[UK-CONTEST] 2m AFS - M0BLF

[Dominic Smith]

Hi all,

The summary first, and then the rather more interesting write-up:

Operators: M0BLF, M0ZXA
Club: Camb-Hams
90 QSOs, 9 DXCCs
14227 points claimed
Equipment: IC-706Mk2G (mainly, see below); 80W from homebrew linear 
(mainly, see below) to 9-ele Tonna at abt 10m.
ODX: DF2VJ (582kms)

Most of the G6UW gear has gone to Jersey for the GJ6UW DXpedition, so we 
were left trying to put a station together at the G6UW shack at the last 
minute to operate on behalf of the Camb-Hams in AFS. Such last-minute 
arrangements rarely go to plan in our experience and the catalogue of 
problems this time around looks something like this:

* Despite trying for over three hours on Saturday to get voice keying 
working from the shack computer, there was something not quite right 
with the levels, and while investigating I managed to damage a 
soundcard. Using a different soundcard didn't help and, about two and 
half hours after the contest had started on Sunday, we eventually traced 
the fault to both a  short on the TX line and a faulty pot on the RX 
side of the soundcard interface. This meant that the start of the 
contest was very slow for us, as we kept having to stop to test keying 
into a dummy load, or to switch to a spare rig + computer while we 
continued troubleshooting.
* During the contest, a number of stations remarked on a slight hum on 
our audio. This slowed us a little more as we tried to identify the 
cause. Local tests indicated that it might have been RF in the headset 
lead, which we then shortened considerably, leading to us operating 
while crouched over the rig. This was very uncomfortable after an hour 
or so, particularly as the keyboard's lead wasn't quite long enough to 
allow us to type without stretching.
* At about 14:30, we were suddenly aware of a terrible noise coming from 
one of the PSUs in the shack. Again, we stopped to investigate and we 
discovered that the fan had stopped working and that the case was rather 
warm. After we switched the power supply for a spare, we forgot to turn 
the receiver preamp and linear amplifier back on for the next hour, 
which doubtless also affected our score. We were only putting 20W peak out!

In case you're wondering, the reason we operated under my personal 
callsign, and not the G6UW call, is that neither the licence nor the 
contest rules are unequivocal as to whether a single club callsign can 
be operated by different operators from two different British Isles 
prefixes at the same time. (If anyone knows better, please let me know!) 
To be on the safe side, we decided (again, rather at the last minute) to 
use my callsign. Luckily, my Main Station Address is the G6UW shack, but 
this did lead to a few people querying our locator square -- presumably 
because it isn't the same as my mailing address' square.

As others have commented, the afternoon felt much slower than the 
morning, and so I just wish we had been able to take full advantage of 
the first half of the contest. Despite all of these problems, however, 
it was an enjoyable event, and we're pretty pleased with our score in 
the circumstances. Thanks to everyone who contacted us.

73,

Dominic M0BLF