BARS members Ron, KO0Z and Herbert AF4JF made plans for the contest weekend. On Saturday, 19 August Ron put into play a "shoot and scoot" tactic. He activated four different locations. The first was east of Virden, IL EM59dm, the second was a hilltop farm near Raymond, IL, EM59fh, the third was Ohlman cemetery EM59ji and the fourth was Gillespie, EM59bd. Herbert spent most of the day near I-55 and IL Route 140, outside of Hamel, IL EM58bv.
Surprisingly, Ron, KO0Z wasn't able to communicate with Herbert, AF4JF from EM59dm to EM58bv, a path of only 41.2 miles. There must have been some obstruction. The path to Bill, K0AWU was blocked by a coal mine gob hill to the west. Zack was on the move from his EM50rl hilltop site.
Next Ron went to a hilltop farm near Raymond, IL, EM59fa with fabulous views in all directions except for northwest, north and northeast due to cornfields. The east, south and west views are great. If soybeans are planted next year, then the northern views should be excellent as well. KO0Z worked AF4JF in EM58 bv with good signals both ways. A path of 33.9 miles. Next, KO0Z tried to work Bill, K0AWU in EM39ta without any luck on either side. A path of 153.5 miles.
At Ohlman cemetery, EM59ji, Ron worked Herbert AF4JF. still at EM58bv, a path of 47.9 miles, with strong signals both ways. KO0Z tried working Ron, W9ZIH in EN51nv, a distance of 185.8 miles, and both ops were able to hear one another, but W9ZIH wasn't able to copy KO0Z's grid. Drats. A half-houir later, KO0Z tried again with similar results. In the meantime, Ron copied the WB9PNU/b at S-5 and its telemetry indicated 1.19 watt output, 12.94 VDC, 111.76 F beacon enclosure temp and a PA temp of 107.84 F. By this time Zack, W9SZ arrived at Ohlman cemetery. set up about 10 feet away from KO0Z and with many repeats he was able to successfully complete a two-way with Ron, W9ZIH! At 12:52, Ron worked Jim, W9SNR in EN51xr for a distance of 175 miles! Afterwards, Ron KO0Z drove 2.2 km from Zack's location and worked him before heading to Gillespie, IL EM59bd and Zack went on to Dow, IL EM49ua. Unfortunately, Zack had a hill in the direction of Gillespie and even though they were only 24 miles apart, they couldn't hear each other.
Ron's plans included activating a high spot with views to the west from on top of the bluffs overlooking Grafton, IL EM48sx, but the hot, humid sunny day was taking its toll. Herbert, AF4JF already called it a day, Zack, W9SZ promised a friend near Carbondale, IL that he'd be there by 8 pm and by this time it was already after 6 pm. Bill, K0AWU was back at the farm so there wasn't too many folks to work and to be perfectly honest, KO0Z's face was sunburned, not to mention, tired as well. So he wrapped things up from EM59bd and headed the 30 miles back home to Girard, IL to prepare for Sunday.
On Sunday, 20 August, Ron, KO0Z, Debbie, KC9ULA and Roman, KD9COA participated in the second day of the contest. Our first stop was at Edwardsville, IL ( EM48xs/EM59as) overlooking the Mississippi River flood plain towards St. Louis but not after a long delay to get there because IDOT closed I-270 westbound lanes for repaving which caused Ron some frustration. Herbert, AF4JF and Rich, N0PQU were set up outside of Kingdom City, MO, EM38xw and Bill was QRV from "Cow Hill" in EM39ka.Meanwhile as Herbert and Rich waited for KO0Z they worked Bill, K0AWU. Ron wasn't able to work Herbert, a distance of 95.5 miles or Bill a path of 167.1 miles. By this time, Ron was feeling cursed. Zack, W9SZ was set-up near Carbondale, IL but KO0Z didn't try to work him because he would have been aiming his dish at an apartment building only 50 feet away. Darn the luick. Ron did have successfully reading the WB9PNU/b about 23 miles away with telemetry of 1.26 watts out, 12.9 VDC, beacon enclosure temp of 78 F and a PA temp of 96 F.
