[NLRS] Sept. VHF contest results from N0AKC

[Charlie Betz]

Well, I have to say it ended up being less than one of my best efforts, partly becasue I was once again plagued with equipment problems; partly because of nice weather and other distractions over the weekend; and what I thought seemed to be not a lot of activity.  

My results were as follows:

 BAND   QSO DUP LOC  POINTS AVG PTS AVG DIS 
--------------------------------------------
   50    21   0  17      21     1.0   258.7 
  144    22   0  14      22     1.0   212.5 
  222    14   0  11      28     2.0   209.3 
  432    13   0  10      26     2.0   199.8 
  902     6   0   5      18     3.0   192.7 
 1296     5   0   4      15     3.0   215.8 
 2320     2   0   2       8     4.0   254.5 
 3400     1   0   1       4     4.0   132.0 
--------------------------------------------
TOTAL    84   0  64     142     1.7   220.4 
============================================
            TOTAL SCORE : 9 088


I'd been working on repairing a 432 amp that I borrowed from W9RAY for the last couple years that suddenly quit working last January.  After finding three seperate problems with it AND a problem in the RF attenuator/switch between the IF rig and 432 transverter, I had it running like a charm at 11:00 AM on Saturday.  I shut it down and went upstairs for a couple hours to finish up some household things and came back down to the shack 10 minutes before the contest and powered up the amp and it immediately blew the HV fuse.  This despite the fact the HV supply was not turned on.  After blowing about 6 more fuses trying various things it was obvious it was not going to play, so I ran with 20 watts on 432 for the weekend.  Also had some initial problems on both 2304 & 3456, but was able to resolve both during the contest.

The highlight of the contest for me was making my first ever QSO on 3456 with W0ZQ Saturday evening.  After three years of trying I finally made a QSO on the band!  On Saturday morning I got 2304 working and completed a QSO with W0GHZ, followed a short time later by a 2304 QSO with K2DRH.  Bob and I attempted a QSO on 3456 and Bob heard me, but I was not able to hear him.  I guess I need to invest in a preamp for that band.  But at least I know it is possible to work those bands.

Despite my limited amount of Qs, I still had fun.  Thanks to WA0VPJ/R for all the grids.  I missed a few of his stops, but managed to get most of the grids he was in.

73,

Charlie, N0AKC