[UK-CONTEST] G0MTN - EUHFC / RoPoCo

[Lee Volante]

Hi all,

This weekend I had a go in the EUHFC in the mixed mode low power section.
In the last couple of years I've entered it's been a high rate contest, with
excellent conditions around Europe on 10 and 15.  It's fun and friendly,
about 500 entrants, the SCC do a lovely results booklet, and the leaders end
up with about 1000 QSOs.    However, this was probably not to be this year
with dire conditions on the upper HF bands.

Still, 20m was good fun on both modes, whilst trying to pick up some mults
on the higher bands.  Managed to get some runs going on SSB, and had lots of
fun on CW.  CW:SSB split was about 2:1.  Bizarrely I had a few cluster spots
too I found afterwards.   It was good to work a few new friends I'd met in
Finland too.

I presume everyone noted the influx of R3Zxx stations with an 02 licence
year.  Was this some new Russian Foundation effort ?  Where have all these
top rate CW ops suddenly come from ?   I worked one later on SSB who
explained it was a contest-within-a-contest a la WRTC - unknown callsigns
from the same pool with the same mult weighting.  That explained it !

Just after 7pm local I saw the reflection of a lightning flash in the PC
monitor and hastily decided to go QRT for a while.  There was lightning at
the back of the house and the front of it, so I pulled the plug, and sat
eating a few contest sandwiches (a G0MTN staple) looking out at the storm,
enduring that slightly sick feeling in your stomach just waiting for the
inveitable.  I gather braver souls than me carried on operating !
Fortunately after 40 minutes the storm passed without incident and I carried
on.   (Seeking advice - what would you do ?)

As is starting to become a running trend, I'm disappointed with my mult
score again.  I only made 2 QSOs on 10 - OH1F and G4BWP (!) and time after
time I checked the band couldn't get any life out of it.   I think the QSOs
that were made on the band must have been near the start when I was trying
to go hell-for-leather on 20.   My windom isn't a performer at all on 160 -
perhaps it's time for a stealthy end fed.   I did move a local G friend from
80 to 160 to get a mult.  I should have moved him to 10 too.    So overall
lots of mults lost...

It's often noted being on the west end of Europe we don't get a good crack
at 160 in this contest - perhaps all the G's ought to be on 160 in the last
ten minutes just so we can work each other ?!  :-)    The G support in the
EU Sprints makes a lot of difference during that last hour on 80.....

15m was also interesting - it was very selective and in one period I only
had QSOs with LY, YL and ES - it was just like the Baltic contest.

End results

Band    QSO    Mult
160     7       7
80     74     37
40     158     43
20     353     53
15     54     29
10     2      2
Total    648      171   =>   110,610 pts.

Afterwards I started to have a brief go in the NAQP before deciding I needed
to go to bed else I'd not surface for RoPoCo.

I reverted to my previous bad habits by only managing to get out of bed 10
minutes before RoPoCo started feeling decidedly groggy !  I started the
contest at very slow speed and double checked the received postcodes in an
attempt to maintain some sort of accuracy as I didn't trust myself today !

I agree it seemed the busiest RoPoCo in a while - certainly busy with new
QSOs right up to the end.   I had two known gottaways - I couldn't quite
track down G3XNG, and there was someone else I couldn't resolve under an
unusual S5 noise (sounded like the Grand National entrants galloping by next
door.)

The most amusing moment was the last few minutes when everyone must be
scouting around hard for their last QSO.  When one QSO finished, without any
sign of a new CQ, I heard three distinct di-di-dah-dah-di-dit's chime in
simultaneously :-)

Finished with 58 (hopefully) good QSOs.   My own postcode never came
back.....

Equipment:  Usual TS850 / 100w / C3SS @ 9m / Windom 160S @ 8m

73,

Lee G0MTN