Category Archives: VHF/UHF

The World’s First Disposable HT

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Baofeng UV-5RA few weeks back, I was wasting time doing important research on the internetz when I came across the Baofeng UV-5R Dualband Handheld Transceiver.  This radio seemed to have a boat load of features but the sale price was $65. So I am thinking to myself, just how good is a $65 radio?

The last time I went out to a nice restaurant, I blew through $65 pretty quickly so this was not going to be a large purchase. In fact, I realized that we now have HT’s priced low enough to be an impulse buy. As one of my ham buds told me, “filling up the gas tank of my truck costs more than this radio!”

So, of course, I soon broke down and ordered one and it showed up on my doorstep a few days later. I’ve been using it off and on for a few weeks now. I’ve also noticed that there is a real buzz on the interwebz about this little radio. There is usual Yahoo Group (baofeng_uv5r) and youtube videos.

Here’s the short story:

While not perfect, for $65, this radio is impressive.

Besides using the radio and receiving good signal reports, I did check the receive sensitivity, transmit power and frequency — all good. There are quite a few reviews out there, so take a look at articles by W0HC, PD0AC and OE1RFC. Also, there have been quite a few reports of quality problems with this radio…probably more defects than equipment from the more established ham equipment vendors. See the Yahoo Group discussion to understand this better.

Similar to other radios from China, this radio has a quirky user interface…not as easy to use as my Yaesu FT-60. This means that the programming software is a necessity to get the radio set up correctly, which is the major downfall of the rig. The free software program is crapware, with many people reporting a variety of problems with installation and operation. I did finally get it to work, but it was very frustrating.

I find myself grabbing this HT when I head out the door and leaving my other radios sitting in the desk charger. Someone pointed out to me that the low price of this radio makes it an easy choice — if it gets dropped, broken, lost or stolen, I am only out a tank of gas. While I am kidding about the “disposable radio” idea, the low cost does affect how I use it.

73, Bob K0NR

Part II: Say Goodbye to the BNC

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I had previously commented on the how most of the handheld radios are adopting SMA connectors instead of BNC connectors. See Say Goodbye to the BNC. For example, the Yaesu FT-60 uses a female SMA connector for the antenna connection. I’d say this is the standard approach for the amateur radio market.

Female SMA on Yaesu FT-60

A few manufacturers have decided to use the male SMA connector as the antenna connection for their handheld radios. I suspect that these manufacturers are following the lead of commercial manufacturers (e.g., Motorola) who use the male connector.

Male SMA on Wouxun KG-UV2D

Many hams will want to adapt these SMA connectors back to the good old BNC, to connect to existing BNC connectors or HT antennas. I had commented that these adapters are mechanically weak but recently I have come across some more sturdy adapters.

SMA-BNC Adapters

The adapter in the center is the common adapter for cable use but arguably mechanically weak for adapting HT antennas. The adapter on the left adapts BNC antennas to an HT with a male SMA connector. The adapter fits snugly on the top of the HT and provides mechanical support. Similarly, the adapter on the right adapts BNC antennas to an HT with a female SMA connector.

The adapter on the left is available from Import Communications. The other two adapters came from Affordable Radio.

I have just started to use these more capable adapters so I am not sure how reliable they are in regular use. In any case, it makes sense to be careful to minimize the strain on any radio connector.

73, Bob K0NR

Say Goodbye to the BNC

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There was a discussion on Google+ the other day about how a particular handheld transceiver has an SMA connector, instead of the venerable BNC connector. I noted that many of the newer HTs are going with SMA, presumably because of the smaller size. In fact, I started thinking about it…I didn’t think you can buy an HT anymore with a BNC.

I took at look at some of the ham radio dealer websites to see if I was right. These radios all have SMA connectors: Alinco DJ-175T, DJ-C7T, DJ-G7T, DJ-G29T, DJ-V17T, DJ-V57T; ICOM IC-80AD, IC-92AD, IC-T70A, ID-31A: Kenwood TH-D72A, TH-F6A, TH-K20A; Yaesu FT-60R, FT-250R, FT-270R, VX-3R, VX-6R, VX-7R, VX-8R. The Wouxun radios are SMA but with a male connector on the radio (opposite gender compared to the other manufacturers…a topic for another day.)

