432 SPRING SPRINT 2016
 SINGLE OPERATOR LOW POWER (hilltop portable)








ANTENNA SYSTEM

  2-stack of Directive Systems and Engineering DSFO432-15RS "rover special" 15-el yagis









RADIO EQUIPMENT

    Icom IC-7000 mobile
    17 watts

    TE Systems 4452G, amplifier turned off, preamp turned on








DESCRIPTION

This sprint was going to bring more experimentation since the equipment installation is still ongoing. Earlier on sprint day I finished getting the 432 amplifier mounted to the inside of the VHF contesting van and got power run to it. But the external preamp isn't installed yet and neither is the bandpass filter. I got to the hilltop at 6:15 PM in beautiful sunshine and light winds. I leveled the vehicle using the new leveling block system, and the new tiltmeters give an easy visual indication of levelness. I got the 15 over 15 element stack assembled and began hearing signals at the start of the sprint. Upon transmitting I discovered too much relay chatter from the amplifier's TX/RX relay. So I tried all combinations of FM versus SSB switch position, plugging in and unplugging the PTT-L control cable, changing the power input levels to the amplifier, and using two types of microphones, but nothing worked. I later realized that without any filtering inline, RF was getting into the system. Normally the duplexer provides good enough filtering for that purpose while also doing its main job of routing the RF to the proper locations, but I didn't install it permanently yet and didn't think to wire it in temporarily for this event. After spending the first hour on all that, I decided to get on the air with just the barefoot radio and the amplifier's built-in preamp turned on. The best hour was the final hour when I switched to CW and started calling CQ. The best DX were VA3ST FN03 (189 mi / 304 km) and WB2RVX FM29 who was 559 from 194 miles / 312 km away.









POINTS SUMMARY 



BAND   QSOs   GRIDS
-----------------------------
432     10      8


 --- claimed score = 80 ---





LOG 


MD  UTC   CALLSIGN   GRID
--------------------------------
CW  0014  KA2LIM     FN12
PH  0018  K1TEO      FN31
PH  0027  WA2ONK     FN20
PH  0058  W9KXI      FN12
CW  0200  N2YB       FN12
CW  0208  VA3ST      FN03
CW  0215  WA2FGK     FN21
CW  0218  VE3CRU     FN04
CW  0225  N2DCH      FN22
CW  0233  WB2RVX     FM29