[MNham] Two June operating activities

[Douglas H Reed]

June has two of the biggest ham radio operating events of the year,
the ARRL VHF QSO Party and Field Day. Both can be a lot of fun for new
and old hams to participate in. Read the brief info below and then
follow the links for detailed contest info. If your only interest is
emergency communications, these events should still interest you, if
only as training and to prove what your equipment can do.

<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party>
This event is for all hams with radio equipment for 50MHz and higher.
Any mode, any ham band above 50MHz, the only things off-limits are
repeaters and 146.520MHz! All contacts for the contest must be on
SIMPLEX, direct, not using a repeater to do the heavy lifting.... If
all you have is a 2M FM radio, you can have fun on the 2M FM simplex
frequencies on either side of 146.520MHz. In the St Paul-Minneapolis
area, 146.550 and 146.580 are very popular. On UHF, visit 446.000MHz,
on 6m use 52.525MHz.

If you have an "all mode" rig like a Icom IC-706 or Yaseau FT-857, now
is the time to see what that switch marked "USB" can do on VHF-UHF
frequencies. The most active frequencies for sideband are from 144.100
to 144.300MHz and 432.100 to 432.200MHz. Tune around and call CQ and
you WILL find someone to talk to on this June weekend. 144.125MHz and
432.125MHz are the SSB "calling frequencies" during most of the year
but they are just the smallest part of the activity during a contest
weekend.

And this is the time of year for 6M to be "open" during the day.
Listen between 50.100 and 50.250MHz and you may hear stations all
across the country and down into the Caribbean on 6M. 6M is called the
"magic band" because of the strange propagation that happens there.
Most of the year, 6M is for local and short-range contacts out a few
hundred miles and 50.125MHz is the SSB calling frequency. But this
time of the year, you can get band openings and talk all over North
and South America, and occasionally into Europe, Japan, and parts
south. Several years ago I talked to a dozen stations from New York,
down to Florida, and into Texas with 10 watts FM on 52.525MHz and a
quarter wave vertical on my roof.

On 2M SSB, stations with even modest base antennas can talk 200 miles
or more every day. During a contest or a band opening, contacts can be
much farther since everyone is listening and trying hard. If all you
have is a FM radio, you can still have fun and also test your station
and see how far you could talk without the repeaters to do the hard
work. The contests have shown me that I can work 50 to 70 miles in any
direction from my home, but talking 30 miles across Minneapolis on FM
simplex is difficult.... Do you know what YOUR station can do if it
has to?

<http://www.arrl.org/field-day>
It is only 3 weeks until Field Day. If you don't have Field Day plans
already, perhaps you should start making them or ask around for
someone who needs an extra operator for the weekend! You don't have to
be a HF operator to participate in Field Day, you don't even need to
be licensed since you would probably be working under a club call with
a control operator present. If you just want to find out what HF
operating is like, Field Day is the ideal way to "try it before you
buy it.

If you have participated before, you probably want to sign-up for a
particular operating time slot. Most clubs try to schedule their
operators so they have full 24 hour coverage of each station. But if
you just want to see what it is like and maybe "get your toes wet"
before you jump in, just visit the closest club and watch the
activity, maybe help with setup, or log contacts for one of the
stations. Even if you don't talk on the radio you can be a great help
by keeping the coffee pot running and making sure visitors don't trip
on the guy ropes.  :-)

<http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator>
Most local clubs will have a Field Day station. If you don't know
where the closest club is, you can use the link above to get a map and
directions to the closest Field Day sites in your area. Just enter
your zip code and look at the map. There are only a few clubs listed
so far but the map will fill up before the contest weekend. I've got
two club sites in my immediate vicinity, check and see if there is any
Field Day activity near you!

If you belong to any group that is participating in Field Day and it
is NOT on the map, wake them up and get your group listed! Even if you
are not looking for more operators, any local VHF-UHF contacts are
worth a few points and a public information table for visitors is
worth a bunch of points! You are "leaving money on the table" if you
don't take advantage of the bonus point opportunities in the contest!

If you don't want to get that involved, but still want a taste, you
can operate Field Day from your home station on HF or on VHF-UHF.
Field Day wouldn't be half as busy if it wasn't for home stations on
HF. And most local club Field Day operations will have at least one
VHF-UHF station since it is "free" under contest rules and every point
counts. The same tips regarding frequencies to operate as with the
June QSO Party above. Turn on your radio and give the local Field Day
operators a thrill by calling them. The VHF-UHF operators can get
especially lonely sometimes and they will enjoy the activity.

Note that both events start at 1800 UTC Saturday. That is 1PM local
CDT. Field Day activities can actually start sooner depending on what
kind of station the club will be operating. Read the rules for full
details and ask questions if you don't understand something. .

If you do participate with either event, please keep a log of your
contacts and send it in at the end of the contest. Even if you are
just playing, not really trying hard in the contest, send in your log.
These "check logs" are useful since they validate the contacts you
made and they also indicate the extent of local activity. Having
activity on the bands is how we justify the frequencies allocated for
our use. And contests are one way we show that activity exists.
________________

These two ARRL-sponsored contests are just the tip of the iceberg
regarding operating activities. Ham radio is all about playing with
radios and trying new things. One of my oldest friends only operates
HF SSB and loves chasing DX contacts. I don't talk on FM voice very
often, I prefer other modes like APRS, Packet, PSK31, D-STAR, HSMM,
even television. I have equipment for HF, 2M and 440 but I enjoy
playing with other bands like 10GHz and light.

If all you have is a 2M HT or mobile and you are wondering why you are
bored, don't blame the hobby, open your eyes, do a little looking on
the Internet, visit Radio City, the public library or a book store and
look at some magazines to see what you have been missing. There is a
world of things to do in ham radio and you can exercise your mind as
much or as little as you want in this hobby..... Wake up and smell the
coffee, guys!!

Hope to hear you on the bands......

73, Doug Reed, N0NAS.