(Araucaria) ENC: [3830] CQWW CW P40W(W2GD) SOAB HP

[py5eg]

Ola Pessoal:

Para aqueles que sao amigos comuns do John.

Boas noticias,..... Já esta subindo em torres novamente.

Atilano

 

________________________________

De: John Crovelli [mailto:w2gd em hotmail.com] 
Enviada em: Friday, December 05, 2008 10:12 AM
Para: py5eg
Assunto: RE: [3830] CQWW CW P40W(W2GD) SOAB HP

 

Brother,
 
It is so nice to be still able to do all of the normal things in life.....after my little detour last June.  I'm doing great, working on towers and antennas like before, just feel the aches and pains of age more often these days.
 
God bless,
 
John W2GD

> Subject: RE: [3830] CQWW CW P40W(W2GD) SOAB HP
> Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 07:56:02 -0200
> From: py5eg em iesa.com.br
> To: w2gd em hotmail.com; 3830 em contesting.com
> 
> Hi Brother:
> 
> Nice to see you active and in good shape.
> Very welcome to contest activity!!!!
> 73
> Oms PY5EG
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 3830-bounces em contesting.com [mailto:3830-bounces em contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of webform em b4h.net
> Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 4:48 AM
> To: 3830 em contesting.com
> Subject: [3830] CQWW CW P40W(W2GD) SOAB HP
> 
> 
> CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW
> 
> Call: P40W
> Operator(s): W2GD
> Station: P40W
> 
> Class: SOAB HP
> QTH: Aruba
> Operating Time (hrs): 40
> 
> Summary:
> Band QSOs Zones Countries
> ------------------------------
> 160: 485 17 60
> 80: 729 24 93
> 40: 1315 29 94
> 20: 1660 31 84
> 15: 1230 29 79
> 10: 25 7 14
> ------------------------------
> Total: 5444 137 424 Total Score = 9,020,000
> 
> Club: Frankford Radio Club
> 
> Comments:
> 
> Station: IC756ProIII, ACOM 2000 - 1 KW, 1970's FRC Keyer
> Software: Win-Test 3.18
> Antennas: 
> 160M: 55' high Vertical Dipole, Inv. V @ 70'
> 80M: 3 ele wire yagi (EU) @ 55', Inv. V @ 70'
> 40M: 4 ele wire yagi (EU) @ 55', 2 ele wire beam (US/JA)@ 60'
> 20M: 4 ele F12 @ 70', F12 C4 @ 60'
> 15M: 4 ele Cushcraft @ 79', F12 C4 @ 60'
> 10M: 5 ele F12 @ 75', C4 @ 60'
> Beverages: 800' NE, 450' N/S, 450' NW, 500' E/W
> 
> I strongly concur with many of the comments posted by my Aruba shipmate
> Scott,
> K0DQ/P40Q. This was one fun contest. 
> 
> It had been a full year since last visiting P40W. The local environment
> is
> relentless and terribly cruel....and without regular maintenance, things
> electronic exposed to the elements go downhill very quickly. My worst
> fears
> were realized when I arrived.
> 
> Landed on Aruba on Monday afternoon. The weather was rainy....a
> continuation
> of the WX pattern of the prior 10 days. The plus side to the rain, the
> power
> lines are squeeky clean of salt, so no noise. The downside, its very
> tough
> working on antennas and climbing towers under these conditions. And
> vegetation
> seems to grown leaps and bounds literally overnight.
> 
> By early Monday evening I'd put together the following inventory of
> antenna
> problems:
> 
> Broken 80/160 Inverted V @ 70'- broken 160m half element
> Missing 1/2 of the DE element on 40M 2el wire beam (NW) - element wire
> never
> found.
> Broken support rope, upper side of 160M vertical dipole (and the
> remaining rope
> now buried deep inside an extremely thorny brush)
> Broken balun connection to the same 160M vertical dipole
> Erratic SWR readings on the same 160M Vertical Dipole after balun
> replacement
> C4 40M rotatable dipole no longer resonant in 40M CW band.
> 15M 4el yagi sounds "very dead" and has a flat SWR 
> Broken/missing portions of 800' NE beverage
> Broken/missing sections of 450' NW beverage
> Broken/missing sections of 500' N/S beverage
> Broken/missing sections of 500' E/W beverage
> Both rotators (HamIIIs) will not rotate - suspect cabling problems
> TenTec Titan Amplifier Power Supply will not turn on.
> 
> So you thought you had station problems? I was at my first decision
> point late
> Monday....work my butt off to try to have sufficient functioning
> antennas for a
> semi-serious SOAB entry, or settle on doing my first ever Single-Band
