Saturday 2 July 2016

More Contesting!

Well blow me if it isnt the weekend of VHF National Field Day!

After my, ahem, 'success' in last tuesdays 6m UKAC, I decided to have a tune about on 6m and give a point or two away. Well, 6m is utterly dead! Two stations worked! So, I moved to 2m, which entailed a bit of digging to find the BNC for the halo antenna. Despite the Halo being somewhat wonky, and the 30m or so of RG-58 connecting it to the shack knocking me to effectively -6dB SRP (Seriously Reduced Power) as I would ticket it at work, ive made a few QSOs using the 2.5W from my Yaesu FT-290mk1 (an erp of around 800mW!). Buoyed by this success, I made the effort to get the 30W linear amp online, boosting me up to a throbbing 7.5W calculated erp! I really must get a rotator and put the 9-element Tonna up!

The contest doesnt end until 1400UTC tomorrow, so i'll see what there is doing in the morning.

In the morning I also hope to receive the broadcast by SAQ on VLF. Alexanderson day commemorates the development of high speed alternators for telegraphy transmission, with SAQ being the one remaining working example. I'll have to get up early and string up a temporary long wire for it.

For now, a few more spins of the dial as a  'Fixed Station, Sweeper, Restricted', and then off to bed

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