October 06, 2024 |
IARU Marconi Memorial Contest VHF 2024
06. November 2024 |
On the first weekend of November, the IARU Region-1 Marconi Memorial Contest VHF takes place as the conclusion of the VHF contest season. A pure telegraphy contest on 2 meters.
After the antenna cable issues in the last contests, this was the first contest with a prototype of my new cable spiral for strain relief. In this contest, I had no SWR problems, so the test was successful. By the start of the 2025 season, I will build the final cable spiral based on this prototype.
But it wasn’t just the debut for the cable spiral prototype; it was also the premiere of my first "CW-Only Contest." Until now, I had only used telegraphy when voice communication no longer worked, and even then, usually at a slow speed. But a whole contest in CW?
I assumed the pace in the Marconi Contest would be slightly faster than in "regular" VHF contests. My plan was to only respond to CQ calls. This way, I could calmly listen to the locator and serial number from previous QSOs and then, once I was sure of the data, make my QSO without stress. This led to my rather moderate goal of 60 QSOs in the 24 hours of the contest...
Who could have guessed that this weekend would bring such excellent conditions on 2 meters? Right from the start, I heard strong signals from stations 500 km or more away. So, I began listening in and, as planned, worked one CQ-calling station after another. The more I operated, the more confident I became, and the fewer QSOs I needed to listen to before making contact myself.
In total, 15 DXCCs made it into the log: 9A (Croatia), DL (Germany), F (France), G (England), HA (Hungary), HB9 (Switzerland), I (Italy), OE (Austria), OK (Czech Republic), OM (Slovakia), ON (Belgium), PA (Netherlands), SM (Sweden), SP (Poland), and YO (Romania). New DXCCs for me on 2 meters were I (Italy) and YO (Romania). With YR5C, I also logged my new longest connection of 1,214 km on 2 meters using the setup from my radio measurement vehicle.
Over time, I grew more confident and even dared to call CQ myself on Sunday morning. You just ease into it. This also brought some nice contacts into the log. I gave about 90% of my transmissions using the computer and only rarely used the paddle. My error rate is still too high when operating with the paddle.
In the end, I achieved 102 QSOs and almost 53,274 points, far exceeding my self-set goal. On average, that’s 522 km per QSO!
| Band | Grids | QSOs | ODX | Points (claimed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2m | 44 | 102 | 1,214 (YR5C ) | 48,228 (53,274) |
Overall, I had a 9.5% deduction, mostly due to annoying errors like wrong numbers or typos in locators. For my first participation, however, I am very satisfied with the result. With a bit more routine, the number of errors will surely decrease.
I was able to achieve 46th place out of 270 participants in Germany in my category (Single Operator).
Here’s an overview of all connections on 2 meters (144 MHz):
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