[RTTY] GU0SUP BARTG test

[Phil Cooper]

Hi all,

I started getting ready in Friday evening, pruning macros, etc, and managed
to work THREE new countries on 30m!
Scotland was a surprising new one for me, but I then worked PZ5RA and PY7ZZ.
Most pleasing!

Like usual, I didn't fancy staying up late to start the contest, so planned
on getting up early on Saturday morning.
That didn't quite happen, and I started later than expected, as I wanted to
grab the spots for the VK2SG RTTY notes before embarking on the contest, and
my first contact was logged at 0756 on 40m.
It was a bitterly cold day here (well, for GU it was!) with a temp of only
+4C, but a biting northerly wind, helped along with some Force 9 winds!
80m was already dead, 40m was almost finished, so I moved to 20m, and
started S&P. Managed to bag JA1, 2, 5, 6, and 7, but no VK or ZL's.
The afternoon saw all 10 W call areas in the log, with some extremely loud
signals from some W6/7 and VE6/7's.
I almost thought N6CK may not be signing /4, but he was a genuine W6! And
also loud was K6LL. None of these signals had any flutter.

I did try CQ'ing several times, but after 3 or 4 Q's, it went quiet, so I
went back to S&P. The one thing that did annoy me a little was a couple of
UT stations who kept appearing right beside me when I called CQ, and close
enough to blot out anything that called me. It is times like this when I
wish I had more power and a bigger antenna!

On Sunday I did managed to get in the shack a bit earlier, but I almost
wished I hadn't bothered to get up so early!  The stations on 40m were ones
I had already worked, and 20m was totally dead. I updated the VK2SG notes,
and managed to work a few new ones as they appeared on 40 and 20m, but 20m
didn't really start to get going until about 0900.
The afternoon was better, with some nice DX about, and I logged not one, but
TWO different VU stations!
I also bagged YI9MI, 9M2CCO and 9V1UV.

Again, I could not seem to get a run going anywhere, on any band, even when
spotted, and that made it harder.

I heard nothing on 10m, and only the occasional very weak signal on 15m, and
not enough to warrant changing bands.

Here is what I managed:
Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Countries  Call Areas
------------------------------------------
   80:     51         21             0
   40:     99        31              4
   20:    196       39            20
   15:      0          0               0
   10:      0          0               0
-----------------------------------
Total:   346      91             24
Continents = 6
Total Score = 238,740

My log is already on LoTW, but paper cards are most welcome too.

73 all,

Phil GU0SUP