[SJDXA] FW: W2GD ARRL 160 report

Mon Dec 5 23:38:09 EST 2011

fyi

See ya' in the Pileups!

73!

Bob Schenck, N2OO

President SJDXA

GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org

From: Dave Hawes [mailto:dave.n3rd at verizon.net] 
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 8:15 PM
To: John Crovelli; n2oo at comcast.net
Subject: Re: [SJDXA] W2GD ARRL 160 report

John and Bob,

First - Great Job men.  I'm glad youse guys were able to nip Krassy.  We
didn't make out so well at N3RS where he beat us in CQ WW CW M/2 by about
5%, which should be sufficient to stand up to log checking.

Now, I am also very happy to hear that your impression of the utility of the
2S1 equals that of the N3RS (and also, WE3C) teams.  In our six transmitter
station, we use four 2S1s.  They are really great.

WARNING!  Like any electronic device, the 2S1 is not invulnerable, and can
be damaged or just fail.  I very strongly recommend that you have a spare
ready for a quick swap in the event that things don't work right.

Downside of the 2S1 construction technique (that makes it such a nice small
package) is that it is nearly impossible to repair.  The first one that
failed, I was determined to fix, and I did, but it was never reassembled,
and lives as a breadboarded affair, that will probably never again see
service.  The second one that failed we returned to Will for a replacement.
The third one that failed, I was determined to repair AND reassemble, and I
succeeded.  The fourth one that failed is on my bench, waiting for 8-10
hours of my time to fix it.

Get the picture?

As a very bare minimum, you need a written procedure to revert to a backup
configuration that will allow you to continue to participate in any
particular contest without the 2S1.

Hope this helps.

73 - Dave N3RD

  _____  

On 5 Dec 2011 at 11:58, John Crovelli wrote:

Since not all of you are on the SJDXA mailing list I thought I'd forward
these emails to you. 

Anytime we can beat K1LZ it is a victory (Krassy congratulated us in his
3830 writeup). Had nice notes from XU7ACY and N2NL/KH2 this morning saying
we were Q5 over there, and only two other stns from the east coast were even
heard. Raising the TX antenna seems to be a success. K9CT also sent a nice
note....he misses those EU runs! 

The W8JI score is huge....but if you notice they only beat us on the Q side,
not the mult side (K1TO and VE7ZO are both world class code guys). We lost
important QSO rate the first night when the NE sloper went belly up and then
during the subsequent work to repair/test. 

We have a few small projects to do before the Stew which I'll cover in a
seperate note later this week. 

Still sick as a dog here this morning.

73,

John W2GD

  _____  

From: w2gd at hotmail.com
To: sjdxa at mailman.qth.net
Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 11:32:21 -0500
Subject: Re: [SJDXA] W2GD initial report

Special thanks to all the SJDXA members who helped get the 160 station
functional over the past 5 weeks. 

Raising of the big TX array about 55 feet seems to have been a worthwhile
and successful improvement, we held our own against some very stiff
competition at K1LZ in MA. 

When conditions are good, W8JI, the best equipped 160M station in the
continental USA if not the world is virtually impossible to beat. So I
consider this a huge and exciting victory for the 160 CW Team. 

I've posted a contest writeup at
<http://lists.contesting.com/archives/html/3830/2011-12/msg00584.html>
http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/3830/2011-12/msg00584.html 

This is the current top ten list of ARRL 160 muli-op entries. 73, John W2GD 

Call QSOs Sec Cntry hr Score Club
NA M/S HP
W8JI 1863 78 47 34 543,000 SECC, FCG
W2GD 1488 79 48 33 465,201 FRC
K1LZ 1418 77 50 33 461,518 YCCC
K3WW 1222 75 40 21.5 323,150 FRC
N1LN 1398 77 31 34 321,084 PVRC
NX5M 1269 79 29 28 302,292 CTDXCC
W8MJ 1216 26 13 23.5 220,543 MRRC
N4PN 1044 74 22 24 209,664 SECC
K0DU 1077 78 10 33 204,600 Grand Mesa
W4HZ 1005 96 22 29 200,736 

  _____  

From: n2oo at comcast.net
To: sjdxa at mailman.qth.net
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 11:24:44 -0500
Subject: [SJDXA] W2GD initial report

SJDXA members;

As we closed out the 2011 ARRL 160 contest, we had a late surge and
apparently nipped K1LZ at the end. But, it will be a close one with only a
"several thousand" point difference. (Not much)

When John sends out his initial overview, I will pass it along.

First, I want to THANK those who helped get the site set up for this year's
160 contest season. Especially Bob W2ARP who worked with me to set up the
inside station gear prior to the contest and for being there for the
previous work party, and Lance who repaired the busted overhead light and
installed a copper pipe ground inside the trough complete with clamps and
lugged jumpers. Also to W2RDM for helping in the work parties as well.
Forgive me if I missed anyone else from SJDXA.

REPORT: ACOM 2S1. Although several things were done to the transmit
antennas, and the beverages, the biggest improvement was going to the ACOM
2S1 Commutator and using one amp (K2TW's Alpha 99). It worked like a dream.
There was a huge difference in the utilization of the MULT radio. Often it
worked seamless to the RUN radio. We are really going to like using it in
the 160 SSB contest in February for certain.

To all who supported the purchase of the 2S1, TNX! Much appreciated by
everyone. BTW, it can be used for any single band contest application using
two radios (ie the 10 meter contest, or any single band effort in any other
contest FYI)

The next contest will be the Stew Perry on December 17 th (overnight). The
"Stew" is a 14 hour contest and is much lower key than the ARRL or the CQWW
160 contests. However, with having to exchange grid squares, it becomes a
bit more challenging.

I personally wanted to thank you all.

By the way, we slightly exceeded our necessary funds for purchasing the ACOM
2S1, so as previously discussed, I went ahead and purchased a 500 hz CW
filter from INRAD for our SJDXA FT1000MKV and W2ARP installed it Friday. I
checked it quickly and it works fine. It cost $146.00 So, if you have not
already contributed to the "2S1 fund", please consider doing so and the
extra funds will go towards the filter. Contact our Treasurer for info.
<mailto:w2arp at arrl.net> w2arp at arrl.net

See ya' in the Pileups!

73!

Bob Schenck, N2OO

President SJDXA

GO SJDXA!!! www.sjdxa.org

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