[NLRS] uhf test

[Ken Boston]

Hello All;

I plan to be on during the September ARRL vhf/uhf contest. I will be on
with my station on 50-2304, where the station becomes progressively
smaller as I go up in frequency.  I plan on being fairly active, and
will be on the whole weekend, with some breaks during football time.
Since I still have some RFI problems when I TX on 144 with high power,
and when pointing NW, I may only call CW at 20 watts going towards NLRS
land, when on 144.

I just posted my UHF contest log late last week.  I was only able to be
active off and on during Saturday, with some of the worst tropo
conditions I can remember.  I did hear many people on 432 on Saturday,
that I could not 'break' or raise their attention. (this with 500
watts!!!)  Heard the Lacrosse guys, the W0AUS group and several Illinois
guys, who were about to QSY, or rotate beams, and did not respond to my
'breaks'.  I think when operating these weak signal tests, operators
should be 'dragging their feet' more often, to catch the tail-enders.  I
know some operators prefer to take one station through all the bands
with no interruption, which is fine, but please still listen in and at
least acknowledge if you hear a caller, as that may be the only time
they hear or contact you, and once you have rotated or QSY'ed, that rare
or new grid will not be heard from again.

Thanks for all the rovers and new stations who are getting on, this is
good.

I plan on some major antenna overhaul work once the sept test is done.
I aim to try and get my 50 meg station upgraded to a larger system,
since I have missed some of the DX I feel I should have worked this last
summer.  Unfortunately, some of my higher bands will suffer, but I hope
to have everything back next summer.

Later Ken W9GA