The winter 160m CW contest
Its half past December and the first “real” snow of the winter is about to come down. We (the VE2OJ crew) got through another 160m contest, although we were delayed because of problems:
- Setting up the hang time on the rig/ winlink/ computer
- Setting up the lead time on the rig/ winlink/ computer (one of these two did in the QSK board)
- Having the computer screen go to black for an indeterminate amount of time
- Loss of the Internet (Fortunately, the satellite Internet connection was still up)
- Amplifier QSK board safety lamps blowing up (AGAIN! -Nothin’ beats having spares)
- Antenna vs Tree (we’ll call this one a draw)
Anyway we had fun, with over 730 contacts over 60 sections and 18 countries, although it is a North American contest. Things will be better for the CQ ‘test in January (I hope)
More contests
The week after that was the ARRL 10m contest, as usual. Unlike the Sweeps, I got into this one, and had some fun. Just submitted the results tonight. I’m lazy that way. The band was in great shape. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a newcomer in these conditions, with a new country in the log every time on the air?
This coming weekend is the RAC Winter contest, always a fun time where we get to say Hi and Merry Xmas to the rest of the country. We get to smile at Americans who complain that it isn’t even Winter, until the Wednesday after the contest. Always good for a chuckle, although this year they may have a point. Still, its better than holding the thing on Christmas eve. Somehow most people have something else to do that day.
The RAC contest overlaps with a Stew Perry 160m contest and it FINALLY looks like I might be ready to play on that band from home.
Mag loopiness
Today I connected the capacitor to the loop, set it to around mid mesh, a few hundred pf, and checked it out. Without doing anything to it, it looked like it was good for around 10 kHz around 3775 kHz. That means if I fire up the motor, I should be able to get it to play on 160, especially if I put some fixed capacitance across the vacuum variable.
Earlier this month I picked up an election sign left over (abandoned) from the mayoral race. The 2x2s came in handy for the loop, and it turns out that the wordy bit was just the right size for a rain (snow) hat for the capacitor box. If (when) I decide I’ve had enough snow shovelling tomorrow, I will see if I can get the loop down to 160m before the contest starts.
Click on a photo for a slide show …
73
Don’t shovel too much.
mk
Last Updated on 2024-12-23 by AdminOARC