[UK-CONTEST] SOABHP ARRL SSB Report from M6T (G4PIQ)

[Andy Cook, G4PIQ]

Call: M6T
Operator(s): G4PIQ
Station: G4MRS

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: JO02PB
Operating Time (hrs): 42
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   40    16
   80:  164    30
   40:  500    50
   20: 1045    57
   15:  993    56
   10:    0     0
-------------------
Total: 2742   209  Total Score = 1,703,559

Rig : 2 x FT1000MP + Titan + Alpha 87A

Ant : 160 - Inv-V Dipole @ 23m + Inv-L @ 28,
       80 - Delta Loop @ 23m
       40 - 402CD @ 24m
       HF - TH5 @ 24m + KT34A @ 30m (Second Radio)
       Rx - 180m Beverage

Long and rambling, but hopefully some will find of interest...........
      
It's 2002 since I last had a serious crack at this event having failed
to get antennas fixed in time in 2003 & having a power failure for many
hours in 2004, but how things have changed!

Spent a few odd bits of days the previous week doing the usual antenna
preparation (repair!) to try and be all ready by about dusk Friday so I
could rest before the contest. Of course that didn't happen, but I did
manage about 45 mins sleep before the off. I hadn't planned for animals
having bitten feeders apart in several pieces etc - and several inches
of snow on the ground doesn't make anyhing happen more quickly.

New antenna was an Inv-L for 160, top at about 28m. Engineered in
slightly less of a hurry than for CQWW where it was a 3 hours before the
start - oh hell - the 160 dipole doesn't work and the hallyard is jammed
so I can't get it down thing, and where it burned through the top
insulator after night #1 leaving me with no 160 at all! I think it
worked better than the Inv-V though both are so noisy on Rx due to site
noise problems I had to rely on a couple of very hurried Tx reports for
comparison. Unfortunately - this will be yet another semi-temporary
antenna as the radials will have to be rolled out every time - can't be
left permenantly. 

The contest started pretty well on 40m that first night with 80 & 160
both very poor. Then the first couple of big changes from 2002 - no
propagation after sunrise across to the West Coast on 40m, and nothing
on 20m until dawn in the US, so a couple of hours to get some sleep. As
sunrise crossed the USA 20m opened pretty reasonably and I stayed there
for a few hours until I thought 15m was reasonably open and then moved
there. Just as Steve, BLE reported, the band was open but with no real
rate until about 1600 when the band opened properly to the West Coast
and I had some decent but far from exceptional hours. Error #1 - I
didn't pass some of the more unusual mults to 20m. Was being lazy really
& I should have done, but in a normal year VE4 & VE7 would call me on
20m anyhow - however - these are gaps on 20m this year that didn't get
filled with the poor propagtion Sunday - the rarer US mults all did find
me in the end! After 15m closed, I went to 20m, but that only remained
open about another 15 mins! Kept checking 10m worrying that I was
missing stuff, but nothing heard from the US.

After 20m closed it was a little early to go to 40m but found something
to occupy my time. The beverage which had been working when I left it in
the morning was now dead. It's temporary and I assumed that someone had
walked into it and broken it, but on checking - no. Cutting a long story
short, during the day the feeder had gained a short circuit in its
middle. The feeder is 500m of RG58 - some of it now well burried in
hawthorn bushes - you can guess where I eventually found the fault - and
I have ths scars to prove it.... This was another animal induced fault
where something had been chewing at the coax. Not the first time since
the feeder lives out all year - but definitely the first mid-contest -
this was clearly the most appetising thing that the animal could find in
the snow....

During the Saturday night I kept trying 40m, but it never ran properly &
I kept moving between it and 80/160 with none giving any great rate, but
40 was the real disappointment. The US stations were complaing of high
static on 80/160 and it was also loud at this end peaking over S9 on the
beverage (even with around 10dB feeder loss on 80). 160 got rather
better a couple of hours before dawn Sunday morning & I managed to clear
off some of the usual mults then - but nothing other than the relatively
easy East Coast stuff. Similarly - no penetration into the mid West on
80.

I then had the luxury of a couple more hours of sleep after 40 died, but
when I got to 20 about 1030 the VO1s were loud, but I couldn't hear
anyone else. I kept looking at GeoClock and seeing the sun well up but
still the stations weren't there - it was clear something was very
wrong. As we all know 20 did open but a bit late on Sunday, but with
nothing of any consequence on 15 other than big guns on skew path + the
odd real southerly station + bizarrely N7DD late on, 20m was a zoo and I
wasn't in the best propagation. Frequencies quickly got overrun by US
stations or southern Eu and the big QRM depressed rate. At least 20m
stayed open longer on Sunday and the option to go straight to 40m as 20
closed was good & reasonably productive and then to 80/160 to finish
off. Sticking on 15 all Saturday meant that I had a decent set of mults
on there, but was still missing VE1 at the end (+DC, VO2, VE8, VYx - but
they're harder!) and never got a shot on Sunday to fill this - even with
the usually loud guys. 

I actually didn't find this as interesting a contest as in previous
years - significantly because there was relatively little value in SO2R
& so in the slow times, little to do but keep hitting Return (F1 for CT
types!). Often really only 1 band open at a time & there are relatively
few mults to be had & they generally find you! Even S&P on the low bands
on the second radio netted very few QSOs or mults - maybe I just can't
hear the weak stuff through the site noise. Only 75 second radio QSOs
this year. I guess the poor condx overnight made things drag somewhat as
well.

However - looking back on it - still enjoyable. It did show up the
weaknesses in the station on the low bands as usual. I do worry about
what I have done to animals in a previous life though - they're clearly
trying to get me back. 2 gnawed feeders this time in the most miserable
weather & a mouse sabotaged motherboard in the PC earlier in the
year........

73,

Andy, G4PIQ