VE6AB Mobile Ops
Contesting Under The Weather
So with the ARRL VHF contest front and center on the day, and the weather looking like there would be rain happening about the start of the contest, I loaded the required radio gear regardless of the weather, although I included my rain slicker and Muck boots in the mix!
I arrived at the location that I would set up to operate from about the time the rain started coming down, although I was able to set up without getting to terribly wet thanks to my rain gear.
Once I had my pushup mast mounted in place on the 12 volt rotator hitch insert, and had the mast populated with my tri-band log-periodic as well as my 6 meter halo, and with the coax run through the window to the inside of my mobile, I moved in to the inside where all the comforts of home awaited me, well pretty much!.
With my Yaesu FT-897ND positioned on the console, and connected up to my log-periodic, I was set for operating on 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm, both in FM and SSB.
I was also operating my Kenwood TS-480HX on 6 meters with the 6 meter halo mounted on the mast.
Once the contest started, there was a flurry of activity on all the bands that I was operating as listed above, and the logged in contacts grew quickly.
Meanwhile the rain came down driven before a northwest wind that actually increased in intensity as the afternoon progressed.
Still, the rain or the wind did not present a problem, as the antennas proved to be resilient, and stayed in tune regardless of the rain coming down as gusting winds caused the mast with its antennas to bounce about..
I was also pleased with the performance of the 12 volt mast rotator, controlled wirelessly with the keyfob, that allowed me to rotate the log-periodic as required without having to exit my mobile.
After an afternoon of operating the contest through the rain filled skies of southern Alberta, and pleased with the progress I'd made working many stations on the different bands, I decided it was time to call it done for the day, and once I had everything dismantled and stored away, I pointed my mobile in the direction of home as the rain still continued to fall.
You'll have to excuse the photo with its included waterdrops, as my camera was soaked from being out in the rain, and this included the front lens element, or should I say filter.
My camera is waterproof along with the lens that I was using, although the manufacturer of the lens requires that a filter be screwed in place over the front element to make the lens waterproof.
The rear mount of the lens has a rubber gasket that seals the lens to the camera body.
Click on the photo for a closer look.....
