June 17th 23 Cms UKAC

23 Cms is a fairly new band for me and it is one that takes some getting used to. Not only do you operate the radio but you also have to arrange skeds using KST. It certainly adds another dimension to Contest operation.

Being fairly new to the band it should be quite easy to better your last score and so far things have been going in the right direction. This was certainly a personal best result for me. It wasn't down to the number of QSO's but to the number of multiplier squares worked - a total of 15 which I was very pleased with.

There was a lot of deep QSB on most distant signals with total fade out at some points so some perseverance was required on both ends of the contact.

I was pleased to say that CW played a small part n pulling in some of the weaker signals. Certainly G3YPQ/p in IO70SS would never have been worked on phone. I gave him a 529 and I received a 449 so it just goes to show how useful CW is in difficult conditions.

I run 10 Watts to a 55 ele Tonna up at 12 meters agl so low power but with high gain. A very sharp antenna so constant tweaking of beam heading made more difficult by QSB made it all quite hard work but most enjoyable.

There were a few SDARS stations on including G4YHF, G4ODA, G4NBR and G4KIY. Strangely I did not hear G4ODA all evening despite the fact that we are fairly close to each other.

73 es tnx fer all points.

80 meter UKCC Contest

CW contests are a bit of a strange affair really. I am normally found, plodding away at about 17 wpm on my paddle but as soon as you mention "Contest" we all become speed freaks. Unfortunately, I am just not very accurate sending or receiving above 20 wpm so some practice is prescribed.

The RSGB UKCC Contests on 80 meters are quite a relaxed affair really, and even has a designated frequency of 3.555 MHz for slower operators to have a go. Sadly a couple of DL's decided to have a very high power QSO on that frequency for a good part of the June Contest but as the band was not that crowded, it didn't detract very much from everyone's enjoyment. I usually concentrate my efforts towards the top of the band segment as things get more frantic the lower in frequency that you go. In fact the bottom 30 Hz tend to be rather manic.

In April I managed 38 contacts and in June's Contest manged to improve slightly making 43 contacts. Still a long way to go but I do not take it very competitively. For me it is about gaining experience and self improvement.

As mentioned, Contest operation is usually at much higher speeds than normal rag chewing and you really need to get your ears tuned in for a specific exchange. As all HF CW contest signal reports are 599 all you really need is the 3 digit number that follows the RST and the Call sign of course. This part of the exchange is typically sent at between 25 and 30 wpm, much too fast for most of us mortal operators, but it is amazing how fast you can read that limited exchange when you know what to listen for and practice for it.

Fortunately numbers are longer than any other Morse Code character so that helps. Unfortunately, many experienced ops tend to use abbreviated forms for the Zero and number 9. Whilst I don't mind the leading zeros being shortened to a "T" in the exchange (TT1), nor do I mind the 599 being sent as 5NN, but when they appear in any other place it disturbs my rhythm and makes me stop and think - a practice fatal in decoding CW. 

Search and Pounce (S&P) mode is the easiest mode to use as you have plenty of time to catch the call sign of the station that you want to work. Even if they are sending at 25 wpm you can normally get it correct if you listen to it a few times. Once you have his call sign in your logging programme all you have to do is send your own call sign once and then listen to hear if he is calling you back or someone else. Assuming the other station heard you correctly all you need to do is enter the default 599 for the RST and then listen for the next 3 numbers - your serial number. Even if you miss it and are too embarrassed to admit it you can listen for the number given to the next few contacts that station makes and work backwards to the number that you were given. Not too bad really. Then you just send 5NN and your 3 figure serial number to him. Simple really isn't it?

Whilst S&P is the easiest way to make contacts, you really need to call CQ to make the points. Then accurate copying of the other stations call sign is vital and it is not always easy when the band is crowded and you have QRM to contend with. You can practice call sign recognition though with contest emulator programmes like Morse Runner. Calling CQ and establishing a run frequency is much more stressful so start with S&P mode if you want.

Contest operating on the HF bands is not everybody's cup of tea but it is a great way to improve your own operating technique, gain confidence using CW and also to learn how to utilize some of the many controls on a modern rig, especially in the filtering department. 

To begin don't take things too seriously and just enjoy it. Get out of it whatever it is that you want and leave winning to the big boys. They are great for call sign recognition which is one of the most important skills that you can develop for using the HF bands outside of those dreaded contests.

If you feel like giving CW contests a go but are not confident enough, then contact me at the Club (SDARS members) and we can organize some practice sessions on the computer and/or on the key.

73 es gud dx de Jim G0HGH

Recovery Service!

What other Rally has a recovery service like this? Thanks for the Photo Andy.

It looks like Alan has discovered a new way of getting home after a visit to his local hostelry!

73 de Jim G0HGH

RSGB UKAC 70 Cms June 10th

Solar storms normally effect the HF bands rather than UHF, and there had been a couple of days  of poor conditions on the HF bands prior to this months Contest. Conditions seemed fairly poor on UHF though and trying to work IO81, 82 and 83 was really hard work. Whether this had anything to do with the Solar storm I do not know.

