UKSMG Summer Es Contest 2020

Well… here we are all stuck inside during lockdown and the UKSMG Summer Es Contest is upon us, normally id be out portable for this one doing Multi-Operator with a Rather large Yagi ontop of a hilltop supervised with full legal power and BBQ food, camping, the full works. Sadly not this year, COVID-19 has taken over and the government is controlling our lives.

Well operation from home it is then, First of all was the task of making sure N1MM was up to date and talking to the Icom IC-7300, which resulted in trying to free up a USB to plug the 7300 into the Shack Desktop PC, what is this cable for, hmm webcam, well don’t need that right now, unplugged and IC-7300 now communicating with the shack PC again, Hurrah!

The rules were changed by UKSMG – NO Multi-Op and well dads Acom 1000 has gone bang so not like we can run full legal power anyway 🙁

So we took it in turns working the very few stations that we could hear, myself with the Icom IC-7300 and 50W into the 5 Element Tonna on my Tennamast at about 11M AGL and dad with a 4 Element LFA at 6M AGL and 100W from an Icom IC-7300

As we tend to find with some of the UKSMG contests conditions were poor very few Sporadic E openings, brief opening into HA, EA and Italy but apart from that very few contacts made.

Contest Ends and looking at the log in dismay at the lack of contacts made due to the poor conditions and lack of decent Sporadic E openings.