But I did find three ICOM models that have BNC connectors: IC-V80, IC-V82, IC-U82.

The trend line is clear…the BNC is on the way out for amateur radio handheld transceivers.

Do I care?

Well, yes, I do.

I have a collection of extended length antennas that are much more efficient than the standard dummy load rubber duck. These are great for portable operation, mountaintopping, etc. I have not found very many of these antennas available with SMA connectors. Even if they were available, I am not sure I’d want to attach them to an SMA connector on an HT. For example, a 1/2-wave 2-Meter antenna is about 38 inches long — I am skeptical that an SMA provides enough mechanical strength to support it. Even with a BNC, I have always been very careful to not put too much strain on the connector.

We will have to see where this leads but it seems that the BNC will fade away for amateur use. Most mobile and base rigs use PL-259 and/or N connectors so HTs have been the main application for a BNC.

Goodbye, BNC, I am going to miss you.

73, Bob K0NR

Update on Feb 24: I’ve had several people suggest to me “just use a BNC-to-SMA adapter.” This certainly takes care of making a good electrical connection but mechanically they are generally weak.

Buy the Drop-In Charger

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I’d like to pass along a tip that has taken me about 25 years of ham radio experience to figure out. I’ve owned many different models of handheld FM transceivers through the years and have always just used the standard “wall wart” charger to charge the batteries.

Recently, I decided to “splurge” and get desktop chargers for the pair of FT-60’s that inhabit our two-ham household. I never realized how handy the drop-in style charger could be until I had one…the HT is always sitting there ready to go. Most of these drop-in chargers are rapid chargers that sense the battery condition — charging them quickly but also dropping back to a trickle charge once they are full.

Since then, I’ve made it a point to always pick up a desktop charger with a new HT. Yes, it does cost $60 to 75 extra but it is well worth the convenience.

73, Bob K0NR

More Summits On The Air (SOTA) Info

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I recently wrote about the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program gaining traction here in Colorado. Catching up on some of my podcast listening, I came across Jerry KD0BIK’s Practical Amateur Radio Podcast (PARP) on the topic of SOTA. It turns out that Jerry has gotten hooked on the SOTA program and has been out activating some of the Colorado peaks in December.

Operating a ham radio on top of a mountain during winter may seem like the act of a person with only one oar in the water (or shall we say one half of a dipole in the air?). But actually, we’ve had quite a few days of favorable weather that have been begging us to get outdoors in December. Still, I am on guard for an activation by Jerry in the middle of a blizzard, as he seems a bit smitten by this SOTA thing.

Episode 49 of PARP introduces the SOTA concept near the end of the episode, which is followed by a deeper SOTA discussion in Episode 50. These two episodes run about 25 minutes each, so take some time out to give them a listen.

73, Bob K0NR

Mixed Signals from Yaesu

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This just in from the Things That Make You Go Hmmm Department: the amateur radio portion of Yaesu splits from Mother Motorola while the land mobile portion stays. This is right on top of an announcement that Yaesu will pursue a digital amateur radio offering based on land mobile technology (i.e., definitely not D-STAR).

The K0KDS blog has a post about the split, so go there for the full story. The ARRL has this news item about the organizational change. Here’s the paper that Yaesu published about their move into digital technology for amateur radio.

73, Bob K0NR

Don’t Get Stuck On 2 Meters

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When I first got started in amateur radio (many years ago), one of the engineers that I was working with at a summer job told me “Don’t get stuck on 2 Meter FM”. At the time I was a college student and felt lucky enough to have 1) found time to pass my Novice exam, including Morse Code test, 2) found time to travel 150 miles to the regional FCC office and pass my Technician exam, and 3) scraped up enough money to buy a basic 2 Meter FM mobile rig. I was in Technician ham heaven, playing around on 2 Meter FM, both simplex and repeaters. Oh, and we had this cool thing called autopatch that let you make actual phone calls from your car. I really wasn’t worried about getting “stuck on two”.

