[AK-VHF] June Contest

Wed Sep 7 03:30:12 EDT 2016

Ed,

Sounds good. I will make the go/no go decision tomorrow, and send you a note with the plan. It’s going to be a 3-4 hour hike up Little Coal Creek trail, starting Sat morning, so I probably won’t be set up until noon-1 pm or so. Hope folks are still active then. Between hunting season and college football, it could be light.

I’ll be taking the icom 706, so my power will be limited by how many gel cells I can carry. I’ll be testing my setup tomorrow. Yes, 2m will likely be the primary band. Sounds like 432 may not work, but perhaps 6m as well if I carry a small 6m antenna with me. Will have ssb, cw, fm. Hopefully, I can hit the AprS repeater, so folks could see my location to aim their yagis…..

I’ll get back to you tomorrow evening with the details.

73,

Ken

From: Edward R Cole [mailto:kl7uw at acsalaska.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2016 11:06 PM
To: Ken Karle <kkarle at mtaonline.net>; 'Paul Kiesel' <k7cw at yahoo.com>
Cc: ak-vhf at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: June Contest

Ken,

Actually the Contest kind of crept up on me this time, but I will be active.  I'm cc this to the AK-VHF e-mail list to alert others of the group of your intentions.  I will make the callsign change for you, as well.

I should have reminded others during last Saturday's net that the contest would be this weekend.

I have 50, 144, 223.50-FM, 927.50-FM, and 1296 operable.  432 SWR is high and will require climbing the tower to swap out a jumper cable that I suspect is the problem.  I can operate 432 into my dual-band vertical but that probably is not enough gain to reach Anchorage.

Wx is supposed to be good on Friday so I might get up the tower then.  I will post my final status Friday with the Net announcement. Oh one thing I could do is go rover from a local 400-foot hill with clear shot north (2m&70cm 50w FM mobile).

The Contest starts as 10am local AK time at the end of the net.

Working you at Denali would probably have best prospects on 2m where I can work SSB running 130w into my four eme yagi's.  I have a clear shot to Denali almost due north of me.  Many Anchorage stations are blocked from seeing Denali by the Talkeetna mountain range that runs across the north side of the Susitna Valley (primarily Wasilla and Big Lake).  Those on the western side or south side of Anchorage may have a direct view if their antennas are over the nearby terrain.

Several years ago I worked KL7EKB via Denali "bounce".  Tropo conditions were enhanced that day.
On 50 I run 80w to 6-element yagi, 2m 130w to four 10-element yagis, 223.50 80w to two 11-element yagi's.  My 60w 2m transverter dies last weekend but I was able to repair it with a 30w module (running 28w).  That will not drive my 150w amp fully.

Those are the most likely bands to reach you.  927.50 and 1296.100 both run 60w into high gain loop-yagis at 52-feet.
you can get my station info from my website.  So far no contacts made to Anchorage on either band.

73, Ed

At 08:46 PM 9/6/2016, Ken Karle wrote:

Hi Ed,

I havenâ€™t been in contact for awhile; I donâ€™t think I ever updated my new call sign for the AK VHF-up club roster (old NL7HJ, new NL7B).Â  Also moved from Denali to Fairbanks a few years ago.

Though Iâ€™m not planning any big roves for this weekendâ€™s VHF contest, I was giving some thought to driving down to Denali State Park, and climbing up on Kesugi Ridge in grid BP52du Saturday morning with some VHF gear.Â  I just noticed that I was considering this route 6 years ago (!). I got rained out that time, but right now the WX forecast is for sunny skies on Saturday.Â  Wondering if youâ€™re planning on participating in the contest this weekend. It would be fun to work down into the Kenai Peninsula, as well as Anchorage, of course. Have you (or Paul) heard from others planning to activate?

Note that my plans arenâ€™t definite yet, so I donâ€™t want to post this just yet; I still have to talk the XYL into going on an 8 mile hike up a 4500 ft mountain carrying some batteries for me….and the WX has to hold; Iâ€™m not going if the forecast changes. But thought I would check with you first and see what your plans are. Thanks.

