Category Archives: VHF/UHF

Every morning (assuming clear skies and a clear head), I can look out my front door to see Pikes Peak towering over the horizon to the west. For an amateur radio operator, Pikes Peak is a convenient way to obtain awesome Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT). They were even nice enough to build a road so you can drive to the top. If that doesn’t work for you, then take the train (Pikes Peak Cog Railway).

You can talk me into going up Pikes almost anytime, but during a VHF event it is even more attractive. One such radio event for mountaintop operation is the Colorado 14er Event. This is an annual radio even that I have blogged about previously. Chris K0CAO put some video of his hike to the summit of Mount Harvard on the web which shows the event from the hiking/climbing viewpoint.

Four of us had a great time operating from Pikes Peak this year…that story is told on my website and can be found here.

73, Bob K0NR

Steve N5AC recently completed a survey of amateur radio operators about their thoughts on VHF contesting. The results are now published on the web at http://www.n5ac.com/VHFSurvey.pdf

In the forward of the document, Steve writes:

I love VHF and microwave contesting and I know many of those that read this feel the same. And although I’ve only been doing it a few years, I’ve formed some strong opinions about what I like and don’t like and even how I think others should behave while contesting. But why is this — why can’t we all just have fun? As I tried to understand what I took issue with and why others had issues, I came to realize that even though we are all “playing together,” we are each playing for different reasons and with different goals. Some want to accumulate band-grids for VUCC and the contest, itself, is not terribly important. Others are in a dead heat in their category trying to beat out known opponents. Personally, I enjoy working long, difficult microwave shots with my friends, but I like to see a high score at the end of the day too. And all of these different goals and many others combined with how we were trained as operators, our local culture and our personalities all affect our on-air behaviors and how we operate a contest.

If you have an interest in VHF contesting, this survey report is good reading.

73, Bob K0NR

The Colorado 14er Event is coming on August 12th, in the morning local time in Colorado.

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 Sunday, August 12th 2007 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.

Two awards to encourage mountaintop operating throughout the year are available. The Summit Award is given to radio amateurs that contact 10 or more peaks and the Pinnacle Award is for operating from 5 or more peaks. 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.

I will be operating from the summit of Pikes Peak with a crew of other ham radio operators, using club callsign K0YB.

73, Bob K0NR

In several recent FCC actions, the regulatory agency removed the privilege of automatic control from a licensed amateur radio operator. For example, this FCC letter to John Kimbraugh WR3S says:

The FCC letter also says that WR3S will lose the privilege of operating under automatic control. Without automatic control, a control operator must be present at the control point of the repeater whenever the repeater is in use. This pretty much forces the repeater system to go off the air, unless a repeater operator or a team of control operators can manage to monitor the repeater most of the day.

I see this as the FCC saying that the use of automatic control can be a problem on a repeater. If station operation remains within reasonable limits, then go for it. If you can’t get your act together as the repeater operator, then the FCC will take away this privilege.

The ARRL June VHF QSO Party is next weekend June 9-11. Complete rules are at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2007/june-vhf.html

The Rocky Mt VHF Plus group is doing a number of things to promote VHF activity during the June VHF QSO Party this year. Since parts of Colorado have more cows than ham operators, we often have grids that are not activated during the contest. This year we created a special focus on grid activation which we call the Great Colorado Grid Run. See http://www.k0nr.com/blog/2007/04/great-colorado-grid-run.html

We’ve had a great response from the Colorado VHF ham community and we
will have all 16 grids activated. Thanks to the rovers and portable
operators that have signed up to make this happen! For the latest
operating plans, see http://www.k0nr.com/coloradojunegrids.html

There are a series of awards that are available to encourage operation.