Even though my discussions with this Old Fart Experienced Radio Amateur revealed that he didn’t see 2 Meter FM as Real Ham Radio, I could see that he had a point. Two meter FM is only small part of the ham radio universe and it would be easy to just hang out there and miss out on a lot of other things. I was reminded of this recently by K3NG’s post: Things I Wish I Knew When I Was A Young Radio Artisan. I agree with most of his comments with the exception of this one:

Don’t get your start on 2 meter repeaters.

This took me back to the comments from the Experienced Radio Amateur from years ago. I get the point — starting out on 2 Meter FM and Repeaters can give you a limited view of ham radio — but I see it as the perfect platform for getting started. Here’s what is working in my area with new Techs: get them started with a dualband FM rig (usually an HT) so they have some on-the-air success. This also puts them in touch with the local ham community, where we not-so-subtlely expose them to other bands, modes and activities. They hear the other guys talking on the repeater about working DX on 10 Meters and start thinking about how to pursue that as a Tech. From there, it just expands out to all kinds of bands and modes.

Just for the record, I guess I did follow the advice of the Experienced Radio Amateur and managed to not “get stuck on two” (i.e., I’ve worked all of the bands from 80M to 10 GHz, earning WAS, WAC, DXCC and VUCC.)

73, Bob K0NR

Summits On the Air Taking Off in Colorado

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The Summits On The Air (SOTA) program was launched in Europe in 2002 but is just now making its way to the United States. Recently, there has been a surge of activity in Colorado as the program gains traction here.

The basic concept of SOTA is an award program that rewards the radio operators that activate summits and the radio operators that chase summits. For those of us that enjoy the mountains and enjoy ham radio, this is a great fit. I won’t go into all of the rules here (Warning: There Are Lots of Them), so check out the SOTA web site for the complete details.

Steve WG0AT (World Famous Alpha Goat) just published another one of his Rooster and Peanut videos that capture his recent activation of Mount Herman. I managed to work Steve on 2 Meters and I make a cameo appearance in his video below as I make my first official SOTA contact.

Steve has been activating SOTA summits for a while now and others are joining in. Here’s a video from Pikes Peak with Mike, KD9KC and Ron,WT5RZ on North American Summits On the Air weekend.

Recently, Jerry KD0BIK succumbed to the SOTA addiction, activating Mount Herman and  Green Mountain (click on the mountain names to see his blog postings). Chris NW5W has also been active…check out his web site here.

There are numerous SOTA videos on youtube from all over the world.

The SOTAWatch web site is dedicated to posting future SOTA operating plans (Alerts) and SOTA activations in progress (Spots). The North American SOTA Yahoo! Group is another great source of information.

See you on a summit soon.

73, Bob K0NR

Results: 2011 Colorado FM Sprint

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The logs have been sent in, the scores tabulated and awards issued for the 2nd running of the Colorado FM Sprint. See my previous post, announcing the contest. The competition was tough significant weak not too bad rather slim and the following awards have been issued:

Call sign Category Place
KDØLLG Single Operator 1st Place
KØJJW Single Operator 2nd Place
KØNR Rover 1st Place

Come on out and play next year!

73, Bob K0NR

Announcing: Colorado FM Sprint

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The Colorado FM Sprint

Sponsored by:  The Colorado VHF Group (KØYB) and the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Radio Association (WØTLM)
Direct any questions to k0yb@qsl.net

Rules and FAQ are posted on the KØYB web site.

Saturday – September 10, 2011

This contest is held concurrently with the ARRL September VHF QSO Party, with compatible rules and operating procedures. The purpose of this contest is to:

  • Promote the use of FM VHF/UHF simplex
  • Provide an opportunity for radio amateurs to test the limits of their stations using FM VHF/UHF and to experiment with ways to improve their stations
  • Practice deploying portable and mobile operation as a means of identifying effective locations for temporary relay stations
  • Provide a simple and enjoyable radio contest experience (“Have fun!”)

