[NLRS] January contest results for N0AKC

[Charles & Joan Betz]

Here's my results for the January contest:

BAND     QSO    QSO PTS   GRIDS
       50       90       90          20
      144       61       61          17
      222       18       36          10
      432       30       60          11
      1.2       15       60           7

     -----------------------------------

     Totals    214      307          65  =3D   19,955

Conditions seemed pretty bad on Saturday.  Had a hard time hearing the =
rovers down in Iowa, though I did manage a couple 2M QSOS with =
K0PG/K9ILT.  Had a high noise level most of the weekend and have =
determined that there is a noise problem that I need to investigate to =
my NW.  KB9PJL & KB9UZV confirm the same problem.  It's a really bad =
buzz that starts at about due west and continues all the way around to =
the NE. It was really bad on both 6 & 2 over here.  It really caused =
alot of problems trying to work into the Twin Cities and up towards =
K0AWU.=20

As usual, I was plauged by equipment malfunctions.  No RX on 903, so no =
QSOs there.  Since I am the only one over here on 903 at the moment, =
it's hard to do RF checks.  Also it appears I lost the preamp on 432, =
and had some RX problems on 222.  Both bands are set up with tower =
mounted relays & preamps and utilize seperate TX & RX lines for use with =
transverters.  In the end, I ended up running both bands from my 736R =
direct to the antennas - no preamps and no TX power amps.  Also had low =
TX power output on 2M.  I ended the contest running my Ten-Tec 526 into =
a 170 watt brick to finish the contest and was actually pretty happy =
with the results.  I have been plagued with severe crossband =
interference on 2m (from KB9UZV on 6m) when using my Kenwood TS520s & =
transverter.  Moving to the Ten-Tec all but eliminated the problem. =20

A big thanks to Bruce, W9FZ for all the qsos & grids.  Wish I could have =
heard him on Saturday.  Also to W0IS & KC0OIA who gave the "Eau Claire =
contingent" alot of points in the contest.

The highlight of the contest for me was working KM0T on 1296 Sunday =
evening.  Have tried working Mike in the past with no sucess, but we had =
really good signals this time.  I also heard N0DQS on 1296 while he was =
in EN14, but Gene couldn't hear me. =20

Assuming I am still in the area come June, I plan to have everything =
operational again.  But it's anybody's guess where I'm going to be when =
June rolls around.  This unemployment thing (going on 2 years now) is =
getting really old and it's looking more likely than ever that I'll be =
forced to relocate, assuming I can find a job to relocate to.  The job =
market for EE's in Eau Claire is pretty much dead and I've had no luck =
in the Twin Cities market either, so I guess it's time to start looking =
elsewhere.  Guess we'll see where it goes from here.


Charlie, N0AKC




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