[NLRS] January VHF and MN QSO Party

[W0ZQ at aol.com]

Hello NLRS land.   Just a reminder that the ARRL VHF contest is  January 22- 
24.   This is always a fun contest and local activity has  been good in recent 
years.   Please spread the word to all of our VHF  friends including FM only 
clubs.   FM simplex is OK except for no  146.52.   146.48 is popular during 
the contest.   Please  talk it up on the local repeaters, etc.
 
On a different subject, February 5th (Sat) is the MN QSO Party.    The 
contest runs from 8am CST (1400 UTC) to 6pm CST (2400 UTC).   This  contest, which 
covers both HF and VHF, is sponsored by the Minnesota Wireless  Association.  
Full rules can be found at _www.w0aa.org_ (http://www.w0aa.org)  ,click on 
"Minnesota QSO Party Home  Page - 2005".   You will find all sorts of good 
information on the  website include a very good (free !) logging program.  I used 
this  logging program last year and it worked very well .... very easy to  use.   
 Check out the Mobile Activation Map.
 
Please be aware that a change from last year to this year is the move from  
two letter to three letter county abbreviations ..... if your running an older  
logging program you will need to update it (the website includes  updated 
multiplier files for commonly used software logging  programs).    
 
For those who have not tried this contest before, please try it out this  
year whether you plan to run VHF, HF or both.   I guarantee  that you will have a 
good time.   Last year the NLRS placed third  overall in the club aggregate 
scoring but we had by far and away the most number  of logs submitted.    This 
year, with our numbers and with a  coordinated effort, NLRS can take the club 
competition.   Please make  sure that you list yourself as a NLRS member when 
you submit your log.
 
73, Jon
W0ZQ