LEFARS held a second Field Weekend in September at Lambourne End. This post rounds up reports received from some of the attendees and also a summary of the QSOs made with the special 60th anniversary call (GB6OLR). Photos were posted on the LEFARS Facebook page as well. First, my report :
Friday 16th September
Setting up by David M0VID, John’s G0VEH & G8DZH started on Friday 16th September, arriving onsite at 16:00 after collecting kit from the LEFARS store. There were three caravans (including guest John G4LTH) and several members planned to camp overnight. The first of the campers was Ion M0JLI followed a little later by Brian & Boo, the OABs’.
By 19:00 HF was up and running on 40m, with an inverted V dipole, supported by a 32′ mast. The other end of the 4om dipole end support was connected to a handy goalpost.
We were set up by Friday evening. A view of the main shack, 32′ mast.
Ion M0JLI did offer some refreshment (vodka – photo on the right) which had to be declined as driving home.
Operating from the Tawney syndicate caravan, the first QSO made by John G0VEH was with a station in Skegness (Brian M0NSI/P at 18:24 UTC). John worked a few other stations including one from Germany. I operated on 2M FM and had QSO’s with Martin 2E0UKl, John 2E0RMM, Ron GQ6LTT and Chris G8YAE on the club frequency. Attempts to join the fortnightly Zoom meeting ended in failure, lack of decent 4G data (2G data was showing at times!!).
John G0VEH operating GB6OLR on 40m SSB. Club station, Icom IC-7300 with an inverted V dipole at 32′
Leaving David M0VID, Pam and Orla to look after the site, I left at around 22:30.
Saturday 17th September
More members arrived during the day, including George M1GEO, Chris G8OCV and Dave M0TAZ. all were camping over until Sunday. John M0JGR and Keith G1HEQ also visited during the day.
John G0VEH worked 24 stations on 40m SSB. Nearly all were UK and a few Europeans including The Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and Switzerland. There was a BBQ in the evening.
There is a bit of a gap in the reporting here as I arrived onsite at 19:45. The operating caravan was fairly full and a Romanian vodka party was in fine flow, it being cold outside. It would be churlish not to join in, the party finished at 23:30 and I went to bed 15 mins later. The overnight stay in the caravan was comfortable.
Sunday 18th September
After ablutions and a good night’s sleep, a cooked breakfast, including some Red Dragon sausages left over from the Saturday BBQ. My first QSO on 2m was with a station in Wallington (Adam G7CRQ) at 06:54 UTC. More QSOs after the GB2RS news and reports with several club members including Steve G0PQB, James 2E0JBU, John MQ0JGR, Brian G4CUQ, Keith G1HEQ, Selim M0XTA, John G8NUP, Dave M0MBD, Martin 2E0UKL, and Ron G6LTT .
Richard G4DDP operating on 40m SSB
Kevin M7MJW, James 2E0JBU and Dave M0MBD visited, also Richard G4DDP who arrived in the morning and operated the 40m HF station (and John G0VEH). There were 26 contacts during the day on 40m SSB including G, GM, GW, GI, F, PA and Belgian special event station OQ100MBS.
We started to pack up around 16:05 and we left an empty field an hour or so later.
Report from Richard G4DDP
The Lambourne End site is at Chigwell, only a mile from the club’s HQ, is becoming a regular event for LEFARS. It has the advantage of having a large field to operate in, 100m asl, low noise and the luxury of our own personal shower, washing and toilet facilities.
With all of this it was quite disappointing that yet again very few members bothered to support the club’s operation despite being so close to our HQ.
I was only able to attend Lambourne End on Sunday 18th due to slight inconvenience of having to attend my grandson’s first birthday party ! However on the Sunday I had the opportunity of working on 40m using the G0VEH’s 40m dipole and the clubs Icom IC-7300.
Again, it was a pleasure to operate in the radio caravan with all the advantages that brings compared with a tent. We worked a total of 94 stations (GB6OLR) on 2m and 40m , just Europe.
Dave M0TAZ’s report
I had a lovely weekend, it was great to enjoy the weather and make the most of it.
My station setup, from the back of my car, used a Icom IC-7300, 50W with a 49:1 EFHW and 20m wire at 7m AGL. The bands seemed quite good early evening/morning as they typically can be. Using FT-8, 126 QSOs were made. 38 DXCC (opposite)
- 12 on 80m
- 32 on 20m
- 82 on 15m
Dave M0TAZ setup, powered from the car (EV) battery.
Dave M0TAZ plot…..
Dave M0TAZ station.
Another view (Dave M0TAZ). Below… A short video highlighting the M0TAZ coffee maker powered by his car.
Main VHF station (GB6OLR)
HF station (GB6OLR)
(Foreground) Richard G4DDP working the DX. John G0VEH tidies up the kitchen area.
Tea break. (L to R) John G0VEH and Keith G1HEQ.
Richard G4DPP took the opportunity to go on 4m on Sunday.
Another view of G4DDP/P setup and 4m/6m yagi.
Ion M0JLI’s station.
David M0VID’s accommodation, including satellite dish.
73
John Ray G8DZH
[Photo credits: John G8DZH and Dave M0TAZ]