[TVARC] ARRL June VHF Contest Saturday

[K2PS Pete Stafford]

Hi TVARCers,

 

Just a friendly reminder that the ARRL June VHF Contest begins Saturday
afternoon at 2P local time, and runs through 11P Sunday night.

 

This is 6 meters and up, and is basically #QSOs X grid squares, and you can
work stations again on each band.  All modes are permitted, so SSB, CW, and
FT8 are fair game, maybe even 2M FM.

 

Florida turns out to be a terrific QTH for 6 meters especially, if the
propagation gods are good to us again this time.  When the band is open,
you'll have many callers.  When it isn't, it can be a slow slog trying to
work locals.

 

I'd appreciate those local calls anytime, as I plan a full bore effort to
repeat my win of 2018 in the 3-Band (50, 144, 432Mhz) class, but only on 6
and a little bit on 2 SSB.  Last year the propagation gods didn't favor us
and I fell to ninth.   I'll have my 5-element 6M yagi up for the weekend,
along with a little 3-element 2M on top, and usually pointed toward the
north or northwest (I'm in the Village of Amelia).  I'll be mostly on 6M
SSB, since the potential QSO rates there are highest, somewhat less on CW,
and when nothing much is heard, FT8 can produce a bunch of 6M QSOs.  My
experience last year was that 2M, at least with my meager setup, didn't
produce all that many QSOs.  I'll probably go there when there's nothing on
6M, but I ought to be able to monitor and listen on 144.200 SSB, or 146.52
FM simplex, so just give me a call.  

 

Incredibly, the rules now allow stations to self-spot callsign, frequency,
and mode.  So I may spot K2PS if things get really slow, but it just seems
wrong!

 

The exchange is callsign and grid square (EL98 here), and we can work each
station only once per band, irrespective of mode.

 

With FT8/4, be sure to go to File > Settings > Advanced and click on Special
operating activity and choose NA VHF Contest.  

 

I've never tried it, but I understand that MSK144 can be useful when
everything else is dead.  The only distinction from FT8 is that it decodes
in real-time - no 15 second wait.

 

Anyway, please look for me and give me a call this weekend!

 

73, Pete, K2PS

 

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