LA1KHA's PP3/MN1604 Challenge

In reply to M1EYP:

FB Tom, I am looking forward to a possible joint activation.

73
Colin
M0CGH

In reply to M0CGH:

15-Feb-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #40
Summit: G/SP-013. Band: 30m
Radio: TGS (DC RX, Class E TX - 100mW o/p)
Imgur
Antenna: Inverted Vee Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: PP3 Energizer Hi Tech
Finish Voltage at room temp: ? Volts
New DXCCs: None
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (ON, S5, OK, PA, G, DK, I, LA, F, OE, HB9, HA, SM, 9A, EV, EA, OZ, GW, OM)
QSOs: 1. Cumulative QSOs: 452

Very slow going. :frowning:

73

Richard
G3CWI

16-Feb-12

Wet and windy.
TGS has been in sick bay. Dry joint and near short. Both fixed.

Battery: #1. Activation: #41
Summit: G/SP-004. Band: 30m
Radio: TGS (DC RX, Class E TX - 100mW o/p)
Imgur
Antenna: Inverted Vee Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: PP3 Energizer Hi Tech
Finish Voltage at room temp: ? Volts
New DXCCs: None
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (ON, S5, OK, PA, G, DK, I,
LA, F, OE, HB9, HA, SM, 9A, EV, EA, OZ, GW, OM)
QSOs: 2. Cumulative QSOs: 454

Very very slow going. :frowning:

73

Richard
G3CWI

In reply to G3CWI:

Sorry to hear TGS has not been well :frowning:

Glad that TGS is well again. I often wonder, and have been asked, as to how much temperature and humidity affects our radios.

My rig design uses a case that needs to be opened to connect the battery and turn it on. I didn’t want to use an external cable to apply power, as I thought it would be all too easy to leave it at home! I intended to provide an insulated battery bay inside the rig, but this has not been implemented as yet.

I have noticed that my rig forms condensation inside when I bring it into the warmth of my home. I leave the top open and allow it to dry out after each activation.

The only thing to have suffered so far is my straight key - it is made from brass and it has become slightly corroded in one small area. I have ordered another Czech army key from Mike G0CVZ, so my brass key can stay at home.

Sorry to hear you have been struggling for contacts Richard, I also find it hard to win contacts during week days. It is reassuring that it’s not just me and my poor op skills that are to blame, when such a good op as yourself also finds it hard going at times.

My 18MHz challenge rig is about to be let loose, I have almost got it working :slight_smile:

72 and hope you have many more QSO’s next time.

Colin
M0CGH

In reply to G3CWI:

16-Feb-12

Wet and windy.

Thanks for the 2m contact on G/SP-013 Richard, I thought you may find it a bit windy up there :frowning:

Very very slow going. :frowning:

Very slow on 2m also, nearly 2 hours yielded just 21 QSOs.

Looking on the bright side, it won’t take long to log them.

73 Mike
2E0YYY

In reply to M0CGH:

In the early days of SOTA I experimented with a touch sensitive key that relied on contact resistance. It seemed like a good idea at the time - no contacts, no moving parts. A few activation on hot sunny days were a great success. Then the Autumn arrived. It was then, on a damp foggy day, that I discovered the weakness of that approach. The keyer went mad and it was impossible to calm it down. It was its last outing :slight_smile: It remains here on the windowsill of the shack. Another heroic failure.

73

Richard
G3CWI

18-Feb-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #42
Summit: G/SP-013. Band: 30m
Radio: TGS (DC RX, Class E TX - 100mW o/p)
Imgur
Antenna: Inverted Vee Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: PP3 Energizer Hi Tech
Finish Voltage at room temp: ? Volts
New DXCCs: None
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (ON, S5, OK, PA, G, DK, I,
LA, F, OE, HB9, HA, SM, 9A, EV, EA, OZ, GW, OM)
QSOs: 0. Cumulative QSOs: 454

30 mins CQing. It doesn’t get worse.

73

Richard
G3CWI

In reply to G3CWI:

Oh dear :frowning:

I did hear a lot of contest activity this morning on the contest bands, so maybe all the CW ops were contesting! Or was it maybe that the 30m was very busy with stations who would normally be on the non WARC bands swamping QRPp with QRO.

Maybe the non contest ops were sheltering in the higher WARC bands.

Hope your luck improves soon.

73
Colin
M0CGH

Warm and pleasant

Battery: #1. Activation: #42
Summit: G/SP-013. Band: 30m
Radio: TGS (DC RX, Class E TX - 100mW o/p)
Imgur
Antenna: Inverted Vee Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: PP3 Energizer Hi Tech
Finish Voltage at room temp: ? Volts
New DXCCs: None
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (ON, S5, OK, PA, G, DK, I,
LA, F, OE, HB9, HA, SM, 9A, EV, EA, OZ, GW, OM)
QSOs: 7. Cumulative QSOs: 461

73

Richard
G3CWI

Battery: #1
Activation #9
Date: 25/02/12
Summit: G/LD-003
Band: 17m, 30m
Finish Voltage: 8.31V
Rigs: home brew for challenge -RockMite based. ‘MRM-39’ -30m, ‘Helvellyn’ -17m
Ant: Inv. Vee dipole at 3m above ground
QSOs: 4 (2 on 17m, 2 on 30m)
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative QSOs: 65
Cumulative DXCC: 14 DL,EA,F,G,GW,HA,HB9,LA,OM,ON,OZ,PA,S5,SP
WX: very windy, severe wind chill. Mainly dry with occaisonal mist (fog!)

