6m11jkv

The RSGB 50mhz Trophy contest is my favourite 6m contest of the year. It's very well supported by all the European countries that have access to 6m, and when the band opens with sporadic E, it sounds more like 20m than a VHF band.

The antenna system shown in the photo below is a mix of 6element and 7 element yagis, and one 69ft 6M11JKV 11 element yagi. The 6m11jkv was a recent purchase in 2005 primarily to be used as an EME antenna, but we also found that it proved to be an excellent long range antenna with regards to multi hop SpE.

The system as shown consists of, from the left: You can see the top antenna of the 2x6 system, the top antenna being at circa 40ft by using scaffold poles, this antenna is used for LA/SM and OH, and perhaps OZ, ES.

Next, and just in front of the house is the portable 60ft tower, this has the 6M11JKV from M2 on it and it's at 60ft. The box at the feed point contains the mast head pre-amp and relay system. This antenna normally remains situated on YO and LZ direction, but as it's fully rotatable, it can be used for weak signals in any direction.

In front of this tower is the first of the 2x7 systems, again this system is built on scaffold poles with the top antenna being at 40ft.
This antenna system is normally used for SP down to YU and Italy.
(Although not part of the 6m station, next on the right is 8x23 for 23cm, and the 70cm system consisting of 4x20)

And then on the very right is the last of the 2x7 systems mounted on a fixed Strumech type 40ft tower, the top antenna is around 60ft. This system is also fully rotatable, and is normally used for Italy round through EA to CT.

In an ideal world, each system would remain in it's allotted quadrant, but sometimes they get swapped around, and having 4 systems to use, if a pre-amp fails for any reason, the missing area can be covered by the other three systems whilst repairs are carried out.

If you look beyond the house and barn you can see the take off from this site, you can see horizon on both sides of the picture, the first of the 2x7 systems is point due south

So, the question right now is, "Does it all work"

The four systems in this format work very well indeed, as can confirmed by our results:

The RSGB 50mhz Trophy contest runs concurrently with the IARU contest, the RSGB results are here:


	In 2009, personal reasons dictated that we simply never had time to participate in the contest, BUT... the weekend in question saw some of the best Sporadic E for many a year. From my home QTH I could still hear SpE stations being worked at 02:00 and yet still at 05:00, the band was open for most of the weekend, if not all !! It has to be said that, had we been on, we couldn't have beat the guys operating the station at G8T... Hats off to you guys!

	In 2007, GW6YB/p beat us... after 6 wins in a row, we'd become complacent taking time out of operating for a decent curry, plus our favourite TV programme, Dr Who. it wasn't until Sunday morning we saw just how bad things were and we simply didn't catch them up. This gave us a repeat of the wake up call back in 2000. Sadly, in 2008 we were up for a decent contest, only we found it easy once again as GW6YB was no were to be seen. Darn it all !

	In the year 2000, the Blacksheep Contest Group using G8T in IN79jx gave us a much needed wake up call !! We came a respectable 2nd place to their 1st. We were just over 100 QSOs behind, but some well practised and keen operating on their part gave them around 25 multipliers more than us, resulting in a huge win for them. Although relegated to 2nd place, this proved to be one of the more enjoyable contests for us. And I look forward to another contest like that one.

	In 1997, not all of our group could make it to GD to take part in the contest, so we split into two teams. Team A being GD4IOM, the B team used G0EMG and came 2nd to our 1st place.

Year	Pos	Group	Call	Locator	QSOs	Score	Mult	Total	Best DX	Km	Power	Ant	Equipment
2009	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2008	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	426	429,347	173	74,277,031	4X1FQ	3952	400	11+2x6+2x7+2x7	IC756proII
2007	2nd	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	455	463434	169	78,320,346	WP3UX	6,542	400	11+2x6+2x7+2x7	IC756proII
2006	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	766	946842	224	212092608	4X6ON	3952	400	11+2x6+2x7+2x7	FT650
2005	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	593	528546	174	91967004	UT1IC/P	3067	400	11+2x6+2x7+2x7	FT650
2004	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	456	356111	144	51279984	5B4FL	3643	400	11el+2x7+2x7+2x6	FT650
2003	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	848	982631	235	230918285	4Z5LA	3955	400	2x7+2x7 +2x6+6	FT650
2002	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD4K	IO74QD	800	924378	230	212606940	4Z8GZ	3941	400	2x2x7+2x6+6	FT650
2001	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	521	308929	133	41087557	9H0O	2499	400	2x7+2x7+2x6	FT650
2000	2nd	Northern Lights CG	MD6V	IO74QD	560	475446	180	85580280	EH8BPX	3016	400	4x7+3x6Y	IC756pro+FT650
1999	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD0V	IO74QD	616	420319	158	66410402	5B4AGM	3653	400	4x7+3x6	IC756pro+FT650
1998	1st	Northern Lights CG	MD8V	IO74QD	751	521873	159	82977807	TR8CA	6021	400	4x7 + 6	FT650
1997	1st	Northern Lights(A)	GD4IOM	IO74QD	657	484863	168	81456984	IC8/IK0FTA	2236	400	4x7+6el	FT650
1997	2nd	Northern Lights(B)	G0EMG/P	IO94RJ	246234	377	148	36442632	CT3HF	2734	400	2x6+5el