GB2WHO - DAY 2!
(Click the images for the full size picture!)
A Better Day..........
We knew it would be - when I got up that morning, the sun was beating down outside, on the way up to Llangollen, both myself and Stephen had the windows down, the sky was blue - everything was looking good. When we got to the site, John, Ian, and Geoff (EMB) - were already at the site
We arrived at about 8:45am, and most of the antenna work had been done, the master-plan was to put our magic vertical on the roof, and use that - given yesterdays results, we were hoping the gamble would pay off.....
9:20 Start
The 101ZD remained in the
corner of the room - we'd opted to use the 706 again, we set it all up, using
the outboard speaker of the 101ZD to give better results than the small speaker
in the 706 - we popped Fastlog on my laptop, tuned up, checked SWR, and off we
went at about 9:20-ish.
So....First contact through was G4UGR - which came in not long after we'd started - Stephen started on the mike that morning - Suddenly, Ian gets up and points at me...."Do You want to take the mike???" - So i did, and it didn't last long.......I discovered one failing about my technique - my voice wasn't pushing the 706 at all, all i knew was that i was talking to some person in Belgium, Ian took the mike - and thats how it stayed.
We got a few more people today, as we'd expected - as it was Sunday, plus Glyn, Darlene (MW0CQR) Stephen (G6ZMD) and Paul (M1EQD) turned up - I have spoke to Paul a few times on MP - and he's known Stephen for years - plus he brought his FT-900, which with all intents and purposes was going to be pressed into service as another rig..... He had turned up briefly on the Saturday.
(Ian, Stephen (on the mike) and Mark gear up for Day 2!)
Now - funnily enough at that point, a few other amateurs turned up, who the rest of the club knew and I didn't - everyone congregated outside and chatted (An impromptu meeting, with no Chairman, or Vice-Chairman - mutiny, no less!) an FT-900 sat on the table, and that's where it stayed until later on in the afternoon, it never got set up - it spent time looking pretty on a patio table - Myself and Ian were sat running the station.
Mammoth Feed......
It was getting close to 1pm, the contacts ha come through quickly that day, and, in 3 1/2 hours or so, we'd equaled the entire previous days work....Stephen (STE) had disappeared, only to reappear 2 minutes later, he'd ordered "breakfast" as he put it - 10 minutes later, a box arrives (room service no less!) and Stephen proceeds to eat this full English breakfast (which wasn't small by no means) in front of myself and Ian, who hadn't eaten much all day - it was like being shown the menu for Pizza Hut, while doing 24 Hour Famine.....The picture tells the full story
Stephen tucks in on the Sinclair Micro-Breakfast(tm) Ian Passes Verdict........
Can anyone guess how long it took Stephen to demolish this Breakfast??? - Answers on an e-mail please!
Myself and Ian got up, we'd worked 86 stations, we were happy, Stephen, having finished his mammoth feed took to the mike, aided by Paul on the logging, We went off to get something to eat! - when we returned, Stephen and Paul were in control, and everything was going fine....
(Just a note - the "Breakfast Incident" - as it has since become known, has passed into club history!!)
Remember I said that in the heat of it all - I sometimes forget stuff - well I forgot a basic part of the hobby, relating to an F/GW station that we copied - I for a reason that totally escapes me even to this day, although I knew the answer all along, but something (possibly the massive sugar intake i had just consumed) caused me to ask the question "F/GW - whats the deal here?" - to which Paul pipes up "Hes a Brit on holiday in France"
To Patrick (VMR) -my ex-instructor and I know he'll be reading this - I'm sorry - i don't know what happened, for some odd reason it makes me laugh some weeks after the event -because I knew it was a silly question to ask all along, because i knew the answer anyway - something clicked in my head, i should have put brain into gear before engaging mouth - I shall eat my NOV if this so pleases.....
Packet Station Take 2
We decided to have another go at the 2M packet - this time, using Johns 5/8 wave 2M antenna, and a mag-mount, supplied by Ian plus a makeshift ground-plane, hastily constructed by John and Geoff - it was set up on the roof, i got my FT-100 set up, everything was ready to go!