Found it very hard to do CW today, I started to shiver very quickly today giving rise to a very wobbly hand. I don’t think I have ever felt so cold! I deployed my ‘mountain shelter’ (KISU in some circles), which improved the wind chill situation, but added a lot of QRM! I was struggling to hear my rig with the volume at full.

I’m very happy tonight though. I hatched a plan a while back to activate Helvellyn on 17m as there were no contacts logged on the database for this band. I started project ‘Helvellyn’ a couple of Month’s ago in order to be the first to log contacts from this summit on 17m. I built my rig specially for this activation. I have named the rig ‘Helvellyn’ as building it seemed like quite a mountain to climb! RockMite 17 | A Manhattan style Rockmite QRP CW transceiver.… | Flickr

John, G0TDM, in Penrith is the first to chase G/LD-003 on 17m.

There had only been 1 logged contact on 30m from Helvellyn, so I have upped that by 2.

Who will be first to activate G/LD003 on 20m?

With my 4 QSO’s I qualified the summit on QRPp CW :slight_smile:

73
Colin
M0CGH

Battery: #1
Activation #10
Date: 03/03/12
Summit: G/NP-005
Band: 17m, 30m
Finish Voltage: 8.11V
Rigs: home brew for challenge -RockMite based. ‘MRM-39’ -30m,‘Helvellyn’ -17m
Ant: Inv. Vee dipole at 6m above ground
QSOs: 4 (30m)
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative QSOs: 69
Cumulative DXCC: 14 DL,EA,F,G,GW,HA,HB9,LA,OM,ON,OZ,PA,S5,SP
WX: Every season - wind,sun,hail,snow & rain! At least I wasn’t too cold this week, I had my duvet vest on underneath my duvet jacket underneath my goretex jacket! I was lovely and warm :slight_smile:

Turned the rig on at 10.45, took 30 mins to get my first QSO in the log. My last, and 4th, contact was in the log at 11.59 - thanks Mike, DJ5AV, for saving the day!

I tried 17m for a few minutes, but there were no takers this time around and my battery had already suffered enough! Will the battery see me through the next three summits? If my battery could get me through the 500 activator points mark, I would be very happy!

73
Colin
M0CGH

Stats 12/03/2012

Battery: #1
Activation #11
Date: 12/03/12
Summit: G/LD-010
Band:40m
Finish Voltage: N/A
Rig: RockMite 40 from Small Wonder Labs
Ant: Inv. Vee dipole at 6m above ground
QSOs: 12
New DXCCs: 1 GM
Cumulative QSOs: 81
Cumulative DXCC: 15 DL,EA,F,G,GM,GW,HA,HB9,LA,OM,ON,OZ,PA,S5,SP
WX: No wind,warm and sunny! Operated in tee shirt (got sunburn to prove it!)

Battery: #1
Activation #12
Date: 12/03/12
Summit: G/LD-007
Band:40m
Finish Voltage: N/A
Rig: RockMite 40 from Small Wonder Labs
Ant: Inv. Vee dipole at 6m above ground
QSOs: 11
New DXCCs: 1 GI
Cumulative QSOs: 92
Cumulative DXCC: 16 DL,EA,F,G,GI,GM,GW,HA,HB9,LA,OM,ON,OZ,PA,S5,SP
WX: No wind, warm, alternating between sunny and misty

Battery: #1
Activation #13
Date: 12/03/12
Summit: G/LD-022
Bands:40m and 30m
Finish Voltage: 8.04V
Rig: RockMite 40 from Small Wonder Labs and home brew 30m rig (MRM-39)
Ant: Inv. Vee dipole at 6m above ground
QSOs: 12 (6 on 30m, 6 on 40m)
New DXCCs: 2 OE,OK (both on 30m)
Cumulative QSOs: 104
Cumulative DXCC: 18 DL,EA,F,G,GI,GM,GW,HA,HB9,LA,OE,OK,OM,ON,OZ,PA,S5,SP
WX: A little cooler than earlier in the day but very mild for the time of year. No wind, quite misty.

A brilliant day - 35 QSO’s in total and 4 new DXCC’s. Weather was very mild throughout the day. Gained 31 activator points earning me my next certificate (500) at 503 activator points :slight_smile:

72
Colin
M0CGH

15-Apr-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #1
Summit: G/SP-017. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted Vee Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 7
Cumulative DXCCs: 7 (S5, G, DL, LA, HA, OZ, OM)
QSOs: 11. Cumulative QSOs: 11

Many thanks to Colin M0CGH for the rig.

