Location
We set up our stations about 200 yards apart so that the 40m harmonic wouldn't interfere with the 20m station. Michael set up his operating position under the gazebo on the opposite side of the road from the inflatable dome over the tennis club, and I walked through the snow about 200 yards and set up. I could have used a pair of snowshoes!
Satellite View
You can see the location on google maps by clicking here or by saving either ve3wmb or va3sie and opening it in google earth.
VA3SIE Station
My station was an Elecraft KX1, with optional 30m module, KXAT1 internal tuner, and KXPD1 paddle, powered by 8 duracell recgargeable batteries, producing 2 Watts. I used Sony Fontopia earbuds and a small pocket book and pen for logging. I used a camping chair settled into deep snow. I had about 1 foot clearance above the snow. I kept the batteries in a radio shack battery holder in my pocket to keep them warm.
VA3SIE FYBO Station (Click on picture for full size image)
VE3WMB Station
Michael was using an Elecraft K1, with 40m/30m/20m and 17m and optional KAT1 internal tuner, powered by a sealed lead acid battery, producing 5 Watts. Michael was using Palm PDA with keyboard for logging, and a 6 memory K12 keyer.
VE3WMB FYBO Station (Click on picture for full size image)
VA3SIE Antenna
My antenna was a 20m full wave or 40m half wave (64 feet) inverted vee dipole made from #26AWG teflon coated wire and fed in the center (32 feet) with 22 feet of Radio Shack 300 ohm TV twinlead. The apex of the antenna was at 18 feet, attached to a Shakespeare Wonderpole TPS-20 20ft fishing pole which was held vertical by a four foot length of PVC pipe with 3 steel rods attached to the outside by jubilee clips, and sunk into the ground. The ends of the dipole were tied off to nearby pine trees.
The EZNEC model for this antenna is here.
Looking at the 20m azimuth and elevation plots, this antenna produces maximum useful gain broadside to the dipole, from ~4dBi gain at a 30 degree elevation, through ~6dBi gain at 60 degrees to ~7dBi gain at 90 degrees elevation. There is a ~3dBi gain difference in the 60 degree azimuth plot for the broadside direction compared to off the end of the antenna.
The 40m pattern is also shown on the plots. There is less gain on 40m (~2dBi at 30 degrees, ~3dBi at 60 degrees and ~4dBi at 90 degrees) and the gain lobes have flattened out more in the azimuth plot compared to 20m, there is only about 1dBi difference. This is because I had the apex of the antenna mounted well below a quarter wave at 40m.
20m Azimuth & Elevation Plots
The modelled impedance at the feed point:
SWR Sweep
...indicates that the antenna is almost resonant on 40m, 30m, 15m and 10m, and should be easily matched to 20m. I was able to get a 1.0:1 match on both 20m and 40m.
VE3WMB Antenna
Michael's antenna was 25ft #26AWG teflon coated wire running horizontally to a Shakespeare Wonderpole TPS-20 20ft fishing pole then going vertically to the top of the pole. The pole was held vertically by a buddipole tripod with a wooden dowel over which the fishing pole was connected. A set of counterpoise wires made from computer ribbon cable were splayed out along the ice underneath the antenna.
The EZNEC model for this antenna is here.
This antenna is a vertical; it has a low angle of radiation. At resonance (around 9MHz) its gain approaches that of an isotropic dipole (0dBi). At 40m it is a couple of dB down from that gain. As with all verticals the trick is in the signal to noise ratio. Both 20m and 40m went long early in the contest so the vertical was ideally suited. Noise from local meteoralogical events was attenuated by the elevation radiation pattern.
20m Azimuth & Elevation Plots
The modelled impedance at the feed point:
SWR Sweep
...indicates that the antenna is resonant near 30m but the 20m and 40m impedance should be matchable with the KAT1. In practive a 1.5:1 match was achieved on both 40m and a 1.0:1 match on 20m.
VA3SIE Log
I operated the whole contest on 20m because Michael was operating on 40m. I did take a listen and noted several high power RTTY stations and Russian morse beacons so I'm glad I was on 20m! The first station I heard was the KK6MC multi/multi, strong on 14061kHz. I had forgotten what information to exchange and therefore I didn't take note of the name or temp. Great signal though!
Contest Contacts
Next I heard a very strong signal! It was VA3RKM, Bob, in the City of Ottawa. This time I did remember to ask for the temperature and name, although I knew it was Bob of course. Next I heard a QRL? on 14059... bad QSB, but it was Paul W0RW/PM at the North Pole. The first time I have worked a /PM station and that really made my day; Thanks, Paul!
After Paul I tuned up the band and sent out some CQ calls, and a station came back and literally blew my ears off! It was Michael sitting 200 yards away. He meant to dial the power down to 1W but actually he was still using 5W :)... the contact went something like this:
CQ CQ FYBO DE VA3SIE/P K... VA3SIE DE VE3WMB KN... OUCH HI HI... etc...
After I turned my RF and AF gain back up, I caught Rick with the South Wahkiakum Contest Club (click on the link to see thier story), and Randy K7TQ (click on the link to see Randy's story), both were in washington state.
The wind started to get stronger later in the afternoon... my breath started misting and my fingers started getting stiff; My last contact for the afternoon was with Dick W0NTA in Colorado (click the link for Dick's story) . I think I was sending many errant dits and dahs by this point as my brain was quite frozen. Well done Dick for pulling me in.
Log:
(All 20m)
| Time | Call | SPC | RST In | RST Out | Power | Name | Temp (F) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Note: I got quite a lot of details wrong :( | |||||||
| 1855 | KK6MC | NM | 559 | 559 | 5W | ??* | ??* |
| 1902 | VA3RKM | ON | 599 | 599 | 5W | Bob | 70F |
| 1917 | W0RW/PM | CO | 539 | 559 | 5W | Paul | 50F |
| 2015 | VE3WMB | ON | 599 | 599 | 5W | Michael | 38F |
| 2032 | W7LW* | WA | 559 | 559 | 5W | Rick* | 33F* |
| 2040 | K7TQ | WA | 559 | 559 | 3W | Randy | 65F |
| 2048 | W0NTA | CO | 449 | 559 | 5W | Dick | 48F* |
VE3WMB Log
Michael had the best contact of the afternoon with his low angle of radiation vertical. As Michael was taking a break on 30m, he made contact with ER1DA Val, in Moldova. Wow!
| IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band | Date | Time | Call | RST | SPC | Name | Power | Temp | RST | SPC | Name | Power | Temp |
| 40m | 02/04/2006 | 18:51:41 | K1LGQ | 559 | NH | Dennis | 5W | 39F | 559 | ON | Mike | 5W | 38F |
| 40m | 02/04/2006 | 19:05:58 | WA8REI | 589 | MI | Ken | 5W | 33F | 559 | ON | Mike | 5W | 38F |
| 20m | 02/04/2006 | 19:40:12 | KK6MC | 559 | NM | Jim | 5W | 55F | 559 | ON | Mike | 5W | 38F |
| 20m | 02/04/2006 | 20:04:54 | K4MF | 559 | FL | Gary | 3W | 62F | 559 | ON | Mike | 5W | 38F |
| 20m | 02/04/2006 | 20:15:05 | VA3SIE | 599 | ON | Martin | 3W | 38F | 559 | ON | Mike | 5W | 38F |
DX Contacts
(Version: 2.0 February 7, 2006)