Time:

 Saturday, Sept 10, 2011; 1200 to 1700 Mountain Time (1800 to 2300 UTC)

Objective:

To work as many stations as possible using FM simplex on the 146 MHz, 222 MHz and 440 MHz bands in as many different VHF grids as possible.

Frequencies:

Operate on FM simplex frequencies consistent with the Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) band plans

(Consistent with the ARRL Rules, 146.52 MHz is not allowed to be used in the contest.)

Suggested Frequencies:

2 Meters: 146.58, 146.55

222 MHz: 223.5 MHz

440 MHz: 446.0, 446.100 MHz

Do not operate on repeater frequencies or 146.52 MHz, the National Simplex Calling Frequency.

Remember to be a considerate operator and share the frequency with other operators.

Contest Exchange

To complete a contest QSO, you and the other station must copy each other’s callsign and 4-digit Grid Locator. You may optionally exchange Name and geographic location (city, landmark, etc).

Entry Categories:

The following entry categories are available for this contest, consistent with the entry categories for the ARRL September VHF QSO Party. All categories (excluding Single Operator Portable) operate within these power limits: (146 MHz–200 W PEP, 222 MHz 100 W PEP, 440 MHz 100 W PEP).

Single Operator – same as Single Operator Low Power in the ARRL rules

Single Operator Portable – power limit of 10 W PEP, operating from a fixed location using a portable power source, portable equipment and antennas

Rover – operates from 2 or more grid squares with 1 or 2 operators, same definition as Limited Rover in the ARRL rules. Rovers must sign “Rover” after their callsign.

Multioperator – operates with more than with operator from a fixed location

Scoring                     

QSO Points: Count one point for each 146 MHz QSO and two points for each 222 MHz and 440 MHz QSO.

Multiplier: The total number of different grid squares worked per band. Each grid counts as one multiplier on each band it is worked.

Final score: Multiply the total number of QSO points from all bands operated by the total number of multipliers for final score. 

Rovers only: The final score consists of the total number of QSO points from all bands times the sum of unique multipliers (grid squares) worked per band (regardless of which grid square they were made in) plus one additional multiplier for every grid square from which they successfully completed a contact.                         

Miscellaneous:

1.  Use only one call sign per entry per station, except family members who share a station.

2.  A rover station may use only one call sign.

3.  Soliciting contacts during the contest on repeaters, e-mail, telephone, etc. is not allowed.

4.  Final interpretation of these rules is the sole responsibility of the contest committee.

Awards:

Certificates will be issued to top scoring entrants in each category. Other certificates may be issued depending on the level of competition present in the contest. Results will be listed on the KØYB web site at http://www.qsl.net/k0yb

Log Entry:

1.  Log entries must be received by September 30, 2011.

2.  A log entry contains the following for each contact completed:  Date; Time (Universal Coordinated Time); Station Worked; Grid Locator

3.  A summary contains:  Your name, call, and address; entry category; grid locator; score calculation; and this statement:  “I have observed all rules of the contest and have operated my station in accordance with FCC rules.”

4.  Entrants are strongly encouraged to submit an electronic log in Cabrillo format, using commonly available logging programs (configured for ARRL September VHF QSO Party). Send electronic logs to k0yb@qsl.net, with Cabrillo file attached and subject line containing your call sign and the words “FM Sprint”.

5.  Paper logs may be sent to:  K0YB – Contest Logs, 21060 Capella Drive, Monument, CO 80132

Grid Locator Information:

Grids are 2° longitude x 1° latitude squares designated with 2-letters and 2-numbers, such as DM78. To determine which grid you are operating from, refer to this web page: http://www.k0nr.com/rwitte/vhf_grids.html or use a GPS receiver that displays the location in Maidenhead (vhf grid) format.

Here are some general guidelines that may help in case you work someone who does not know their grid square:

  • Greater Denver is in grid DM79
  • Boulder is split between grids DM79 and DN70, so check the location carefully.
  • Colorado Springs and Pueblo are in grid DM78
  • Fort Collins, Loveland and Longmont are in grid DN70.

