[UK-CONTEST] CQ Calls on VHF

Thu Jul 7 02:02:34 PDT 2011

Hi Ken & all,

Anyone who has operated in VHF contests for more than a few years should 
know where to beam for most active stations, and will probably know the full 
locator too from memory. OK people move and portables use different sites, 
but there always be the curveball to confuse you.

Likewise you should know roughly where locators are geographically, I often 
get asked "is it IO01 or JO01" well you should know IO01 is miles out in the 
Atlantic west of Ireland. I think that's taking UKAC portable to the 
extreme!

Getting a few parts of the call should give you a clue to who the station 
is, ok I've guessed wrongly sometimes, but usually you'll know who is going 
to be on each week. I've been operating in contests for over 20 years and I 
still get asked to repeat my call by other stations who've been around a 
while.

If you've established some sort of communication with a weak station, try 
not to move the beam too much initially to get a better signal. Invariably 
you lose the other station never to return. Whilst you've got some sort of 
path, try and establish where they are, locator/location, and go from there, 
it may take a while.

All this comes with experience, learning as you go, but it seems some don't 
learn anything along the way, and are still committing the same errors week 
and in week out.

PPPPP................ proper preparation prevents poor performance. Know 
your geography, where regular stations are, "impossible" locators, and put 
yourself in the other stations position, what does he need to get the QSO 
done.

73

Bob G8HGN

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Eastty" <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>
To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2011 12:32 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] CQ Calls on VHF

>
> My Point was that you don't need a computer or even to have copied the
> whole call to get a clue which way to point the beam. On the odd
> occasion that I go out portable I've not taken a computer & have no way
> of looking back at previous QSO's even if a /P station is in the same
> location.
>
> I was of course assuming that most amateurs (as opposed to the general
> population!)  know enough about the geography of the UK to know where
> counties or major towns & cities are, perhaps I'm mistaken?
>
> Listening to the activity contest on 2m yesterday evening I didn't hear
> a single station giving a location & just one giving his locator when he
> called CQ.
>
> The prize has to go to the station who was saying which way he was
> beaming but not where he was beaming from....
>
> 73...
>
> Ken
>
> G3LVP
>
>
>> I have to say, I'd prefer the locator, minos does a great job of telling 
>> me the beam heading if I enter the loctor.
>> 73 de M0XDF
>>
>>
>> On 4 Jul 2011, at 22:35, Ken Eastty wrote:
>>
>>> Too late for VHF FD but it would really help on VHF&  UHF if when
>>> stations call CQ they would include their approximate location (not
>>> locator).
>>> I frequently find that I hear a station right down in the noise who may
>>> not hear my reply because he's in a null
>>> of the beam. If I knew where the station was I could make sure that I'm
>>> beaming in the right direction otherwise
>>> I have to try to find the best beam heading which with the typical speed
>>> of most rotators can take up to 45 seconds
>>> if for instance I'm beaming NW&  the station that I'm trying to work is
>>> on a NE heading (my rotator has its stop at North). Alternatively I turn
>>> the beam through 360 deg only to find that it was in the right direction
>>> in the first place!
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 9
>> Date: Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:10:52 +0100
>> From: Chris G3SJJ<g3sjj at btinternet.com>
>> Subject: [UK-CONTEST] 80m CC CW G3SJJ
>> To: UK Contest Reflector<uk-contest at contesting.com>
>> Message-ID:<4E123A6C.6070004 at btinternet.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> As the saying goes " You cannot be serious!!
>>
>> There I was all fired up, total concentration. 116 in the first 60 
>> minutes, 29 in the next 17 minutes. It's looking good. After all these 
>> years I had
>> now realised contesting wasn't about operating the radio, which I enjoy, 
>> or sending CW which I also enjoy. It was about the *keyboard." Get that 
>> bit
>> right and you are away. Guess I learnt my trade in the paper log and 
>> pencil era of contesting 30-40 years ago when you had time to enjoy 
>> twiddling
>> your knobs! This time I concentrated solely on the *keyboard* not looking 
>> at the radio, or the computer screen, except just to confirm I had typed 
>> in
>> the correct stuff. I focussed solely on the 3 "Qwerty" rows plus the 
>> number row. I was using ESM so first finger of right hand only hitting 
>> Enter key,
>> first finger of left hand entering callsign and serial. Perfection!
>>
>> Armageddon arrived exactly at 2117. Function keys just sent rubbish, 
>> including callsigns of QSOs made much earlier. Paddle CW went to 7 wpm 
>> and then
>> stopped. I unplugged the mHam keyer, switched off and on the K3 and 
>> finally had to re-boot the computer which then kept telling me there was 
>> an error.
>> Too flippin' true!!
>>
>> I was screaming "&%$R&(*$E%$?^&*&" or similar. Need to apologise to my 
>> neighbours!! Eventually made 2 more Qs. Ended on 147 which should easily 
>> have
>> been 160.
>>
>> Luckily my garden is 150m long and I was able to calm myself down by a 
>> brisk march to the far end and back twice.
>>
>> OK, got rid of all that, so is the problem mHam / K1EL, or is it the 
>> Vespa computer. Should I change from Vespa to W7? Should I throw the 
>> whole lot
>> and get a moped? Seriously, it seems to a buffer problem but is it in the 
>> computer or a function of K1EL?
>>
>> To top it all, we got an email to say our Hot Air Balloon ride scheduled 
>> for 0700 tmw had been cancelled. Creeps, I could have inflated the thing 
>> myself!!
>>
>> Chris G3SJJ
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
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>>
>>
>> End of UK-Contest Digest, Vol 103, Issue 5
>> ******************************************
>>
>
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