[Wswss] ARRL's January 2019 VHF Contest

[peter h]

The ARRL's January 2019 VHF Contest will be held NEXT WEEKEND.

It begins at 11:00 AM PST on Saturday, 19 January and ends at 8:00 PM PST on Sunday, 20 January.

It is open to ALL classes of licensees and only requires availability of a transceiver which operates on any of the amateur radio frequencies on 50 MHz (6 meters) and up through Microwave frequencies. Even if you just have a 2 meter FM  handheld, you can still participate!

If you have never operated in a VHF Contest, and in particular, have not used FM, please look at the enclosed article which the Pacific NW VHF Society has given me permission to publish here. Although the article, written by WW7D, has been around for a while, it contains LOTS of useful info:   http://www.pnwvhfs.org/fm-contesting.html

During the September 2018 VHF Contest, I submitted both an FM Only entry & a QRP entry. My FM Only score placed #4 in the nationwide FM category & was the highest scoring entry score from Santa Barbara Section. My two QRP contacts on 902 MHz netted me a second place finish in the Southwest Division QRP Category. For lots of details and operating ideas, refer to:      http://www.cvarc.org/2019/01/02/summary-of-n6ze-k1fjm-arrl-september-2018-vhf-contest-operation/#more-2231

For full contest rules and info on the various Entry Categories: QRP, FM Only, Single Operator, Rover, etc, please refer to:   http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf

I look forward to operating next weekend on all bands 50 MHz (6 meters) through 1296 MHz (23 cm) from location(s) to be announced later. I hope to complete 2 way communications (QSOs) on 1 or more bands!

bt73

Pete, N6ZE
WSWSS, PNWVHFS, ARRL-LM