[VHFcontesting] W4SHG/R 2M Sprint Result and Observations

[Steve Gilmore]

Hello all

I thought a little report from the W4SHG/R might be a nice interlude from
the "don't-need-your-grid" saga.

I started off with a new Jacobs Accuvolt acquired from N8AG wired to the TE
Systems amp(s) and a new FT-450 driving a XV-144 Elecraft for this
adventure. That created 400 watts hitting the TE 1452G with 14.8 volts and
the XV-144 driving the TE with about 28 watts. This all into a Cushcraft
13B2 turned by a G-450 rotator should create some decent rover EIRP.

I thought it might be fun to try to run this new DSP rig with the Elecraft
to see how well it performs. With a 15 kHz roofing filter and a DSP I
thought the filtering would be really nice together with the XV-144.

WRONG AGAIN

Seems like at some point I will happen upon a nice rover design at the IF,
however this design lacked blocking in a serious way.

No matter, once out in the field you make do with what you have so off to
FM18Ax to Sky Meadow Park at 800asl to sit for 40 minutes and work a grand
total of 8 stations in 5 grids. It seems there was little activity at this
time in the contest. I have seen this before as with the Sprints I think the
"drift in" effect causes lack of activity in the early minutes of these
events.

So with a dismal score and an amazement that I see an S7 station 20 kHz
across my IF, off I go to Mt. Weather and FM19AB. As I proceed to Mt.
Weather I hit the "Pothole from Hell" the bungee snapped and the Xverter
flew in the air a foot to come down resting sideways in the seat. Was it
still working? , Not a chance. After 10 minutes of fiddling I found the IF
cable from the FT-450 to be some RG-58 garbage I pulled from the drawer with
a Radio Shack twist on BNC. Need I say more? I pulled an adapter out of my
little kit and a RG8X jumper and re-cabled the nightmare. I donated the
twist on BNC to the jungle atop Mt. Weather FM19.

Upon getting to the top and working a few while getting to the top, I find
an IF being crushed up to 50 kc's from some of the bigger stations within
line of site from that location. Much worse than the FT-817 or FT-100 I have
used in the past. Much worse than the TS-570 without filters I have used in
the past. Again no matter, you must deal with the equipment at hand and so
18 contacts and 13 grids later off to FM09. Again activity seemed weak in
the Northeast and finding WF4R and KN4SM down south was great. 

While moving to FM09 I usually point Northwest and find a few EN stations.
Luckily enough they were around so 2 or 3 logged while getting to FM09.
While there I again found activity to be off with little action in my
direction. I suspect FM09 as rare but again only 12 Q's and 8 grids. Nothing
special as I looked at the score I now see the worst event ever at this
point in the contest for the W4SHG/R with a total of 38 Q's and 26 grids
(Rover Scoring probably only 12 unique grids).

Ahhhhrg, then off to the final stop realizing the stop for a Coke and
peanuts was not to be as this score needed every minute to try to salvage.
While in route to FM08 normally I will work 4 to 5 stations just blasting
400 watts from the 13B2 13 element antenna atop the W4SHG Rovermobile but in
route this time the only station that I worked was W3ZZ in from the Football
game. 

After getting on top of FM08 things started to change in two distinct ways.
Primarily, the big FM18 and FM19 stations called it a day and left the
contest retreating to home life and maybe some sporting events. This was
critical as now the FT-450 without big signals became a very good receiver.
Also when hearing W4DEX and WA4A I knew the band was going to be in pretty
good condition as I worked them in the trees just before I got to FM08us.

Once at this location the contest went from without a doubt, the worst
showing to the best showing from the FM08us location. I made a call on
144.222 and 5 stations came back to me all 1's. What was going on here??
That's right the band was wide open to 1 land. And with that the pileup
started with stations responding to a CQ and runs that were solid for most
of the 35 minutes at that location. When K1WHS showed up with 60 watts due
to the "Generator of Death" actually being Dead, I knew things were looking
up. Working KA1C in FN54 was quite nice and VE3CRU/R in FN12 and at the end
50 Q's in 35 Minutes with 22 Grids was very nice little run salvaging an
otherwise dismal event.

The FT-450 worked very well in non-crowded band conditions. However with big
stations near as little as S8 with Intercept Point Optimization set to ON
and no preamp was devastating to the receiver. 

Totals

	Q's	Grids

FM08	50	22
FM09  12    8
Fm18  8     5   :(
Fm19  18    13
	
Total	88	48     Score: 4224

>From the FM18HK home abyss
Respectfully submitted 
Steve Gilmore - W4SHG