[SMCARA] Antenna Party & RTTY Contest

[Tom Shelton]

Good Morning All,

Some good news/bad news.  The good news is that the new beam antenna is up at the Museum and can be used by any club member.  We had a great turn-out for the antenna party and everyone got a chance to do some hands-on work.  Special thanks to Sam Leach (K3KLC) who was the star of the show, climbing the tower and spending way too much time up there, only dropping a couple of bolts and one of Pete’s radios.  Not to worry – the bolts were found and the radio survived the fall.

The bad news is that we didn’t quite complete the installation.  The hardware from Hy-Gain (an MFJ – Mighty Fine Junk – company) was not up to the task.  This hardware not only connects the boom to the mast, but it also connects the two halves of the boom together.  In accomplishing both (or either) of these tasks, the H/W wasn’t up to the task and as it was tightened down, the metal fixture started to collapse.  Sam worked on top of the Antenna for over 2 hours, much of it trying to fix Hy-Gain’s poor design.  We’ll be ordering replacement hardware (not from Hy-Gain/MFJ) and getting it all fixed up in the next few weeks.  

The Antenna is currently pointed North, which will allow good contact to most of Europe, the middle east, and Africa.  The Rotator needs some additional work, so the beam won’t turn – yet.  That too will be fixed in the next few weeks.

To quote Monty Python – And now for something completely different...

If you’ve been listening to the bands, especially around 80 kHz above the bottom of the band, you might be hearing a lot of activity.  This is the CQWW RTTY contest.  If you’d like to make a contact, today would be a great day to do it – at this time, everyone has worked just about everyone and everybody is looking for new blood (that’s you guys).

Your exchange is a signal report (599) – your CQ zone (05) – and State (MD).  

Your received exchange from other US/Canadian stations is the same as your sent (except of course for the zone and State/Province) – Alaska and Hawaii are considered DX for this contest.

DX stations will give you a signal report (599) and their CQ Zone.  Here is a link to a CQ Zone map: http://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/maps/cqzone.php

BTW – if you’re a paper collector – check out the WAZ (worked all zones) award - http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_awards/cq_waz_awards/index_cq_waz_award.html

Thanks again to everyone who helped get the antenna together and on top of the tower - 

73

Tom Shelton, AB3IC

If history repeats itself - I am SO getting a dinosaur.