[UK-CONTEST] All Hot and Bothered - the exploits of G6YB/P in NFD 2008

[g4fka at aol.com]

Ooooh aaar - NFD 2008. One that will go down in the Brizzle Contest Group  
historical records but not quite in the way we intended.
 
The theory was simple enough. Restricted section, simple station, lots of  
operators, same "theme on a long doublet" as we wielded to success in SSB FD  
last year, set it all up and take it all down in a few hours and the  prospect 
of a sunny weekend. What could possibly go wrong?
 
First the operators started disappearing; family commitments, Sunday  
working, BBQs and the like all came along to hack away at the operating  rota. Then 
we got the "shack" (imagine a horse-box for humans) onto site only to  find 
that the keys had been left back at home. Cue the first of many "go and  fetch 
it" journeys over the weekend. Ready for more? Our lovely new generator  decided 
2 hours and 5 minutes before the start to come to an abrupt halt. Lots  of 
attempts to start it failed so "go and fetch it" team No 2 was  dispatched to 
get our spare whilst the "G" (for generator) team got to work  on the failed 
one. Fortunately it started again 8 minutes before the start  and ran faultlessly 
throughout.
 
Hmm what happened next?  Oh yes the auto-ATU at the centre of our wire  
masterpiece decided it had had enough and its little relays went very silent. So  
the "T" (for Tuner) team went into action at the same time as the "G" team were 
 still hard at it. Not to be beaten by the generator the fault (a broken  
power wire) was eventually found and the ATU started working again 4  minutes 
before the start.
 
There can't be any more I hear you ask? Oh yes there can. With all the G, T  
and Go and Fetch it going on, no-one had got the station or logging up and  
running. So at 1500z with all the other groups busy making QSOs we entered the  
"horse box for humans" with nothing operating and began to set up the station. 
 New logging software and new switching arrangements (de-risking for IOTA so 
we  thought) all conspired to make our lives as miserable as they could  and 
it was over 30 minutes into the event before the first Qs went in the log.  
System integration continued apace and it was probably two hours after the  start 
that the station was sufficiently stable to start actually working  the 
contest proper. However the switching and logging caused grief throughout  and we 
were never quite sure what messages the log was going to send. Something  else 
to be resolved before IOTA.
 
The antenna never lived up to the promise of last September and we  could see 
our totals slowly but surely dropping behind the usual suspects. Still  we 
soldiered on through the night, all went tolerably well and a song-thrush in  
one of the trees kept us in musical entertainment all weekend.
 
One final excitement to finish on. Sunday afternoon came, all was  ticking 
along nicely and we'd finally got into the rhythm of it all. One of the  
benefits of our site is the views. Being near Bristol also means it is a major  
centre of balloon activity and we always see lots going up and occasionally  coming 
down. What we weren't prepared for was the sight of a rather large  balloon, 
pilot and 16 passengers looming over the western slope rather  close to the 
antennas, station, us and everything else. They managed to miss one  leg of the 
antenna by not a lot and landed successfully in the field. The  recovery team 
couldn't find the site, so yes you've guessed by now, we had to go  and fetch 
them as well!
 
Conclusion? QSO total dreadful. Complete antenna re-think for next year.  
Poor overnight team shattered. Logging and switching needs sorting. Still lots  
to do before IOTA. Worst NFD result for years. But, hey, we had that sunny  
weekend!
 
Geoff G4FKA @ G6YB/P