2-3 July 2016 - RSGB VHF NFD - Gatehouse of Fleet

Details: Written by Alan GM3PSP; Published: 10 July 2016; Hits: 3372

L-R: Chris MM0ZCT, Danny GM6CMQ, Brian GM8BJF, Pete GM4BYF, Mike GM4IGS, Robin GM4YPL,

Norrie GM1CNH, Peter GM4DTH, Brian GM4DIJ.

The Lothians Radio Society Contest Group GM3HAM/P operated in RSGB VHF NFD on 2-3 July 2016 from our usual location in the hills near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries & Galloway at LOCator IO74wv. The bands operated were the Restricted Section on 50MHz (Saturday only); 70MHz (Sunday only); 144MHz; 1296MHz. Conditions were rather average but with a few QSOs into northern France. Your scribe and Terry GM3WUX were unable to to be present. His CW operating skills were missed on 6m and 4m.

Report by Peter GM4DTH:

Saturday started with cloudy weather with squally showers and this unsettled weather seemed to have a corresponding effect on propagation. The conditions on Saturday were lacklustre and going was slow and, somewhat, difficult. With the low QSO rate in the evening it was decided not to operate through the night as the prospects of a dawn lift were poor. Sunday proved a better day for propagation and the additional stations participating in the 'Backpackers' contest gave a welcome boost to the number of workable stations. One observation made during the contest was of a station repeatedly sending a significantly wrong locator, much later in the event the correct locator was being sent. This does raise the issue of accuracy and always assuming that all errors occur at the receiving station. This was a clear example of a transmission error. The most common transmission error observed was /P stations not sending /P all the time. In essence this was an enjoyable event, although the use of a school report phrase 'could do better' would not be out of place.

Nevertheless, maybe to our surprise, we won both the Overall Restricted Section (Martlesham Trophy) and First in Scotland in the Restricted Section (Cockenzie Quaich) - see story with trophy photos on home page.

First results, unchecked:

6m: 62 QSOs, claimed total score 26536, best Dx: LY1R in KP14rv at 1874km

Click for 6m QSO Map

        TX Equipment: FT847
        TX Power (W): 100
        RX Equipment: FT847
        Antenna: 9 element
        Antenna Height agl: 10m; height asl: 192m

4m: 65 QSOs, Claimed total score 19818, best Dx: G0FBB/P in JO01ld at 538 km

Click for 4m QSO Map

        TX Equipment: FT847+SS amplifier
        TX Power (W): 40
        RX Equipment: FT847+preamp
        Antenna: 11 element
        Antenna Height agl: 10m; height asl: 192

2m: 129 QSOs, Claimed score 41806, best Dx: F6KCP/P in IN18ou at 839km

Click for 2m QSO Map

         TX Equipment: FT736
         TX Power (W): 100 power, v D-MOSFET amplifier
         RX Equipment: FT736
         Antenna: 17 element 2M5WL
         Antenna Height agl: 10m; height asl: 192m

23cm: 22 QSOs, Claimed score 7994, best Dx: F6DKW in JN18cs at 808km

Click for 23cm QSO Map

           TX Equipment : FT736 > solid state amp
           TX Power (W) : 100
           RX Equipment : SSB masthead preamp > FT736
           Antenna : 55 element
           Antenna Height agl 8m; height asl: 192m

Photos by Peter GM4DTH: