[UK-CONTEST] AFS SSB GM4AFF

[Cooper Stewart]

192 Q's with one dupe. (Same as CW leg; wierd.)

I don't think I've done this contest before, I can honestly say that I
probably won't do it again! PA4DX deliberately followed me, QRM-ed me and
swore at me repeatedly in spite of me QSY'ing out of his precious so-called
'digital' sub-band. I was livid but stayed cool throughout. I did, however,
e-mail him afterwards (simply to make sure it was him and not a malicious
pirate). His response more or less admits everything and tells me that he
has reported me to my 'authorities' along with others. So watch out! I'm in
fear of the consequences.
The contest was a struggle from the beginning. I put up a dipole at about
30ft oriented E/W over very wet soil 'cos that seemed sensible. My land
slopes more or less southerly. I'll never know if it was better than the
delta loop 'cos my towers are down.
G3NLY was loudest at the start, with YDX close behind. M5BXB was audible
from before the start, but never heard me call him at all (although he did
eventually call me in the last hour I think). As did many others. I just
trawled the band putting everyone in the band-map until they could hear me.
Totally soul destroying to almost 'complete' with someone to be told,
"Sorry, I can't hear you now. Please call me later." I'm not getting at that
method at all, it's obviously murder down there, it's just soul destroying!
So... I've removed my hair shirt and climbed off the bed of nails. And
Steve, as for reducing the power to 10 watts!! Come on! And in spite of my
terrible experience (and it was terrible - those who heard it will know what
I mean) with PA4DX (Wim Stoltenberg, Ravelstraat 30, 2162 Ar Lisse,
Netherlands pa4dx at amsat.org) I think the band space allocated is fine. It is
a contest after all.

Stewart
GM4AFF


-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Lawley [mailto:g4buo at compuserve.com]
Sent: 20 January 2003 08:57
To: UK Reflector
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] AFS SSB G4BUO


289 QSOs including one dup.

Yes, the band was very crowded, but it looks like this year the
top scores won't exceed 320. My best total was in 1996 when
I made 346 Qs, and G4PIQ several times exceeded the 400
mark so actually there has been a drop in activity.

The SSTVers have been a major nuisance for several years.
One Saturday afternoon when I'm in the shack I'm going to 
monitor 3730-3740 and see just how much SSTV goes on.
I strongly suspect that most of what we had to put up with 
wasn't real SSTV activity, just a few policemen trying to
defend 'their' allocation which is no more than a recommendation
in the Region 1 bandplan.

Antenna was an inverted vee, centre up about 55ft and ends
at about 30ft, running roughly NW-SE. I'm happy to admit 
to using a reflector, about 140ft long, 6ft high and offset to the 
south of the dipole to try to shove my signals up country. I 
strongly suspect that its effect is mainly psychological. 
Interestingly though, I seem to be called by GMs early on 
in the event, despite the fact that I'm one of the most southerly 
stations.

Dave G4BUO
_______________________________________________
UK-Contest mailing list
UK-Contest at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest