[TVARC] CQWWDX Contest writeup for VP2MDM

Wed Oct 30 21:17:09 EDT 2024

What a commendable effort George, Dennis, and Ray.  And, most importantly you had fun and built memories you will cherish forever.  Great job!

Rusty - W3US

> On Oct 30, 2024, at 10:19, k2dm--- via TVARC <tvarc at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> Clubmates,
> Here is the writeup I submitted for VP2MDM in the DX contest this past weekend.
> We had a BLAST!
> 73,
> George K2DM / VP2MDM
> 
> Call: VP2MDM
> Operator(s): K2DM N0SMX ND8L
> Station: VP2MDM
> 
> Class: M/S HP
> QTH: VP2M
> Operating Time (hrs): 48
> 
> Summary:
>  Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
> ------------------------------
>   160:   21     5        7
>    80:  102     8       18
>    40:  330    22       70
>    20: 1325    30       92
>    15: 1172    31       88
>    10: 2822    31       98
> ------------------------------
> Total: 5772   127      373  Total Score = 6,780,500
> 
> Club: The Villages Amateur Radio Club
> 
> Comments:
> 
> This was my last trip to Montserrat.  It has been one hell of a ride that began
> in 2004 with brother Peter, K3ZM.  I will try to document the journey in a few
> days on my QRZ.com <http://qrz.com/> page.
> I could not have asked for better teammates for this trip than my friends Dennis
> (N0SMX) and Ray (ND8L).  This was Dennis' third trip to Montserrat and Ray's
> first, and we had an amazing time.  These guys are a hoot, and they are as solid
> as rocks.  We had to overnight in Antigua on the trip down because the flight
> from Miami to Antigua does not arrive in time to catch the last plane to
> Montserrat.  So, we arrived on Montserrat around noon and immediately set about
> erecting antennas and assembling the RUN and MULT stations.  The last group to
> operate from our location had problems with the TH6 and CL-33 antennas.  The TH6
> worked fine for us, and we were able to effect repairs on the CL-33.  For years
> now I have installed a clone of the Cushcraft 40-2CD on the same boom as the TH6
> (GASP!).  We had a great signal on 10M through 40M.  We hung dipoles for 160M
> and 80M on the 55-foot tower to round out the main antennas.  The Mosley CL-33
> was mounted on an auxiliary mast and was intended to be the MULT station's
> primary antenna.  We carried down a K3, a K3S and an Expert 1.3k-fa amplifier
> for the stations, planning to use an Expert 1.0k-fa amp on the MULT station. 
> This was to be a semi-serious operation, but we were not planning to man the
> MULT station full time.  The overall setup on Montserrat is great for running,
> but busting pileups for multipliers is tough.
> The multiplier problem was solved when we discovered that we had blown up the
> K3S that was on the MULT station.  We ended up being a one-transmiter
> multi-single effort.
> Normally from Montserrat I would begin a contest on 40M.  Not this year.  20M
> was hopping, and we stayed there through our first round of 2-hour shifts.  It
> wasn't until I came back on at 2AM that we QSYd to 40M.  I was prepared to
> rotate among 40M, 80M and 160M, but I couldn't copy much of anything on 160M,
> and 80M wasn't much better.  Dennis relieved mt at 6AM, and we were off to the
> races on the high bands.  WOW!  We were smoking!  Remember, we live in a
> deed-restricted community, so we do not often get to enjoy such high rates.
> When all was said and done, we had amassed the totals shown above.  By noon on
> Monday everything was taken down and packed away.
> I would like to give a shout out to our hosts on Montserrat.  David and Clover
> operate the Gingerbread Hill Guest House.  Early on they determined that being
> ham friendly would lead to additional bookings, so they encouraged me to store
> equipment on site, and they supported my shipping down a 55-foot motorized
> crankup tower.  MANY contest operators and casual operators have been to
> Montserrat in the last 18 years, and they have given out hundreds of thousands
> of QSOs.  Google Gingerbread Hill Montserrat to check it out.
> So, VP2MDM is QRT, but VP2M should be heard quite a bit going forward.
> 73,
> George K2DM / VP2MDM
> 
> 
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