This year, the Mid-MO ARC decided to go "back to nature"... well, as far
'back' as some would allow us to go anyway...
We operated N0SS/0 using three (3) K2's, all at 5W output (SLA
battery-powered), into 80/40/20 dipoles at 30' (and all string end-to-end,
to take advantage of the nulls off the ends of the dipoles), in the CW,
SSB, and GOTA stations. We also had a non-Elecraft rig on 6M QRP as well.
Oh, we also operated from tents... almost forgot that part of the 'back
-to-nature' theme. For the past 6-8 years, we've been fortunate to have
been located in the capitol city of the state of MO, and had ample access
to enclosed (and air-conditioned) emergency comm. vans with generators and
several crank-up (or pneumatic) towers. Giving them up was part of the
back-to-nature thang... <G>
The K2's performed flawlessly... at least I've not heard any complaints as
of this writing.
The CW station made 380 (duped) Q's
SSB 130 Q's
GOTA 26 Q's
Since we'd previously decided that this was gonna be a 'fun' operation (as
opposed to our usual "out for blood" operations), little heavy emphasis was
placed on maximizing contacts and more on training of operators and having
FUN, which can be difficult in 97 degrees (F) and 95% humidity!!!
The only even close to 'negative' comments I heard about the K2s were that
the SSB station 'heard' us a bit when they were operating down toward the
bottom of the 40M phone band, and we (the CW station) were operating up
toward to top end of the CW band (probably near 7075 or thereabout). The CW
station NEVER heard either of the other two K2s, and there are numerous
extended periods of time where all three stations were operating on the
same (usually 40M) band simultaneously.
Our chosen FD site this year was different from that used in the previous
10-12 years... much closer to highway traffic (and noise), and we were
bothered by continuous line noise... fortunately the KNB2 COMPLETELY
ELIMINATED all traces of the line noise. And, I must say that we had very
few instances of intermod from using the NB in the presence of very strong
nearby signals. This can be a problem for just about any NB, but the KNB2
held its ground well.
As in years past, we were very pleased with the performance of the K2s...
this is the first time we've been an all-K2-HF operation... and it was very
satisfactory.
73,
Tom N0SS
Mid-MO ARC Jefferson City MO
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