[VHFcontesting] Another installment of the "700 Club"

[Les Rayburn]

As the September ARRL VHF Contest came to an end, I felt a bit like Pat Robertson. Of late, I seem to be hosting the 700 Club. The CQ VHF Contest netted me a score of 777, and the ARRL UHF Contest yielded a score of 756. Rounding out the trio was the September ARRL VHF Contest, where my indoor antennas and limited operating time turned in a score of 760. 

Here's the tale of the tape: 

Total QSO's: 24
Total QSO Points: 38
Total Multipliers: 20
Total Score: 760

Grids by band: 

50mhz- 2
144- 7
222- 3
432- 5
902- 1
1.3- 2 

Comments: 

I must thank Jimmy Long, W4ZRZ again for his patience and support during the contest. As we ran the bands on Sunday, we couldn't seem to complete on 1.2 ghz. I could copy him easily enough, but despite attempts on both phone and CW, he couldn't detect a signal from my station. He talked me through various troubleshooting steps, none meeting with success. Instead of giving up, and moving on to work new stations, he continued to suggest possible fixes. He sent a long series of CW so that I could peak my antenna on him, and then he moved his beam while I "talked" him in on 222...still no joy. He just couldn't detect a signal from me at all. 

Then, I looked down at my Icom IC-910H, and realized that my output power was turned down to about 1/8 of maximum! This is the normal position when I'm running the 200 watt brick amp, and I have to remember to turn it up for 432 and 1.2ghz! This is what happens when you take a three week layoff to shoot a documentary at both political conventions...I forgot how to run my own station! 

When I turned the knob up to 10 watts, Jimmy and I completed easily on SSB. I explained the error to him, and apologized. He laughed, and let it go, issuing only a small parting shot of "You owe me one for that". He must have spent nearly a half hour helping me, which no doubt affected his score. 

Later, I had trouble with the 2.3ghz transverter, and Jimmy took time out again to dig out schematics, and call on the phone to suggest that the K2 relay might be the culprit. (It was) This kind of selfless concern for other's enjoyment of the VHF hobby is what makes me love these bands so much. 

Neil Taylor, N4ION also took time to "patch work" up a working station in the midst of major rebuilding effort just to give out a few contacts. This is the same guy who drove well out of his way to loan me a 222 transverter for the UHF test in August. I've got a brand new DEMI working now---so thanks Neil! 

Others like K4XR made the contest fun. Craig is the complete gentleman and a top notch operator. He makes it sound like digging out the weak signals from my indoor antennas is the easiest thing in the world. 

N4QWZ, Todd was also super patient with me during the contest. He could easily copy my 432 SSB signal, but my noise levels wouldn't allow me to return the favor...so he switched to CW and we quickly completed on that mode. K4EQH beat the bushes and I snapped up a lot of his left overs. Thanks Tom! 

My mentor Jack, WA5UUD took time out to offer some words of encouragement too. Here in the Southeast, we're blessed with just a ton of great operators. All of them have welcomed the new kid like an old friend. Many of their voices have become familiar to me now, and no matter how many times I work them, it never gets old. Man, I wish I'd discovered weak signal work decades ago! 

73,


Les Rayburn, N1LF
EM63nf
121 Mayfair Park
Maylene, AL 35114