Another year and another field day location. After much squinting at the contour lines on our local Ordnance Survey map we managed to locate a much higher spot at 100 metres above sea level (about 40 metres higher then the Aylmers Farm site). After a visit from ex-chairman Len (G7UFF) the owners of Gibbon's Bush Farm, just south of Harlow, kindly granted permission for us to operate from one of their paddocks.
One unusual feature of this year's field day was the wildlife. As well as a number of ducks and geese we shared the location with two Vietnamese Pot Bellied pigs, a couple of llamas and a flock of Rheas.
This year the team spent more time on preparation which meant that the setup went far more smoothly. A major difference to the 6 metre station was thanks to Dave (G3UEG) who 'adapted' our contest beam with spectacular results. The original was based on a design aimed at the wide American frequency allocation. Dave used computer modeling software to optimise the beam for the UK 50 MHz band.
Here is a summary of our submitted results:
6 Metres | 4 Metres | 2 Metres | |
Claimed QSOs | 155 | 71 | 298 |
Claimed Points | 88947 | 14410 | 78432 |
Best Dx | 9H1YZ (Malta) 2102 km | S51DI (Slovenia) 1268 km | DL0GTH (Germany) 75.2 km |
Avg Pts/Qso | 574 | 208 | 263 |
5th/6th July 2003