[UK-CONTEST] Beru 2005 G4BUO

[Dave Lawley]

I like rate contests, but I love Beru where the emphasis is on finding 
band openings, keeping turning the dial and lots of exercise for the 
rotators. In decidedly iffy band conditions it's interesting to spend 24 
hours at the rig and I always learn something new about propagation.

Unlike Don I didn't stay awake for the whole contest. I decided to grab 
an hour and a half's sleep but this was probably a bad decision as I 
came back to the LF bands in even worse shape than when I went to bed. I 
also found that some sort of arcing problem had developed on the 80m 
loop, so I made three trips down the garden in the pitch black but 
couldn't get it sorted.

Other than that I had a trouble-free contest and Win-Test, with Beru 
support only released on Thursday, worked flawlessly. This afternoon has 
been spent removing the temporary antennas and lowering the tower to its 
'non-contest' height.

Don and I were neck and neck for much of the contest, with Andy always a 
little ahead. Although conditions seemed worse than last year the QSO 
totals were very close, 365 this time compared with 374 in 2004.

Band    QSOs    Bonus QSOs
80       48      27
40       89      60
20      122      69
15       88      59
10       16      16         1815 points + 4620 bonus = 6,435

Ten-Tec Omni D + Ten-Tec Titan
FT1000MP + Dentron MLA2500
80m delta loop
40m 4-square
Tennadyne T8 up 73ft
20m delta loop
Homebrew 15/10m quad up 30ft

Dave G4BUO