[UK-CONTEST] CQ WPX CW - G8D - op G3SJJ

[G3SJJ]

Band 	  Qs	 Pts	Prefixes
160m: 	    0	    0	      0
80m: 	   86	 256	    66
40m:	   33	 113	    23
20m:	 450	 794	  189
15m:	 243	 309	  115
10m:	 209	 339	    75
Totals:	1021	1711	  468	Total: 800748

After reading the rules on Friday (!) and realising that at last
non-superman single ops are catered for with 36 hours of the 48, I was even
more keen to do a reasonably serious effort. I spent Thursday and Friday,
(well you can do this when you have just taken early retirement!) finalising
re-building the antenna system after replacing the mast which bent back in
January. I opted for a 45ft Tennamast rather than the full Versatower
system. Less height than I would like but a bit easier to install bearing in
mind the additional problems of getting a ready-mixed cement lorry across
other peoples land and to the far end of the plot.

The A4S performed well after being patched up with a few bits of spare ali
tubing, (it landed on the end of the boom, buckling a boom to element clamp
badly). The 40m 2 el phased array may need some more radials after recent
grass cutting, it has a 1.5:1 SWR in one direction and 1:1 in the other. The
80m dipole on a stub mast above the beam was adequate for Eu. I installed a
160m dipole just underneath the beam but there was so much inter-reaction
with the 80m dipole that I abandoned it. At least I was kept fit, each
return journey down to the base of the mast is 180m, with a further 90m
return to the far end of the dipoles. The aspect ratio of the plot is 10:1.

FT1kMP needs attention again but not at Lynch's. It's been back twice for
the same fault. Bad connection on the audio gain control. Everything else
worked well! Topten band decoder switching the Topten 6 way relay box at the
base of the mast, and an Acom 1000 amp. Writelog logging program and ETM9
keyer to relieve the boredom of pressing F keys!

So, what about the contest? Well if band condx had been better and the
weather worse I might have stayed in the shack longer! Guess I did about 15
hours in total. (At least the full half acre of grass got cut!). Had a
really good run on 10m each morning with lots of UA9s, YBs etc. Also after
dinner on Saturday evening 20m opened up to States. 20 and 15m were
generally poor to States, it was amazing to hear ZF1A CQing at 20 over and
very few calling him. All NA calling him were very weak, even accounting for
beam direction. At times I wondered if the beam was actually working. ZL6QH
was strong in any arc from 270-360-90. VR2BG and others called me when I was
not pointing anywhere near them also. I should have spent more time on 40m,
the phased array still works well though F to B is reduced to about 2
s-points. Again 80m would have been interesting.

There was some atrocious quality signals and as already mentioned I can also
see no point in 40wpm. I generally run at 30/32 but hit Alt F9 at times to
slow things down. I also keep the external keyer at around 26 wpm for the
slower guys who are welcome.

Verdict, good fun, some nice DX, but must try harder!  Enjoyed reading the
reports so far. Chris G3SJJ
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