VKV PA – June 2021

The plan didn't work out. I used the same setup for this VHF operating session as I did for the last one. Why?

But let's take it step by step. When transmitting from a high point, power is crucial. This is provided by two batteries. One powers the Kenwood TR-751E radio, while the other recharges the netbook via an inverter. Although the manufacturer states that the internal battery should last 6 hours or more when fully charged, under load it lasts less than half that time, so recharging is necessary.

Switching from Battery Power to a Generator

A major change was the introduction of a generator. The Tuson ELC1000 seemed like a good fit—it’s powered by a 4-stroke engine and includes an AVR. At home, I simply added oil and gasoline and tried to start it. It started on the first try.

TOP 10 VHF PA contacts, June 2021

Upon arriving at the hilltop above the village of Horná Súča, I first set up the mast with the antenna. The generator was the last thing I set up. It also started right up on the first try. I plugged in the power source and the netbook charger. There were about 20 minutes left until the start of the VHF operating event. After a while, however, it went silent. A blackout. The generator had shut off. I checked to see if there was a problem and waited a moment. It started right up again. Ten minutes later, though, the blackout happened again. By then I knew something was wrong. So I switched the power supply to the batteries. What’s causing the generator to shut down? I don’t know yet, but I suspect it might be due to too low a power draw. The netbook and TCVR in receive mode have relatively low power consumption, and it’s possible that the engine is being “choked” until it stalls. Probably also because of the AVR, it would be advisable to preload the generator as described by Stano OM8ST

DXCC stations worked on VHF in PA in June 2021

The warm weather likely also contributed to better propagation conditions toward the south compared to a month ago. The signals from several stations were stronger than before; with 9A1N, I apparently also detected airplane scatter. However, I couldn’t verify this because my netbook doesn’t have enough processing power to run demanding programs like AirScout simultaneously with the log and the KST chat.

The KST chat is quite a helpful tool. VHF operators know that if antennas are pointed correctly, the chances of making a contact increase significantly compared to a situation where each station is pointing its antenna in a different direction. For example, I was able to make contact this way with YO5LD from KN5, OK1DOY from JN69, and OK1TDO from JO70. I use wtKST, which I prefer over the classic chat in a browser window.

These contacts were made during the VHF PA in June 2021

 

Higher Number of Multipliers in VHF PA

Thanks to this and better propagation conditions on VHF, my June activity increased the number of multipliers to 18, and there are also more contacts in the log than last time. Relatively few contacts were made on call. The map also shows a smaller number of stations near OK2 stations. It’s a shame we weren’t able to find anyone from the Slovak KN squares again, even though Slavo OM0AS and others were on the band. Maybe next time.

Directional Map of VHF PA Contacts, June 2021

We’ll see what we can achieve next month. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, so there’s always work to be done. The map below shows that there are no stations from the Czech capital or its surroundings in the log. Similarly, coverage along the Hradec Králové–Liberec line is very poor.

Coverage of OK stations in VHF PA, June 2021

The contest log has already been uploaded to Clublog and is also available at https://www.hamradio.hr/vhfrobot/index.php. I think it should be standard practice for every amateur radio operator to publicly post their log—what do you think?

