[NLRS] Sept VHF - W0ZQ results

[Jon Platt]

 Band   QSOs   Grd
    50      41        15 
   144     26          9 
   222     18          9 
   420       1          1 
   902     10          6 
  1240      9          3 
  2300      2          1 
 10000     1          1 
 Total   108        45  
Score: 7,830 It was a busy weekend so I was in and out of the shack a lot.  Sorry for those that I missed.  I never really detected the tropo that others have commented on; perhaps it was the cities heat island that made some difference .... I have seen this in the past.   FT8 continues to be a major "disruptive" mode.  On the plus side, running 200w and a pair of stacked loops on 6m I can work 300+ miles with FT8.  Yes, sometimes the other station is doing the heavy lifting.   Another plus is that there are many HF guys who are FT8 literate coming up to 6m now .... lots of "new" calls that I have never worked before.  On the negative side, its much harder to run the bands with other stations having just worked them on 6m FT8.  Perhaps we need to refine our FT8 skills to follow up with a "QSY to" free message.  Also, FT8 just doesn't have the "radio attraction" (for me) that SSB/CW does.  My two bits.    My 432 is still down, looks to be an antenna issue, plus my 2304 and 3456 antennas show a high SWR. Overall, a fun dose of RF.  A big tip of the hat to those rovers who kept the bands hopping and who always manage to interfere with my dinner ! 73, JonW0ZQ