2M FALL SPRINT 2012
SINGLE OPERATOR CATEGORY
callsign: N2SLN
hilltop portable








ANTENNA SYSTEM









RADIO EQUIPMENT

    IC-7000 at 5 watts into TE Systems 1410G amplifier for 130 watts out (measured into the antenna) plus receive preamp







DESCRIPTION

The 2 meter fall sprint 2012 was sponsored by SVHFS, the Southeastern VHF Society. This single band contest ran from 7pm until 11pm local time, Monday, September 17th, 2012.

I had planned to enter the sprint as a rover, but due to running late, I decided to set up on the nearby hilltop 15 minutes from home as a single-op instead. I had been watching the forecast for days because rain was threatening to move in the night of the sprint. Upon arrival, skies were clear, and the plan was to begin tearing down at the first sign of rain hitting the windshield. So the antenna system went up and I was ready a few minutes before contest start time.

Here's a map showing conditions at 8:00 PM Eastern time during the sprint. As you can see, the blank map predicted no tropo for NY State and surrounding states. Indeed, the QSO total was down compared to the tropo years, but there was good local activity. For example, the first hour brought 14 QSOs (38%) which is about the best I've seen in the non-tropo versions of this event. This is due in large part to the 144.205 Morning Group getting on the air every day over the past couple years and inspiring folks to have fun with 2m SSB again. Many of the stations I worked in this sprint were from that group. One thing that kept the sprint interesting from start to finish was VE3CRU/R who has a tremendous signal with that base-station-sized yagi permanently mounted on his rover vehicle. I was happy to be able to work him in all 3 of his grid activations: FN14, then FN04, then FN03. Two of those were new grids for me, so I am even more appreciative of his hard work. Best DX to the east was AF1T on the island of Martha's Vinyard (FN41), for a distance of 265 miles. Best DX to the south appears to be K1RZ FM19 in Maryland (238 miles). Best to the northeast was K1WHS FN43 in Maine (248 miles). Best DX of the entire contest was K8TQK EM89 (Ohio) at 456 miles to the southwest. I did not hear any activity from FN00, 01, 02, FN11, FN23, 24. I lucked out: The rain stayed away for the entire contest, including the teardown of the antenna system.







POINTS SUMMARY



BAND   QSOs   QSO    UNIQUE   STATES   CANADIAN
              PTS.   GRIDS             PROVINCES
------------------------------------------------
144     37    37       19       10     Ontario


          === claimed score: 703 ===










LOG



START-OF-LOG: 2.0
CALLSIGN: N2SLN
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 144M HIGH 
CLAIMED-SCORE: 703
CONTEST: VHF-SPRINT-144MHZ-FALL
CREATED-BY: WA7BNM Web2Cabrillo 1.12
NAME:
ADDRESS:
ADDRESS:
EMAIL:
OPERATORS:
SOAPBOX: 
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1911 N2SLN             FN22   AF1T              FN41   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1914 N2SLN             FN22   N2DCH             FN22   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1918 N2SLN             FN22   KC2SFU            FN22   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1919 N2SLN             FN22   VE3CRU/R          FN14   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1926 N2SLN             FN22   N1IBM             FM29   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1928 N2SLN             FN22   K2RMX             FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1929 N2SLN             FN22   W1BS              FN32   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1933 N2SLN             FN22   WA3NUF            FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1937 N2SLN             FN22   K1RZ              FM19   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1938 N2SLN             FN22   W2GPS             FM19   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1940 N2SLN             FN22   W9KXI             FN12   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1943 N2SLN             FN22   K1WHS             FN43   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1953 N2SLN             FN22   W2KV              FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 1957 N2SLN             FN22   K2SMN             FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2000 N2SLN             FN22   K3TUF             FN10   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2002 N2SLN             FN22   NA2NY             FN33   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2005 N2SLN             FN22   K1TEO             FN31   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2009 N2SLN             FN22   N1RJX             FN32   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2014 N2SLN             FN22   N1MIW             FN41   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2018 N2SLN             FN22   NE1B              FN42   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2019 N2SLN             FN22   WZ1V              FN31   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2022 N2SLN             FN22   K1IIG             FN31   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2037 N2SLN             FN22   VE3CRU/R          FN04   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2044 N2SLN             FN22   WA3SRU            FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2046 N2SLN             FN22   WB2RVX            FM29   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2050 N2SLN             FN22   K1TR              FN42   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2053 N2SLN             FN22   KA2LIM            FN12   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2114 N2SLN             FN22   N2NT              FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2129 N2SLN             FN22   K2DH              FN13   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2139 N2SLN             FN22   K8TQK             EM89   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 0141 N2SLN             FN22   NA2X              FN13   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2151 N2SLN             FN22   W3MTP             FN21   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2156 N2SLN             FN22   VE3ZV             EN92   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2207 N2SLN             FN22   VE3CRU/R          FN03   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2217 N2SLN             FN22   N3NGE             FN20   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2231 N2SLN             FN22   VA3ELE            FN03   
QSO:   144 PH 2012-09-17 2240 N2SLN             FN22   W2UAD             FN13   
END-OF-LOG: