Monthly Archives: June 2017

70 MHz Cumulative Contest #4

The RSGB CC run a series of cumulative contests through the year, you can partake in either a fixed station or out portable. I prefer to operate out portable, as this gives me a significant advantage to attempting this from home.

Using our contest site at Kelvedon Hatch SNB and with the assistance of John M0UKD we set up the following station.

12m Racal 714 push up mast

Homebrew 4e 70 MHz beam a DK7ZB design

Icom 7100

Honda EU20 generator

Expert SPA 1.3k FA Solid state amplifier

The weather was forecast to be dry and breezy and so we opted to set up in the fields overlooking the bunker and the mast. The contest ran from 3 till 5 pm, and with around 1hr setup time to organise the portable station, you can maybe see why some people operate from home. It’s quite a lot of effort for a 2hr contest, but on the positive side, you would expect the activity to be condensed into this short timeframe.

Setting up the beam.

The makeshift shack to keep the wind and the odd spot of rain off.

The Expert 1.3k FA operating on 70 MHz

Over the course of the next 2 hrs, we worked 45 stations, in 4 countries. England, Wales, Guernsey and Ireland. Our best DX was  GI4SNA at 527 KM.

You can view the claimed scores online.

50 MHz RSGB Trophy Cup

Members of the SNBCG once again took part in the 50 MHz Trophy Cup. The contest runs for 24 hours from 3pm on Saturday. This year, the contest had been booked for one of the hottest days of the year, with temperatures reaching 30°C (around 220°F in old money).

We set up on Saturday morning, using a 5 element 50MHz beam and a 10m pump up mast.  A solid state amplifier provided 400W and a light weight tent to keep off the sun.

The most important issue throughout the weekend was trying to keep cool, with copious cold drinks from the fridge. Fred G3SVK was kind enough to lend us a fan and this became an essential item for the shack.

Fred spent some time operating on CW, working mostly EU with the odd notable exception.

In total, we worked 250 stations, with our best DX being 5B4AAB at 3161KM. You can view the claimed scores here and map here.