[UK-CONTEST] IOTA 2002 SOABHP SSB unassisted prelim results GM3PPG/P (South Uist, Outer Hebrides)

Thu Aug 15 19:10:21 EDT 2002

Hi everyone,
(forwarded message from GM3PPG, originally sent to Stewart, GM4AFF) :

Hi Stewart,
Hope you get this e-mail and everything is OK.   I've just worked out
preliminary results using SDI offline for my operation in IOTA.  Good to
work you several times by the way !  As you mentioned on the air we are both
in the same section this year (i.e. "permanent" and not a dxpedition.).  I
still believe the criteria for deciding this split are very far from being
ideal.  As I mentioned to Don in a private e-mail earlier on this year,
South Uist is connected to Benbecula by a causeway.  Benbecula has scheduled
airlines to the mainland (which I didn't use and which couldn't have carried
all the equipment I take with me) and so I cannot claim dxpedition status
despite constructing everything there during my holiday.  I know this is a
rather arbitrary definition (to try and encourage operation from more remote
locations), but I passionately want to carry out antenna and propagation
experiments especially with large LF arrays near the sea both during as well
as outside the contest.  I hope the IOTA committee will re-consider their
classifications next year !  I'll e-mail them again..

GM3PPG/P   SOABHP Unassisted  "permanent"  IOTA 2002 prelim results :

Band   QSOs   Dupes   Mults   Antenna

80m     208         5         41      4 - square
40m     181         2         31      4 - square, also single half wave vert.
20m     867       36         93      80m half wave dip.inv.v at 60 feet, also 5/8 wave vert.
15m     230         6         58              "                 "     "         "        
10m       34         0         13              "                 "     "         "

ALL  1520       49        236

Total score =     2,202,588 points (but knowing my luck this will probably
drop a little with checking !)

Equipment  : single FT990 plus Acom amp., no online logging !! (a bit of a
drawback for me...).

Propagation on HF was pretty poor.  I started on 15m, and wanted to use the
band while it was "reasonable" on Sat. afternoon. I ran with occasional
breaks for mult chasing as I wasn't sure that 15m would be any good on
Sunday morning.  Then went to 20m running.  Unlike last year I went to 80m
earlier (approx 2200z) and spent quite long times running.  The four square
worked really well.  I didn't use 40m enough, but was pleased with the
nested 4-square (first time I had one on 40m).  Looks like we swapped
honours between 40 and 80 !    10m was appalling.  With no monitoring rx had
to break running to keep checking 10m.  20m was good at night though.  Best
time came at 0530z on Sunday (20m) when Pitcairn called me !  Nearly fell
off my chair - first time I've heard it  let alone worked them. Delightful
lady (Meralda).  Also pleased to get Tonga, Cook Islands and Hawaii - but
only a few JA's.  Sakhalin Island though was a good signal.  For most
signals on 20m the inv v dipole was best (by about two S points), except for
the Pacific where the 5/8 wave vert. came into it's own (about 1 to 2 S
points better).  Still not sure whether this was a vertical angle of
radiation phenomena (the vert was on the rocks by the ocean  - and the tide
was in at this time on Sunday morning !!), or whether the long dipole on 20m
had nulls in the hrp in the relevant directions.  Needs more
investigation....  No JA on 15m.

Looking at what some people in the UK worked on 10m (e.g. Isles of Scilly)
there is definitely a North/South divide - but will still come back to
Scotland next year (like a second home).

Had about four half hour breaks to refuel generator and lost last 10mins as
genny overheated and cut out (had a cover over it during the night as very
heavy rain).

Enjoyed it immensely again though.  Best bits : getting the four squares
going.  Worst bits : dismantling everything afterwards.

I'm envious of your rotatable beams and your IT systems.  My op. is much
lower tech. but I try and compensate with choice of location.   I need to
get a permanent residence up here !! I could e-mail a jpeg of last years
setup.

Best wishes,

Richard (Hon. sec. G3PPG)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cooper Stewart" <coopers at odl.co.uk>
To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 9:45 AM
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] GM0F (GM4AFF) IOTA SOABHP SSB Unassisted 24hr

> GM0F (GM4AFF) IOTA Single Op All Band High Power 24 hours
>
> Band    QSO    Mult
> 80m     129     29
> 40m     285     45
> 20m     767     97
> 15m     269     48
> 10m      57     13
> Totals 1520    231
> Some dupes
> QSO Points Total - 8751
> Total Raw Score - 2021481 (all still to be verified)
>
> Great to see the write-ups coming in. I like reading how other people deal
> with things! This was my first contest since the great St Cyrus tornedo of
> 31 January 2002. Nearly all new antennas, two matching radios (and a
spare)
> which work reliably, some stubs to cut cross-talk and a new amp. What
could
> possibly go wrong? Yes, that's right, the IT. And how many other groups or
> individuals had a computer related problem last weekend? Loads, I would
> surmise. As I run an IT department and have access to a fairly large chunk
> of IT I am considering doing some tests on different PCs, network cards,
> monitors, keyboards, and so on, to establish what works and what doesn't,
> when subjected to 400w. And as for the software... don't even mention
that.
> I may resort to using DOS Edit on a 386 soon. Perhaps the time has come to
> embrace client/server technology.
> I like IOTA because you can't just sit and run. I was out to beat my last
> year's score ('cos the first prize isn't a holiday), and even made up a
> little mult target 'meter'. When I started failing to hit my targets I
> stopped using it! SO2R is ideal for IOTA, running on one band/radio and
> slowing plodding up another band on the second radio. At least in a single
> mode scenario. No great technology or expense involved. Conditions,
however,
> were so bad here that I recognised every signal I came across on 15m and
10m
> for most of the time. 10m only opened briefly to EU. It was a real
struggle.
> There is something in what Clive said about "two stations S&P'ing will
never
> work each" other that makes me wonder about IOTA though.
> Once again, I recorded the entire event. I set the software to 'switch
off'
> if there was no sound, so my voice has not been recorded. Only 108MB of
disk
> space using 8kHz mono sampling saved as a .wav file. At one point, I
> listened to Andy (M6T) for a few moments as he worked stations I couldn't
> even hear. (Reminds me of 144MHz!) I only worked a handful of JA stations,
> and I think I worked more US stations on 80m and 40m than I did on 20m,
15m
> or 10m together.
> Nevertheless, it's still good fun. I slept for 45 minutes and only left
the
> table for a few 'visites au toilette'. As one who is very interested in
> managing sleep and diet, I have not been managing to control sleep
> deprivation in contests myself at all well recently. At least I seem to
have
> cracked the problem a little. I took Friday off work and did very little
all
> day. (Much the same as being at work really, I hear some say.)
>
> Equipment:
> Kenwood TS940 + Alpha 91b
> Kenwood TS940 + Collins 30S1
> Home made SO2R switch box and antenna switch + stubs.
> 10m - 5 ele Create at 35ft
> 15m - 5 ele homebrew YO at 45ft
> 20m - 4 ele Force-12 EF420 at 60ft
> 40m - 2 ele Cushcraft 402CD at 50ft
> 80m - (tried a delta loop, SWR went high) dipole at 60ft
>
> 73 to all
> Stewart
> GM4AFF
> www.qsl.net/gm4aff
>
> _______________________________________________
> UK-Contest mailing list
> UK-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>

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