6M SPRING SPRINT 2017
SINGLE OPERATOR
N2SLN    hilltop portable in FN22







ANTENNA SYSTEM

    24' of 2-inch OD mast

    5-el Yagi at about 28' above ground






RADIO EQUIPMENT

    Icom IC-7000 at 10-15 watts

    RF-sensed ARR preamp

    TE Systems amplifier at 200w

    low pass filter on output of amplifier






DESCRIPTION

There was moderate rain when I arrived at the hilltop at 6 PM, so I waited to see if there was a rain-free moment to begin setting up the station. The rain didn't cease, so at 6:20 I drove over the leveling blocks and went back inside to run the defroster in order to dry out for a few minutes. Then 6:30 hit which means I have to go outside and start setting up the equipment no matter what. There was no wind, so I assembled all 24' of mast, the longest mast I have ever used. I actually ran out of feedline and had to grab feedline jumpers off the other equipment and string them together with adapters to reach the antenna. By the time 7 PM rolled around, the rain had diminished to drizzle and then quit completely.

The sprint was off to a good start and there were lots of stations on the air. I worked 12 stations in the first hour in several directions, then half as many in the second hour. In the usually slow third hour I was tuning past 50.130 around 0117 UTC and heard Texas station W5PR EL29 on weak sporadic-E, but he didn't hear me answering his CQs. I also heard several Virginia stations on temporarily-extended troposcatter paths: three in FM18 (248-335 miles), one in FM09 who was 5x5 and almost copied my full callsign, and KC4ZTD FM07 at 400 miles (643 km). Overall it was a fun sprint, and I did a lot better than with the Moxon last year. The solar flux index was down to 70, the lowest seen in this event since 2009.









POINTS SUMMARY



BAND   QSOs   GRIDS   SCORE
----------------------------
 50     26     11      286







LOG


MD   TIME    CALLSIGN    GRID
------------------------------
PH   2315    N2LID       FN12
PH   2320    N1JEZ       FN44
PH   2323    W3HHN       FN33
PH   2324    KC2WLR      FN32
PH   2327    AA2UK       FM29
PH   2331    KE2DN       FN12
PH   2335    WA2GFN      FN20
PH   2340    WC2K        FM29
PH   2344    N3RG        FM29
PH   2346    W1QK        FN31
PH   2347    W3EP        FN31
PH   2349    K1ZE        FN31
PH   0000    K1IIG       FN31
PH   0006    N3VS        FN21
CW   0015    W1VD        FN31
PH   0029    K3ISH       FN21
PH   0038    WA3CSP      FN11
PH   0045    K1TEO       FN31
CW   0052    K3TUF       FN10
CW   0107    W1BS        FN32
PH   0116    N2NT        FN20
PH   0124    N1NQD       FN13
PH   0131    K2KGJ       FN32
PH   0206    K2GE        FN20
CW   0221    K3VIG       FN21
CW   0239    N1KWF       FN32





Solar Flux - spring 6m Sprints