We plugged the antennas in, switched on, and were off......To be stopped dead in our tracks
We could hear the packet coming in - the signal was there, but the signal quality was a little off - the KAM totally refused to decode it - Ian and Stephen (ZMD) and me tried to work out was going on, or wasn't - again, we went up on the roof, tweaked, reconnected etc - but to no avail, Stephen went through my KAM settings with a fine toothcomb, but couldn't suss what was going on.
After 20 minutes we gave up - the 100 got packed up - Yet another un-successful attempt at 2M, however - as i've said many times, we knew we were fighting the odds, and we proved it.. Odd really - as my FT-100 has now taken a liking to dark places - i can't operate it in daylight !
Oddly enough - Since that fateful afternoon, it has since come to light, that we WERE getting out on UI, its just that because of our location, we heard nothing, or what we could hear the KAM wouldn't decode!
Home Straight.....
After that it was plain sailing, we didn't get many more contacts, those of us that were left, and lets face it, it was a cracking day, sat round and discussed everything from the current state of the hobby, licenses, data modes, traffic blackspot's and more oddly Mark & Lard and Chris Moyles followed for some reason by Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Please - DO NOT Ask! - it wasn't my doing!) - However Ian, in response to the last one re: willow - i can't help think of the character she plays in American Pie, for some reason i couldn't take her seriously on those few times i'd watched Buffy....
However that's irrelevant :)
We decided at about 5pm to pack up - which didn't take all that long, we went and retrieved the aerials, the masts, the sand - and as we'd packed some equipment up as we went along, by 5:30pm we were leaving.....
Learning Experience
This weekend has taught myself, Stephen, and all the other club members many things, Firstly I'm going to have to work on voice for going on SSB, if i can't drive the rig now - when i finally get my hands on my class A - it'll be of no use (or I get an 847 - whichever comes first) - my voice isn't deep enough, and I'm certain I'd have to really shout to drive it - hmmmmm.....experimentation is called for!
Next - never trust the weather, the atmosphere or your surroundings - All 3 of these gave us problems at some point, firstly it was raining when we arrived on the Saturday, Next - the bands were all over the place at odd times, and our surroundings were not good for 2m operation, even on the 50W out from my 100, it didn't work - even though a combination of myself, Glyn, Geoff and Stephen (STE) spent time up on the roof with the aerials, analysers, and SWR meters.
I must admit, and i think i speak for everyone involved, the public turn-out was a little discouraging - i reckon that in 2 days, about 20-25 people popped their heads round - about 6 of them were staff - I think we all believed we'd done all we could to promote the event, and I'm not complaining, we gave it our all - which is all we could do!
Thanks........
On behalf of Wrexham ARS, we would like to thank the following: DAPOL and the staff at the Dr Who Experience, for putting up with us, the aerials, and for supporting the event in every way they could - Short Wave Magazine, and Radio Active, for printing the club details - a little too late, but that was a fault on our side, Roy Norry of Marcher Sound, for advertising our event.
Myself and Ian would like to thank our first team: Stephen (2W1STE) [oh - and thanks for giving me a lift up there as well!!! - I owe you a drink or two! - MDH] Stephen (G6ZMD) for datacomms and antenna help! - The Multitude of Geoff's! (GW0EMB,MW1ATU, GW6SBD) for operating, photographs and controlling the crowds! - John (GW3RBM) for being a voice of reason, Glyn (MW0BNB) for taking the photos, and helping with our 2m problem! - Paul (M1EQD) for turning up and mucking in, thanks Paul, i will make more regular appearances on MP soon!, Darlene (MW0CQR) for more photos..
To anyone else who turned up and leant a hand, or just turned up - I haven't forgotten you, honest, we are grateful for your support!
I (2W1MDH) would like to thank everyone involved as well - It was certainly a lot of fun, a good weekend - Thanks again to all, lets do it again sometime! :)
All Photos on this page thanks to Darlene, (MW0CQR)