WORKED COLORADO AWARD
The Worked Colorado Award is available for all bands above 50 MHz, and
is awarded if you work any 6 of the 16 Colorado Grid Squares on any One
(1) VHF/UHF band. See http://www.rmvhf.org/coloaward.html

WORKED ALL COLORADO AWARD
The Worked All Colorado Award is available for all bands above 50 MHz,
and is awarded if you work all of Colorado’s 16 Grid Squares on any One
(1) VHF/UHF band. See http://www.rmvhf.org/coloaward.html

THE GREAT COLORADO GRID RUN CERTIFICATE
This award is to encourage operating portable from the less populated
grids in Colorado during the 2007 June QSO Party. Activate any Colorado
grid or a grid adjacent to Colorado, excluding DM78, DM79 and DN70
(highly populated grids). See http://www.rmvhf.org/Great_Grid.html

RMVHF+ PARTICIPATION CERTIFICATE – JUNE VHF CONTEST
For Rocky Mt VHF Plus Net members only. First time Certificate
applicants need 10 contacts, with a minimum of 5 on 2 meter or above.
Second time applicants need a minimum of 20 contacts with 10 on 2 meters
or above. Third time applicants need 50 contacts with a minimum of 25 on
2 meters or above. Forth time and above need a minimum of 100 contacts
with a minimum of 25 on 2 meters and above. See http://www.rmvhf.org/

We are seeing a positive response from this effort in the state of
Colorado. Hopefully, some good 6M propagation will facilitate contacts
across North America.

GL in the contest,
73, Bob K0NR

The ARRL June VHF QSO Party (June 9-11) is a great opportunity to try out your gear for the VHF and higher bands. See the complete information on the contest here.

Under the theory that activity breeds more activity on the VHF bands, I am proposing a coordinated effort to activate all Colorado grids during the ARRL June VHF contest. This effort would collectively raise the scores of everyone in the Rocky Mountain region as we all have more grids to work locally. More importantly, this would be a lot of fun!

How difficult is this to pull off? There are 16 VHF grids in Colorado. If you are not familiar with the grid system, take a look at the Colorado vhf grid map on my web site.

The usual front range VHF stations would have DN70, DM79 and DM78 covered. There are a couple of rover stations already planning to head out east and hit DN80, DM89, DM88, DM87. DM77 will also be activated by one of the rovers. On the Western slope, N0KE is usually on the air from DM69. With a little encouragement, we could probably get a Grand Junction station or two on in DM58. This would still leave DM57, DM67, DM68, DN50 and DN60 open. There may be a local or two we could get on the air or maybe we need another rover to cover those grids. This idea seems to be within capture range.

I think the minimum station should be active on 2M and 6M, with decent Yagi antennas and running 100W or more. This would help facilitate QSOs across the state. Also, a good 6M opening would be a nice addition (not sure who is in charge of propagation this year 🙂 More bands would be better, of course, especially from the rare grids.

We especially need stations to participate from the western grids in Colorado (DM57, DM58, DM59, DN50) near Cortez, Delta, Grand Junction and Rangely. These can be fixed stations, portable or rovers.

If you are interested in participating in this effort and can operate from one of the more rare grids, contact Bob K0NR (bob@k0nr.com). To keep up to date on the status of this effort, monitor The Great Colorado Grid Run summary page.

If you are new to VHF contests, check out “How to Work a VHF Contest” at http://www.k0nr.com/rwitte/vhf_contest.html

The ARRL has published the results for the 2006 September VHF QSO Party. I didn’t really pay any attention because I didn’t remember working the contest. However, it turns out that I once again dominated the QRP category in the Rocky Mountain region. Well, “dominated” means that I was the highest score (65) of two entries.

I went back and checked my log book….it seems that I must have pulled out the FT-817 and went out on the back deck and worked a few stations.

Single Operator Portable Scores for Colorado:
Call Score QSOs Mult
K0NR 65 11 5
K0JJW 6 2 2

K0JJW is my wife, who also made a couple of contacts that weekend. Thanks, hon, for the competition 🙂

The September contest generally has very light activity in my area, so looking forward to the June contest and some good 50 MHz conditions.

73, Bob K0NR

For the last four years, I have operated a backpack portable QRP station in the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes. I am not sure how I got hooked on this but the basic idea is to hike up to the summit of Mt Herman (~9000 feet in elevation, grid locator DM79mb) and operate for the afternoon. The contest goes all weekend but I am not signed up for a mountaintop camp out in January. So for me this contest becomes a hike-the-mountain-then-make-some-contacts event.