> effort. 
> And if the decision ened up to go S/B, try to find an amplifier.
> 
> I had just 2 days to make repairs since I'd booked a trip to PJ4 on
> Wednesday
> and Thursday to repair the F12 240N 40M beam at PJ4G aka PJ4A in this
> contest. 
> To say I was somewhat discouraged by the situation Monday night is an
> understatement.
> 
> Awoke Tuesday morning to more rain showers...which would persist with
> varying
> intensity most of the morning and early afternoon. But whenever the
> rain would
> lighten up I ventured out to make antenna repairs. By mid-afternoon I'd
> recovered the 160M vertical dipole support ropes and had it strung out,
> repaired the NE beverage, repaired the 160 inverted V, repaired the 160M
> vertical dipole problems, and replaced the missing 40M 1/2 element on
> the 2el
> wire beam. Then the skies really opened up at 3 p.m.- a 3+ inch cloud
> burst in
> less than 30 minutes. My accommodations are very spartan, located under
> a house
> porch. During the storm the rain water backed up onto the porch floor
> above me,
> and down it came into my room! Instant flooding, onto my bed, a 20A
> switching
> Power Supply which fortunately wasn't plugged in at the time, and of
> course
> parts of the floor. It was extremely fortunate I was there....and
> quickly
> deployed some plastic to protect equipment and the bed from additional
> damage.
> 
> After the rain subsided, I went to the airport to pick up Pete, NO2R.
> The short
> trip was complicated by 'lakes' at most every intersection, and gulleys
> on
> unimproved roads that just 4 hours earlier had been totally intact.
> They had
> even held Peter's AA flight on the tarmac for 15 minutes before
> proceding to
> the gate, until the intensity of the storm subsided. Fortunately, it was
> the
> final episode of the really bad rain for the day.
> 
> Peter (also aka VU7ACY) was enroute to Bonaire, and would provide me
> with the
> needed help for the 40M beam repair, as well as stay on to operate with
> the
> PJ4A M/S team. With Pete's assistance, my 3 el 80M and 4 el 40M wire
> beams, 
> that are suspended from a catenary rope between towers @ 60 feet were
> erected
> in about 2 hours.... we worked up until last light. Then, after getting
> cleaned up, we enjoyed a most delightful dinner with Scott K0DQ/P40Q.
> Making
> any decisions regarding entry class would now have to wait until Friday.
> We
> picked up W4OC at the airport at midnight. His flight to Bonaire was
> cancelled
> earlier in the day but he made it to P40 from Miami. Pete, Don and I
> would fly
> together over to PJ4 in the morning.
> 
> I hadn't been to Bonaire since 1988 when I was a PJ1B team member in the
> CQWW
> CW M/M at PJ9EE's place. The growth of the island's population struck
> me
> immediately, and then seeing the QE2 at berth was a total surprise (no
> cruise
> ships stopping at Bonaire in the ole days). Spent the next two days
> refurbishing the PJ4G F12 240N and other antennas. So far the PJ4A
> score is
> high claimed. Had Thanksgiving dinner with K4BAI, KU8E, W4OC and NO2R
> before
> heading to the airport. Unfortunately my flight ended up being
> significantly
> delayed....and I eventually landed on Aruba at 1:20 a.m., just 19 hours
> before
> the start of CQWW. Spent an hour doing some station setup and worked
> 3X5A on
> 160M low power....then to bed.
> 
> Friday dawned sunny....thankfully! On the list of problems the priority
> items
> were repair the 160M and 15M antennas, complete repair of the remaining
> beverages, and finally, get at least one rotator turning and indicating.
> P49Y
> stopped by to lend a hand Friday morning, thanks Andy!
> 
> Managed to implement solutions to each of the problems over the course
> of the
> day and early evening, but it meant working right up to the contest bell
> with
> no opportunity for the all important nap before the start. 
> 
> Earlier in the day, Jacky, P43P, offered his Acom 2000 for the weekend,
> and I
> gladly accepted, giving me some options in the event I didn't manage
> getting
> the antennas adequately repaired. 
> 
