[NLRS] W0VTT June VHF Contest Report

[Mike Cizek W0VTT]

Greetings from a newbie on VHF,

Thanks to WA2VOI (M2 2M12 Yagi), K0MHC (RFC 150w brick), and N0BUI (ground
crew) I have been active on 2 meters since the beginning of May. After
chasing DX on HF for many years and expanding to 6m for the DXCC Challenge,
I decided it was time to try something new.  Now I'm chasing grid squares on
2 meters and trying to learn about that band.

Despite what my score shows, I spent almost all of my contest time on 2m and
was happy to add 18 new grids on that band.  Only 11 more to go for 2m VUCC!
Most of my 2m QSOs so far have been on meteor scatter, and it was
disappointing not to find more activity there on Sunday morning.  Most 2m
contest QSOs were close in with the best "DX" on that band being EM36
(MSK144) and EN58 (FT8).  6m QSOs were all over the US and Canada, but no
DX.  The four 440 FM QSOs were with KC0P & N0HZO roving here at the St
Charles corner.  Somehow, I managed to miss them in two of those grids, even
though the corner is visible from my living room.

What tools are available for finding VHF openings and contest activity,
especially rovers?  I know about (and use) the following:
APRS Propagation map
DX Maps
ON4KST Chat Rooms
Ping Jockey & PJ Client
Slack Chat
Upper Midwest VHF+ Spotting Page

Are there others that are useful?  I hope to be on again in the CQ VHF
contest next month.

--
73,
Mike Cizek W0VTT 

Band   Mode  QSOs     Pts  Grd  Pt/Q
    50  CW     347     347  104   1.0
    50  FT8      5       5    3   1.0
    50  MSK1     1       1    1   1.0
    50  USB     40      40   16   1.0
   144  CW       5       5    1   1.0
   144  FT8     32      32   22   1.0
   144  MSK1     4       4    4   1.0
   144  USB     33      33   10   1.0
   440  FM       4       8    2   2.0
 Total  Both   471     475  163   1.0
Score: 77,425
1 Mult = 2.9 Q's