[UK-CONTEST] VHF NFD - MM0BQI/P

[Mark Marsden]

Hi Jim

Scary story that! I've just been thinking about a quick disconnect block
anchored to the ground behind the back of the car. So in a lightning
storm you could drive off and break all the RF, generator & rotator
cables.

The connectors need a bit of thought, e.g., an N-type can plug into BNC
as a ZIF RF connector. I'm sure the power and rotator connectors could
be made ZIF and safe.

Just some idle thoughts, back to work now.

73 Mark G4AXX

-----Original Message-----
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of MM0BQI
Sent: 06 July 2009 15:45
To: UK-Contest
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] VHF NFD - MM0BQI/P

Great fun!

However, the planned preparation and few days off work before the event
never happened. Murphy struck the 2m transceiver so a last minute change
of band was required.

Access to the site was easy on Saturday morning and setting up was quite
enjoyable in the great weather.

The 10m mast carried the 5ele Cushcraft for 6m (Sunday 5ele for 4m) and
I managed to get the 70cms aerial up to 7m before the coax ran out. 

Thanks to all for the comprehensive answers to my height versus feeder
question at 70cms. Early Sunday morning I added another 10m length of
Wesflex coax and could hear no difference to the received signal. Mind
you the rig is an FT897 not exactly first division but it got me in the
air! Having said that best DX were a couple of PAs but missed out on all
the stations in between. How is it easier to work the south coast and EU
but almost impossible to work central England? Called CQ for hours on
end with few responses, majority of Qs were S and P. The beam width of
the Tonna is quite narrow so in and out of the car operating the
Armstrong rotator every few minutes. 

Overall a very good weekend with great 6m conditions into EA,CT and HA.
Missed out on CN8 and EA9 which would have been new countries.

4m was a bit of a slog despite turning the beam in all directions for
the full six hours. Late on Sunday I called a not too strong G portable
station on 4m, after a long, long time he eventually got the MM0 part of
the call and through frustration I shouted at the mike 'Turn the aerial,
turn the aerial' to which he eventually replied 'Which direction?' !! 

70cms Very slow with generally flat conditions, almost not worth the
effort with 15 watts and a low antenna. Working the two Dutch stations
almost help make up for it though.

Weather was dry and sunny until lunchtime on Sunday when the skies
blackened and the thunder storms arrived. The first I realised was when
a huge peel of thunder shook me and the car and someone turned on the
tap and the heavens opened. PANIC, headphones off, out of car, no time
to put boots on, round to the other side to unscrew all the aerial
connectors. Soaked. As I was unscrewing the PL259 from the back of the
rig I realised if lightening stuck I would be dead before I knew it!
Threw away the cables far from the car then disconnected the rotator. By
this time I was soaked through and was wondering if I had put my wellies
on before leaving the car would they have protected me! Lastly power
cable from the genny discarded and sitting safely back in the car I
suddenly realised just how much danger I had been in. Usually there is
some warning but with heavy static and QRN all weekend there was no
noticeable increase until the storm was overhead. No harm done but a
very serious
  lesson learned for the next portable trip.

It was fun getting off the hill, with all the ruts and bumps filled with
water, there was no way of knowing just what was underneath but it all
worked out okay. Will be back next year after looking at higher gain
antennas and seeing if they could really make a difference to my score.

I will post some photos on the GMDX and CDXC Yahoo Groups in the next
few days.

73 and thanks to everyone for the Qs.

Jim, MM0BQI

 
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