[UK-CONTEST] VHF NFD 2012 G0VHF/P

[John Lemay]

Morning all

Contest reports seen so far have been dominated by the weather, which is
hardly surprising. However, our own troubles started a few weeks prior to
the contest, as it became increasingly obvious that we could not muster
sufficient bodies. We were determined to take part, but manning 4 or 5 bands
for the duration was a non-starter. We looked at the restricted or low power
sections as a work-around, but these are aimed at groups with limited
equipment rather than limited manpower.

So, even though we had registered an entry in the all bands open section, we
made the late decision to enjoy ourselves on just 6m and 4m, with an early
morning antenna swap.

Friday morning dawned very wet indeed, but by the time we reached Walton on
the Naze it was bright and sunny and it looked as though there had been
significantly less rain than inland. Set-up went well with two tents erected
and one 50ft mast erected as a trial and then dropped in readiness for
aerials.

We hit a minor snag on Saturday morning when it was realised that the balun
for the 4m LFA was 50 miles away from the site, so I put together another
one. We used "liquid tape" for the first time to protect the open cable end,
and were pleased with the result (from G3CWI).

I wasn't up to speed with the solar forecast for the weekend; if I had been
then 6m might not have been quite such a disappointment. Just about all the
qso's were on tropo, and we ended Saturday with a round 100.

Overnight and into Sunday morning it was exceptionally wet, for one of the
driest counties in the country. My weather station recorded 22mm of rain,
with a peak rainfall rate of 70mm per hour (both are records for my
station). Some of the rain was static, and at other times it was just too
noisy in the tent to hear the receiver. We ended up with a modest 75
contacts, with no real dx; best was an OZ on tropo.

For take-down, the rain (almost) ceased, which was excellent news because
putting away a big wet tent is a chore. Nothing broke, caught fire or
failed. And despite the weather, the inside of the tent remained quite dry -
a real credit to the army for whom it was designed.

So, top spot in VHF NFD 2012 will not go to Colchester Radio Amateurs. But
we enjoyed taking part anyway, and learnt some useful lessons about the 4m
station which will be acted upon before the next contest.

Equipment:-

Mast - 50ft Alumast
Feeder - 30m LDF5-50
6m antenna - 7 ele from MSquared
6m rig - Elecraft K3 + P3, Lin Amp 64
4m Antenna - 7 ele LFA
4m rig - FT-847 (G4FUF front end), Lin Amp 64
Tent - 160 pounder from Anchor Surplus
Generator - Stephill SSD 10000 diesel
IT - Tucnak Logger, Live MUF.



CU next time !

John G4ZTR






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