[VHFcontesting] N1BUG FN55 contest comments

[Paul N1BUG]

I hate to even admit how bad this one was...

Band: QSOs x Grids
50:   6 x 5
144:  36 x 22
222:  6 x 5
432:  3 x 3

Comments:

I intended to work only the bands that have permanent/good antennas 
here (144 and 222) but contest fever struck again! Things didn't 
exactly go smoothly, but then it just wouldn't be a VHF contest 
without a few glitches. Wednesday: 144 & 222 fired up with no smoke 
or explosions (what?, no spiders in the high voltage supplies??!!). 
Thursday: heavy rain and gusty winds, but I decided to put up a 6m 
antenna. Gave up on the big beam after getting knocked on my butt by 
gusts of wind a few times and instead mounted a much smaller antenna 
on the temporary mast at 20'. The amp didn't seem to mind whatever 
water got in the connector from the rain. Friday: geez, I think I 
could get 4 yagis at very low height running on 432... why not? Got 
that done and then through stupidity blew up the 144 amp!!!! Spent 
the rest of Friday, Friday night, and Saturday morning frantically 
trying to resuscitate the amp. Got it "sort of working" right at the 
start of the contest. Whew!

Tropo conditions were absolutely the worst I've seen in years. 
Horrible. But the hour of E skip on 144 Saturday evening was a very 
nice treat! Why not 4 yagis at very low height on 432? Because it 
doesn't work worth a darn, that's why not! Only made a couple of Q's 
on 432, and congrats to those who managed to get me in the log on 
that band. 6m wasn't far behind with the antenna acting more like a 
dummy load. Umm, about that water...? (low height and small crummy 
yagi probably had more to do with it though). This was my poorest 
score in a number of years, due in part to having only two bands 
working well, horrible tropo conditions, and being tired from too 
many hours getting ready (read: too many hours of amp repair). 
Activity seemed WAY down, but it may have been due to lack of ANY 
tropo enhancement. I could find very few stations on 2m who had 222 
capability, which contributed to lack of 222 Q's. I fell asleep 
several times. Nevertheless, it was fun as always! I'm a masochist, 
I'll be back for the next contest!

I'm not sure what, if any, improvements can be made before the 
September contest. If I feel reasonably well this summer and can 
find tower sections nearby, I may be able to do something about the 
6m and/or 432 situation, but that's a pretty big "if".  There's also 
still the possibility of doing a "band swap" and making my two good 
bands something different than what I have now.

See you all next time!

73,
Paul, N1BUG FN55mf