Tom M1EYP

17-Apr-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #2
Summit: G/SP-013. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 1
Cumulative DXCCs: 8 (DL, G, LA, HA, OE, OM, OZ, S5)
QSOs: 1. Cumulative QSOs: 12

That nice chap Fred Talbot led me to understand that the weather would be dry this morning, at the end of the Granada regional news last night. The problem is, once you’ve got it into your head you are doing a SOTA activation, it is difficult to cancel. So off I set in heavy rain at 5.48am on the morning of Tuesday 17th April 2012, arriving in lighter rain at the parking spot around 30 minutes later.

The walk up Gun G/SP-013 was soggy as anticipated. I got the 30m dipole up quickly on the summit, so I could get inside the bothy bag, and out of the rain as soon as possible. I connected up the Rockmite 30 and self-spotted.

It seemed a busy band, but that was probably because I could hear all of it! Keying seemed a little better this time, but still some way from perfect. I must give my paddle a proper test.

Well, lots of calling for both SOTA G/SP-013 and WFF GFF-014 brought just one QSO, and that with OE6WIG. Some very bad QRM came up on frequency, and I just about heard OE6WIG advising me to QSY because of it. But I couldn’t, because I was using the Rockmite!

So I gave up with just the one QSO collected, and trudged back to me car. The Cottage in Dalehall provided a sausage, bacon and cheese double oatcake for my breakfast, before I drove around the corner to the work QTH.

Tom M1EYP

In reply to M1EYP:

So I gave up with just the one QSO collected, and trudged back to me
car.

WOW, that’s a bummer, Tom :frowning:

The Cottage in Dalehall provided a sausage, bacon and cheese
double oatcake for my breakfast, before I drove around the corner to
the work QTH.

At least the story has a happy ending :wink:

Mike 2E0YYY

In reply to 2E0YYY:

It can happen when you have a single frequency radio with only 170mW of power! Check out some of the posts above - at least I am not the first!

Early mornings being a good opportunity for me to activate, I hope that horrid mechanical QRM on 10.115MHz is not a regular feature of that time of day.

Tom M1EYP

In reply to M1EYP:

Tom, opening the score with 11 in the log is very good going! I bet you’ll appreciate the FT817 a whole lot more than you did before! I think it does good to rough it for a while!

Sorry to hear that the keying is not up to scratch - I found that I missed a lot of ‘dits’ off, i.e, sending M0CGS instead of M0CGH, I thought it was just me. I hope that you manage to cope with the rig.

Maybe the rig could be returned under warranty and fitted with an original chip to see if that improves matters - see how you get on. There is the possibility of adding a ‘Jackson Harbor’ keyer chip - some people say it’s a better chip than the PicoKeyer.

I think you are off to a good start.

73
Colin
M0CGH

18-Apr-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #3
Summit: G/SP-013. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 8 (DL, G, LA, HA, OE, OM, OZ, S5)
QSOs: 0. Cumulative QSOs: 12

Another 5.30am BST get-up in horrid weather, and up to Gun G/SP-013 again. Awful. Couldn’t raise a single contact. In the end, I made one QSO on 2m FM with the handheld, just to record the walk as an activation. Elsewhere on 2m FM were two chaps understanding why Anders Behring Breivik did what he did - eek. Time for a sharp exit.

Tom M1EYP

Wx might still be horrid, but at least it won’t be early morning, which doesn’t seem to be working too well for QRPP 30m ATM. Perhaps my success in winter with QRP 30m, where I was going out at 4am for skeds into El Salvador led me to believe that it could work!

I have a WOO this afternoon, so expect me to be QRV on 10.1153MHz CW (no QSY possible) from Gun G/SP-013 between 1530 and 1715z (4.30pm to 6.15pm BST). It will be also valid for WFF chasers as Peak District GFF-014.

Tom M1EYP

After work on Thursday 26th April 2012. The weather was still horrid. Gun G/SP-013 was so waterlogged that I was surprised they weren’t trying to drain it to solve the water shortage in the south east. The view was the grass within a few metres of the trig point, topped by a wall of grey. It was horrible.

And even worse while it was raining, which it did for most of the time. Still, I had ascended with the full intention of enjoying myself, so I erected the 30m dipole hastily and bedded down inside my bothy bag. The Rockmite 30 QRPP rig was connected up, a self-spot placed on SOTAwatch, and off I went.

Good it was too. Lots of contacts were coming in from SOTA and WFF chasers. Not at the same 2/3 per minute rate as would be the case using 5 watts from the 817, but easily enough to keep me interested. Some of the exchanges were very easy and straightforward with excellent copy both ways.

Things got a bit interesting when OZ1HDF started calling CQ on top of me. With no QSY available, I battled on, and was surprised to find I could still work the chasers. Then it slowly dawned on me that my rig was wide open, and that it could well be that OZ1HDF was on a different frequency!

I finished with 26 QSOs in the log after 71 minutes of operating. This was very satisfying. I got on much better with the keying response this time too, so I could be set for some real fun with the Rockmite 30 and Kjell’s challenge.

26-Apr-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #4
Summit: G/SP-013. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 8
Cumulative DXCCs: 16 (9A, DL, G, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, RA, S5, SM, SP)
QSOs: 26. Cumulative QSOs: 38

Tom M1EYP