[UK-CONTEST] Fwd: GB5HQ

Sun Jul 9 11:26:12 EDT 2006

Its not often I agree with SJJ but on this occasion I have to.      We were 
operating the 40m and 160m SB station
which was operating from Central Scotland, but yes, connected to the same 
log server as all the rest so that we could
share information as described by SJJ.

We more or less built our station from scratch utilising a 3 and a 2 element 
yagi on two towers.  The 160m antenna was
a vertical and a dipole at lower level.   Our operators were all experienced 
DXers and Contesters.   The only chink
in our armour (if there was one) was that none of us are skilled
160m operators.   We operated around the clock and I personally had 2 hours 
of dozing in a chair, and no proper sleep.
My doze was not untill long after daylight on 160 and signals had all 
disappeared.   We flogged 40m right up until the bell.

I know that the 10 and 15 m stations enjoyed good conditions, but on 40 the 
conditions were mediocre at best and downright
crap on 160m - but what do you expect at the height of summer.   We did have 
band moise at one point on 160m and we gave up
our slot to Steve in GW land who had no noise and obviously better 
conditions for a short time.

I am now home, enjoying a beer after the Contest (we dont allow drinking 
during the Contest - contrary to what some other may think of our 
"Scottishness").
I am just about to go and soak in the bath - having lived in the same 
clothes for about 36 hours.

Perhaps you do feel frustrated about some minor point which occurred during 
the Contest - I dont know, but I do know that all the stations were
operated by a dedicated bunch of disparate guys doing their level best to 
make as many QSOss possible given the various challenges we had to face at 
our different QTH's.

I really dont care for the whinging attitude and 
comments.......................................................... My bath 
is running and my beer is chilling......

73 de tom
GM4FDM / T33C / VP8SDX / TY4TW etc etc....

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "G3SJJ" <g3sjj at btinternet.com>
Cc: "UK Contest Reflector" <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Fwd: GB5HQ

>
>
> Peter, I totally agree with Dave, your comments are a big kick in the
> bollocks for all those concerned with GB5HQ, totally unjustified and
> also not appreciated.
>
> As you would be aware if you cared to read the previous thread on this,
> there was a cross section of a) proven operators known to the station
> host and b) some new blood which is vital to keep contesting alive and
> well in this country. So who are you pointing your finger? Thanks a
> bunch if you want to drag down the newer ones, that really is the kind
> of support we don't need.
>
> Each of the locations could not only see what QSOs were being made by
> the others, but could see who was operating and what frequency they were
> on, or who was spotting. Passing stations, ie telling the station you
> are working which band/mode slot to go for next, was done much more than
> before, and then we were able to alert the operators by a single Talk
> message.
>
> There was a lot of very good team working, lots of camaraderie and lots
> of support around the whole team. G3WGV's Starlog software played a
> vital part in this.
>
> As regards your comments about 10m, firstly on SSB there was Steve G0AEV
> whose knowledge of 10m propagation is fantastic. Secondly, in our shack
> all 4 ops were regularly discussing 10m prop as well as hitting the CQ
> button. I vacated the 10m chair at 2200z with only the HQ stations
> audible, none were working anyone. I guess we didn't man the station
> from maybe 0000 to 0300, at around the latter we could here the European
> HQ stations working Carib which was not audible on our stacked 4 eles.
> Top one at 85ft, fed in phase. Tell me please, what more could we 
> do???????
>
> We did appreciate all your QSOs, which I hope were made in the name of
> support rather than to find something to whinge about.
>
> We also appreciated the numerous UK stations that called us and
> responded to our request to move to another band slot. It would have
> been nice to have seen a few more "alias" callsigns which are of course
> quite acceptable, except here on the Reflector
>
> OK, I have just arrived back, had 2 hours sleep during the 24 hours and
> then 1.5 drive home. Ready for a shower and a kip. A fabulous weekend at
> G3LZQ's. John is of course away in Brazil and Trixie at her sister's, so
> we had the run of the house, except we were too busy operating!
>
> Chris G3SJJ  (80/10 CW)
>
> Dave Lawley wrote:
>> Peter
>>
>> Thanks a bunch. As coordinator of GB5HQ I refute your comments, and
>> doubt if they can be justified. You might like to reply off-line with
>> specific examples but overall I have no concern about the makeup of the
>> teams.
>>
>> Objective observers can look at the operator's list at
>> http://www.gb5hq.com/2006/2006-Ops-List.html
>> and decide for themselves.
>>
>> There's no old boy network operating here, but a team of dedicated and
>> experienced contesters who worked extremely well together as a team.
>> Your comments are a kick in the nuts to all of them and are not 
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Dave G4BUO
>> GB5HQ Coordinator
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> UK-Contest at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>>
>>
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