AA8IA Amateur Radio

Checked the mail today, and lo and behold there was an envelope from Jim / KC4HW.

I opened up the envelope, and inside was a beautiful certificate for getting High Score – OH / 2nd Place US in the SOLP Mixed Category in the 2011 AlQP.

I’m a 44-year-old guy. I’ve accomplished a few things in life, although none of them have been in the realm of amateur radio. And, I wouldn’t consider this an accomplishment. However, I wasn’t that far behind WQ5L, the winner [1st Place] in the same category. It sure was nice to get the certificate — it actually means something to me.

It got me to thinking. I don’t look at it so much as a certificate of any sort of achievement. Instead, I look at it as the ACG guys saying “we appreciate that you thought enough of our QSO Party efforts that you put some time into helping make it worthwhile for all of us who put on event.”

The bottom line is that the ACG (Alabama Contest Group) puts on a great QSO Party, and they go through a great deal of trouble to say thanks to all of the people who participate by issuing Plaques, certificates, etc. What a great bunch of folks!

I can think of many many stations who, if they would have operated in the AlQP, could have totally wasted me. But they didn’t. Why not? They didn’t play in the game. It sure gives me some motivation to put the AlQP on my list of must-do QSO parties for 2012. Who knows… I could actually win in my category next year. I’ll definitely try harder. Even if I receiving nothing for my effort, I’m guaranteed to have a helluva lot of fun!

Didn’t spend much time on this one, but it was definitely more fun than I had expected. Wish I could have put more of an effort in.

North American QSO Party, SSB – August
1800Z, Aug 20 to 0600Z, Aug 21, 2011

Call: AA8IA
Operator(s): AA8IA
Station: AA8IA

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Toronto OH EN90ql
Operating Time (hrs): 1:47

Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
——————-
160:
80:
40: 9 9
20: 38 19
15: 15 5
10:
——————-
Total: 62 33 Total Score = 2,046

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Worked late. Bed at 4 am. Set alarm for 7:45 am. Didn’t manage to wake up til 9 am and so I got a late start. I’m not used to early AM contesting, and so I really didn’t know where to start. I picked 40m. 80m was not operational at all this weekend due to me swapping out dipoles and not being able to tune up on the CW portion of 80m. [low ant, ends within a few feet of fence rail, parallel and 12' away from the house. I need to get it moved away from the house and the ends raised some more].

I was trying to participate in at least two CWO sessions as well as work some of NAQP SSB. So really it’s a blur to how it went.

What I can say is that for this being the first year, I thought the turnout was really good. Recognized a lot of the stations, but I also noticed quite a number of calls that I do not remember working in any other test. So it looks like some people really came out of the woodwork for this!

The CWOps events are always a lot of fun. Not as hectic as the sprints, and overall a more casual feel than most other tests. Just what i like.

I played in slots #1 and #2, but buttoned everything up before slot #3 since bad weather was forecast.

Thanks to the creators/sponsors of this find test. I’d declare it a success! It was great to work everyone.

CWops CW Open – 1200Z-1559Z

Call: AA8IA
Operator(s): AA8IA
Station: AA8IA

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Toronto OH EN90ql
Operating Time (hrs): 2:50

Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
——————-
160:
80:
40: 16 16
20: 48 36
15: 33 16
10:
——————-
Total: 97 70 Total Score = 6,790

Club: Mad River Radio Club

CWops CW Open – 2000Z-2359Z

Call: AA8IA
Operator(s): AA8IA
Station: AA8IA

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Toronto OH EN90ql
Operating Time (hrs): 1:18

Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
——————-
160:
80:
40: 9 9
20: 36 30
15: 12 12
10:
——————-
Total: 57 51 Total Score = 2,907

Club: Mad River Radio Club

I’m not even going to post my full summary. 5 Qs. I just didn’t hear many. One of the bonus stations was heard, but they apparently weren’t hearing me. There was a lot of QRN on 40m, which would have been a good band for this during specific time periods. I was not operational on 80m CW because I couldn’t manage to tune up there, and I actually didn’t even think to try out 80m since QRN was so bad on 40m.

