[VHFcontesting] Next Steps - scoring

Sat Apr 2 13:19:18 EDT 2016

Kim,

Question:  Are you saying that even if the other stationdoes not submit a log the exchange counts towards not just claimed scores butfinal scores?  I would think cheatingwould be rampant (like in "stock" class racing) with people using QRZto just look up calls and claim submit fake contacts with the "best"cheater winning.  

73, John, KM4KMU

-----Original Message-----
From: whensley11 <whensley11 at comcast.net>
To: nosigma <nosigma at aol.com>
Sent: Thu, Mar 31, 2016 3:41 pm
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Next Steps - scoring

Hi, John!  Hope your day has been good!

I read another email reply to you, and I forgot to comment about scoring.

You submit a log for YOUR contacts, regardless of whether the other stations submit logs or not.  For 100 Q's, assuming no duplicates, you have at least 100 points, if not more.  If a contact is not in the contest, as long as you have a valid exchange, LOG the station.  It counts.

73,
Kim - WG8S

From: "nosigma" <nosigma at aol.com>
To: whensley11 at comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:25:31 PM
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] New to VHF/UHF Contesting:  Next Steps

Kim, 

Great response, thank you.  
Bang for the buck is precisely what I am looking to accomplish with any changes or improvements.  

I am not frustrated at all, sorry if I gave that impression.  FM is low scoring,  I knew that going in.  It was in fact one reason I choose it. January is tough sledding due to limited access of high altitude on the east coast, which I was hoping would be my "Unfair Advantage", I could get altitude when no one else could.  Never expected a huge storm to hit the weekend before.  My measly 60 points, if they hold, puts me dead in the middle of the pack for scoring which is comforting especially considering the bad location I ended up in.  I definitely did not expect to get anywhere close to the scores of the Rochester folks.  The competition is pretty intense on SSB and you end up playing with the big dog blow torches who score thousands of point and have iron bottoms, not me, at least not yet. 

I had planned on going back up there for the VA QSO event in March to see if the set up I built met performance expectations but I got roped into other activities.  Your comment about going to my planned location for the June contest with my now 3 band capability and slightly reduced losses is in fact what I am planning on doing so I can fairly baseline my systems capability.   It may not be "broke" so it may not need "fixed".

I will definitely work on advertising, thats a great idea.   Perhaps going up there the weekend before and hitting all the regional repeaters and asking for folks to listen for me and call me would be beneficial.  Any suggestion on how to advertise?  

About half my contest contacts were from non contesters who I "talked into" submitting logs an later sent detailed instructions to via eamil (no log scrubbing though).  I sure hope they follow through.

Sure appreciate the suggestions an I will follow them.

73
John, KM4KMU  

-----Original Message-----
From: whensley11 <whensley11 at comcast.net>
To: nosigma <nosigma at aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Mar 30, 2016 9:52 pm
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] New to VHF/UHF Contesting: Next Steps

John,

If you are determined to spend money, I would go for the "best bang for the buck".

However... I would say ... WAIT.

Do the June contest from your high peaks and see how it goes.

MOST of the activity is SSB and CW.  I don't want to discourage you from trying, but if you are determined to try FM for now, get the word out (publicize yourself) for the June contest on FM.

At that time, do an evaluation.  In other words, save your money for SSB and CW if "conditions" point in that direction.

If you are inclined to spend money, spend it on things that will do both FM and SSB.

Just my 2 cents.

I want to see you active... but not frustrated.

Or... this is what I had to do.  I'm severely restricted at my QTH, so... I joined a contest group (W4NH), and that's my outlet.

73!

Kim - WG8S

From: "John Young via VHFcontesting" <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
To: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 8:32:43 PM
Subject: [VHFcontesting] New to VHF/UHF Contesting:  Next Steps

Looking for some advice on what to do next when it comes to improving my expedition type set up.  

Background:
I picked up my Technician and General license at Dayton in 2015.  Last fall I decided to combine my love of off roading (rock crawling) with amateur radio and take part in the January VHF/UHF contest.  I decided to enter the FM only category since it does not require a high level of sophistication or a huge investment in equipment.  Living in Northern Virginia I am near several large population centers.  Since FM range is LOS dependent and altitude is king I felt I might just have a big advantage in setting up my Jeep Cherokee to carry my radio gear up to 4,000+ feet in the dead of winter to either of two locations that would give me access to between 12-15 grid squares and hopefully 800-1200 points.  The big snow fall put 6-8 foot drifts on the trails I needed to use, I am OK with 3-4 feet but 6-8 feet just wasnt doable so I ended up in a highly compromised location with mountain tops 1000' above me on 3 sides. I did get a couple of 150+ mile FM contacts but I got totally sh
 ut out of major population centers.  As a result I got "smoked", around 100 QSO's but only 60 points worth of contest contacts.  June, September and especially next January beckon.

Current Set Up:
15 foot fold over mast mounted through roof that drops into a manual rotator attached to the cargo floor of the Cherokee.  Mast cross arm is 15 feet above the roof, 23 feet above ground level.  Cross arm support a Cushcraft A14810s for 2 meters, a Cushcraft A44911S for 70cm and a Diamond X-30A omni.  All antenna cabling is LMR-400.  Connectors are UHF.  Cables run inside the mast down into the vehicle.  Radio is a Yaesu FT-8800 (50W 2M, 35W 70cm) that is mast mounted inside the vehicle with the remote head on a work table for logging (all manual).  I was using a diplexer between the two Yagi's and a two position switch to select between the Yagi's and omni.  I have since deleted the diplexer due to losses and run the cables to an Alpha Delta 4 position switch.  I am adding 220MHz using an older Kenwood radio (35W 1.25M) and switching out the dual band monopole for a triband omni of higher gain.  I will probably modify the mast cross arm to add a 220MHz Yagi once I settle on a
  design for the cross arm and antenna locations that dont have interfering capture areas and decide if I want to phase in a second set of Yagi's.  I have spent quite a bit of time minimizing cable and connector losses (under a dB on all bands from radio to antenna connector and minimizing VSWR which is 1.2 or less at 144 & 220 and under 1.5 at 440. 

Here is is link to some photo's of the set up if you are interested:  http://s49.photobucket.com/user/nosigma/library/XJ%20Radio%20Rig?sort=3&page=1

Questions: 
Where should I go next for the next performance improvement for this FM only system?    
Phase a second Yagi at each band for 2-3 dB?  Add an RX pre amp on each band (if you cant hear them you cant work them)? Add a TX amplifier to get up to the allowed 100W for 3-4 dB?  If the answer is amps then should I mount them at the antenna for minimum loss or are my losses low enough at under 1dB that its not worth the extra set up hassle?  If the answer is RX/TX amps can I get away without having to run a sequencer? Am I missing something more basic, like the radio or driving up to north eastern PA for the next contest?   A KX3, transverters and amplifiers are NOT in the budget, maybe someday but I want to keep this as basic and as simple as possible for now.

Looking for some suggestions.

73
KM4KMU
John
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