Posts Tagged ‘Contest’
Second contest, getting the hang of it.
February 5th, 2014 | 
Author: 
I was a bit more organised than the 50MHz contest last week. I got the computer running the Minos logging program. Just before 8pm I raised the antenna and double checked the VSWR and had a quick listen around on the band before the start and heard a few operators setting up. All looked good and then before I knew it we were off!
Due to my inexperience I operated in 'search and pounce' mode rather than calling CQ. I kept going outside and turning the antenna in a new direction and then spent several minutes searching up and down listening out for CQ calls.
I soon made a few contacts and fumbled along but my confidence increased as I got the hang of the exchange required.
I was jotting down the information and almost made the mistake of relying on the computer logging till I made an error and when attempting to correct it end up in a total mess due to my unfamilarity with the software. Thankfully I was able to sort out the log and carried on, but lost some time doing so.
Thankfully the rain held off but the wind was blowing quite strongly and the antenna was waving about a little so didn't have it at full height, not that full height was particularly high anyway and more often than not I suspect my antenna was pointing in the wrong direction!
At the end of the night I only managed 10 contacts, but was pleased none the less, scoring 930 points.
I have made a map of my QSOs and as expected they are limited by my surroundings
View UKAC 144MHz - 4 Feb 2014 in a larger map
Many years ago I experimented with a PMR eQSO gateway (detailed here) and when doing that I created a couple of terrain maps were created using GEOG. Geog is a suite of programs written by Andy Talbot (G4JNT), some of which make reference to a database of UK terrain heights, to provide useful information for radio amateurs (and others interested in point-point working) The software is still available on Andy's new site
Interestingly the contacts appear to follow the direction of the Trent valley, while the surrounding hills have a masking effect. The contacts to the west in the Peak District are probably due to their height!
Roll on next week for the 432Mhz contest.. another antenna I have to sort out properly.
Antenna up ready for UKAC 144MHz
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| The antenna this morning |
I should say my brother has took his foundation exam and has the callsign M6GTD, so am expecting him to ask for his antenna back at some stage! ;-)
This evening is this months 144MHz UKAC contest and I spent yesterday evening getting the antenna set up properly so I could take part. Unfortunately the antenna was damaged just before Christmas and I have now replaced the boom insulators and straightened the bent director element.
It took a while to get the antenna VSWR down to a satisfactory level, not due to any fault but simply I had the adjustable sections of the active element loop too far out. They are now almost fully in, but at 144MHz the VSWR is a little over 1:1 and across the entire 144-146MHz the maximum is around 1.3:1 so I am hoping it preforms reasonably well, even with 10m of RG-58.
As suggested I have a 'ugly' rf-choke inline, which you can see on the photo. The antenna is clamped just under the vertical collinear, and hopefully this won't affect its performance.
I can put the pole up to around 5m, but the top section isn't that substantial and has a reasonable loading with the yagi and the collinear on it, but the pole it is securely guyed so for temporary use should be okay. Well that is what I thought till I saw the weather forecast
The wind speed and gusts look a little worrying, peaking at around 40mph between 21:00 - 00:00!
The only saving grace is that I will be manually rotating the antenna I will be out checking on it regularly during the contest!
Best of luck everyone taking part...
My first contest
I am a complete novice at using HF, in fact I am a complete novice at transmitting anything!
My Chinese Baofeng handhelds have pretty much collected dust since getting my licence. However with the purchase of the FT-857D I must, despite my trepidation, step up to the microphone.
I had hit a snag when testing out the new radio, my antenna was showing high VSWR on 6m, even with the ATU I was struggling to get it to 2:1, therefore I decided to construct a simple dipole and sling it up with an ugly choke 'balun' I had constructed.
Due to some unexpected delays I was running out of time but eventually did manage to get something up, it was only around 2 meters off the ground and the VSWR still wasn't ideal, but I was ready.
At the appointed time, well nearly an hour late I started turning the dial and was met with a load of static, wasn't hearing anything! This continued for a quite a time then suddenly I started hearing "CQ Contest CQ Contest" I listened in for a while to try to get the gist of the exchanges, wandering up and down the band.
Then I decided to have a go at a QSO, giving my callsign out, I waited nothing! "QRZ CQ Contest CQ Contest" another go.. still nothing.. and so on..
Changed frequency to another stations, tried again and I was heard, but they couldn't make out my call sign despite several attempts.. another change of frequency and the same results.
Now I know I had only got it set a 5W, the lowest I can till I get some confidence in my set up and am not going to damage anything! But I was a little disappointed, but I persevered until suddenly I was in the middle of my first contest QSO and my brain turned to jelly..
Thanks to M0MDY and his patience and prompting I successfully completed the QSO, details suitably written down. I carried on with no luck and called it a night just after 10pm, and went back in the house and manually entered the details of my solitary contact on the RSGB Contest website www.rsgbcc.org
Checking this morning and there I am at the bottom of the list, but not the very bottom, with a whopping 48 points.
http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/claim.pl?Contest=50MHz%20UKAC&year=2014
Roll on next week, it is the 144MHz UKAC and I have a proper 2m YAGI... just got to work out how to mount it up on the poll and how to rotate it..
