9M6AAC becomes Spratly "dry run"
Eagle Plateau is the new home of 9M6AAC as the station that used to be quite active at Hillview Gardens is slowly going to be transferred. EP, as it is known, is at 2700 feet and literally is about a 100 acre plateau that drops off on all sides with very steep drops. It could someday be a world-class DX location from 9M6. Alfons, 9M6MU, has one heck of a location there.Currently, EP has a 25 foot tower and a TH3 on it. It is located virtually in the center of the 100 acres and has little if any terrain enhancement in my opinion. The rotor has gone bad and needs to be replaced. There were no other antennas available before I got there and the tallest tree is 30 feet. I had shipped much of my Spratly antennas to EP prior so it was waiting for me to unpack. Unfortunately, I just had the one day and it was hot. However, my wife, Christine, newly licensed as KB1PQN, was there to help so we quickly went about assessing the situation. The TH3 worked great on 15 and 10 but was a somewhat high SWR in the CW band on 20. There was a mast above the TH3 which would allow a tie off at 32 feet with rope, and I had plenty of rope. So it was decided that we would put pulleys up at 32 feet and use that to raise the 160 and 80 antennas. 40 – 10 was to be additionally provided by a Force 12 40XK.
The plan was to go simple SO2R. No filters and “dual ganged” receiver outputs into one headphone. I would pick off easy mults on radio 2 while running. That was the plan anyway.
Well, it started off okay, with the 160M loaded vertical (50 ft) going up at about a 45 deg angle and the 80M half wave loaded vertical (50 feet) becoming a ¼ wave loaded vertical (25 feet) and going up basically vertical. 4 radials were installed for 160 and 8 radials for 80. Then it was off to the 40XK.
The Force 12 40XK was to be used on 40 and 20. Well, it went together mechanically, but had infinite SWR. I checked coax and all connections and couldn’t get it going. I was running out of time and hadn’t gotten my radios playing yet. So, I decided to throw up a 40M dipole at 25 feet to have at least one antenna on all bands and headed to the radios to set them up.
The radios were my IC-706 (which will be used for Spratly) and 9M6MU’s IC-756Pro. The headset patch had been tested before as had the keyer from the notebook. Everything worked fine there. But, I got hit with an unexpected feedback problem and couldn’t run higher than 50W without locking up the radios. The issue was not helped by the fact that EP is running on an ungrounded battery powered grid with an inverter. So, I decided to just go into the contest SO1R and have a go at it and made a note to bring some torroids for the Spratly trip.
The conditions from 9M6 were just awful especially with 100W and this antenna portfolio. I CQ’d endlessly in many spots on 20M at the start with very poor results. EU was still strong with S5 – 7 sigs and would respond to my S & P calls but I just couldn’t find a spot and get a run.
I then went to 15M and ran JA as EU finally shut off around 0130Z. The JA run was fine and put about 80Qs in the log for an hour. I went to 10M and heard and worked a JA and BY and figured I would try and run 10 since both the stations were S4 – 5 on the meter. I got one call from a JA, who I saw later spotted me, but never got another response.
Back to 15M for some more JA but now not as plentiful. EU opened up around 06Z but again, I could S & P but not run. I tried running many many times at places all over the band, including up high at or above 14.100 and never got much going.
Then I lost power. We scrambled to get a generator going. That worked but created noise on the bands. So I would periodically go on and off the generator and the battery powered grid to have power but no noise. I had my best success on 40M actually using the dipole at 25 feet and had a great 150 Q run into EU at the early afternoon EU time as the band opened.
After one too many on and off of the power and frustration of the events and conditions, I decided to get some sleep and wake up for the NA 40M LP opening possibility at 2130Z. That was not happening for sure as I woke up, but 20M did provide some good JA and Western half of the US openings.
I also started to become concerned that I could be in real trouble for Spratly if I left the next day and still didn’t know what my 40XK problem was so I decided that this contest expedition was now a “prep for Spratly expedition”. Christine and I then took the next 5 hours and not only found and fixed the 40XK problem (bad pigtail coax from the factory) but also tuned and marked the antenna so it would be “good to go” out of the suitcase at Spratly. Which it now is and worked fine for a number of Qs on 20 and 40 later in the contest.
So as I went into the Sunday afternoon, I was actually more DXing than contesting now. Remember that Spratly is “right around the corner” from 9M6. Sunday afternoon in 9M6 is about 0800Z. So I fired the 40XK up and CQ’d on 40M and had some nice west coast W/VE and JA and UA9/0 runs. I then decided to sweep the band and work whoever I heard. About 50% could hear me. I did this from 0930Z – 1200Z. Never hearing ANY Caribbean stations, never hearing ANY W1/2/3/4 stations, never hearing ANY Central America stations. Not even HC8N. Unbelievable.
Then it was off to 80M and I found that the 80M antenna didn’t do badly. I had a small run of JAs and worked a number of VE/W West Coast stations. That antenna should do much better on the beach at Spratly. Later, it was off to 160M where I was able to work as far away as KH6 and JA. Again, I believe that this antenna will do way better over the beach and I am hopeful that the 40 foot bamboo pole is still there at Layang Layang and can be put to good use for 80 and 160.
I was up again at 2000Z to finish the contest DXing and making some CQers happy with a mult, or double, from 9M6 on 40 and 80. I heard and worked K1AR on 40M long path, hear K1LZ but he couldn’t hear me. Worked a number of Midwest and West Coast US stations. Never heard KC1XX or W3LPL or NQ4I anywhere, on any band! I did finally work K3LR who called in while I was enjoying a reasonable run on 20M about 90 mins before the end of the contest.
I also never heard HC8N or 6Y1V or PJ4E or 6W1RY or many other big stations.
W1KM, Greg, said “You know Ed, you might as well have been on Mars because I never heard you”. Greg, I felt like I was on Mars. But at least I have the Spratly stuff ready to go.
Ed N1UR
posted by Ed at
7:59 AM
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