LRS members and friends took part again in RSGB VHF-UHF NFD from our cherished location on a hill behind Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries & Galloway with a clear view south down the Irish Sea.
Arriving on the Friday evening we pitched our tents and then went down into Gatehouse for our traditional Team Dinner at the Masonic Arms.
On Saturday we set up the 3 stations and began operating mid-afternoon on 6m, 2m and 70cm. Dinner was an extensive BBQ prepared by Colin GM4HWO.
On Sunday the 6m beam was lowered and converted to 4m. Operation continued on 4m, 2m and 70cm until closure in the mid-afternoon.
Photos by Colin GM4HWO, Andy MM0FMF, Brian GM8BJF, Pete GM4BYF & James GM4WZP.
L-R: Danny GM6CMQ, Colin GM4HWO, Pete GM4BYF, Kay GM6KAY,
Brian GM4DIJ, Mike GM4IGS (Troon), James GM4WZP.
(Photo by waitress Carmella).
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Summary by Colin GM4HWO:
A brilliant weekend, thankfully the weather was very kind to us – a few short showers, nothing to worry about. Kay did a sterling job of managing the erection / take down of tents – rapid progress on the Friday afternoon, this made such a difference to the success of an organised set-up / take-down
Several people were on site very early afternoon. Again that made a huge impact. The station leads were all very organised. Mike and Brian DIJ are always on the top of their game. Brian BJF and Pete BYF well prepared and all went to plan. Dan had 2m well under control; turned up early, very well organised and his guys, mast gin set-up was impressive – he nailed it in one attempt . I like the 9700 simple station – the audio quality was very good. I was on the last half hour on the Sunday and was called by G4DEE afterwards complimenting us on signal strength and audio quality – Dan sported a pair of Heil Pro 7 headset / mics – amazing quality – I have checked the price – expensive !!!, more than a week’s holiday in Portugal !
Social time was good, brilliant team meal Friday evening at the Masonic Arms in Gatehouse, great banter and Saturday BBQ and pancakes all went down well. 40 bacon rolls eaten over 2 breakfasts !
So thanks to everybody who turned up to support the weekend. I really enjoyed it and the banter. Thanks to SWL Ranald for helping with the set-up / take-down – a safe pair of hands.
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James GM4WZP & Danny GM6CMQ at dinner.
Saturday – good morning!
The hard work of setting up the stations.
Erecting the tents, coordinated by Kay GM6KAY.
Setting up.
James GM4WZP & SWL Ranald.
Saturday breakfast – Colin GM4HWO – best bacon rolls!
Breakfast group.
James GM4WZP, the intrepid photographer.
Working on a beam rotator.
Site activity.
70cm ops: Grahame GM4UPB & Pete GM4BYF.
70cm ops: Grahame GM4UPB & Brian GM8BJF.
The 2m station.
2m ops: Andy MM0FMF & Danny GM6CMQ
(also Colin GM4HWO)
2m ops: Danny GM6CMQ & Andy MM0FMF.
Colin GM4HWO on 2m.
The 6m/4m station.
(Beam lowered & converted from 6m to 4m on the Sunday morning).
6m / 4m ops: Brian GM4DIJ & Mike GM4IGS.
James GM4WZP
“In my humble opinion – we’re having a great time”.
SWL Ranald helping Colin GM4HWO prepare the Saturday evening BBQ.
Saturday evening BBQ – kebabs.
Meat & corn-on-the-cob.
“Colin the Caterer”.
Nice meal!
Saturday evening BBQ group:
James GM4WZP, Grahame GM4UPB, Kay GM6KAY, SWL Ranald, Brian GM4DIJ
Brian GM8BJF (hic) & Andy MM0FMF.
Saturday sunset.
Andy: “well that was a pretty good day”.
James installing camera for final group shot.
R: Andy MM0FMF, Brian GM4DIJ, Danny GM6CMQ, Colin GM4HWO, SWL Ranald,
F: Grahame GM4UPB, Kay GM6KAY, Brian GM8BJF.
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PROVISIONAL RESULTS
50MHz (Saturday)
Operators Brian GM4DIJ & Mike GM4IGS.
TX/RX Equipment : IC7300
TX Power (W) : 100W
Antenna : 9 element
Antenna Height : 10m
Height asl : 192m
Number of valid QSOs : 36
Claimed total score : 11456
Best DX : F4VPC in IN87VV at 790km
Before the start we had an antenna match problem. There was a bad
connection due to corrosion between the driven element and the contact. Myself and Mike fixed it quickly using a wire soldered to a brass screw tapped in to the DE.
Block and tackle for antenna raising didn’t work as the cord was far too short. We did it the scary hard way with an extended gin pole – Ok it looks good on the video.
Propagation was very poor . We had no Sporadic E except for a brief
Spanish beacon that popped up.
We’d pretty well worked everybody in the 1st couple of hours or so. We failed to work HA2NP on meteor scatter after some attempts.
50MHz QSO map.
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70MHz (Sunday)
Operators Brian GM4DIJ & Mike GM4IGS.
TX/RX Equipment : IC7300
TX Power (W) : 50W
RX Equipment : IC7300
Antenna : 11 element
Antenna Height : 10m
Height asl : 192m
Number of valid QSOs : 45
Claimed total score : 14205
Best DX : G5LK/P in JO01QD at 556km
No equipment problems, but I’d better check the DE.
Antenna swap went swiftly and had time for coffee before putting it back up for 9am . The wind was less strong which helped.
Propagation was poor and much use was made of CW. Most contacts were again made in the first 2 hours.
70MHz QSO map.
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2m Station – Sat & Sun
Operators: Danny GM6CMQ, Andy MM0FMF & Colin GM4HWO.
Rig: IC-9700 barefoot
Power: 100W
Antenna: 2m 17 ele Yagi @ 10m agl
Countries: 6 countries,
QSOs: 133 QSOs
2m best DX was F6HMQ at 832 km in JN18GP
144MHz QSO map.
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70cm Station – Sat & Sun
Operators: Pete GM4BYF & Grahame GM4UPB
TX Equipment : Icom IC9700
>Solid state 100W amplifier
TX Power (W)
RX Equipment
Antenna
Antenna Height agl; :8m Antenna Height asl : 195m
Number of valid QSOs : 45
Claimed number of QSO points : 14060
70cm best DX was F6DKW at 808 km in JN18CS
432MHz QSO map.
………………more photos etc will be added as received at GM3PSP.