 

Radio Fun on Mt Antero

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My favorite radio partner (and wife), Joyce K0JJW, and I climbed up Mt Antero for the Colorado 14er Event.  See my post announcing the event here.

We got up at O’Dark thirty on the morning of the event and drove the Jeep Wrangler up the 4WD road to Mt Antero. This road got us to within 1000 vertical feet and maybe a mile from the summit, making the climb a lot easier. But it still was climbing over rocks at 14,000 feet (read: no oxygen to breathe).  The weather was outstanding…blue sky all around and none of those nasty thunderclouds anywhere in sight. (It turns out that lightning on an exposed mountaintop is not a good thing.)

Here’s Joyce operating with a handheld transceiver.

 And here’s the view looking out to the west from the summit: 

We worked quite a few 14er stations, including the KBØSA crew on Pikes Peak and the Goathiker WGØAT on Handies Peak. All QSOs were made on 144 Mhz and 440 MHz FM using handheld transceivers. We were on the summit for almost 3 hours and then descended back down.

   73, Bob K0NR

Colorado 14er Event – Sunday!

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I am getting ready for the Colorado 14er Event tomorrow morning. Here’s the brief description from the www.14er.org web site:

Amateur Radio Fun in the Colorado Mountains
Sunday, August 7, 2011

Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun on the Sunday of the first full weekend in August and see how many of the mountaintop stations you can contact. The prime operating hours are from approximately 9 AM to noon local time (1500 to 1800 UTC), but activity may occur at other times during the day. Most mountaintop stations will be running low power handheld radios. Stations running high power need to keep in mind that they can interfere with stations they cannot hear.

Radio operators with 14er climbing experience who plan to climb a 14er should log their name and intended peak at the HAM 14er Yahoo group.

Joyce K0JJW and I will be heading up Mount Antero, taking the Jeep as far as we can and then hiking the rest of the way. It should be fun!

There will be a crew of Boy Scouts on Pikes Peak, using club call sign KB0SA, so look for them.

You don’t have to be on a mountaintop to play in this event. Here are a few options:

  • See who you can work from home on 2 Meter FM and 70 cm Meter FM. The frequencies are listed on 14er.org.
  • Operate from a high spot that is line of site to the 14er summits. For example, Wilkerson Pass (west of Colorado Springs on Highway 24) is a great spot. Harder to get to but even better would be Mosquito Pass or Weston Pass. Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is another great drive-to location.
  • Work the 14ers on HF. Many of the 14er stations will be up and running on HF and there is usually a pileup of stations wanting to work them. The Goat Hiker crew WG0AT will be out in full force  on Handies Peak, likely using N0B special event call sign.

See you on the air!

73, Bob K0NR

Finally, A New HF Rig

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My wife and I have a cabin up in the mountains that we use as a getaway as often as possible. Oddly enough, this place is a pretty good location for radio propagation. It sits at 9600 feet in elevation with low electrical noise and a decent radio horizon in most directions.

I’ve been putting up temporary antennas at the cabin for VHF contests, Field Day and the occasional HF contest. I am slowly building the ham station, with high expectations but slow progress. I wanted to get an HF rig to put in the Cabin Shack. Actually, I started out thinking I needed a DC-to-daylight rig so that I could cover all bands in one radio. I had my eye on the new ICOM IC-9100 that was announced back in 2009. I patiently waited for well over a year for this radio to become more than vaporware and they start to show up in the US in early 2011. Unfortunately, the street price turned out to be $3700, which seemed a bit too high to me.

This sent me back to rethinking the whole approach. I have to admit that I had not shopped for an HF rig since I bought my Yaesu FT-847 back in the 1990s. The 847 has been my all-time favorite transceiver based on how the controls are set up and the coverage of HF plus 6M, 2M and 70 cm. My only beef with this rig is that the receiver can get overloaded during heavy band usage (like popular HF contests and Field Day).  I started thinking about getting an HF + 6 Meter rig to complement the FT-847, which would give me two radios during contests. In particular, for VHF contests, I’d leave the new rig on 6 Meters all of the time and jump around 2 Meters and 70 cm with the FT-847. I also wanted the new HF rig to be very solid on HF and include some of the advanced features for DXing and contesting.

