley and 
Asheville.  Anna N9KHC and the McCarthy harmonics also visited and 
camped out Saturday night.  Claire camped out with Dad on Friday night.

No major problems with any of the stations this time although Murphy 
visited the 432 station a couple of times and left a calling card but no 
tracks to figure out the problems.  Of course, it would happen when Ron 
had gone off to a wedding Saturday afternoon.  We kept on the air 
barefoot though and made Q's.  6m propagation was excellent as we worked 
all over the country with a total of 180 grids or so.  With six open 
like that though, most of the single op stations weren't going to the 
higher bands and our totals there are lower than usual for a contest 
weekend.

Band summary:  6m  690 Q's  180 grids
                2m  143 Q's   40 grids
               222   40 Q's   20 grids
               432   60 Q's   25 grids
               903    6 Q's    4 grids
              1296   11 Q's    8 grids
              2304   19 Q's    2 grids
              5760   19 Q's    1 grid

We made a couple of tries on 3456 with W4ZRZ and K4FJW, but no sigs 
heard either way.  Again, many of the folks with microwave gear were not 
on for the contest and we missed many potential Q's there.

The new 6m stackmatch and stacked HO loops seemed to work out pretty 
well.  We have some SWR problems with the box and the yagis that need 
some work, but all the ops said the omni selection was very useful.  It 
didn't appear that having the upper or lower antennas alone made much 
difference this time, but we'll try again and see.

The new tables in the trailer were excellent.  So sturdy and all the 
space is useable.  Brian has since added an air conditioner that we will 
be able to sample in September if needed.  Great White and the generator 
went to visit with the North Fulton group for Field Day.  Four of the 
tower trailers went to visit with the Forsyth ARES group in Cumming for 
Field day.  I went to visit both and had a great time visiting.
We also had a different layout of trailers on the mountaintop that 
worked out quite well as you can see from the pictures.

Jim has gotten WSJT working on 6m now and contacts were made.  Tried on 
2m also, but something just wasn't set up right, but will be in the 
future.  They easily made Q with K5QE in TX on 6.

What can we say about the food?  The pictures tell the story.  There was 
plenty of it and we enjoyed it as usual.  Jeff did another great job. 
There was certainly no weight lost over the weekend.  Meatloaf, BBQ, 
Ham, Hamburgers, Brats, Scrambled Eggs, Pancakes, French Toast.  What 
more could one ask for?  Jeff, thanks again for the great meals.  I 
think it worked out to about $25 each for an eight meal weekend.  You 
couldn't have done that at home for sure.  QRZ, W 4 Never Hungry!!!

I don't remember the cost for camping, but it was what we usually pay, 
very reasonable.  Same with the diesel fuel costs.  A lot of fun over 
the weekend for the money.  Nowhere else could you have that much fun on 
a weekend for under a $100!!  Jim made reservations for September.

We also held our annual election and business meeting.  The officers all 
agreed to continue and were duly elected.  We are solvent, but not by 
much.  I think everyone paid up before they left.  We did vote on and 
approve a special assessment of $10 per member to help offset the costs 
of the new tables and wiring for the trailer.  Some folks paid while 
there, but others need to get $10 to Jim.  He has sent a separate e-mail 
out about that already.

Looking forward to another great contest in September.  Bad news so far 
is that Jim W4KXY and Bill KI4US will have to miss it due to school and 
business trip commitments for that weekend.  I think we will be able to 
work things out though.

I did work 6m some, but conditions weren't up when I got on and I never 
got to work 2m at all.  Could the ops comment on the K-3's performance 
on the 6m and 2m stations?  We'd all like to hear about them and what 
you thought.  Send your comments to me and I'll put them together as a 
summary single e-mail back to the reflector.

73,  Bob W4ZST