[UK-CONTEST] VHFNFD

[Andy Smith]

We (Finningley ARS) were out as G7HAH/P, but this year from a field
adjacent to the club due to the weather and a last-minute lack of
suitable site. Setting up on the Friday evening was fun due to the
heavy rain that fell earlier in the day, but it held off while we were
sorting out the tents, van and the antennas. On the Saturday, around
2pm the heavens opened again and we had to quickly disconnect
everything when the lightning showed up...

We're quite new to contesting - last year's VHF NFD was our first -
and we're of pretty limited means hence our entry into the Restricted
section. We learnt from last year's power problems we had when we were
at Stenigot last year (where the spark plug in the generator packed
up...) and sourced a decent generator, and ran everything from that as
opposed to last year's mix of generator-supplied power and batteries.
We had a combination of a gin pole, a trailer mast and the van's
pneumatic mast - apologies to anyone who worked us on 2m and had to
wait while we hand-turned the pneumatic mast round!

The only major problem we came across was that the FT-847 we were
using for 70cm was only putting out about 15W (despite being capable
of 50W), which probably contributed to our low score on that band.

Overall, it looks like we've improved on last year - both in QSO
counts and on points - which is what we set out to achieve. Not a huge
score compared to most, but we had an enjoyable weekend along with a
few, er, light refreshments which even the weather couldn't ruin...

The operators were Rick M1EAC, Dan M0TCB, Roy 2E0LTE, Bill 2E1SKA,
Martin M1EJX and myself, with Dave G3VZE having built the antennas for
4m/6m and refurbished the 2m antenna.

Thanks to all who we worked, and hope to work everyone again next year
(though by that time I will be in VE7 and so won't be taking part
personally...)

Cheers,

Andy
M0VKG

-- 
Andy Smith
+44 7848 958821 : http://m0vkg.org.uk/ : http://andys.org.uk/