This month I managed to take part in both the 2m and 70cm sections. The 2m section was my best (normalised) performance to date (performance was actually down compared to January, but it was for everyone). Additionally I managed to scope out a slightly better site for future use, once I manage to get in touch with the land owner. The 70cm section was not great.

I was using my newly-constructed 7-element DK7ZB yagi which I hadn't had a chance to test (or even tune) beforehand. Fortunately I had a borrowed Bird 43 wattmeter with me which at least allowed me to do some basic tuning with. Having filed down the DE a bit to get the SWR as low as possible I set up the mast and got going. Problems were obvious from the outset with strong stations such as G1YBB and G4ASR being barely readable, and them not being able to hear me at all. After some investigation I discovered that in putting the mast up I had obviously put some strain on the N-connector on the yagi which had caused the centre pin to not connect with the centre of the coax. It didn't help that I had to use an N connector that was for RG213 on my Ultraflex-7 coax. I considered just calling it a night but realised that I had sufficient items to effect a field repair along the lines of 'take all the connectors off and use electrical tape to make the connections'. Surprisingly, this actually worked quite well and so I could get on and work the rest of the contest, albeit with a SWR of about 2.1:1.

2m

Section: AL

Total QSOs: 49

Total Points: 9,268 (4,768 + 4,500 bonus)

Normalised Points: 838

Position: 13/75

ODX: GM3SEK (IO74sr - 352km)

70cm

Section: AL

Total QSOs: 33

Total Points: 5,844 (2,344 + 3,500 bonus)

Normalised Points: 597

Position: 32/77

ODX: G3XDY (JO02ob - 218km)

Stats