[Fourlanders] W4NH September VHF Contest Summary

[Bob Lear]

We were finally back on the air with W4NH for this contest from the 
W4ZST shack.  I think we did better than we expected and actually a 
higher score than 3 of the past 6 contests in Septembe,r even from NC.  
We had some openings, there was much more activity than usual on 2m FT8 
and Brian made 3 EME Q's on 222 for some good multipliers there.  Meteor 
Scatter made may good mults for us also.

Operators were Brian NX9O, Kim WG8S, Bill KI4US, Bob W4ZST, Jerry W5TDY 
and Bob K4VBM.  Same crew we had in June and were the volunteers that 
signed up this time.  Brian, Kim and Bill came Friday afternoon and gave 
much needed help in getting all the stations going and software 
coordinated.  I was still working on the 222 antenna problem and finally 
got it done before supper after replacing 3 N-connectors on the 222 RX 
and TX lines out to the preamp box.  First time we've had that problem 
occur.  The other major problem with 222 that took me many days of 
testing to find was one of the driven elements on the M2 222XP30 
antennas went bad with a 4:1 SWR.  Had to bring the antennas down and 
disconnect each place possible to finally find the problem.  Ashton 
KJ4AMA came over and helped set up the scaffolding to get to the 
antennas easily and helped with the initial testing, eliminating some 
connections the week before.  We've used the scaffolds several times now 
working on the 2m EME antennas and they were just as handy for the 222 
set up.   One of the other problems with 222 was caused by me several 
weeks ago when on 222 EME I accidentally hot switched the relay box, 
taking out the main T/R relay and the preamp.  Put in a new relay and 
FET in the preamp and had the box OK but still was the problem with the 
DE that I later found.  Likely not related to my mistake. I'm going to 
have to try to figure our a way to make sure that if the amp  kicks off, 
that I can't reset it while JT is still transmitting a sequence.  We 
have lockout to keep from changing polarity while transmitting but this 
is the first time anyone (me!) has made this mistake.  Just wasn't 
paying enough attention.

We went over to Cafe Cancun in Cleveland for Friday night dinner. We met 
for lunch Saturday as Rooster's which has become the tradition where Bob 
and Jerry met up with us.  Of course, Jerry did the cooking and we had 
fine charcoal grilled steaks, baked potato, green beans and salad 
Saturday night.  Jerry made egg and sausage casseroles again and 
biscuits for Sunday morning, sandwiches and chips for Lunch and grilled 
salmon fillets for us Sunday evening along with mac & cheese and salad.  
As always, "Never Hungry" in the Fourlanders long time tradition.  
Special thanks to Jerry for cooking and Buck KC4GCK for bringing the 
fresh salmon and some nice smoked salmon too, that had just been shipped 
in from Alaska a few days before and he joined us for Sunday dinner.  
There were no left overs, so don't ask!!  Our other visitor came Sunday 
morning to see the operation (mayhem!) going on.  Gary K4SUV (ex WA4IOB, 
proprietor of the beacons for so many years) came up from Snellville to 
check things out.  He had been with the Fourlanders back before my time 
and wanted to see what we do now.

The stations were the same as have been set up here for the last year 
and a half at least.  Pix and details on the W4ZST QRZ page for those 
interested.  Antennas the same too.  We did have the obligatory visit 
from Murphy with software problems mostly.  Not as bad as previous 
contests but some strange things did happen.  Some attributed to RF but 
came and went so not definitive.  I had a time with that as I was left 
alone in the shack after midnight and was trying to reboot, reboot and 
reboot to solve the problems on 2m that would work for a short while and 
then go out again.  Of course, I would make a couple of Q's when it was 
working and at the same time trying to keep up with MS which was jumping 
on 6m.  Brian can work two stations at a time but it's really not good 
for me to try it!! He came out about 4:30 Sunday morning and worked much 
MS on 6 and 2 for lots of good mults.  Bob VBM came out later to help.   
Everybody else showed up for breakfast time!

Down to the nitty-gritty.
Band Mode Q's Grids
50    FT8    120    47
50    MSK    30    24
50    USB    10      4
144    FT8    93    40
144    MSK    4    4
144    USB    10    6
222    FM        1    1
222    FT8       10    8
222    JT65     3      3
222    USB     6       2
432    FT8     23     14
432    USB    3        3
Tot                313    156        For a total score of 56,004

So another contest in the log for W4NH.  We will continue next with the 
January 2022 contest, again here as usual.  Put it on your calendars.

BTW, I have talked to the campground and our spaces were already 
reserved by others for next year too.  So much for giving them the 
contest dates for several years in advance and trying to make 
reservations.  In case you didn't know, we had confirmed reservations 
and a deposit for this past contest and they had rented our needed 
spaces to summer long campers and wouldn't make it right.  We can't go 
if we can't have the specific spaces we've always had for the past 22 
years.   It appears that our days of going there are over.  Some of the 
club members are investigating other portable location possibilities.

73, Bob W4ZST