We set up at the QTH of N4OWG on Capehart Road near Papillion.
Equipment was an Icom 706MKII into a Hygain tape dipole and a 3 element
2 meter beam. Operation was all day Saturday and Sunday, with operators
at the radios just about continuously, going home Saturday evening.
Band conditions and antennas confined operations mostly to 40, 20, and 2
meters (146.52 and 147.48 simplex). Looks like approximately 60 QSO's,
with maybe about 1,000 points.
Observations:
- It became a contest convention to cluster around frequencies ending in
50 (3.850, 7.250, 14.250, etc.)
- A small number of stations dominated the bands and ran pileups all
weekend. It very quickly got to the point that all HF stations
calling were duplicates.
- In the face of duplicates, setting out and calling CQ ourselves
yielded a small number of contacts. Having a large exchange didn't
necessarily guarantee a pileup of our own (Our more modestly powered
operations didn't get a lot of responses to our CQ's, despite our AF35
or AF50 exchange for K0AIR, and distinctive calls for both stations).
- Several people pointed out (jokingly, of course) that the way to "win"
this contest was give out an AF1 and work a lot of high-value stations.
- There were at least 4 AIR callsigns heard, including W4AIR, K3AIR,
K9AIR, and, of course, K0AIR.
Thanks go to the following:
Sid, W0WWH (operating and AF50 exchange)
John, N4OWG (loaning backyard and antennas, setup/teardown support, AF35
exchange, and some *brief* operating in between other
domestic obligations :-)
John's wife, Mi Yong, for her patience, coffee, and food
Peggy, N0UEA (operating, logging, and loan of laptop)
Frank, AA0ZP (operating, teardown support, and loan of 12x12 screen tent)
as well as one or two others who stopped by, whose names and calls I may
have forgotten.
Clay, can you do the synopsis for K0GRL? Sounds like you had a very
successful operation (possibly #1 in Nebraska when logs are finally
submitted). Clay, WA6LBU, deserves much credit for getting approval to
work at the Elkhorn site (and in giving an excellent tour of the
facilities, including the new Scope Command equipment).
73, Paul, K3FU
SACMARC President
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