“ September 9th 2007 Another stab at a 2m contest saw me having a crack at the 2m UK Activity Contest (UKAC) between 9.00pm and 10.30pm local on Tuesday evening – it actually started at 8.00pm but personal issues kept me away from the radio, in fact the house, until well after it started. So I thought it might be fun to compare conditions with the weekend contest. Absolutely no dx whatsoever did I hear! There was some about though as the claimed scores section on the RSGB VHFCC website indicated that those stations more suitably equipped had worked into the continent. Never mind, as usual I am propping up the claimed score table with my lowly score and still seriously considering removing the 2m and 70cm beams from the garage and actually putting them somewhere where they might work to my advantage! Having attempted to further the VHF/UHF antenna plan, a quick word with Norrie at Tennamast in Scotland revealed that the mast that I have was not suitable for a two story (or “normal” house”) dwelling so that’s that plan shot to pieces! Mmmmm…the World and his wife are trying to get 3B7C and I am no exception! The propagation charts indicate that the best times for me just happen to coincide with other things that I need to do so I am forced to just listen and hope! Luckily they are pretty much staying on the published frequencies and the beam is permanently set at 124° so it’s just a case of flicking through the bands and listening for any signs of life! At 09.33utc today (Sun 09/09/07) though I think I got them on 15m but although I have logged it, I need to wait for their logs to be uploaded to their website before being sure – I can always delete it from my log if I am wrong but although I thought I heard them repeat my call sign, I was on the end of some EU idiot tuning his amp on the rx frequency – doh! September 2nd 2007 Loads more time spent on the website this week so not much chance to get on the air unfortunately! Did pick up a Hy-gain Ham IV rotator and control box from M0NRH which will probably replace the one I have up at the moment that malfunctioned; alternatively its earmarked for the VHF/UHF satellite and SSB array which will go up at some point in time! A couple of new countries this past week; Bhutan (A52AM) worked as part of the All Asia contest which I did not take part in and also Nepal (9N7JO) which was very pleasing. In fact Stig in Kathmandu deliberately stated that he wanted to give those operators that had never worked him a chance so, working split, I only had to call a couple of times and it was in the log! This past weekend saw a couple of contests, the RSGB HFCC SSB Field Day and the RSGB VHFCC 144mzh Trophy. I thought I would have a go at the 2m contest first working 6S (six hours single operator fixed) and was amazed that my little dipole sitting not 8 feet above me in the attic was able to work into Holland, France and Belgium! It was the first time that I have worked outside of the UK on 2m ssb from this QTH. It just goes to prove that old adage that you can work the world on a wet noodle if conditions are right! After the six hour stint on that one I thought that Sunday would be ok to work the Field Day so I was disappointed to find that my ionospheric monitoring program indicated that a geomagnetic storm had occurred at around 04:10z. Sure enough, switched on 20m and the screen was full of white noise and very little else – some short skip stations but nothing much to work and absolutely no chance of working any more Asian stations before the contest ended. So I thought I would update the website and go and watch the football on the TV for the rest of the day!”