30 Contesting Tips

I’m not much of a contest guy, but I really liked the contesting tips and other related articles, written by K9JY. One of the better Ham Radio blogs around, and added to my Blogroll immediately.

Field Day VRZA, Almere (JO22OI)

Last weekend, we had our last field day of the year. The weather couldn’t be better! Every day before and after the field day, we had rain and wind… It was an excellent opportunity to test my latest field day antenna.

The antenna consists of a 12 meter high ‘fishing rod’, some wire and a balun. If left full size, it’s a vertical for 40 meters. If you disconnect the upper part of the wire (and do the same with the radial), the antenna will resonate in the 20 meter band.

The balun is clamped to the lower part of the rod.

I used the antenna in combination with a Kenwood TS-570D(G). The antenna performance proved to be much better than expected! Also on the table: a Yaesu VX-177.

My dog didn’t care much about the QSOs, but she loved the BBQ!