Contests
IOTA
04/08/16 08:18
Islands On The Air
What a GREAT contest. Fantastic fun.
I have ever done it before but, for poor propagation conditions, the bands were absolutely packed.
We ran Andy's setup with the 4 ele StepIr and Expert Amp and could have gone on for the full 24 hours if we had enough energy with QSO rates of 100+ per hour.
Best contact for me…Alaska.
Next year the plan is to do IOTA for the Club's 80th anniversary from Burnham Beeches with a special call sign. And we will be recruiting operators - you DR boys look out !!!
What a GREAT contest. Fantastic fun.
I have ever done it before but, for poor propagation conditions, the bands were absolutely packed.
We ran Andy's setup with the 4 ele StepIr and Expert Amp and could have gone on for the full 24 hours if we had enough energy with QSO rates of 100+ per hour.
Best contact for me…Alaska.
Next year the plan is to do IOTA for the Club's 80th anniversary from Burnham Beeches with a special call sign. And we will be recruiting operators - you DR boys look out !!!
6M Trophy
22/06/16 13:18
Here are some photos from the 6M Trophy at the weekend.
We ran the G0KSZC LFA and it worked very well. In fact we have decided for next year to build a 7 element version at 10m long.
Here it is with the 13 Ele 2m LFA
Here is the 2m setup in the truck with the new transporter
It was awards day as well. Dave won the club contest as well as a very well deserved award for all of his efforts in the club over the last year (that should be years as you all know)
Here is the team
We ran the G0KSZC LFA and it worked very well. In fact we have decided for next year to build a 7 element version at 10m long.
Here it is with the 13 Ele 2m LFA
Here is the 2m setup in the truck with the new transporter
It was awards day as well. Dave won the club contest as well as a very well deserved award for all of his efforts in the club over the last year (that should be years as you all know)
Here is the team
6M and Christmas
15/12/15 08:56
6M
The Club came 17th out of 86 on the 6m UKAC this year with a great effort from GØBBB with the club call G3WIR/A coming 12th out of 266 entrants on the Restricted section and that was with 3 sessions not scored. Well done. Scores were also posted by G8AJM, GØSKA,G8XCK and yours truly.
SCORES ARE HERE
Christmas Cumulatives
Just to let you know that there will be a load of activity on VHF over Christmas with the Christmas Cumualatives Contest.
These are just for fun and run from 1400 to 1600 UTC on the 26th - 29th.
Bands are 50/70/144/432 Mhz. you can do it on all or just one.
Seeing as the weather might be warm it might be worth venturing out to see how far you can get. You don’t need a beam or high power, just a radio that works on Upper SSB and the will to have fun.
I wil be portable near Lincoln in IO93 not very high but the south should be workable. So if anyone is interested in going to my usual location on the Chilterns then let me know. You will certainly do better than I will from where I will be.
Here is a tip for finding a site to get away from the Christmas cheer. (I’m at the mother in laws hence the relief that there is a contest that I have to do). Take a look at a map on the computer that gives terrain and look for a road that takes you to a high point all around. Then go to street view and virtually drive the road to check for a good clear view all round. See if you can see anything that is a clue to it being a good location like masts. That is a sure sign that someone also thinks it is a good location for radio. Then find somewhere to virtually park. That way you don't spend ages faffing about on the day.
Aim to get there for a hour before hand to set up and test your gear. Everyone else will be doing that so it is a great time to have a chat with others in places you might not have got to before.
You don’t have to go out. I worked someone in Liverpool on the last one who had his beam set up in his bedroom, inside, pointing through the open window!
Here is the LINK to the RSGB site and if anyone needs any help or pointers then just shout.
The Club came 17th out of 86 on the 6m UKAC this year with a great effort from GØBBB with the club call G3WIR/A coming 12th out of 266 entrants on the Restricted section and that was with 3 sessions not scored. Well done. Scores were also posted by G8AJM, GØSKA,G8XCK and yours truly.
SCORES ARE HERE
Christmas Cumulatives
Just to let you know that there will be a load of activity on VHF over Christmas with the Christmas Cumualatives Contest.
These are just for fun and run from 1400 to 1600 UTC on the 26th - 29th.
