VHF NFD 2012
From SUWS-wiki
On the 7th/8th July 2012 we operated 2m SSB from A hill near Basingstoke in assistance of Basingstoke ARC.
The Plan was originally to operate 2m and 70cm for the full weekend, with Basingstoke ARC operating 6m and 4m for the contest periods during the day.
Planning Page: Outing:2012/07/07
Short Story
Due to the weather conditions we decided to only set up one station on 2m. There were slight delays due to the bolt-holes in the mast not lining up and the sizing of guys being incorrectly labelled, but apart from that, the setup was without incident.
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Results
We achieved 136 unique QSOs, with a cumulative total of 21,318 km.
One particular QSO of note was DK0ZB at 683km.
More stats will be posted once I have the log file.
Photos
- Phil, M0DNY's Photos - These will be uploaded to the Wiki in due course.
Lessons Learnt
Preparation
- Practice with the voice-recorder and rig before the contest, apparantly it was very quiet.
- Check Mast bolt-holes alignment + guy sizing.
Operation
- Start with no extra equipment, power up each piece one-by-one to check for added noise floor.
- e.g. A car laptop charger caused 3 extra S-points for first 18 hours of the contest
- Log '/P' on call signs when given.
- Keep squelch control down.
Food
- Bring Ketchup, Mayonnaise
For Muddy Conditions
- forget the ground sheet, and use straw-bales instead. This saves constant in/out and shoes on/off.
