Luton VHF Group - G3SVJ / G2L


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IOTA 2014 was one that the members of Luton VHF Communications will not forget. It was a heat wave in the week before the contest and still very hot for the setup day on Friday. All went well and the stations were more or less ready by Friday night. Terry (G4UEM) had brought along 2 Elecraft K3s but it was a steep learning curve to get these highly configurable transceivers ready to use. The first contact on the run station went well but the second ended abruptly when the coax fell off the beam due to heat on the tape holding it to the tower. Things went better after that and we made 954 QSOs giving 1,334,700 point (submitted results before adjudication).

We started to pack up with Don, Bryan and Andy at the top of the field taking down the beam and Ian and Terry packing up the stations. Suddenly a loud crash was heard by the group at the top of the field and pieces of the barn roof flew through the air. Then a mini tornado was seen making its way up the field and up into the air. The tornado had ripped off one sheet from the roof and deposited some on the ground narrowly missing a car and a caravan, the rest landed on the other side of the roof making a second hole.

A temporary repair was made using a tarpaulin put in place from the mezzanine floor. This floor was used to store all that useful stuff that you collect. All that stuff an three people broke the camels back and the floor collapse spilling Bryan, Ian and Don off as it fell. Bryan suffered bad bruising, Ian suffered rope burns on his left hand because he was just attaching a rope and Don seemed to be unhurt.

All in all we were very lucky that no one was badly hurt.

IOTA 2014 from Greenfield (EU005)