[UK-CONTEST] GW3NJW 21/28 CW

[Clive Whelan]

A quick and dirty report. I need to massage the WL log before a 
score emerges. However here are the crude QSO figs.


21Mhz      178
28Mhz      132

This is about 10% down on last year


Station
_______
TS870x2
Alpha 78
FL2100Z

400 watts
SO2R ( when I felt like it!)


212ft inverted vee doublet at 30ft a.g.l.
Butternut HF9Vx3


The Butternut "array" doesn't really cut the mustard on HF, 
because the spacing ( 40ft) is much too wide. I started the 
event on 21Mhz with the verticals while simultaneously S&P ing 
on the doublet on 28Mhz, which was marginally beneficial ( I am 
still an SO2R sceptic, but hanging in). Later I put both 
antennas on 21Mhz in SO1R( I can do this using the A/B input 
selector on the FC102 ATU, but have to remember that one 
tcvr/amp combo has no ant. connected!), but even the mediocre 
verticals were superior into East Eu and the Far East/JA. 
However when the band swung around to the West, it was clear 
that the doublet was winning, because it fires largely off its 
ends which are WNW/ESE, and as skip lengthened into W6/7-which 
seemed to happen without a decent East coast opening- this 
advantage was more marked. As always it was very frustrating to 
be refused QSOs by DX stations in the WAG event( see later). 
However some non contest stations( VU, JW0 et al) did get in the 
log, at the expense of having to give name/QTH, and promise a 
QSL ( ugh!). These were logged with the new fangled 000 serial 
number, which seems a good idea.

To comment on Ian/IIY's posting, I am not personally 
embarrassed, by an ability to be on top of the table, although I 
do understand that some may so be. As Dave/BUO once pointed up, 
it is the lowly who are in some respects more important than the 
upper echelons, otherwise there would simply be no table to top 
for the big-guns. After all, I cannot compete with the IVZs, 
POIs, VHBs,  et al of this event, as I don't have their class of 
antenna hardware  ( nor sadly could ever do so at this QTH), and 
am old and decrepit to boot! My personal goals are to do the 
best I can, and try to improve my relative position in the 
table. If anyone has a problem with that- which I doubt- then 
san fairy ann as we say in GW!

Oh forgot to mention, surely this contest is past its sell by 
date? If we cannot get our troops in the field, which 
demonstrably we cannot, then we will always be subsumed by the 
WAG; I think this is called market forces? HFCC please put the 
21/28 out of its misery, then we can all enter the WAG with 
impunity!


73


Clive
GW3NJW