[NLRS] W0IS & KC0OIA

[Richard Clem]

Thanks to all who worked us!

Our first experience in VHF contesting went fairly well.  A preliminary l=
ook
at our scribbled log reveals about 160 QSO's, using an FT-817 and dipoles=
 for
6, 2, and 432.  We had a 3-element beam along, but didn't use it much.  T=
he
first time we stopped in EN36, signals from the Twin Cities were a bit lo=
uder
with the beam than with the dipoles....until the wind turned the 3-elemen=
t
beam into a 2 1/2 element beam :-(  Also, there is a definite advantage t=
o
antennas that can be used without getting out of the car in January, so w=
e
mostly stuck with the dipoles.

I think for the next contest, we will tweak the dipoles some.  Before the=

contest, the SWR on the 6-meter beam was somewhat high, but good enough. =

Unfortunately, the SWR went up as the contest began, resulting in reduced=

power on that band.  Next time, I'll get the antennas working perfectly b=
efore
the contest, which should result in them being good enough in actual use.=


During the 6 meter opening Sunday, we did try working some of the louder
stations on the coasts without any success.  Even though they were coming=
 in
well, most of them were S0, and our QRP was probably not audible at the o=
ther
end.

2 meters was our best band.  I haven't analyzed the log much yet, but our=
 best
DX seems to be about 160 miles.  (That was from Des Moines, IA, to DM69 (=
I
think) in north central Missouri. )The best strategy for QRP'ers seems to=
 be
to call CQ continuously in CW, as eventually someone comes back.  We also=

worked EN13 (I think) from both EN32 and EN21, so I think that is also a
fairly good distance for our QRP signal.  We also had a couple of almost
QSO's.  Although we exchanged complete calls, we were not able to exchang=
e
grids before the QSB set in.

There are a lot of hams on the air in the Eau Claire area, which resulted=
 in
lots of contacts from 3 grids.  Unfortunately, we only worked 3 different=

stations in Des Moines (although we worked most of them from 3 grids).  O=
ne of
the Des Moines stations said that he hadn't heard anyone at all in Omaha,=
 so
we didn't bother driving too close.  Eau Claire will definitely be in fut=
ure
roving plans.

We didn't work too many Twin Cities stations from outlying grids, since w=
e
were on 144.200.  In the future, I think we will publicize another freque=
ncy,
perhaps listening at x minutes past each hour for calls.  We did get at l=
east
one contact into the Twin Cities from both EN33 and EN45, and also worked=
 a
few Duluth stations quite easily from about 70 miles out, so the QRP shou=
ld
work if we get away from the QRM.

A special thanks to W0VB who told us "the contest is over!" at about 10:0=
4 PM
local time.  I was under the impression that it ran until 11:00 local tim=
e, so
thanks for saving us from a lot of fruitless CQ's!

Thanks again for those of you who listened for the weak ones!

73,
W0IS & KC0OIA