A Miss at CQWW RTTY

Preparations for W1AW/KL7 (starting Oct 1) meant we had to give a pass on the WPX RTTY contest in 2014.  It was a bit painful to miss out.  KL2R holds Alaska records for M/S HP, M/2, and SOAB LP Assisted in CQWW RTTY.  We -- KL1JP, KL3UI, and N1TX -- wondered briefly if any of those records would fall as we took advantage of fleeting decent weather to do antenna work. C'est la guerre.  In these parts, antenna season is decidedly compressed even in the best of times.  The summer of 2014 broke many rainfall records, so any semblance of an outdoor project schedule soon washed away.  

There we were, in the final days of reliably above-freezing temperatures, and there was no time to waste for antenna work.  A new 5-element 6m yagi is up, at least in its temporary location for testing. The DSEJX5-50 arrived about a month ago.  Terry W8ZN and his crew at Directive Systems are breathing new life into a company originally founded by Dave K1WHS.  The entire experience of ordering/paying to final assembly was smooth as silk.  And the new antenna, built according to the instructions, tuned right up without issue and performs as advertised, with a sweet VSWR for 50-52 MHz.

A little cleanup was in order, too.  The Hexx beam, which never really saw much action due to location, was partially disassembled and sent to its new home with Dan KL1JP.  It's a very good performer, but we never could find the right location for it at a decent height.  It definitely could not go on the tower.

Now the BIG project on our minds was a new phased vertical system for 40m.  Last summer we got the ground mount holes dug and cemented into place.  Dan made a command decision to make a herculean effort to get this project off the ground before another winter fell, and the rest of us followed.  DX Engineering and amazon.com delivered the parts in short order.  So we got busy measuring 2000 feet of wire into suitable segments, trimming, crimping, and heat-gunning.  I can highly recommend Ancor marine-grade ring terminals with heat shrink on the ends for superior mechanical integrity and reducing wire corrosion.

We hit a few snags.  Last year I had my fence guy put in three mounts with standard chain link fence corner posts  buried in cement about 3' into the ground.  It turns out these posts are 2-3/8" OD and too big to fit the DX Engineering clamps.  Rather than drill, grind, or otherwise make-to-fit, I ordered two sets of CommScope heavy duty pipe-to-pipe clamps (model BC-30-10) from Tessco while KL1JP picked up 2" steel pipe in town to clamp on to the fence posts.  

A second snag was initially more troubling but resolved quickly.  We bought the Comtek 40VA vertical antennas, and upon first inspection, it appeared parts were missing.  The included instructions didn't quite reflect reality. When we opened the second box and found the same thing, it was a real puzzle.  After checking on line at the DXE web site, there is a Rev. A instruction manual, which was more aligned with reality, and assembly could proceed as normal.

Each 40m base is substantial. The antenna shows a very favorable VSWR across the band so far. It gets above 1.5:1 at the high end of the phone segment, and we often work split anyway.  Anything below 7100 is great.  The real proof of the design is with two antennas.  It's worth noting the paint on the steel pipe is slightly resistive (25 ohms or less), and some changes in VSWR could be expected by binding all the metals to the buried support.  

The Summer Wraps Up

Snow today for the first time since May 23. It was a short summer.  Leaves and ground cover are in full blaze of yellow, orange, and red.  The contrast of snow on dark spruce and low-hanging clouds ringing the hills made for a dramatic landscape.  Alas, antenna season wanes quickly.  A 40 meter vertical project hangs in the balance.

Living for much of the summer under threat of wildfires, the station has been largely pieced back together.  A full multi-2 is nearly 100% functional.

The rig has been on quite a bit lately monitoring JT-65A on the low bands.  I have been using JT65-HF for ages, but recently found WSJT-X 1.1 works faster and decodes more effectively on my slow XP PC.

John AL7ID, who lives just a few miles east of KL2R, put up a full-size 160m loop around his property.  Comparisons on the various bands has been interesting.  The 30m band has outstanding worldwide coverage much of the day now, and 40 has had some strong nights for DX.  A61BK was even heard here at midday on a dipole, which was totally anomalous.  160 yields the Lower 48 as sunrise moves across the US, and 80 has been marginal most evenings.

Nearly two weeks ago I was in Anchorage re-building KL7SB's shack with a complete Elecraft K3 line and Microham MK2R+ SO2R box.  I will do it again in a few days.  Given the uncertainty of the 40m project at home, I might as well do something useful.

Code-a-rific CQWW

Between October and March, my XYL Connie KL1BE will often ask, "Is there a contest this weekend?"  My answer is usually yes, and she responds, "Of course."  The query is merely perfunctory, and after all these years of gaining momentum, KL2R occupies my off-time a lot.  Having recently moved from engineer to paper-pusher at the office, I find ham radio more rewarding these days.  I can still get my brain engaged and hands dirty solving technical and method problems.

The weeks in and around November, of course, are filled with Sweepstakes, CQWW, and a number of other on-air sporting events proving to be quite popular.  I had mixed feelings about entering solo in CQWW CW this year.  I am always excited to do a CW contest like this, but how would I fare over the 48 hours?  I had been up since 2 AM Friday.  Never mind, though.  I got a late start after helping KL1JP configure some new equipment and software for the KL7FWX special event.  Twenty was alive with JAs and UA0s, then it tanked quickly.  15m was slightly promising to Asia for a while. I tried 40 with only a little success.  I was soon exhausted and had to sleep, but not before I set an end-goal of 1000 Qs and/or 500k points. 

I apparently missed a good 40m opening, but I started Saturday right with some good runs on 15 and 20, plus a few contacts on 10m.  I trudged on most of the day and night looking for good multipliers with the grayline.  The Middle East opened nicely on 20m late in the evening, and I worked Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.  Europe was steady later on.  Around midnight into early Sunday morning, 40m was just a blast.  I have never seen so many strong signals in 13 years working from Alaska.  I could snag many East Coast stations with one call, a rarity.  I worked into Japan, the US, and Europe simultaneously.  I had one anomalous contact on 15m with an S5 in the middle of the night on 15.  Weird.

At 0330 Sunday, I had to sleep again.  I had planned a three-hour nap, but I failed to set the alarm clock correctly.  I didn't get started again for nearly six hours.  I missed catching the early run of US on 20 and some more action 15.  I pressed on with S&P after only a handful of weak runs.  I found I could keep a rate between 45 and 60 per hour this way.  I had a 240/hour run the day before. along with several periods of 180.  In the end, I made only 3/4 toward my goal.  But with 761 contacts in the log and several new countries, I'm pleased with the results.  I worked ZL8X on five bands, a real highlight.  Africa, the UK, and Spain could have been better represented, but I think this time the path to that general direction seemed lacking.  Check out the Google Earth plots at the akradio.net website.  It was Worldwide fun, though!