With the possibility of severe weather Saturday, I only fired up the radio for a few hours here and there. I just swapped out dipoles, and the one I have up now will not currently tune 40m. No time to fix that. Nothing heard on 10m. 15m activity was weak during the short amount of time I was operating, but there was apparently more activity on 15m than last year considering I made a few more Qs there.

Knowing I couldn’t do anything on 40m or 10m, and given the weather, my heart wasn’t into spending time in the chair. Sunday was family day, and so I spent the majority of that time with the family. Got called away later in the day Sunday on an emergency IT call, so I wasn’t around for the tail end either.

This is one helluva fun contest, and the EU folks sure have mastered the skill of sending/receiving QTCs, regardless of speed, sig strength or QRN. My hats off to them for a superb job. This is their contest, and if they are wanting QTCs and willing to copy them, I’ll gladly provide them. If I didn’t like the rules, I simply wouldn’t operate.

Thanks to the sponsors and the EU stations for all the fun!

WAE DX Contest, CW
0000Z, Aug 13 to 2359Z, Aug 14, 2011

Call: AA8IA
Operator(s): AA8IA
Station: AA8IA

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Toronto OH EN90ql
Operating Time (hrs): 4:42

Summary:
Band QSOs QTCs Mults
————————-
80:
40:
20: 52 57 44
15: 14 24
10:
————————-
Total: 66 57 68 Total Score = 8,364

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Maryland/DC QSO Party
1600Z, Aug 13 to 0400Z, Aug 14, 2011
1600Z-2400Z, Aug 14, 2011

Call: AA8IA
Operator(s): AA8IA
Station: AA8IA

Class: Standard LP
QTH: Toronto OH EN90ql
Operating Time (hrs):

Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
—————————-
160:
80:
40: 1 4
20:
15:
10:
6:
2:
432:
—————————-
Total: 1 4 0 Mults = 5 Total Score = 160

Club: Mad River Radio Club

During the past week I swapped out my ~105′ ladderline-fed doublet for an Alpha Delta DX-LB Plus. I finally got the LB up in the air on Friday, with the help of some family. The LMR-400 I’m using to feed it is heavy, and the LB Plus itself is heavy, so it was causing the mast to bend pretty good without guy wires above 25′. As a stopgap measure I tied a piece a rope to the top section and secured it down in a way that would bring the mast back to vertical.

The LMR-400 was purchased from a place who had premade 50′ sections with N-connectors used for wireless backhauls. Not only do I not need LMR-400 on HF, but I also don’t need N-connectors on HF. This just causes me to have to use adapters to connect it to antennas and radios. The current LMR-400 likely has water breach. The N-connector on one end can easily be twisted, and there is intermittent connection of the ground. I ordered some RG-213/U with PL-259s which should be here this week.

I didn’t get an opportunity to even attempt to tune the 10/20/160 wires. The antenna doesn’t resonate inside the band edges for any ham band. Although, my LDG tuner will very quickly tune up on 10m through 20m. I was also able to tune up on 160 around 1820 khz. I can tune up on 40m as well, but there is RF floating around in the shack. I’m not sure if it is due to the close proximity of the antenna to the shack, the bad shield connection on the coax, or a combination thereof. So I can’t run 100w on 40m right now. I’ll worry about that once I have the new coax in place. I can tune on 80m, but only in the SSB portion. Not good — I prefer CW.

It rained most of the weekend. Fortunately there was no lightning, but there was no way for me to know whether there would be lightning. T-storms were forecast. So it was always in the back of my mind that I may have to quit any contest I was operating in this weekend. The noise on 40/80 was rough.

I attempted to operate in the WAE CW contest this weekend. I didn’t do as good as last year, but I didn’t put the time in either. I missed some opportunities because I couldn’t operate on 40m without the RF taking out my keying interface every time. So it was a 10-20m contest for me. Unfortunately, there was no Europe to be heard on 10m. On 15m I felt the conditions were mediocre at best. I did make some EU contacts, but there is no way in hell I would consider it to be good propogation on 15m this weekend. Others in Ohio who worked this contest wouldn’t agree, but they are also running high [and often directional] antennas and high power. 20m was good though, and that is where I made most of my contacts.

