I'm just not lucky for the 2nd sub-regional. I missed it two years ago, because I didn't get the concession in time. I tried it a year ago with very poor results. This year was supposed to be different. It was.
Last December, we decided that we would go to the race at VHF under a common brand. Only two of us had some experience with it: me and Ivan OM0AKI. Marcel OM8AMV was captivated by the satellites... and Jan? Well, it's not necessary to convince Jan OM0AAJ for a long time, HI.
However, when he catches something, he doesn't let you breathe. At the end of the year, we all (and many others) met in our basement. There were two 13el.DK7ZB on 70cm, one 8el.DK7ZB on 2m and two unfinished 9el.DK9ZB.
I was entrusted with obtaining the club concession, even though I really hate bureaucratic procedures. We agreed that the best way would be to establish a civic association. We have obtained several statutes of similar associations from the Internet. We edited them together and sent them to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. Soon they came back with hard errors marked like “K120” and K120…. Well, but when someone sees the difference. The second time, everything was OK, we just missed one small thing - ID number. This is obtained elsewhere, at the Statistical Office, which we did not know. However, we quickly corrected it and subsequently sent the documents to the Slovak Technical Court.
In the meantime, the 1st sub-regional came. Due to the fact that Ivan and Marcelo were busy, Jan and I completed it together. Thanks to the low turnout and less competition, we did quite well with an excellent quota. We were not satisfied only with 70 cm, so the whole process of filing and drilling in basements and garages was repeated. A 4x system was created DL7KM. S jednou sme išli UHF/SHF contest a celkom sme boli spokojní. Medzičasom vznikla aj „malá“ 85cm parabola na 1296 MHz.
The selection of dimensions was limited to those where it is possible to test different antennas. We wanted to compare several antennas and choose the best ones. Before the 1st sub-regional, I contacted Mira OM7SM (OM3RAL), who go to Suchá Hora knowing that they skipped this race last year. Before the 2nd subregional, I took advantage of the quota registration option and occupied it for us.
First, Marcel renounced participation, then Ivan too. The fact that I claimed right from the start that it would not be easy in a foursome, a horror in a threesome, we somehow forgot and set out on a 250-kilometer trip three of us on Friday morning. The third one was Gabo "Jak", who wanted to try KV.
Lifting the antennas and placing them on the rotator turned out to be quite a chore. A miracle took place: and yet it spins! We anchored the mast and unsuspectingly took advantage of the hospitality of the lodge while playing hockey.
He only behaved strangely transverter to 23 cm, which seemed to oscillate after being locked. We didn't even hear the stations we tried. Kingdom for calibrator! However, it remained at home on the table. It wasn't until the next day that I was enlightened. Core! After the 1st subregional, I adjusted the frequency of the oscillator and it did not oscillate. It was enough to gently twist it, put on the oscillator and we were again QRV even at 23cm.
Nezvyk na tímovú prevádzku na viacerých pásmach súbežne spôsobil na začiatku pretekov dosť zmätkov. Prvý problém – nezvyk logovať do počítača sme odstránili jednoducho, druhý – spôsob kooperácie s 2m pracoviskom a tretí – prechod na 23cm boli však pre Jana a SWL Gaba is a heavy nut. Therefore, I was forced to interrupt from time to time pile-up on 2m and putting together what was possible.
I was also not in my skin when I was flying around like that. Despite the fact that it was done playfully before the race QSO to I, not much in the race. As far as mutual QRM goes, it's not that terrible. We used a GaAs FET preamplifier in the PA and no station gave us problems. At the same time, OM3RAL finally aimed only a few hundred meters from us, and even though with little power, they still went. We were probably causing them more trouble. At 70 cm, however, they were already quite wide.
In the evening we discovered that the mast is slightly bent. We adjusted the trio of anchors and laid down. We were hoping that things would pick up a bit in the morning. However, the signals are weak. On 1296 MHz, great misery, the dish is somehow not pointing, you can't call anywhere. Sorry, we were doing OM3RAL….
Bad weather, cold, snow and rain. Smokers don't have to be so useless. We chased ours out, but he immediately came back, let's go see something. That something was this:
It was already clear why the antennas were not pointing. When we touched the mast, there was a shot like from a cannon. The stretched material lacked the proverbial piece before breaking. The whole thing fell apart, one pipe and the handle on the rotator broke. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the antenna was caught by the "chairman".
In reality, we could only conclude that we were packing. Although with a poor result, but rich with a lot of lessons learned, we wrapped it up and ended it in that nasty winter.
- a two-man team can hardly handle three zones and the entire race. Task: ensure a sufficient number of operators
- the antennas must be divided into two masts. 9el.DK7ZB has a 5m long boom and the other antennas are relatively large. Task: purchase a second rotator and repair the mast
- redesign the anchorage. Even if Jano secured a perfect bearing, three anchors are not enough. In two levels of four. Task: buy anchors and make bearings
- divide the workplace into zones of 2 m and above, not on one desk. In the SO category it is an advantage, in the MO category it is a disadvantage. Task: prepare the cabling
- before the race, spend time thoroughly mastering the software. The task: to install a diary for each operator, on which it will be experimentally trained
Nie vždy to skrátka vyjde podľa predstáv. Potešujúce je, že horšie nemôže byť, takže nabudúce to bude určite lepšie, HI. Dopočutia v Memoriále OM3AU/Mikrovlnnom conteste!