Meteorologists announced a cooling for the April VKV PA round. And maybe even a record. A temperature of 2.5°C welcomes me on Černecki vrch and a decent breeze. But I have news, which I would like to test. That was KST4Contest.
KST4Contest
This client by Marc DO5AMF for KST chat allows synchronization against several journals (detects stations made and QRG) + has an AirScout connection. What can it do??
- the table shows at each station in how many minutes there will be an airplane scatter QSO and in what chance
- shows the frequency in the table, where according to reports the station is
- stations are marked in bold in the table, which make a sked in the direction of me
- news can be pulled up by clicking on the station, received/sent by the given station. You can see if he is communicating, who communicates with her, etc
- stations made can be filtered out. MEGA! If he is in the cottage 150 stations, then I only see those, which I miss, for example 30, which is much clearer
- can be filtered by azimuth. For example, I give a challenge to the south, so I filter and only reach stations from the south. I don't have to search through everyone logged into the chat
- a variable can be inserted into macros, which reads the current frequency of the TCVR
- etc..
Combined with distance filtering, logged in, azimuth or notification on the sked in my direction it looked excellent. Although I don't like JAVA applications, this was done by a radio amateur, who knew how to control the chat.
It is a certain disadvantage, that KST4Contest requires a large screen area. I pulled out an old 15-inch LCD monitor, on which I placed N1MM+ and PSTRotator. This monitor has a lower resolution than a laptop monitor. It worked very well.
What to say about KST4Contest? You definitely won me over. If you want to try it too, application and manual are on https://do5amf.funkerportal.de/
VHF PA - April
Thanks to the shift to summer time, I leave the house at a comfortable time before eight thirty. A few drops will also fall along the way. The wind blows the trees. It is clear, that it will be windy on the hill. It was also windy, and properly! The video shows Černecký vrch with VKV PA antennas shortly after 1 p.m. Despite the sunshine, the temperature is only 4.5°C:
Great, However? Build DK7ZB yagi antenna morning, when it was only 2.5°C it was even more fun. I struggled the most with the anchor ropes, which the wind wanted to keep twisting. Even the preparation of the broadcasting table was not quite easy, because holding the car door and simultaneously maneuvering the device is quite difficult.
As I mentioned, so a 15-inch LCD monitor was added. However, I had time to spare. Adjust the azimuth of the antennas into the wind one last time and that's it. However, the strip is relatively deserted. But 144,390 However, I can hear MHz I4GHG quite well, so hopefully it won't be bad.
I'll retune the band and try a few connections. Since I want to try KST4Contest, so I'm embarking on a challenge to 144,394 MHz. It alerts me IK4GNG, that he is already on the frequency. It doesn't happen often, that on 144 You are interfering with someone's MHz, who is almost 650 kilometers away, connections, which he does. I am different IK4GNG he forgot to do it later and so this time it is missing from the diary.
But he added IK4ZHH, What is 745 kilometers and thus the longest connection. It was also easy to do IQ4SC of almost 700 kilometers. But I can't connect with Michael DB7MM/p. We tried several skeds and the connection was successful only in the end.
I had no luck with Romanian stations. I've tried sending a sked request multiple times. He surprised YO5DAS, who called himself and secured the multiplier from KN17. However, many stations do not respond spontaneously to the call.
KST4Contest works great. It also brings connection with SP8WJW bouncing off the plane. It was visible, that Piotr knows this way. He writes a moment before the connection, that he hasn't called yet, in a minute, when there is a reflection. It was exactly like that. He called briefly and the whole connection very quickly, without repetitions. Thanks again for the KN09!
Stations from E7 always make a great effort to connect. I did four stations in a row: E75DSB, E73PS, E70SIC a E71EZC. In the final hour, I appreciate the KST4Contest filter, which hides stations, which are already in the diary. Finally, the connection with DB7MM/P.
Succeeded 92 contacts, well until 28 locator squares, which gives 9324 points. However, several stations in the diary are also new thanks to KST4Contest.
The antennas are dismantled in the wind, which I am not looking forward to at all. After three quarters of an hour, everything is packed and stored. Home at last!
