[UK-CONTEST] Commonwealth Contest - GB5CC

[Steve Knowles]

Nice to get the oportunity to operate as GB5CC in BERU.  Many thanks to Quin G3WRR for sharing the operating and providing most of the station!

My ageing FT1000MP gave sway to a shiny IC7800 provided by Quin, who also supplied the computer, WINKEY and SDC software, all of which worked very well.  We used my Ranger 811H amplifier which barely got warm - my £150+ investment in spare valves, anticipating a disaster, was unneccessary!

The HF antenna was a five-ele trapped tribander, up 44ft.  For 40m, a full-wave verticallly polarised loop.  On 80m we elected to run with a vertically polarised loop (130 x 40ft) rather than use the alternative low dipole, as we would get better results to DX. The QTH is a domestic plot in an urban area of mixed residential and industrial developments and is in a small N-S valley about 50ft asl.  We always have a high noise level on 80 and 40, but this weekend was particularly bad and the elevated K-index didn't help, I'm sure.  With the exception of the period from 0300 to 0500 (when we both took a nap) we were QRV all 24 hours and for most of that time we were both on the rig (two pairs of ears were better than one).

Quin has the log which is being processed at this time.  No doubt he will release statistics as apropriate,

Very sorry if you called us and we couldn't read you - we were well aware of callers, particularly on 80m and 40m, who were below the noise and too weak to read!  We worked everyone we could, even to the extent of going S&P to try and pick up stations when we could hear them.  Next year, perhaps, condx will be different ... but who will operate GB5CC then?

Vy 73

Steve,  G3UFY