[UK-CONTEST] GW3VQO/P in CQWW

Sun Oct 29 12:02:35 EST 2006

Les,

  I am surprised you paid to get in! Go up the M5 a wee bit and you can get in for free! And the border guards are usually asleep - or off in a field somewhere! :-))

  Chris Colclough
  G1VDP

"Adrian Rees (MW1LCR)" <rees.a at btconnect.com> wrote:
  Hi Les

I am surprised they let you in ! 

Have to have words with the border guards !

Adrian 
MW1LCR

-----Original Message-----
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Les Allwood
Sent: 29 October 2006 11:02
To: UK Contest
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] GW3VQO/P in CQWW

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 _______________________________________________
UK-Contest mailing list
UK-Contest at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest

_______________________________________________
UK-Contest mailing list
UK-Contest at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest

Chris Colclough
G1VDP
WAB Awards Publicity Officer

Tel: 024 7673 5940
Mob: 07866 248807
QTHR