73,
Ken
NL7B

From: Edward R Cole [ mailto:kl7uw at acsalaska.net <mailto:kl7uw at acsalaska.net> ] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 12:04 AM
To: Paul Kiesel; Ken Karle
Cc: kl7uw at arrl.net <mailto:kl7uw at arrl.net> 
Subject: Re: June Contest

Had a afterthought,  If Mckinley is within view, backscatter might work if direct shot doesn't.

73, Ed - KL7UW

At 11:22 PM 6/7/2010, Paul Kiesel wrote:

Hi Ken, 

Congratulations on placing so well in the contest. Proves a bit of effort can take you a long way. 

If it's line of sight, 5 watts will do it for you. Also, you don't need an absolute clean shot because some knife-edging will occur from mountain ridges. If you take that excursion on, be sure to take pictures!

73,
Paul, K7CW

From: Ken Karle <kkarle at mtaonline.net <mailto:kkarle at mtaonline.net> >
To: Paul Kiesel <k7cw at yahoo.com <mailto:k7cw at yahoo.com> >; kl7uw at arrl.net <mailto:kl7uw at arrl.net> 
Sent: Mon, June 7, 2010 10:26:01 PM
Subject: RE: June Contest

Hi Paul and Ed,

My brother and I put off our rove until the September contest, so IÃ¢€™m  working on plans for this weekend. d. Rather than rove, IÃ¢€™m thinking about hiking up up the Little Coal Creek trail (in Denali State Park) to a peak about 4500 feet. Grid BP52DU. It gives me a 112-mile line of site to Anchorage, and a 170-mile line of site to Kenai. IÃ¢€™ll have a a small 2m/0.70cm yagi, 50 watts (or less) on 2 meters, and 20 watts on 0.70 m.

Ed, are you still planning on operating from home on Saturday? This location (if I get to the top) should give me a clear shot to Kenai; what do you our chances are for 2 meters and 70cm?  Of course, the hike will depend on good weather, and talking my wife into backpacking the batteries up the mountain for me!  IÃ¢€™m still looking for a site I could drive to to instead of hiking 3,000 vertical feet, but no luck so far.

Also wanted to let you guys know that it looks like I won the Northwest region rove limited class, and came in 7th overall in the country for RL. I got pretty lucky as the weather was so bad in so many parts of the US that month. Thanks again for helping me. It was fun.

73s,

Ken

NL7HJ

From: Paul Kiesel [ mailto:k7cw at yahoo.com ] 
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 1:46 PM
To: AL2B; geneshea at gmail.com <mailto:geneshea at gmail.com> ; KB7FXJ; KL0RG; KL1RD; KL2FA; KL6M; KL7FZ; KL7JFT; KL7P; KL7QZ; KL7UW; KL7XJ; KL7YK; NL7HJ
Subject: June Contest

It's next weekend. The 2010 ARRL June VHF QSO Party is next weekend!

You don't have to be a contest type to get on and exchange grid locators with fellow VHFers. Talk it up amongst yourselves and plan to get on the air and work each other if you're not intending to make an effort of it. But, be advised that the 6 meter band has been very productive these last couple of weeks. KL7/KB7Q even worked a station in the Philippines on 6 meters this last week. That spot on the Kenai Peninsula has turned out to be a pretty good DX location, eh Gene? Alaskans have also been taking advantage of some decent sporadic E band openings to the Far East and to the lower 48. I think the probability of some of you working some good DX during the contest is there. 

If you make any contacts in the contest, please submit an entry. If you need any assistance, please let me know. I will be glad to help in any way I can. And don't forget that there is no such thing as a stupid question if you need an answer. Be sure to state that your log is to count for Alaska VHF-Up Group towards the club competition.

Watch for us. We will be looking your way!

73,
Paul, K7CW
AVG Contest Guy

73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
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EME: 144-600w, 432-100w, 1296-60w, 3400-fall 2010 
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