Soon I was looking at all of the radios that cover HF through 50 MHz. That’s when I really got sticker shock — the FT-DX9000D costs over $10k, the IC-7800 costs $12.5k, the IC-7700 is $7200, and so forth. All of these radios look like fine gear but I was unwilling to invest that much in a transceiver for the cabin. I quickly redirected my radio hunt to something below $2500, looking at the IC-7410 ($1900), FT-950 ($1350) and TS-2000 ($1575). In the end, I chose the FT-950 due to its price advantage and the ability to share accessories (microphones, mostly) with my FT-847.

I got the radio just in time for Field Day, where I gave it a good work out on 14 MHz, 21 MHz and 50 MHz. Wow, did it work great! The receiver performed very well even when the band was packed. In the heat of the battle, I pushed a wrong button or two and sent the rig off to some new and wonderful frequency. Yes, I did take the time to read the manual but I’ll have to spend some more time with it. This thing has enough features that it will take some time to master it.

-73, Bob K0NR

2011 Colorado 14er Event – August 7th

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The Colorado 14er Event will be held on August 7 this year. This is the premier mountaintopping event for amateur radio. The basic idea is to have fun making ham radio contacts from the 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado.

Actually, we’ve started to see some of the 14,000 ft peaks in California on the air, too! Very cool. Rumor has it that some of the New Mexico hams might be active on the highest summits in that state (none are above 14,000 feet though). I don’t know whether the Kansas folks are going to brave the extreme conditions on Mount Sunflower this year or not. (That’s the highest spot in Kansas at 4039 feet, which makes it a “4er”.)

Some of these stations will be on HF, activating Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks.

You don’t have to operate from a 14er to enjoy this event. Just get on the air and see who you can work. Being on a high spot always helps, of course!

For more information see:

The 14er Event Web Site

The Ham14er Yahoo group

I hope to work you during the event.

73, Bob K0NR

Time to Change the Rules for Field Day

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I just finished writing about how Field Day can be “seasoned to taste”…adapted to your particular interests. Overall, I think the ARRL has done a good job of crafting Field Day rules that provide some incentives for certain types of operation and activities. Get On the Air (GOTA) station, the free VHF station, and Class F (EOC location) are examples of positive rule changes that have been made over the years.

Still, I think there is room for improvement:

  • Eliminate the point advantage for CW and Digital contacts Why does Field Day have a scoring scheme that favors a particular mode? That is, CW and Digital contacts count 2 points versus 1 point for Phone. If these modes have some kind of efficiency advantage, then let that be the reward.  If not, then why the scoring incentive? The point benefit makes no sense to me, so I would eliminate that 2X advantage.
  • More Points for VHF/UHF Field Day is supposed to be about operating under simulated emergency communications. However, most real life EmComm activity makes heavy use of FM VHF and UHF to get the job done.  I would increase the number of points awarded for contacts on 144 MHz and higher to 2 points per contact, to compensate for the natural shorter range of these frequencies.
  • Remove Restriction on 146.52 MHz Also to encourage VHF operating, I would eliminate the prohibition against using 146.52 MHz. No other calling frequency is restricted in this way.
  • Make the Contest 24 Hours Field Day is set up to run 27 hours as long as you don’t set up at the start of the contest. It seems that must clubs set up early and just operate the first 24 hours. I would just simplify the event and make it 24 hours.
  • Bonus Points for VHF Packet or APRS Modern traffic handling uses digital methods, so I would encourage this by offering 100 bonus points for either establishing a functioning APRS station or packet radio system.
  • Require Electronic Log Submission Come on, this is the 21st Century….paper logs should be eliminated and all logs should be submitted electronically.

Well, my VHF+ tendencies are showing. These are my suggestions—what do you think?

73, Bob K0NR

ARRL Field Day: Season to Taste

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The 2011 Field Day is over. I have to admit that I am a bit ambivalent about Field Day…I can take it or leave it. But I have always thought that one of the great things about Field Day is that it can be tuned to whatever interests you or your club. It can be a serious radio contest (well, almost); it can be an EmComm Drill, it can be a Radio Campout;  it can be a food fest, it can be a beer-drinking party. Insert your idea here.

