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2022 RAC contest in the rearview mirror

December 18th, 2022 |

The Radio amateurs of Canada (RAC) winter contest has come and gone for 2022. This contest is both CW, AM, FM and SSB. As for me, it was the same old same old just CW. The propagation gods were smiling on this contest and conditions were great. I operated 7 hours on Saturday they were 1-hour sessions with about a 10 min break at each end of hour. I find this works best for me and I set in a lunch and or dinner time as well.

The radio, software and antenna worked great no complaints at all. The system I find works best for me is to start out searching and pouncing contacts. This gets in the log those who are only running in the contest and also it gets my ears warmed up to the code speed. I then move on to running which in this contest I did about 90% of the time. The participation was great and while running my best 1-hour count was 91 QSOs which kept me very busy and the hour flew by.
There were nice openings on all the bands my Hustler 4BTV provided for me 10,15,20 and 40m. The settings I find that work best for me on the Icom 7610 are;
Filter set to 400Hz so I can hear those that call a bit off frequency I find that 250 or less a bit too narrow. Now having said that during the "biggy" contests 250Hz is required due to the close proximity of signals.
I keep my APF (audio Peak Filter) on and set it to wide.
I keep the NR (noise reduction) on and set it to a low range.
I use the CW full break in and it does take some getting used to. As you transmit dits and dahs your rig goes back and forth from receive to transmit. This allows me to hear if anyone is trying to contact me while transmitting. You would be shocked at how many times I hear someone. Also when searching and pouncing as you call a station it allows you to hear if another station is also trying to make contact. In that case, I just stop transmitting as it would be just a mixed mess being sent to the station. Also, it allows you to hear if the running station is contacting someone and then you just stop transmitting as you don't want to QRM.
Below are the end results of 7 hours on the air I am very pleased with the numbers and I am getting more confident in my contest running abilities.

ARRL 10m contest is in the books

December 13th, 2022 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

The areas I worked in the contest

Another contest in the books and I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the radio, software and antenna worked great for me. This is the first time for me to enter the ARRL 10 meter contest as in the past 10m was not open. I was shocked at the amount of action on the waterfall and how most of the time 10m is void of signals. It goes to prove that the band should not be overlooked.

In this contest, I operated CW only, low power (100 watts) and no spotting assistance. I always avoid using spotting assistance as it hinders my goal of improving my CW. I found in the mornings I had a good path into the EU and as that closed down in the early afternoon the U.S. opened up. By late afternoon South America was open to me. One of the highlight contacts was getting into Hawaii and I was also able to make numerous contacts into South America.

Once it started to get dark the band for me closed down. In this contest, I did try running (calling CQ contest) but I found I was able to get better numbers with search and pounce. In most contests for me holding a frequency and calling CQ contest would always give me a good return but not in this contest. The 10m propagation for me had deep QSB and one moment a station was calling CQ and all of a sudden gone!

The final score

ARRL 10m contest brings the band alive.

December 10th, 2022 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

Lots of action on the 10m CW portion during the ARRL 10m contest. During the morning today lots of EU stations to be had. As the afternoon started the EU faded and more U.S. and I am expecting later this afternoon South America possibly.

Merry Christmas

December 9th, 2022 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers

An afternoon of POTA

December 4th, 2022 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

We have been having rain a lot out this way and today it was overcast and showers were not forecast. I decided it was time to go out for a walk and get some fresh air. The temperature was plus 2C with a brisk wind. As I was getting back home it started to snow but not enough for any to stay on the ground but the days of that are just around the corner. Once home I poured myself a cup of decaf coffee and headed to the radio room.

