[PPRAANet] Colorado Mountaintopping Action

[Bob Witte]

Colorado Mountaintopping Action

Want to have some fun with ham radio in the Colorado mountains this 
summer? We have two EXCELLENT opportunities for some mountaintop 
radio action coming up in July and August: the CQ Worldwide VHF 
Contest and the Colorado 14er Event. 

The CQ Worldwide VHF Contest will be on July 17 and 18th. Unlike most 
VHF contests, the CQ WW VHF uses only the 6 Meter (50 MHz) and 2 
Meter (144 MHz) bands. More importantly, it has a new "Hilltopper" 
category that is targeted at people that don't have the time and 
energy to operate all weekend. This category is limited to a 6 hour 
operating window and QRP power levels (10W max). Put this all 
together and you have a 6-hour, mountain top operating event focused 
on the two most popular VHF bands. This is just begging those FT-817 
owners to charge up those batteries and give it a go on six and two 
meters. 

Complete rules are at: 
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/091%20-%20VHF%20Con%20Rules%202004.pdf

If you are new to VHF contesting, take a look at the web page
"How to Work A VHF Contest": http://www.rwitte.com/vhf_contest.html

The second opportunity is the Colorado 14er Event, which is Sunday 
August 15th. The best place to be during this event is on top of one 
of the 14,000-foot mountains. However, it is just as much fun working 
the mountaintop stations from down below. (It is certainly less 
work!) However, it helps to find a high spot, even if you aren't on 
top of an official 14er. If you want a challenge, there is a new 
award for working 10 or more 14er stations, which is very achievable 
with a little effort. Most of the activity will be on 2M FM but many 
other bands get used as well (including HF). 

Check out the completely updated web site at http://www.14er.org. 

73,

Bob K0NR




Bob Witte K0NR
Email:  bob at rwitte.com or  k0nr at arrl.net
ARRL Technical Coordinator, Colorado Section   http://www.k0nr.com/ts.html
Personal Web Page  http://www.rwitte.com