W4TA back in Contest Mode…New Antennas Work Great

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 11/06/2016

With the completion of the relocation of our Log Periodic antenna on our new tower and the erection of a temporary dipole for 40M/80M, W4TA is on the air. The tower puts the antennas up around 55 feet. And boy do they work well in combination with the Alpha 9500 amplifier. We inaugurated the antenna/amplifier combination in the CW Sweepstakes contest, the oldest contest in amateur radio. It was no effort to hold a frequency and it was fun to hear the pile ups focused on us.

Congratulations to all that were involved in raising the SPARC contesting effort to a new level.

test1 — Tom, W4CU working CW Sweepstakes

test2 — Contest Crockpot Chile keeps the operators fueled for the contest

test5 — Special lunar element enhances propagation

Related Images:

Published in Antennas, Club Station, Contesting, Operating and Station Building

Bob Wanek N2ESP

Originally licensed as WN2JTL in 1968. License and interest lapsed until 1984 when relicensed as N2ESP. I currently hold an Extra class license and a BSEE from the Florida Institute of Technology. I am past President of the St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) and trustee of W4TA, the club’s contest station. I’m also a member of Florida Contest Group, an ARRL Volunteer Examiner, member of the ARRL A-1 Operator Club, frustrated DXer, 10-10 member (40586) and charter member of the Radio Shack Battery of the Month Club. Station QTH is a small island (USi: FL285S Coquina Key) on the shores of Tampa Bay (Pinellas County / EL87qr). Station consists of an Elecraft K3/P3 (100W) into a ZeroFive GP-1040 Vertical/Ground Plane or an 80M Horizontal Loop. QSL via LoTW.

W4TA back in Contest Mode…New Antennas Work Great

Related Images:

SPARC Monthly Meeting – Program: Working HF Split by Ryan AF4O

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