[MAMS] January VHF SS

[Zack Widup]

Hi,

Did anyone besides Bob K8TQK (Thanks for the QSO Bob!) participate in
the January VHF Sweepstakes?

I was Single-Op (QRP) Portable once again from the hill in EN50rl. I
get set up and started around 2000Z on Saturday and operated till
about 0400 on Sunday, then went QRT to go to the nearest motel 10
miles away to sleep. I returned at about 1400Z on Sunday and operated
till about 1930Z. I knew the impending Bears-Packers game was going to
make the bands awfully quiet and I was freezing, so I took everything
down and packed it up then.

These were my results:

 BAND     QSO    QSO PTS      GRIDS

      144       22       22          14
      222       13       26          11
      432       13       26          11
      903        3        12           3
      1.2         5       20           5
      2.3         2       16           2
      3.4         1        8            1
      5.7         0        0            0
      10G       1         8            1

Final score: 6624

Microwave QSO's were scarce in this one. I worked W9OBG and K2DRH on
2304,  K2DRH on 3456, and W9ZIH on 10G. I could not work W9OBG or
W9ZIH on 3456. We tried. Band conditions were very poor on microwave
frequencies with "negative propagation" as Ron put it. Signals were
very weak both ways on 10 GHz CW for us. Compare that to 20-over-9
signals and a half-hour ragchew on SSB I had with W9ZIH one evening
last summer from the same hilltop.

I pointed my beams to the southwest fairly often in hopes of catching
K4TO, K4XR or W4ZRZ. I did hear W4ZRZ briefly on 222 MHz but he
dropped into the noise very rapidly. Long-distance (more than three
grid squares away) signals on any band were very short-lived and
sporadic. I did manage to work W0UC in EN44 and N4QWZ in EM66. Not a
good weekend for propagation on any band. I could not hear any of the
K3SIW beacons at all on Saturday and on Sunday I could only hear the
1296 beacon and it kept riding the noise level.

So I don't know about this one for next year. Maybe I'll try to find a
multi-op station where it's warm that will have me.
:-)

73, Zack W9SZ