ARRL June VHF Contest - 2023
Call: K2UA/R
Operator(s): K2UA
Station: K2UA/R
Class: Rover LP
QTH: WNY
Operating Time (hrs): 23
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 68 20
2: 66 8
222: 62 8
432: 62 8
903: 54 6
1.2: 55 6
2.3: 38 4
3.4: 29 4
5.7: 19 3
10G: 25 4
24G:
-------------------
Total: 478 75 Total Score = 86,475
Club: Rochester VHF Group
Comments:
I activated FN02, FN03, FN12, and FN13. I run analog-only because it's what I
enjoy.
Thanks for all the QSOs, especially the ten-banders! I had one sweep (10 bands x
4 grids activated) with N2JMH. Jim has put an incredible amount of work into his
station in the past couple of years and it really shows--he is by far the
easiest station to work on 10 bands in the region.
Also had a ten-band sweep with K0SM, KE2AIY, KE2AIZ, KE2AJA, and KE2AMI from one
grid. Thanks, Andy and family! Can't wait until the other four kids are
licensed! :-)
I caught some of the Sunday evening E-skip on CW and SSB, which gave me a modest
multiplier boost. It was a treat working some guys I normally only work in HF
contests, like N5TJ, N4OGW, NM5M, K5PI, and the crew at N2NT (who are really all
HF guys who do VHF on weekends).
Rigs/antennas:
50 MHz: 100 W, Par Moxon on a painter's pole, bungee corded to passenger mirror
144 MHz: 100 W, Directive Systems rover Yagi
222 MHz: 25 W, Directive Systems rover Yagi
432: 25 W, Directive Systems rover Yagi
902: 25 W, Bluewave 11-el Yagi
1296: 20 W, Directive Systems rear-mounted rover loop Yagi
2304: 4 W, Directive Systems rover loop Yagi
3400: 4 W, Directive Systems rover loop Yagi
5760: 4 W, PC board LPDA (makes QSOs, but never again)
10 GHz: 4 W, 20 dBi horn (too much of a compromise)
Setup was a real challenge this time. First, I ran out of time for all the
improvements I had planned. (Standard disclaimer #1 for VHF/UHF/microwave ops.)
The top two antennas, for 1296 and 2304, both had problems on initial testing.
1296 was a bad feed line--fortunately I had a spare 1/4-inch Superflex feeder
that was the perfect length. 2304 had a 2.4:1 SWR at the antenna, and I could
not improve it without taking it down, which I didn't have time to do. It had
good directivity but predictably poor performance compared to 1296 and 3400 on
that band. Fortunately I was able to address those issues without taking down
all the antennas and the mast.
Managed to knock over my full 24-oz travel mug of coffee while toting gear to
the car on Saturday morning. The center section of the lid ejected and I lost
about 12 oz of coffee in a cardioid pattern. Fortunately that happened in the
garage and not in the car. Some lost time and an impressive spray pattern
ensued. My entire left side from head to toe got soaked. 12 oz of coffee goes
farther in both coverage area and DX than any other substance, I think. I might
have muttered something as this happened.
There was some other setup-related disaster that I have since forgotten, but no
harm came of it, whatever it was. Let's just say that I have a long to-do list
before the next 10-band rove, which will probably be in January.
The weather was great during the contest--mostly in the upper 70s, but humid,
and nothing more than a few drops of rain until well after sunset on Sunday.
Sunday night I got home just as the contest ended. It had been raining for about
an hour at that point. Pulled all the coax and rotator cables in the rain so I
could close the window fully for the overnight. Monday morning I pulled all the
antennas off the car and stowed them before 9 AM, which is when the real rain
started--whew.
Many kudos to all the RVHFG stations and OVHFA stations who got on and stayed on
for the duration! Also to the other 10-band rovers in the area, KF2MR (who
doubled my score) and K2QO, whose score is really close to mine. Lots of fun
pushing and being pushed by other rovers--great inspiration to keep going!
Thanks to these ten-band stations:
K2DH
N2WK
N2JMH
K2TER
KF2MR
K2QO
N2OA
NR2C
K0SM
KE2AIY
KE2AIZ
KE2AJA
KE2AMI
Is that a huge list, or what?! It is SO gratifying to see all the regional
growth in activity over the past five years, especially on the microwave bands.
W2FU has a great 8-band station with 3400 and 5760 still to come--Jeff was
always easy to work. Props to KA2ENE for fast band changes through his six
bands. Also props to KD2LGX for his 7-band, butt-in-the-chair multiop effort
with KV2X and N2IK. Dana, VE3DS, also worked me on 7 bands from at least one
grid and several bands in other grids. Apologies to everyone I managed to drop
during band changes along the way or could not get back to in time--the bane of
this rover.
Best DX above VHF was K1TEO at 448 km from FN03. We worked through 1296 from two
grids. It was cool to find Jeff randomly calling CQ on 2-meter CW and running
through the bands from FN03wa. Just like the old days!
Looking forward to the next one!
--73, Rus
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