I worked a few MDC stations for that QSO party, but try as I may I just couldn’t find many on the air. I worked what I heard though. The MDC QSO party is like the WVQP — a handful of in-state stations who have all the fun working the casual people who run across them, but in my opinion there aren’t enough in-state MDC stations to make the contest fun for those out of state. Contrast that with the FLQP, GAQP, TNQP, OHQP, PAQP, CQP, and the 7-land QPS, where there is plenty of fun to be had for both in-state and out-of-state stations.

On the bright side, I was offered some help by my niece’s husband to relocate the current antenna support to another part of the yard farther away from the house. We’ll do that in the next month or two. We’ll dig a hole and cement a pipe into the ground and then mount the 50′ Max Gain Systems mast to it. I’ll put the DX-LB Plus on top, and perhaps I’ll stick a single-band wire below it. We’ll get some solid end supports in the ground as tall as I can get them… above 10 feet at least. Hopefully I can figure out how to do this in a way that allows me to use pulleys on it to raise and lower the wire(s) rather than having to retract the mast for maintenancce or during inclement weather. The 50′ mast has 8′ sections, while my current mast has 6′ sections. So, retracted it will be more difficult to work on things using the 50′ mast. And I definitely need to get that DX-LB Plus tuned for resonance inside the band edges of as many bands as I can.

Below are some of the upcoming operating events I am interested in. For full details on any of these [and many others], check out the WA7BNM Contest Calendar

CWops Mini-CWT Test
1300Z-1400Z Wed, Aug 10
1900Z-2000Z Wed, Aug 10
0300Z-0400Z Thu, Aug 11

Hard for me to find time midweek for these short ones, but they sure are fun and help break up the monotony between the weekend tests.

WAE DX Contest, CW
0000Z Sat, Aug 13 to 2359Z Sun, Aug 14

Single-op stations can operate up to 36 hours, multi-op up to 48 hours. I forgot all about this one. I had a blast last year, but I struggled learning the whole QTC thing. I don’t think I’ll be any better off in that regard this year. The EU ops are brilliant, patient, and eager to take QTCs.

Maryland-DC QSO Party
1600Z Sat, Aug 13 to 0400Z Sun, Aug 14
1600Z-2400Z Sun, Aug 14

Two time periods. I want to make some Qs in this one since MD-DC is “just down the road” from me and they make contacts in the OhQP for us.

SARTG WW RTTY Contest
0000Z-0800Z Sat, Aug 20
1600Z-2400Z Sat, Aug 20
0800Z-1600Z Sun, Aug 21

This same weekend is the CW Ops Open inaugural and the NAQP SSB. I will have to sit out the SARTG WW this year.

CWOps CW Open
1200Z-1559Z Sat, Aug 20
2000Z-2359Z Sat, Aug 20
0400Z-0759Z Sun, Aug 21

I’m looking forward to this one. I’ve only operated once or twice in the mini tests, and they are great. I want to be there with bells on for this event.

Three separate four-hour tests. Work any or all three slots.

North American QSO Party, SSB
1800Z Sat, Aug 20 to 0600Z Sun, Aug 21

Single-op stations work 10 of 12 hours, Multi-op work all 12 hours.

SSB typically isn’t my game. Mediocre stations make poor SSB contesting stations. However, this is a domestic constest and is limited to 100w, so there will be lots of mediocre stations just like mine operating. I’ll play in this one.

I had been keeping an eye on the weather forecast all week. The predictions for Saturday were consistent — scattered thunderstorms with a possibility of severe ones. That forecast loomed in my mind all week.

I did end up checking out the 100′ wire, and everything seemed normal with it. I hooked it up and tested, and sure enough it still didn’t want to cooperate above 7040 kHz. I can’t figure out why a setup that has worked fine for a year suddenly wants to play differently. At any rate, when I heard contacts on 40m above 7040 kHz I’d turn off the autotuner and use the wire with about a 2.7:1 SWR, or I’d switch to the DX-EE. For all intents and purposes, the wires were working okay for this CW test.

