RBCC Team WX8S participated this year as a group effort portable operation from Southern Warren County. Nearly all 50 states were contacted.
Equipment used:
- HF Remote Base configured for portable operations
- FT-891 setup for portable operations
- 20m ground plane antenna
- 20m/40m/80m crossed dipoles on portable mast
- Bandpass filters
- N3FJP for logging
Since this was an event focusing on North America, antennas with higher radiation takeoff angles were used to better focus RF into shorter hops within this continent.
As typically experienced for these national events, 20m was primary during daylight hours and 40m primary in the evening hours but given the summer conditions and westward sun movement across the continent 20m was still lucrative for contacts well after dark, such as Hawaii.
Some reflection notes:
- Still need to implement a noise blocking headset and foot switch PTT.
- If more people participated, a separate antenna for 10m/15m would be nice.
- The Yaesu FT-891 had surprisingly effective DSP noise reduction, seemingly more effective than the Icom IC-7100 and IC-7300, but the nuances of menus and less useful buttons available make it an otherwise frustrating radio to use compared to others.
Remote Base Contest Club 