We started
loading on Friday as usual and abt.1600UT our convoy was on the way to the
"Wetzstein" (JO50RK). Arrived after two hours we saw : 50cm of old snow but
nevertheless we were optimistic. The night was cold and starry with
temperatures of abt. -10deg. EME would have been nice.
On Saturday morning on 0700UT a small snow-plough tried to make way for us.
It was requested by the "locals" (tnx Alex, DH1NAX). Unfortunately the snow
cover could not cleared completely to the ground. The remaining snow blocked
the ramp to our GHz - QTH. We could not reach it although we had snow chains
on our van and we unloaded it completely. We lost a lot of time with it.
As a result on 1400UT the contest started without us :
"We were not ready!"
We sat up only
7 bands. All microwave masts had new joints and so the elevation was easy. But
the alternative QTH was 10m below our standard QTH on a small saddle witch
blocked the NE <--> SW direction. On 1530UT we were "on air" at last. The
weather during Saturday was fickle : Short sunshine periods alternated by
snow-showers moderated our enthusiasm. The wind was choppy down to calm with
temperatures of -3 deg. The evening brought us rime on antennas and guy ropes
increasing their diameter extensively.
Cause of the horrible SWR, Oli, DL2ARD, tried to free the antenna elements from
ice on Sunday morning with a long pole. At 0800UT the 23cm equipment died : a
defective transfer switch made us deaf as a stone. Later on, we had our 24/47GHz
equipment on the tripod to make a sked with DL6NCI. It was the first QSO
according to the new band plan on 24048 MHz after reconstruction of our
equipment. The frequency offset was pretty small (+15kHz) without having a
beacon to compare. On 47GHz we had a QSO with Lorenz, too.
Right after noon we stopped useless calling and started packing. After putting
the wet feet in dry and warm shoes we started the trip back at 1515UT.
All in all the results were not very satisfying, but considering the bad
conditions and poor participation, it was the best we could reach. The new
equipment on 6cm and 3cm worked well, so lets see what's happening on May.
73s and good luck!
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