Club News
CQ WW SSB Worldwide Contest 2010
ZL3M's second foray into the world of contesting was a great success.
We entered Multi-Single All Band High Power as a true Multi-Single i.e. only
one transmitter and with only 4 operators, Don ZL3DMC, Simon ZL4PLM, Mike ZL3MJS
and Mark ZL3AB this time, from Mike ZL3MJS's QTH. We were limited to 20m and
15m due to antenna issues on the low bands and the local plasma TVs. We managed
716 QSOs and 341,040 points from about 28 hours operating. This was a big
improvement over our Oceania score even allowing for the extra time we operated.
Mike's Steppir really came into its own and we had a lot of comments about how
good our signal was. We are all looking forward to the next one.
ZL3M Oceania Contest Report by Don ZL3DMC
I arrived at Mikes (ZL3MJS)QTH around 7pm to set up for the Oceania
contest. Setup went smoothly and we fortified ourselves with a coffee
to wait for the start (0800utc) I was looking forward to checking out
the steppir as I had never used a beam antenna in a contest before.
Mike performed his magic dial manipulation on the clipperton amplifier
and drake tuner to get us resonant on 80m where we started.
We started with a few zl contacts gleaned from the counties and awards
net on 3.677 and we were away in the 2010 Oceania DX contest. A move
to 40m halfway through the hour saw the first hour give us 22
contacts, not exactly what I was hoping for but not bad. Mike Barnes
(ZL3TMB) and Harvey (ZL3CH) arrived and we had 4 in the shack. The
next hour saw another 20 QSO�s in the log, mainly on 40m. Mike Barnes
then took over the mike and put another 22 in log for that hour. Then
the other Mike (ZL3MJS) took the controls and notched up 19 in his
hour.
By then 20m had opened up to Europe and the zoo gates were open! We
made another 25 contacts and called it a night with 106 contacts in
the log.
Sunday dawned bright and clear and with great anticipation I headed
off to Mikes and arrived at 8.00amlocal time. I spent the next 4.5 hrs
at the mike for another 65 contacts on a mixture of 20m & 15m. Simon
(ZL4PLM) took over duties while I enjoyed a BBQ lunch. By this time a
lot of Cards members had arrived including a couple of keen
prospective hams, topped off with a visit from MR DX himself, Bill
(ZL3NB). A great time was being had while contacts were also being
notched up in the shack. By the time Mark (ZL3AB) arrived for his
session we had 209 contacts in the log. The later part of the
afternoon was a bit slow but better things were to come. Mark�s
experience showed, and with dogged determination put 65 contacts in
the log in the space of 1hour 20min!! Mainly on 20M facing east. Then
the 2 Graeme�s (ZL3GK&ZL3NK) had an hour each on the mike with the
total ending up a respectable 322 contacts for a score of 197,100pts.
Overall a very enjoyable time as previously I had only contested alone
and to have a shack full of people and plenty outside was a great
experience to share.
Thanks to Mike and Vee for sharing their QTH and allowing it to be
turned into the Cards ZL3M contest station.
Editors note: What Don doesn't say is that he did all the
logistical work and supplied the laptop and other equipment to get us up
and running - and he did a large amount of the operating. A huge effort well
done!
Photos are here
ZL3M debuts in Oceania SSB Contest 2/3 October 2010
The club has entered the multi single catergory of the Oceania SSB contest for
the first time. Driven by Don ZL3DMC a number of club members are having a go
at contesting for the first time at the QTH oif Mike Stubberfield ZL3MJS.
It is fair to say the BBQ is as important as the contest!
Pictures and summary of our efforts to follow.
|