vhf
WB2AIV #1 OH Rover - June VHF
Thu Jan 29 09:56 PM
OK, this is not exactly DX, but WB2AIV has scored a HUGE victory in the VHF contesting world, #1 Rover, Ohio section or the June 2008 ARRL VHF QSO Party. Great job Bill! Here are Bill’s comment on his success.
Memo to all those who don't 'contest' because they can't 'win'. - DON'T BE SO SURE!
K2QO has described the success that he and W2TAU and K2ZR have had operating as a "rover' in the ARRL VHF SS and VHF QSO Party contests. They done very well in the face of some stiff competition through hard work and dedication, scoring over 100,000 points with several hundred Q's.
However, I have found an alternate path!
After hearing Mark's presentation on roving, I decided to make a very low key effort in the January 2007 ARRL VHF SS. My wife and I had gone to my daughter's in Indiana for the week before the contest. Since we were going to be driving home on the Saturday of the contest, I decided that I'd use the IC-706 MKIIG I have in the van for HF mobile on 6, 2 and 432 to play in the contest. I used my 20 'hamstick' (with the tuner) on 6m and a Comet 2m/70cm dual band (short) vertical even though most contest stations would be using horizontal polarization. We mad no special stops to operate. All contacts were 'mobile-in-motion'. I made the grand total of 17 contacts in 4 grids for a total of 285 points. Seems pretty dismal, right?
Wrong! (sort of!) Yes , it was pretty dismal, BUT it was good enough to earn the "First Place - Rover" for the Ohio Section - 2008 ARRL VHF SS!! (It helps that there were NO other rover entries in Ohio! Dumb Luck beats Skill EVERY time!)
The conclusion is that it doesn't take much effort to 'mess around' and have some fun. And you never know when something strange happens and you get some wallpaper besides! --WB2AIV
Memo to all those who don't 'contest' because they can't 'win'. - DON'T BE SO SURE!
K2QO has described the success that he and W2TAU and K2ZR have had operating as a "rover' in the ARRL VHF SS and VHF QSO Party contests. They done very well in the face of some stiff competition through hard work and dedication, scoring over 100,000 points with several hundred Q's.
However, I have found an alternate path!
After hearing Mark's presentation on roving, I decided to make a very low key effort in the January 2007 ARRL VHF SS. My wife and I had gone to my daughter's in Indiana for the week before the contest. Since we were going to be driving home on the Saturday of the contest, I decided that I'd use the IC-706 MKIIG I have in the van for HF mobile on 6, 2 and 432 to play in the contest. I used my 20 'hamstick' (with the tuner) on 6m and a Comet 2m/70cm dual band (short) vertical even though most contest stations would be using horizontal polarization. We mad no special stops to operate. All contacts were 'mobile-in-motion'. I made the grand total of 17 contacts in 4 grids for a total of 285 points. Seems pretty dismal, right?
Wrong! (sort of!) Yes , it was pretty dismal, BUT it was good enough to earn the "First Place - Rover" for the Ohio Section - 2008 ARRL VHF SS!! (It helps that there were NO other rover entries in Ohio! Dumb Luck beats Skill EVERY time!)
The conclusion is that it doesn't take much effort to 'mess around' and have some fun. And you never know when something strange happens and you get some wallpaper besides! --WB2AIV
ARRL VHF Sweepstakes this Weekend
Mon Jan 12 03:45 PM
This weekend marks the running of the grand daddy of VHF contests, the ARRL VHF Sweepstakes. If you have any bands 50 MHz or higher, this is THE weekend to get on the air. DXing on these bands is a different beast where long haul DX is usually measure in hundreds of miles, not thousands. The exception to this is of course 6M. An F2 or e-skip opening on 6M can yield world wide contacts. While exotic DX is unlikely at this point in the sunspot cycle, surprises at not all that rare. A few years ago, the K2QO/Rover team worked VP9 and C6 while rolling down the NYS Thruway on Sunday morning. The links you need to get mushing in the contest are above. Enjoy!
PS- The K2QO/R team (K2QO and W2TAU) will be in FN02 on Sunday evening from 7PM - 11PM local time. Our hangouts will be 50.210, 144.260 both SSB and CW, and 146.55 FM. On these bands we’ll be workable with any power/antenna combo you have.
73,
The K2QO/R Team
PS- The K2QO/R team (K2QO and W2TAU) will be in FN02 on Sunday evening from 7PM - 11PM local time. Our hangouts will be 50.210, 144.260 both SSB and CW, and 146.55 FM. On these bands we’ll be workable with any power/antenna combo you have.
73,
The K2QO/R Team