OM0AAO’s log from VHF PA

date	time	Call	Mode	Sent		Rec		WWL	claimed QRB	calculated QRB	2-way CC
210620	0801	OE6V	1	59	001	59	035	JN76XU	280	280	✓
210620	0802	OK2BSP	1	59	002	59	003	JN99AK	52	52
210620	0803	OM3WKX	1	59	003	59	004	JN98DR	37	37
210620	0806	OL70KRT	1	59	004	59	004	JN99BK	53	53
210620	0808	OM6CV	1	59	005	59	005	JN99LD	76	76
210620	0810	OK1KTW	1	59	006	59	022	JN89IW	140	140
210620	0812	OK2MAJ	1	59	007	59	004	JN89SG	45	45
210620	0822	HA50VQ	1	59	008	55	032	JN87GJ	206	206	✓
210620	0825	9A2DM	1	59	009	59	034	JN86KD	326	326	✓
210620	0829	OM3KGW	1	59	010	59	027	JN99CH	42	42
210620	0834	OM3KHT	1	59	011	59	029	JN99JC	63	63
210620	0836	OM6TX	1	59	012	59	019	JN88MK	91	91	✓
210620	0837	OM4MX	1	59	013	59	021	JN87WV	121	121
210620	0839	OM5LD	1	59	014	59	026	JN98AH	75	75
210620	0840	OM3CPW	1	59	015	59	017	JN88OD	108	108
210620	0840	OM4KK	1	59	016	59	013	JN88WS	24	24
210620	0844	OK2DTF	1	59	017	59	009	JN89QG	54	54
210620	0845	OK2BXI	1	59	018	59	020	JN89SJ	56	56
210620	0847	OK2VWM	1	59	019	59	018	JN89PP	89	89
210620	0852	OL1B	1	59	020	59	048	JO80IB	151	151
210620	0854	OK1XBF	1	59	021	59	040	JN69MJ	361	361
210620	0855	HG6Z	1	59	022	59	072	JN97WV	186	186	✓
210620	0858	OK2KZO	1	59	023	59	038	JN88AU	141	141
210620	0859	OK2IGG	1	59	024	59	091	JN79QJ	194	194
210620	0900	9A2AE	1	59	025	59	074	JN86HF	322	322	✓
210620	0906	YO5LD	1	59	026	59	067	KN05NR	433	433	✓
210620	0907	OM7CM	1	59	027	59	014	JN98NR	90	90
210620	0909	OK2BMJ	1	59	028	59	007	JN89VC	19	19
210620	0911	SN9W	1	59	029	59	069	JO90PP	209	209	✓
210620	0913	S53MR	1	59	030	59	071	JN86AO	301	301	✓
210620	0916	9A0BB	1	59	031	59	132	JN85EI	421	421	✓
210620	0920	9A3SM	1	59	032	59	076	JN85FW	357	357	✓
210620	0923	S58W	1	59	033	59	021	JN65XM	489	489
210620	0926	SN9A	1	59	034	59	026	JO90OI	178	178	✓
210620	0934	OK1DOY	1	59	035	59	088	JO60UQ	360	360
210620	0936	OM3CVV	1	59	036	59	017	JN88TR	37	37
210620	0943	OK1DOL	1	59	037	59	117	JN69OU	358	358	✓
210620	0945	OM3RM	1	59	038	59	070	JN88QA	115	115
210620	0948	9A4P	1	59	039	59	075	JN85OO	380	380	✓
210620	0950	9A1E	1	59	040	59	107	JN85QT	355	355	✓
210620	0953	OK2KUB	1	59	041	59	062	JN89BO	151	151
210620	0955	OK2RSC	1	59	042	59	011	JN89QH	57	57
210620	0957	OM6AKO	1	59	043	59	011	JN99LB	74	74
210620	1002	9A1N	1	59	044	59	112	JN85LI	411	411	✓
210620	1006	OM3WMA	1	59	045	59	080	JN88RT	41	41
210620	1010	9A1VZD	1	59	046	59	091	JN86BE	340	340	✓
210620	1014	9A0V	1	59	047	59	094	JN95PE	434	434	✓
210620	1015	OM5CC	1	59	048	59	030	JN98JD	112	112
210620	1019	YU7ACO	1	59	049	59	077	KN05RD	502	502	✓
210620	1020	OM3TGE	1	59	050	59	031	JN98FV	38	38
210620	1021	OK2BSN	1	59	051	59	030	JN99CS	90	90
210620	1022	OM4AJH	1	59	052	59	012	JN88XR	28	28	U
210620	1026	OM2RL	1	59	053	59	067	JN88NR	68	68
210620	1026	OK2VZE	1	59	054	59	123	JN89JM	104	104
210620	1029	OM3TFP	1	59	055	59	006	JN98EV	32	32	U
210620	1031	OM3MW	1	59	056	59	011	JN98BX	13	13
210620	1032	OK2VLT	1	59	057	59	101	JN99CS	90	90
210620	1034	OK2KCN	1	59	058	59	106	JN89OI	69	69
210620	1039	OK1KKI	1	59	059	59	097	JN79NF	209	209	✓
210620	1041	OM2DT	1	59	060	59	039	JN88QQ	54	54
210620	1046	OK1TDO	1	59	061	55	068	JO70TA	205	205
210620	1049	OK5SE	1	59	062	59	061	JN89DP	142	142	✓
210620	1054	OM1OW	1	59	063	59	016	JN98HS	54	54
210620	1055	OM3WAN	1	59	064	59	007	JN88VP	40	40	U
210620	1057	OK2BJW	1	59	065	59	014	JN89SM	68	68	U
210620	1059	OK2BPN	1	59	066	59	038	JN89UF	34	0	er