[UK-CONTEST] May UKAC Report - 23cm

[Ray James]

Last nights contest was just incredible!
It's not that many years ago I was lucky if I managed a handful of contacts and the nearest was typically Tony GW8ASD at 332Km.
23cm was absolutely bristling with activity from start to finish and ON4KST resembled a major 2m EU contest with lots of stations attempting some very challenging distances throughout the whole of the UK and into the continent.

Activity from Scotland went through the roof with at least 12 stations participating and 4 of them enjoying a spot of portable operating.
Conditions benefited from the high pressure appearing from the south west and the small uplift was enough to experience much of the new activity appearing out of IO83 at long last with 10 contacts in that square and many of them running very low power.     
The lifting of flight restrictions was well timed so aircraft reflection assisted contacts made a welcome return after last months poor experience.

The omens were looking good with 20 contacts in the first hour which included Kjeld OZ1FF via AS. A few calls to the south east resulted in an unfamiliar experience on 23cm, a pile up! This welcome event also presented a tactical challenge because on the one hand you want to work everything that moves in case the opportunity is fleeting whilst on the other you also want to take advantage of more aircraft being available in the first hour of the contest for some of the really challenging distant contacts and multipliers.  

33 contacts was a personal UKAC best and included "initials" with Ted G3WBB, Mick M0ICK/P, Richard G4HGI running 1 or 2w, John G3WFK/P, Keith G4ODA and Phil G3TCU who was incredibly loud with his newly installed 44el Wimo in Surrey.
 
The only downside was missing out on multipliers. Barry GM4TOE/P on the Lecht (IO87) went unheard with his 4w and I was buried in a pile-up when GI0GDP (IO74) and G8PWX (IO95) were looking for contacts.
Nothing was heard from IO93, IO82 or JO02 though in the case of the latter I did try for 15 minutes with John G3XDY but nothing was heard at that late stage of the contest with a lack of aircraft over our mid point and the slight enhancement to conditions not extending to that area.

GM0USI    IO75     7
GM7GDE    IO75    22
GM3WIL/P  IO75    45
GM0UHC    IO85    52
GM4PPT    IO75    56
GM4GUF/P  IO85    60
GM4YLN    IO85    68
GM4BYF    IO85    73
GM4ZUK/P  IO86   159
G3JYP     IO84   196
G0HIK/P   IO84   209
G6CQC     IO94   210
G4KUX     IO94   214
G3WBB     IO83   243
G8KBH     IO83   247
G1SWH     IO83   283
G0MRL     IO83   285
M0ICK/P   IO83   285
G4HGI     IO83   294 CW
G8XVJ     IO83   307
G3WFK/P   IO83   312
GW8ASD    IO83   332
G4CBW     IO83   347
2E1EUB    IO92   367
G8OHM     IO92   425    KST
G4ODA     IO92   447 CW
G4BRK     IO91   517 CW
G8DKK     IO91   518 CW KST
M0GHZ     IO81   521
G0MJW     IO91   525 CW KST
G4EAT     JO01   572 CW KST
G3TCU     IO91   584
OZ1FF     JO45   782 CW KST
  
A Google map of the 23cm contacts can be seen at http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2010/P6kqFqlxdcFbhOOKGY5r1cZoLQ9QSVj 

Overall, a most enjoyable UKAC with activity spread throughout the UK.

73 Ray GM4CXM IO75TW
150w + 4x44el Wimo's + SP23mk2 LNA
Talkback - ON4KST