Bands are 50/70/144/432 Mhz. you can do it on all or just one.
Seeing as the weather might be warm it might be worth venturing out to see how far you can get. You don’t need a beam or high power, just a radio that works on Upper SSB and the will to have fun.
I wil be portable near Lincoln in IO93 not very high but the south should be workable. So if anyone is interested in going to my usual location on the Chilterns then let me know. You will certainly do better than I will from where I will be.
Here is a tip for finding a site to get away from the Christmas cheer. (I’m at the mother in laws hence the relief that there is a contest that I have to do). Take a look at a map on the computer that gives terrain and look for a road that takes you to a high point all around. Then go to street view and virtually drive the road to check for a good clear view all round. See if you can see anything that is a clue to it being a good location like masts. That is a sure sign that someone also thinks it is a good location for radio. Then find somewhere to virtually park. That way you don't spend ages faffing about on the day.
Aim to get there for a hour before hand to set up and test your gear. Everyone else will be doing that so it is a great time to have a chat with others in places you might not have got to before.
You don’t have to go out. I worked someone in Liverpool on the last one who had his beam set up in his bedroom, inside, pointing through the open window!
Here is the LINK to the RSGB site and if anyone needs any help or pointers then just shout.
Unbelievable Skookum Boys
19/09/15 15:24
If you want unbelievable help on a FREE ….yes FREE logging software you need look no further than Skookum Logger.
Since I started this contesting lark to get my weekly fix of radio, particularly when the HF bands are as pants as they are at the moment, I looked for a logging programme that worked with the UKAC contests and did it on the Mac.
Paul recommended Skookum and having not had too much luck with my general logging programme , MacLoggerDX at contesting, I have been using it ever since. It has worked brilliantly with the KX3 and FT5000 at home but when the chance to go portable came up I needed to take the 991. (great radio for portable use according to me).
As the 991 is very new not a lot of people support it on their software but a mail to Skookum boys Bill and Jonathan got them on the case. I mailed yesterday and Bill has worked on 5 iterations of the driver for the 991 and by lunchtime on Saturday he had it sorted. Now you are not going to get that response from anyone else I suspect. It must be, like me, they like a challenge.
So I am now set for Tuesday with full portable logging capabilities. And I do mean loads of capability - more than I know what to do with and most importantly easy to understand and use.
For those who haven’t used contest loggers before (me) Skookum gives you control of both your running frequency and your pounce frequency. So you can flick back to your calling freq once you have tuned around, in my case, usually to get GI4SNA. It exports cabrillo format that the RSGB accepts and tracks your score as you go along.
You need to make sure that you set it up for the right contest but you can see from the screen shot that your have all the information to hand. It auto increments and tells you what your exchange is. Over time it learns who you have worked and prompts you with their call. So in time my habit of mixing call signs up might improve.
So in short, give Skookum a try and if your radio is not supported…by tomorrow afternoon it will be!
Since I started this contesting lark to get my weekly fix of radio, particularly when the HF bands are as pants as they are at the moment, I looked for a logging programme that worked with the UKAC contests and did it on the Mac.
Paul recommended Skookum and having not had too much luck with my general logging programme , MacLoggerDX at contesting, I have been using it ever since. It has worked brilliantly with the KX3 and FT5000 at home but when the chance to go portable came up I needed to take the 991. (great radio for portable use according to me).
As the 991 is very new not a lot of people support it on their software but a mail to Skookum boys Bill and Jonathan got them on the case. I mailed yesterday and Bill has worked on 5 iterations of the driver for the 991 and by lunchtime on Saturday he had it sorted. Now you are not going to get that response from anyone else I suspect. It must be, like me, they like a challenge.
So I am now set for Tuesday with full portable logging capabilities. And I do mean loads of capability - more than I know what to do with and most importantly easy to understand and use.
For those who haven’t used contest loggers before (me) Skookum gives you control of both your running frequency and your pounce frequency. So you can flick back to your calling freq once you have tuned around, in my case, usually to get GI4SNA. It exports cabrillo format that the RSGB accepts and tracks your score as you go along.
