[UK-CONTEST] 21MHz/28MHz SSB

[David Johnson]

Dear All,
            
I hope that you have now settled down from the adrenalin rush that was last Sunday's contest. Not!
Condx had been hit by high levels of auroral activity for some days, particularly on 10M, but I was surprised by the lack of propagation on 15M and like so many, only managed 7 QSO's in the first hour. Then, it was a matter of working all Russian call areas (!). I made my first contact on 10M at 0836z with the only (F) station I could hear. I was fearful that the band would not open at all. The high QSO rates of last year became an increasingly distant memory. I likened the effect to fighting a way out of a wet blanket. Frustrating! As the morning progressed an increasing number of multipliers were being worked, albeit in low numbers and without the high QSO runs. I could hear Chris, GM3WOJ working tens of JA's on 15M who were only 51 at best with me. I gritted my teeth at the time, but was pleased that the GM's were having the advantage, for a change. At one point I was 50 QSO's down and could not make the same impact on the band. However, the situation was somewhat reversed when I went back to 10M and so I made up my mind to defend the Trophy. I was able to make quite reasonable QSO's, given the poor conditions and picked up some good DX. Thanks to 9M2/G4ZFE, VK6TS, 3DA0TM, 5R8GT, YF1AR, 3B8CF, VP8CGM, V51BG et al for the well needed points. I found that by beaming at 210' I was able to work plenty of EU and South American stations. Even the odd VE3 & WA1 made it through. Signals faded as I turned the beam towards a more direct path.

I used a 10ele Log Periodic from Tennadynne at 65ft, which performed very well indeed. Band hopping was a very easy and the forward gain and F/B were entirely within the figures quoted. The gain on 10M was the same as one of my 5ele (YO optimised) monoband yagis, although the band noise was somewhat higher on the Log.

Well, I have not won the overall event, but I still had a great deal of fun. Perhaps, for future years, the HFCC could consider combining the SSB and CW events on the same day, but with separate sections. How about 4hrs CW, 6hrs SSB, 4hrs CW continuous events? Maybe even a separate 6hr SSB & CW section to appeal to newcomers? I will follow your discusions with interest.

Call:        G4DHF
QTH:        Nr. Spalding, Lincolnshire
Score:      69402
Rig:          IC756PRO11, 400W
Ant:          T10 Log Periodic

                               15M                10M

QSO's                      91                   178            (269)
Mult's                       33                     53            (086)

73's

David
G4DHF 

PS. I'm trying to start a new Contest Group (The Lincolnshire Poachers') based here in South Lincolnshire and have two additional (casual) operators. The club call G6LI was issued on the 8th October and so I hope to be QRV on 10M Single Op in CQWW at the end of the month. To see why this call has been requested and re-issued, visit the following website, www.qslcollection.co.uk





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