[Fourlanders] W4NH June 2019 VHF contest Summary

[Bob Lear]

All the hot weather and high pressure for weeks suddenly went away for 
the contest weekend and yielded to low pressure and much rain around the 
metro area.  Fortunately we didn't have it too bad here at the W4ZST QTH 
hosting the June contest.  Had some rain but nothing that really 
bothered us or caused us to shut down. Lightning storm headed our way 
veered off the the east and we didn't have to worry about it.  But the 
low pressure didn't give us the nice band openings that had been 
happening for the several weeks before the contest.

Just got the latest QST and we placed _Second_ Nationwide in Multi-Op 
for the January contest.  First in the SE Division.  Best showing ever 
from EM84.

We experienced the same heavily weighted digital activity again this 
contest and because of the heavy activity on 6m the upper bands suffered 
low activity.  One of the major problems for multi-op stations like us 
and also for single-op multi-band stations is that there is no way to 
pass folks to other bands now like we have always been able to do on 
phone or CW.  We will have to see how FT8 may now force changes in the 
contests because of this.  It is really limiting activity on the upper 
bands.  We had 12 operators here for the contest at the W4ZST shack in 
Dahlonega, EM84ao, four visitors and nine sleeping overnight on Saturday.

Johnny K4SQC was the 6m band captain and the station was his M2 6m SS 
1kW amp and ZST's IC-7300 with the stacked pair of 5 element beams at 
35/50'.  We also have the stacked pair of M2 HO loop omni's that can be 
selected using the Bip/Bop Box.  We used the ZST AMD Ryzen 7 computer 
for the station and were running two monitors, one for the N1MM logging 
program and the other for a panadaptor display from the 7300 through 
N1MM.  Also of course the new WSJT-x v2.0 software for the digital 
modes.  Kim WG8S, Sherman W4ATL, Paul W4SKI and Bob K4VBM mostly ran the 
6m station and made 351 Q's and 107 grids on FT8, 43 Q's and 8 Grids on 
phone and only one MSK144.

Our regular 2m band captain Kos N4NIA was unable to make the contest 
this time.  Johnny and I set up the 2m EME station to also be 
terrestrial.  We were using a Flex 1500, DEMI 2m transverter and M2 - 
1K2 amp.  We had the two K1FO 12 element yagis still up since January 
and the 2m omni-beams and the two XP EME beams.   No  2m EME QSO's were 
made even though we were seeing and decoding signals.  I had 
accidentally left the transmit on the terrestrial antennas when we were 
trying EME and by the time I found that, we had lost the EU window and 
didn't end up making any.   2m results were 11Q/5G on FT8, 21Q/9G on SSB.

Brian NX9O was able to be here for the contest.  The 7 phone Q's to 4 
grids left him pretty bored most of the time.  Brian changed his station 
this time using a Flex 1500, DEMI transverter, Lunar LInk Amp and a pair 
of M2 cross pole 30 element beams with a mast mounted preamp.    No 
takers for EME or FT8 this contest.

Ron WW8RR had his station on 432 with an IC-910H, HB K2RIW kW amp and 
four K2RIW antennas with Az-El.   We also have the 432 omni-beams up.  
We had the antennas with Left/Right polarization this time to see if 
that helped with EME.  Only 2 EME Q's though so no definitive result 
there and with 1 Q on CW and 13 phone Q's to 6 grids and 3Q/3G using 
FT8, we don't think the polarization hurt there but will try it again in 
September, hoping there will be more activity to help decide if the L/R 
polarization is better.  This was the first time we've made FT8 Q's on 432.

W4ZST had the station for 1296 set up this time and unfortunately made 
no Q's.   I had Johnny's IC-910 and a new Beko 1296 amp to a pair of 45 
element loop yagis at 30 feet or so.  All shiny and pretty and no place 
to go!  A couple of our regular contacts for 1296 were unable to get on 
this time.

We did encounter a number of problems with the N1MM and WSJT-x software 
packages.  Some maybe our fault and some not.  The packages are getting 
more complicated and are also becoming more integrated. We had strange 
things happen and many things that were solved by rebooting software, 
computers and radios.  We do need to keep up with these softwares and 
keep using them at home to be more used to operating them and keeping 
problems to a minimum.

Our score of 70,810 is the highest score we have posted from operating 
in EM84, January, June or August.  May come out pretty good in the final 
standings.   Some parts of the country were affected by the severe 
weather and heavy rain.  We'll just have to wait and see. Our other 
operators for the contest were Jerry W5TDY, Jim W4KXY, Bill KI4US and 
Rich KX4KD.

Our visitors were Brad KM4QHI, Craig KN4DLS, Carter KN4DLY and Andrew, 
who had just discovered Ham Radio that day visiting some portable 
operators on the mountain above us who had visited here before and told 
him about us and he came to visit here too.  We probably overwhelmed him 
with our jargon.  We hope to see him again and keep him interested in 
Ham Radio.

We did repair the roof vent on Great White and placed RV style tire 
covers to protect all our trailer tires from the Sun since the last 
contest as planned and approved.  No other club business was undertaken 
but Jim did collect some dues.

Last but not least, Jerry smoked some fine briskets for our Saturday 
night dinner along with pinto beans, potato salad, slaw, smoked sausage 
and his famous jalapeno poppers.  Special thanks to Jerry for the great 
cooking and for volunteering to be our regular cook, letting me go back 
to being a needed band captain.  I had pancakes, sausage and coffee for 
everyone for Sunday breakfast and we had ham, turkey and cheese 
sandwiches and chips for lunch on Sunday.  About ten of us met for lunch 
at Roosters on Saturday and came back to get all the radios on the air 
for the contest.

Make note on your calendars that we will do the September VHF contest at 
MileHigh Campground on Sept 13, 14, 15 and 16.  Jim also managed to make 
reservations and a deposit for both contest weekends next year.

Thanks again to all our operators, visitors, friends and the folks we 
made contact with on the bands for the contest.

73, Bob W4ZST for the W4NH Fourlanders


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/fourlanders/attachments/20190615/b889dfa4/attachment.html>