It wasn't until the last 30 seconds of the Contest that I managed to have a qso with Tony, GW8ASD in IO83 square for a new multiplyer. I am beginning to think that Tony leaves me until the last minute just to make me sweat. I only managed one contact in each of IO82, 82 83 and 95 squares; and they only happened in the last 20 minutes so it just goes to show,don't give up hope until the very end.

There were some huge signals but there appeared to be plenty of the room on the band. I managed to hold a run frequency on 432.127 until the last half hour. After I lost control of that I went search and pounce until I found a free spot around 432.175 for the last few minutes.

Thanks to everyone for the points, some contacts were a bit hard work and some of the regulars were not heard at all.

I ran 9 watts to a 19 element beam made by SDARS member Andy 2E0WAX up at 12 meters agl. I also used a HA8ET LNA at the mast head with Ecoflex 15 feeder.

Once again my admiration goes to those stations who seem to able to find those extra, magic multiplyers. 

73 es gud dx de Jim G0HGH

RSGB UKAC 2 meter Contest

June 3rd RSGB UKAC 2 meter Contest map

Conditions seemed pretty good for this months 2 meter Contest but, as usual, some stations reported working into Italy earlier in the day with all sporadic E dying out by the time it was due to start the Contest.

I believe that I am starting to make some headway in Contests after the many station improvements that have been made over the last two years, but make no mistake, doing well in Contests is as much about operating skill as it is having the equipment. Even with the best equipped station I am sure that I would still struggle to improve my scores and still have much to learn.

I worked 16 multiplyer squares and must admit that I wonder how or if I will ever get to work any more than that. It must be possible as fellow SDARS Club members; M1MHZ managed a staggering 24 squares and G4YHF managed to work 18 with just 10 watts. SDARS member G4ODA was working as GM4ODA/P in IO99 but the WX in N. Scotland was atrocious and the distance too great for me to even hear him which was a pity.

Best DX for me was OZ1ALS who was not beaming my way at the time, but I did manage to catch his attention at 705 Kms. I occasionally hear, but very rarely manage to work, him during a Contest so very pleased with that QSO.

2 Meters is probably the most popular of the Amateur bands and certainly is the band for which a huge number of Contesters are very well equipped so it is extremely competitive. As a result, if I do well you can guarantee that everybody else did even better when it comes to scoring the points.

A total of 62 QSO's in 16  scoring Squares with an extra 2 Continental squares and a few points added to Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's tally.

73 de Jim G0HGH IO92WS

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SDARS 2014 Rally

Sunday, 1st June, and it was time for the annual Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's Rally.

As if somebody had thoughtfully booked it, the Sun made a most welcome appearance and we had one of the warmest and driest day of the year. The playing field had a huge number of stalls and the Halls were packed with traders. Fortunately the Gleed School playing field is huge so that, even with many traders, there is still plenty of room and no-one felt cramped or crowded lending to a very relaxed and convivial atmosphere.

Andy, 2E0WAX, set up a demonstration portable station that rivaled anything that many of us can achieve from our home QTH's. This year he concentrated on 18MHz and had a 3 element mono-band beam and 400 Watts up at a respectable height. This generated lots of contacts using one of our Club calls, G1DSP/P, and also a lot of interest from visitors. As usual, at the busiest time during the Rally, Andy spent more time chatting to visitors about his station equipment than actually operating but then that is something that Andy enjoys as well. He is a great ambassador for Amateur Radio.

This years Rally saw the QRP Club attending with a stall for the first time and with them partly in my mind, I decided to give my Rockmite ][ 30 transceiver that I had built, its first airing. I made a dipole antenna cut for 10.106MHz and put that up about 7 meters agl on a glass fibre fishing pole, fairly close to the QRO station. Needles to say as soon as Andy started to transmit I experienced break through. However it didn't really cause any serious problems as my station created nearly as much interest to visitors as Andy's and I spent more time talking about the Rockmite than operating it. 

I was delighted to make my first QSO however using 400 milli-watts with SM6DEC, receiving a 539 report from Ben in Lidkoping. I went on to make 2 more contacts in Germany and felt like it had been a constructive morning.

The Worked all Britain group had their AGM in one of the School rooms and also had a stand in one of the two halls. A large variety of Traders attended including local antenna manufacturer M0CVO as well as the RSGB, Lamm Communications, VK6CJW, Bourne RC, Alan Clegg, Knobby, M Thurnton, RAOTA, Cambs Labels, Carol Hebden, Kevin G3AFF, March RC, MS Electronics and Synotel VK.

By all accounts everybody enjoyed themselves and, once again, Spalding Club members gave the Amateur Community a very warm welcome. With many Rallies folding in recent years, the Spalding Club Rally is becoming one of the most prestigious in the Radio calendar. 

So until next year, best 73 de Jim G0HGH/P

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