I am not sure why but I thought it would be nice to check the POTA (parks on the air) website and look over the spots. I have done this in the past and was not able to hear any of the park activators. I am very glad I did as the POTA propagation gods were smiling on me. On 20m I tuned in to each mentioned spot on the POTA website and low and behold I was able to hear the park activator. Their signals varied from 229 to 599. I had a great time and it's only a short exchange of information for the contact as they are racking up contacts.
The contacts I made on 20m:
KQ4CW
KD8IE
N1QD
KD3D
KG8CO
K9ABR
One contact on 40m
KC1MXB

Inspection of the Hustler 4BTV antenna

December 3rd, 2022 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

A loose spider arm not seated in bracket.

We are expecting some high winds and lots of rain starting late afternoon and all evening and for this reason, I took my Hustler 4BTV antenna down. The maximum gusts are to be in around 70-80 km and the antenna specs say the antenna is suitable for 90 km winds. I would rather not go with the see what happens theory as I have made the antenna very easy to take down. I decided not to purchase the tilt base for the antenna as there is nowhere I can tilt the antenna fully down too. I can store the antenna in the shed and it only takes about 10 minutes for the whole ordeal of taking it down and storing it. While the antenna was down today I noticed a few of the blade spiders were loose. There are 6 of these what is called in the manual "spider blades". It's for the 40m portion of the antenna. They are pieces of round hollow aluminum tubing held in place by nuts and bolts. Two of the 6 blades were very loose. I don't think the nuts loosened off I think the aluminum tubing being a soft material compressed a bit and the connection came loose. I tightened the nut and bolts on all the spider blades and will check it each time the antenna comes down. I don't feel double nutting each connection would solve the issue as was said it's my humble opinion the nuts did not loosen off.

Top view of securing screw.

My theory is at one point the aluminum blades will stop compressing and the connection will remain tight. I would have thought an SWR issue would have been apparent with this but nothing was out of sorts with the SWR.

Nuts on bottom of spider arm.

CQ WW CW contest wrap up

November 28th, 2022 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

Another CW contest is in the books and this is the first time that Murphy stayed far away from me. I spent the longest time I ever have sitting in the contest chair, one reason could have been it was rainy and cold outside. I took one-hour sessions at a time with about a 10-minute break and lunch and dinner. I found this worked very well and allowed me to focus better when I was on the radio. I spent most of my time in running mode ( calling CQ contest and listening for callers) I will be honest there were times I did have issues and most likely ticked off some contesters with my failing to get their call, but oh well we all have to learn. A highlight was contacting a fellow blogger Bas PE4BAS on 2 different bands. With calling CQ or running I found the time just flew past and before I knew it I was coming up on my 1-hour break mark. Having said that at times when someone spots you on the cluster (thanks Bas) it can get jam-packed. At one point I answered and logged 136 QSO's in 1 hour! My theory is, keep my CW speed at a moderate level (around 29-27 WPM) and I figure I may get more callers. I could go faster but I feel I limit my prospects. Having said that while going at 29wpm I did get over and over stations coming back to me at 32-39 wpm, could be those I have worked in my weekly CWops mini contest and know the speed can be picked up a notch. But it does throw you off to all of a sudden get a call out of the blue at 36 wpm. It was nice to see 10m open and I was able to make some DX contacts. On Sunday afternoon 15m opened to South America and Hawaii which allowed me to get some nice multiplier contacts. I was very happy with how the new Hustler 4BTV performed as this was the first major contest I was able to use it in. My dream goal was to double last year's score and I went way beyond that! As a side note: This morning was the weekly Monday running of the ICWC MST (medium speed 1-hour contest) I gave the morning session a go and what a DISASTER it was! Not sure if there is such a thing as day after major CW contest brain fog but I sure did have it. A half-hour into the hour session I was ready to pull the plug but I hung on and ate humble pie. I was hearing the correct call but typing differently, hearing letters that just were not there, logging a contact before I received their full exchange and as a call was being sent to me I was like a deer in headlights. I could not send or receive S.O.S. if my life depended on it. Oh well, water under the bridge and just for the heck of it I am going to jump back in the operating chair for the afternoon MST session. What could go wrong eh?