> It was probably about 2330Z, after testing each of the antennas with the
> amp,
> that I decided to go SOAB HP, knowing I wouldn't be at my competitive
> best
> lacking adequate rest....but CQWW is the BIG ONE, and figured it would
> be more
> fun HP than LP or QRP or S/B. 
> 
> I wasn't ready to start competing until 0010Z....but still had a
> respectable
> first hour on 40M. Quickly moved to 80...which was quiet and rocking!
> But the
> best part of the 1st night and probably the entire contest was the 3.5
> hours of
> straight running on 160 the first night. The band was wide open,
> signals from
> EU were super strong, and the QRN level was low. Nearly fell out of my
> chair
> when my friend Willie UA9BA called in over the EU pile....TNX OM....it
> had been
> many years since I'd logged a z17 on 160M in the WW CW. And as it
> turned out,
> 160M was terrible the second night. The rest of the first evening
> bounced
> between 40/80/160 with nice rate. But by 09z I could no longer keep my
> eyes
> open and took a 2 hour nap. Awoke later than I'd have liked but found
> 40M
> still wide open to the States and JA and stayed there probably a bit too
> long
> before transitioning to 20M.
> 
> Checked 10M every 15 to 30 minutes, and it was tough finding anyone to
> work. 
> Never heard z5, z4, or z3. Never heard 3X5A, but worked D3C in z35, go
> figure.
> Conditions remained terrible on ten from beginning to end.
> 
> 15M was marginally better, but the runs to EU were quite brief.
> Plentiful W/K
> runs made spending time on 15 worthwhile however. The only JA worked
> was a
> chance long path contact Sunday morning....would never have expected
> that one.
> 
> 20M was the money band for QSOs but I'm still puzzled by my low country
> multiplier. The 257 QSO clock hour between 19-20z the first day was a
> total
> rush....too bad it didn't last for a few more hours.
> 
> 40M seemed productive whenever I went there, but missing sunrise the
> second day
> hurt my multiplier total. I slept 4 hours the second night. Having
> some nice
> LP contacts (VU, XW, VK) taught me a few new things about early evening
> propagation on this band.
> 
> 80M was better the first night than the second, but my 93C total was an
> all
> time high at P40W.
> 
> Have you noticed how when a packet pileup hits, everyone seems to be on
> EXACTLY
> the same frequency? Well, they actually are on the same frequency.
> Guys, if
> you want to get through, remember to off set your TX frequencey just a
> little
> before calling, you'll get a response much more quickly. Also observed
> the
> 'two letter' calling technique had almost disappeared this
> weekend....now thats
> refreshing!
> 
> Congrats to all the skilled operators who competed in SOAB HP catagory
> this
> year. Hats off to Andy N2NT and Tom W2SC for their outstanding z8
> scores, and
> of course Jose CT1BOH/CT3NT, who so far has set the standard of
> excellenct. 
> I'm sure the results will be close in any event.
> 
> The traditional get together dinner after the contest is always a great
> way to
> decompress and get a better feel for what actually happened over the
> prior 2
> days. It was great to see PJ3JB, P49Y/AI6V and their wifes, my neighbor
> on
> Aruba Andy, P49Y/AE6Y, my friend Scott P40Q/K0DQ his XYL Donna, and
> Jackie P43P
> and his YL. The social aspect of these trips is too often
> overlooked....I think
> we have it right on Aruba.
> 
> Did I make the right decision going SOABHP instead of LP, QRP, or maybe
> SB 80? 
> In retrospect, I think so, since I wasn't really prepared to do a serous
> S/B
> effort, I was dead tired, and running HP let me more readily feed my
> rate
> addiction.
> 
> As always special thanks to Humphrey and Corrie, my hosts, for opened
> their
> home to me once again. 
> 
> See everyone next year.
> 
> 73,
> 
> John W2GD a.k.a. P40W
> 
> 
> Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at:
> http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
> ______________________________________________
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> 
> 
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