73s
Show Notes #119
Episode #119 Audio (Listen now!):
- Article: How to install and configure Conky on Linux
- Amazon delivery drones comming soon to a town near you
- Linux Mint 16: Improves Cinnamon Desktop
- A Memory Comparison of Light Linux Desktops
- WEFAX and APT
- APT: Automatic Picture Transmission
- WEFAX: Weather Facsimile, aka HF RadioFax
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- Slow Scan Television
Announcements & Feedback
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- New Contest: Win a Raspberry Pi
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- Active Linux in the Ham Shack paid members will be automatically entered to win. Therefore, if you are already a member or if you sign up for a membership (either monthly or yearly) by January 31st, 2014 you will be entered into the contest. Your membership must still be active on February 4th, 2014 at the time of the drawing to win.
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LHS Episode #119: Just Keep Swimming
An action-packed episode awaits your eager ears. In Episode #119 of Linux in the Ham Shack, your intrepid hosts discuss the new Cinnamon desktop, Amazon's desire to make deliveries by unmanned drones, WEFAX and slow-scan television. On top of that, there is information on the best light weight desktop environments for your computer, and the announcement of a new contest where you can win a Raspberry Pi. Check out the Contest page for more details. Thanks as always for being a loyal listener, and have a very merry holiday season!
73 de The LHS Guys
Kansas QSO Party – 2013
As I have mentioned before, in May we moved our family from the Kansas City area to Wichita, KS. While everything is unpacked and pretty well settled in, there is still some organizing that needs to be done.
What’s in a name – radio societies all over the world
Image © Freeworldmaps.net
The IARU HF Championship took place this weekend. This is the contest where every country has national stations which exchange the abbreviation of the radio amateur society. Therefore it was an opportunity to reflect on what the names of the national societies mean. Many of the names in the IARU list portray the heritage of a hundred years. It is not so strange then that this may make some of them hard to understand and even a bit old-fashioned.
Starting with the ARRL – American Radio Relay League or NRRL (Norwegian …) then this is about a network of stations relaying messages in a country with large distances. This is a bit 1920’s to me. Looking at the ARRL web page it looks as if the the ARRL agrees and really would like to modernize the name to the National Association for Amateur Radio. The Portuguese may already have modernized it a bit by the use of network instead of relay: “Rede dos Emissores Portugueses” (Network of Portuguese Transmitters), or perhaps it is just because this is the same word as “relay” in Portuguese?
Most societies have “radio amateur” in the name like the German and the French: Deutscher Amateur Radio Club, Union Francaise des Radioamateurs. My knowledge of Spanish is not so good but this one sounds better to me: Union de Radioaficionados Espanoles as “radioaficionados” gives me the impression of “radio fans”, but perhaps it is just another word for “radio amateurs”?
Just like “radio relay” is a bit old-fashioned, the Swiss also have an old name in Union Schweizerischer Kurzwellen-Amateure. It must have been coined before VHF and UHF as Kurzwelle means Shortwave.
A name which sounds more contemporary despite its age is the Radio Society of Great Britain. Many others have similar names, one example is Amateur Radio Society of India.
The word “club” is used by many and seems to emphasize the hobby aspects, e.g. Radio Club Argentino and Český radioklub (Czech Radio Club).
Contesting is in many ways like a sport, at least in the same sense as chess is called a sport today. Examples that use this word are Chinese Radio Sports Association, Belarussian Federation of Radioamateurs and Radiosportsmen, and Mongolian Radio Sports Federation.
The there’s those who value the experimental aspects, like Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland (Society for Experimental Radio Research), Experimenterende Danske Radioamatører (literary Experimenting Danish Radio Amateurs) and Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores.
A similar technical emphasis is in the word “transmitter”: Irish Radio Transmitters Society, Foreningen Sveriges Sändareamatörer (literary Society of Swedish Transmitter Amateurs) and Österreichischer Versuchssenderverband (literary Austrian Experimental Transmitter Society).
The protection from the royal family exalts the society, but it is something I could only find in Belgium: Royal Union Royale Belge des Amateurs-Emetteurs / Koninklijke Unie van de Belgische Zendamateurs / Königliche Union der Belgischen Funkamateure.
Finally, these are the most serious and ambitious names I could find: Egyptian Radio Amateurs Society for Development, Syrian Scientific Technical Amateur Radio Society, and above all the Wireless Institute of Australia.
Which words should be used in the name of a radio society today? It’s a balance between reflecting a hundred years of history and communicating with contemporary people.
Personally I don’t like to use the word “amateur”. It comes originally from the same root as “amour” and “amore” and thus means someone who loves and is passionate about something. But today it gives the impression of being unprofessional. A contemporary name should also emphasize the experimental side in my view.