Here’s how my Field Day played out this weekend. The plan was to escape to our cabin in the mountains and set up a temporary HF + VHF station powered by a gasoline generator (1 transmitter, Class B). I used a basic trap dipole on 40M/20M/15M, a 6M5X Yagi on 6 Meters and a 2M9 Yagi on 2 Meters. I was hoping for some decent propagation on 20 Meters and 15 Meters, if 6 Meters opened up that would be awesome.

An urgent matter popped up on Saturday which took priority for most of the day. I finally got on the air Saturday evening and was pleasantly surprised to find 15 Meters still open. I worked quite a few stations on 15 M SSB until the band faded, then I slipped over to 20 Meters. Later, I noticed that 6 Meters had some life in it, so I turned my attention to that band, working back into the southeast.

The next morning, I checked 6 Meters and it was open again to the east. I was cranking out the contacts on 6 Meters but occasionally flipped around to the other bands. It was interesting to compare the 6 Meter activity on Field Day to the June VHF QSO Party. The propagation and number of stations on the air were similar. The skill level of the Field Day crowd was noticeably lower, with more dupes and sloppy operating. (That would be Field Day as a training event.)

Band  Mode  QSOs    Pts
 7    LSB      6      6
 14   USB     37     37
 21   USB     92     92
 28   USB      1      1
 50   USB    273    273
 144  USB      3      3
 Total       412    412

As you can see from the score, Field Day turned into a second June VHF contest for me, with 273 QSOs on 6 Meters.

A great time was had by me. How was your Field Day?

73, Bob K0NR    1B CO

June VHF QSO Party — Awesome Conditions

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The ARRL June VHF QSO Party should be the most fun VHF event of the year, but sometimes the propagation works against us. You see, June is supposed to be the primo time for sporadic-e propagation in North America but the ionosphere doesn’t always get the memo. This year was an absolute blowout with 6 Meters open for most of the daytime hours of the weekend!

As I prepped for the contest, I told myself  “don’t worry too much about 50 MHz, try to fill in some more grids on 2 Meters.”  This might have been my subconscious mind preparing for a crappy weekend on 6 Meters. I did manage to acquire a new and improved 6 Meter Yagi antenna (M2 6M5X), which turned out to be a very nice improvement over the old 3-element Cushcraft that I have been carting across the state for decades. I had decided to ignore the other bands and focus on 2 Meters and 6 Meters.

Here’s the antenna array, consisting of a 2M9SSB (12.0 dBd gain, 14.5 foot boom, 9 elements) and the 6M5X (9.4 dBd gain, 18 foot boom, 5 elements):

I operated from our cabin up in the mountains, grid locator DM78av. I don’t have a permanent station installation but instead operate in a portable mode. That is to say, I strapped a mast onto the front deck and supported the antennas that way. These two antennas are a really good choice for a portable station…not real small but they can be moved around.

The FT-847 puts out 100 Watts on 6 Meters and (with an amplifier) achieves 170 Watts on 2 Meters.

On Saturday morning, 6 Meters was open to the southeast, before the contest started. I held back until the contest began and then jumped in. It was pretty much a blur after that…mostly working 50 MHz but I flipped back over to 2 meters to see who I could work there.

The final score is my personal best for the June event:

 

Band       QSOs X pt =  QSO pts.  X   Grids   =     Points
---------------------------------------------------------------
50         500    1      500           170           85000
144        28     1      28            13            364
---------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS     528           528           183           96624

 

After the contest, I sent my electronic log into the ARRL for the contest and then uploaded my log to the Logbook of the World. LoTW has had a slow start but they recently upgraded it to handle VHF grids and VUCC. So just a few hours after the contest, I uploaded my log and received over 75 QSOs confirmed! Wow, talk about instant gratification…this is how it should be. No waiting around a couple of years for the cards to show up. If you are not using LoTW, now is the time to get on board.

73, Bob K0NR