I started the contest on time but could never get in a run on any band. 10m was poor, although there were some stations and I did garner some mults there. I expected more out of 15m. 20m was much better for me this year than last year. With the everpresent threat of thunderstorms, I always felt like I was pressing my luck. I took an hour break within the first four hours or so, which was a big mistake. 40m was fair, but I got there late and probably stayed on that band too long. I shut down for good at 0100z, five hours early. I missed 80m altogether, and historically it’s my best band in domestic contests. Of course I don’t have a 160m antenna yet, so nothing happened there.

It was fun, but I was too damned focused on the possibility of rogue lightning that I mentally never wanted to get into a run, since I might have to stop a good one should lightning be present.

As it turns out I only heard thunder once, and that was right before 0100z. When it decided to rain, it was light. There wasn’t a single lightning bolt to be seen. I gave up for nothing. I’m pissed… there is no other way to put it.

Being that last year was my first year playing a lot in contests, I figured I should improve on every 2010 score in 2011. This time I failed miserably. I had nearly the same mults as last year, but I was down 70Qs. Of course, last year I operated for 10 hours instead of the six hours I operated this year.

In calculating the damage, I figured that I should have been able to garner another 120+ Qs on 40m and 80m especially. But, after seeing the reports from other Ohioans regarding the heavy QRN, I probably wouldn’t have. But, I am sure that had I remained on the air for 10 hours, I would have definitely beaten my score from last August.

North American QSO Party, CW – August 2011
Sat, Aug 6, 1800z to Sun, Aug 7, 0600z

Call: AA8IA
Operator(s): AA8IA
Station: AA8IA

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Toronto OH EN90ql
Operating Time (hrs):

Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
——————-
160: 0 0
80: 0 0
40: 69 34
20: 108 40
15: 84 26
10: 25 10
——————-
Total: 286 110 Total Score = 31,460

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Team: MRRC/NCC #1

The Ohio QSO Party is Saturday, August 27th from noon til midnight EDT. I sure hope I can put in the full effort this year and improve upon last years’ score. Hope to work you in the OHQP!

North American QSO Party – CW
1800z August 6 to 0600z August 7, 2011
NAQP Rules and Info

I typically love the NAQP tests. Overall, they are typically among the fairest contests. Perhaps fairest is the wrong word. You aren’t supposed to run high power, so if we assume everyone adheres to that rule, then this contest is about as balanced as it can be aside from any geographical advantage somebody have. It’s a great contest for us “little pistol” stations since it’s a domestic contest. We can work DX, but the vast majority of our contacts will be NA stations.

Unfortunately, I am having an extremely difficult time getting motivated. The last time I played in a contest, there was something going on with the 80m doublet / dipole / whatever you wanna call it. Typically I can tune anywhere on any band 40m – 10m, and I can typically tune 80m CW. But for whatever reason I was having difficulty tuning up anywhere on 40m as well as on 80m, and I could tell the tuner was struggling to tune on some others. Now, there is only so much that can go wrong with a simple wire antenna. If the legs are intact and the ladderline is attached, what else is there? It wasn’t raining over the last contest weekend, so it wasn’t an issue with wet ladderline. The push-up mast was all the way up and everything was taught.

I really don’t even want to mess with it. I’d rather put the damned Alpha Delta DX-LB Plus up, but I have to put it together first…. and that takes motivation. Then, I’d have to use coax, and the only coax I have of sufficient length would have to be robbed from the DX-EE dipole. That coax is 100 feet long [overkill] and probably has water intrusion since it has been up a year, is hanging directly down towards the ground from its apex, and has never been sealed. It’s already on the DX-EE, so for good or bad it does work to some extent. But I’d hate to go through the trouble of putting the DX LB-Plus up and swapping the coax to it only to find that the coax is in bad shape. Plus, I don’t have an analyzer to properly tune for a resonant sweet spot on all of the primary bands it handles, and I certainly don’t have the ambition to do it the hard way.

To add insult to injury, we are supposed to see scattered thunderstorms throughout the weekend. My luck would have it that it would storm throughout the 12-hour period and I’d have to lower the mast, remove the feedlines, and unplug all of the equipment.

I am hopeful that I can be on and that the 80m wire will work in typical fashion, but I’m not going to count on it. The odds are against me.

Good luck to all who participate!