You need to make sure that you set it up for the right contest but you can see from the screen shot that your have all the information to hand. It auto increments and tells you what your exchange is. Over time it learns who you have worked and prompts you with their call. So in time my habit of mixing call signs up might improve.
So in short, give Skookum a try and if your radio is not supported…by tomorrow afternoon it will be!
Where is Scotland
13/09/15 13:50
I am venturing off to IO94 for the next 6M UKAC. which is in Yorkshire. So my thoughts turn to the crib sheet that i use here to tell me where various squares are. Of course when you go off somewhere else all that changes.
There are no map apps that I can find to do this however if you copy this compass rose which is a .gif file so it is transparent
Get yourself a map of where you want to be as a screen shot from google or some other map on the internet.
copy and paste the gif onto the map and move and scale it to where you are going to be.
Simples as the markets say……
There are no map apps that I can find to do this however if you copy this compass rose which is a .gif file so it is transparent
Get yourself a map of where you want to be as a screen shot from google or some other map on the internet.
copy and paste the gif onto the map and move and scale it to where you are going to be.
Simples as the markets say……
Skookum Logs it
26/08/15 09:32
i took over Chris’s perch last night up at Stokenchurch to try to get some more points for the Club. And you know it worked.
Apart from forgetting the headset and having to come home again set up in the rain was ok. Ever had that feeling that you are ready to go, have the mast up and wonder why the coax is still on the ground……down in comes again!
If anyone is interested in sitting in on a VHF contest to see what it is all about then give me a shout. I have yet to work out how I can get a 2 man station into the car but I am sure it can be done.
Conditions were very flat but there is no doubt that the elevation of the site makes a big difference for VHF. Funny I had no problems with a 59 to GI4SNA but could not raise any european DX. Apart from one in Luxembourg.
I look forward to trying this again and it might spurr me on to getting the 70cms beam together.
After Ian’s talk I have sorted out a FREE logging programme for the Mac called SkookumLogger. It works very efficiently and saves me transcribing the logs into the RSGB website. Hopefully!!! we have yet to see if it gets accepted by the powers that be.
Apart from forgetting the headset and having to come home again set up in the rain was ok. Ever had that feeling that you are ready to go, have the mast up and wonder why the coax is still on the ground……down in comes again!
If anyone is interested in sitting in on a VHF contest to see what it is all about then give me a shout. I have yet to work out how I can get a 2 man station into the car but I am sure it can be done.
Conditions were very flat but there is no doubt that the elevation of the site makes a big difference for VHF. Funny I had no problems with a 59 to GI4SNA but could not raise any european DX. Apart from one in Luxembourg.
I look forward to trying this again and it might spurr me on to getting the 70cms beam together.
After Ian’s talk I have sorted out a FREE logging programme for the Mac called SkookumLogger. It works very efficiently and saves me transcribing the logs into the RSGB website. Hopefully!!! we have yet to see if it gets accepted by the powers that be.
UKAC 144mhz
08/07/15 08:58
Last nights 2m contest was frustrating working from home as opposed to a Welsh hill.
You are really hemmed in by the number of close stations. Nevertheless we gave it a go, which after all is the point.
Furthest was Penzance and thanks to G4PPT/P for that. Funny enough his call is one I was searching for matching surnames and all that.
My Landrover plate is PPT as well.
TC
You are really hemmed in by the number of close stations. Nevertheless we gave it a go, which after all is the point.
Furthest was Penzance and thanks to G4PPT/P for that. Funny enough his call is one I was searching for matching surnames and all that.
My Landrover plate is PPT as well.
TC
Uri's Field Again
21/06/15 18:24
The weekend saw a combined 6m 24 hour contest and drinking competition sponsored by Uri and his whiskey collection.
The contest was great , sporadic “E” conditions which saw us getting to Iceland and further. The mast trailer worked a treat but we need to work on the compressor to get it to go up more slowly!
It also gave me the chance to try the new mast setup and the 6m G0KSC Yagi before the UKAC on Tuesday.
The contest was great , sporadic “E” conditions which saw us getting to Iceland and further. The mast trailer worked a treat but we need to work on the compressor to get it to go up more slowly!
It also gave me the chance to try the new mast setup and the 6m G0KSC Yagi before the UKAC on Tuesday.