WILTSHIRE WANDERES MAY 144MHZ CONTEST REPORT

DURING THE FIRST WEEK END OF MAY 2012 THE 24 HOUR 144MHZ CONTEST WAS ENTERED BY CLUB MEMBERS DAVE M0GHZ, PETER 2E0NEY, & CHRIS G0HFX.

28 Jun 2012

MAY 144MHz 24 hour Contest

During the first week end of May 2012 the 24 hour 144Mhz contest was entered by club members Dave M0GHZ, Peter 2E0NEY, & Chris G0HFX.

A substantial aerial system was erected consisting of 4 x 17 ele Tonna aerials,
Installed as 2 x 17 ele`s each on two 40ft Trailer mounted Pneumatic masts at the club`s last years NFD site near Shepton Mallet.

The weather wasn`t perfect but at least the rain that did arrive was during the night and not during set up or take down, thus most things were kept dry.

First trial contacts proved the systems were working well and with the GB3ANG beacon at 59 plus on the Friday a successful contest was on the cards.

Murphy struck a few times during the contest—initially an open circuit coax cable delayed operation and then during the Saturday evening the EHT (4kV) power supply decided to fail, it was fortunate that a spare was brought “just in case”. These and other minor failures mean the about an hour was lost.
Sunday continued without mishaps and a steady run of QSO`s resulted in a reasonable total score for a station located in the South West.

We certainly will not beat the bigger East Coast groups who take advantage of a sea path into the continent to work numerous DL`s, PA`s, ON`s etc but a very credible effort was made and thoroughly enjoyed by the three of us.
Certainly hard work with only three committed operators.

This contest is in adjudication at the moment but our claimed score is: -

QSO’s 323
Points 93064
Mults 110
Total Points 10 237 040
ODX GM0HTT 877km
Claimed score position 2nd