[UK-CONTEST] GW3VQO/P in CQWW

[Les Allwood]

As many of you will be aware from your contest logs, I have a penchant for appearing from odd places on the continent for a few hours to give away some points, usually with a mind-numbingly awkward callsign. This weekend seemed another ideal opportunity but, unfortunately, it coincided with the end of half-term. That meant that EuroTunnel were more than happy to take me there, but unable to bring me back at any sensible time.

 

So, what to do? I don't know quite how the idea of Wales came into my head but, once there, I attempted to gather all of my Welsh knowledge together. So, it was a faraway land of mountains wreathed in cloud, populated by fearsome red dragons, wet sheep, and itinerant bands of singing men with torches on their hats . oh yes, and Charlotte Church!! Well, it seemed worthy of further research.

 

The more I found out, the more it seemed feasible. It was much nearer than I imagined, and there were paved roads for my journey (at least as far as the border). Moreover, it is part of the EU and my CEPT licence would be valid. The DXpedition was on!!!

 

I loaded the car with my trusty FT-847 and a selection of mobile whips on the Friday evening, so I was ready to go by 5am on the Saturday morning. With a brief stop for breakfast at a motorway service area I reached the border post on the M48 in just under three hours. The guard requested £4.90, presumably for a visa, but was not interested in seeing my passport. From there it was just a further three miles to my pre-selected spot on the edge of some woodland just outside Chepstow. I had chosen the area carefully as Monmouthshire used to be part of England and I hoped that many of the inhabitants would still retain some knowledge of the English language should I need to communicate.

 

By this time it was raining, so I quickly set the 40m whip on its mag-mount and started checking the band. Using S&P I gradually worked most of the CQers before changing the whip to the 20m version and doing the same thing there. Then I moved up to 15m, before arriving on 10m for a final few contacts. At that point I had been operating for four hours, well beyond my normal attention-span for a phone contest, and the rain was getting heavier. The inner man was also calling for nourishment, so I packed up and headed back into England in search of food. The return journey found me more traffic on the roads, but I was still home some ten-and-a-half hours after leaving, and with 137 QSOs in my log - a satisfying result.

 

Now, a few observations - 

 

I was very surprised at the number of stations thanking me for a new multiplier. I thought that the Welsh Tafia had things pretty-well sewn-up during contests, but maybe they were having the weekend off.

 

I heard a number of UK stations around, albeit fairly weak, and called several without success. Well done, and thanks, to Nigel G3TXF, and the North of Scotland guys at GM7V, for pulling my callsign through the noise.

 

When tuning around 40m I didn't listen below 7043 (because there shouldn't be any SSB signals that low, should there?) but I was disappointed to hear K3LR on 7196 announce his listening frequency as 7021, and W3LPL on 7182 with 7024. That sort of behaviour is not a good example to be set by major contest stations, as it just encourages selfish behaviour in Europe. Needless to say, they didn't get a GW multiplier from me!!!

 

I don't intend sending any unsolicited QSLs for this activity, but will respond if I receive any. However, the log has already been uploaded to LOTW for those who are interested.

 

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

 

73 de Les, G(W)3VQO