[UK-CONTEST] July SHF UKAC - 13cm Report

[Ray James]

Hi all,

At last an SHF UKAC evening on 2.3GHz when conditions weren't dire.
There appeared to be some North Sea lift conditions evident for some but nothing was apparent here.

This is probably the best month for holiday aircraft traffic and there certainly seemed an abundance for the first couple of hours which certainly helped for aircraft reflection contacts.

Arie PA0EZ was in the log very soon after the start thanks to a convenient jet off the Scarborough coastline, as was Gordon G8PNN in IO95 who I usually miss if conditions are below par.
Lots of GM's were either away on holiday or work as the only GM contact was with Alan GM0USI who I was grateful to get in the log for IO75 and a good signal using an indoor PCB antenna.

The mode split was SSB over CW this month, another indicator (for me) that conditions were better than normal.
The SSB tally included Graham G3VKV, Ian (G8IFT) at G8OHM, Tony G4CBW, Bob G8DTF, Gerry G1SWH, Stuart G8CYW and Gordon G8PNN.   
With the exception of Alan GM0USI who was worked on CW only 'cos I was calling CQ on that mode at the time, all other contacts definitely required CW to be used in order to complete.

ODX this month was Kjeld OZ1FF. We were close to completing off an aircraft early in the evening but managed to do so later with one minute of the Nordic contest left on the clock.


My QSO map for this month can be viewed http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2012/EBGCQ2KVCRmEkesxKWwu3jsIqclUISN

73 Ray GM4CXM IO75TW
60w 67el.