Next stop was New Florence, MO, EM48 gv by the water tower, but what looked good on Google maps turned out to not be so good, so on to Danville, MO, EM48fv. at the truck stop rest area. Herbert was31.6 miles away and Bill was 90.2 miles away. Ron was shooting into some brush and the ridge on the other side of the big dip in I-70 near Mineola, MO may have been too high. No signals were heard.
On to Mineola EM49ev and I-70 exit 155 but trees, trees and more trees prevented any clear, unobstructed paths to the west. Ron scoured the area, went to Fulton and still wasn't able to find a suitable site. By this time we all wanted lunch at the Iron Skillet in Kingdom City, MO and Ron was there, but still no suitable westward site. Giving it the "old college try and with the patience of both Debbie and Roman, KO0Z did find a site with a view to the west from EM48aw near the University of MO prairie research lab. At 1:50 pm, KO0Z, KC9ULA and KD9COA worked Herbert, AF4JF and Rich N0PQU (5.3 miles) on CW and SSB but still no luck with Bill, K0AWU. So far, a somewhat rewarding, but very frustrating, disappointing day.
We gathered for lunch at the Iron Skillet in Kingdom City, MO for good food and to compare notes. It was great seeing Herbert and Rich. After lunch, Herbert and Rich returned home. Ron, Debbie and Roman continued west and went to Herbert's spot at EM38xw and finally, Ron KO0Z was finally able to put Bill, K0AWU into the log at 4:05 pm for a distance of 63 miles.Both Debbie and Roman were able to exchange SSB QSOs with Bill. By this time, Ron's Yaesu FT817 was acting strangely. Frequency split operation and problems switching between CW and SSB. At one point, Ron accidentally turned off his battery booster and his signal was drifting until he realized the problem and turned it back on and the drifting stopped. Repeated stops, set-ups and tear down's was beginning to take its toll on KO0Z.
Finally, Ron, Debbie and Roman made it to Centralia EM39wf to visit some friends, but before heading out to dinner, off to the east a line of thunderstorms extended between New Florence, MO to Hermon, MO. Ron called Bill on the phone to try some rainscatter. Ron's FT 817 was still on the blink. Perhaps the heat and the humidity along with operator error were to blame. Both Ron and Bill could see the Tstorms and we targeted the tallest one with an anvil forming. KO0Z could hear K0AWU"s strong rainscatter signal, but Ron's FT817 would not send CW. Drats. Not giving up, Bill suggested FM, but Ron's FM had a offset to it, but both he and Ron were able to successfully exchange call signs and grid squares for a distance of 55 miles between them. The actual radar indicated storm was 43 miles from Ron and 90 miles from Bill! Not too shabby!
Upon returning home, Ron, KO0Z looked at his cw key and wire, but found no broken connections. He couldn't find out what was wrong with his FT-817. He did a factory reset and his FT-817 is once again working properly. He wishes he would have had the documentation with him to have done this out in the field. Lessons learned.
A big shout out to Bill, K0AWS, Herbert, AF4JF and Rich, N0PQU for their patience, hard work, encouragement and sunburns!
We're planning now for Round 2 of the contest September.16 and 17! Leapfrog strategy is being discussed. Possibly up the Mississippi River Road and MO Route 79 or on to Herman, MO with a stop at Stone Hill Winery!
Hilltop farm outside of Raymond, IL EM59fh looking west.
Hilltop farm, EM58fh looking towards AF4JF in EM58bv
Ohlman cemetery, EM58ji looking towards EM58bv
Ohlman cemetery looking northeast towards Jim, W9SNR in EN51xr
Zack, W9SZ on site at Ohlman cemetery, EM59ji
Gillespie, EM59bd site
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