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SSB FD, 1975-2002.
Contest reminiscences of G3NLY and some lessons learned.
For U.K. clubs and contesters July 1975 produced an important 'first'.
Until then, the only existing club HF, portable contest was NFD, an event
having its origins before WW2. Now there was to be a ssb equivilent, and
The Lichfield A.R.S. was to participate.
In those days we had a fairly large club membership but few who participated
in contests and most of those preferred VHF. We had dabbled, not very
seriously, with NFD but more successfully with VHF, having discovered
an accessible 1700 ft. hill in Wales. Out there we learned a couple of
useful lessons: that a small number of committed people staying on site
from start to finish were more effective than having a large number of
casuals who might just come and go. Now it was time to have a go at the
new event.
My recollections of this are somewhat sketchy but I do remember we
had a TA33 Jnr on a couple of scaffold poles with a trapped Inverted Vee
hanging below it. A Tx and Rx [both unrecorded] were followed by an SB200
linear. In those days, I think, was a "10 minute rule" whereby,
when you changed band, you could not revert to the first one until 10
minutes had elapsed. I don't know if other groups used a spotting Rx but
we didn't.
We operated from a tent with everything powered from a small, hired
petrol generator. Remarkably, we were the winners . . . a first for the
Lichfield A.R.S.. While this gave encouragement it was to be another eleven
years before we could win again, though we did have a number of high placings.
We have participated in this contest ever since; I wonder if any other
club has done so. [If any reader can supply a copy of the full 1975 result
I would be delighted to have it.]
During those relatively barren years we made improvements to station
and techniques but others had done better. We had been able to borrow
a mobile Versatower and had moved on to hiring a reliable diesel generator
instead of touchy, and thirsty, petrol ones. Perhaps we had tried to over-reach
ourselves when it came to a beam for the three higher bands. Not having
amongst our members' possessions any tribander bigger than a TH3 we, year
by year, constructed quads, either 3-element ones, or even 4-elements!
No-one disputes how good cubical quads can be but trying to build
and tune them within a very limited time frame is fraught with problems.
I cannot remember one occasion when it was built, tuned and structurally
sound by the starting time. Most years it seemed that someone had to open
on 7 MHz while the rest of us struggled with our bamboo and wire 'albatross'.
Eventually, a 'for sale' notice in Radcomm for a TH6 offered a solution
to our problem. We bought it and we won next time. It wasn't that this
beam was particularly outstanding, but it could be assembled in little
time, did not require tuning and allowed us to string an 80m delta over
the top of it and a 40m one below. With competition being severe you cannot
afford to start late. The availability of a second tower opened up the
prospect of improving our 40 m performance.
We successfully tried a rotary, shortened dipole and the year following
came the pinnacle of our homebrew antenna construction, a full sized quad.
It was huge, heavy, potentially fragile and demanded more from the HAM-M
rotator than it could be expected to give. It did turn - just - but it
performed brilliantly. We were so proud of it we sent in a photograph
which appeared on the front cover of Radcomm. Nevertheless, it was never
to be repeated.
Since 1983 we have been fortunate in having the same farm site, often
having the same 40 acre field. There was also the benefit of being able
to leave poles, beams, etc close by. The first year there was cold, wet
and windy. The tent leaked and water got into the genny electrics. No-one
needed persuading that a converted caravan was the way forward. To have
a mobile shack was almost heaven to us . . . and it could be left at the
farm too. We are now converting our third 'van. This one has its own loo
and fridge, though the kitchen section had to be stripped to create more
table space.
Each year we began to see if station and operating techniques could
be improved. The starting point here was to record the set-up from the
previous time, what went well and to be repeated and, of course, what
didn't.
We were slow to adopt computer logging as we had already had a good
run of wins and the three regular team ops were not computer competent
and hence needed convincing. The old style station management prevailed
for some time; paper logs, crosscheck sheets and little notes passed from
spotter to operator. It now seems as if those times were from a different
age.
The introduction of networked computers, instant band changing, dedicated
spotting antennas, Packet , etc have moved the game forward. All these
aids have done little for QSO numbers but have done wonders for multiplier
totals. I agree that some of these changes make participation in the Open
Section more difficult for some but they are a challenge to others. When
I once criticised the use of Packet spotting I was told that one
couldn't un-invent technological progress.
Something to talk about, perhaps?
I hope to talk to some of you on September 6-7th but very briefly,
of course. And happy contesting.
(r.smethers@g3nly.ndo.co.uk)
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