The first three years, the weather was amazingly good. It was so sunny and warm that I worried about sunscreen more than about having sufficient clothing. Last year, we had serious snow on the trail but it was still a reasonable hike. See my ARRL Soapbox comments here.

But Colorado has experienced record snow fall this year….and it is not melting any time soon. When I woke up on the morning of the contest, it was once again snowing at my house. My good sense said “Bob, you are not going up the mountain today.” The other part of my brain (the one that likes a good challenge), said “This has now reached the status of Official Challenge to be Overcome.”

My wife Joyce (K0JJW) and I loaded up The Big SUV and headed to the trailhead. A US Forest Service road that is not maintained (read: not plowed) in the winter is the only way to get to the trailhead. We carefully drove up the road and got within 1/4 mile of the trailhead. The road was blocked by various vehicles that had gotten stuck. We found a place to park that did not block the road, grabbed the snowshoes and started our climb.

We slogged our way up the trail through heavy snow and eventually arrived at the summit. It was not that bad of a climb, but the snowshoes were essential and the deep snow slowed us down. We arrived at the summit around 1 PM, one hour after the contest started.

At the top, I had about 25 QSOs before the cold started to get to me. It was difficult to operate the radio in the snowy conditions….and it was pretty dang cold. I did not bother to assemble the 2M yagi antenna, operating just off the vertical whip antennas. At first, I thought I was going to just work my own grid (bummer). As the afternoon progressed, I picked up 4 adjacent grids on various bands, so I was feeling OK about that. (Not rare DX but at least I got outside my grid.)

More information on VHF contests can be found here: How to Work a VHF Contest

73, Bob K0NR

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 Sunday, August 13th 2006 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.

Two awards to encourage mountaintop operating throughout the year are available. The Summit Award is given to radio amateurs that contact 10 or more peaks and the Pinnacle Award is for operating from 5 or more peaks.

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.

This past weekend was packed with family activities, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to participate in the CQ WW VHF Contest. Finally, on Sunday morning, I decided to pack up and head to Mt Evans (14,000 foot mountain with a road to the top). Actually, the agreement with my spousal unit was that we were going on a mountaintop picnic that also happened to include a 2M / 6M ham station. I operated in the Hilltopper category (QRP power, operating for 6 hours or less).

The station was an FT-847 running 10W to a 3-element 6M Yagi and an 2M9 Yagi on 2 Meters. The antennas were on a 15-foot mast mounted on the hitch of my SUV.

I started operating around 1930 UTC and found 6 meters open to the midwest. Of course, 2 meters gets neglected by the single ops when 6 meter is hot, so not many QSOs on 2 meters. The contest ended at 2100 UTC, so my operating time was limited.

About 1.5 hours of operating netted:

36 grids on 6M, 2 grids on 2M
76 total QSOs
Score: 3116

Now I am wishing I had gotten up there early in the morning….maybe next year.
The 2 band format is really nice for a simple portable or rover station. As long as 6 meter propagation is good, two bands is plenty of action. Also, the Hilltopper category works well if you can’t spend the whole weekend playing radio.

73, Bob K0NR

It is well known that the standard “rubber duck” antenna that is supplied with a handheld VHF or UHF transceiver is not very efficient. It represents a compromise between size and efficiency, with size winning out. In other words, the antenna is small and doesn’t radiate very well.

I just came across an article by Dick Kiefer (KØDK) that explores this issue in detail, including a design for a 1/2-wave antenna for handhelds. I’ve been a big fan of telescoping 1/2-wave antennas. They are excellent performers while still being light in weight and compact for hiking and backpacking.

Brief highlights of the KØDK article:
For 2 Meters, a 1/2-wave antenna performs ~5 to 8 dB better than a rubber duck.
For 70 cm, a 1/2-wave antenna performs ~3 to 7 dB better than a rubber duck.

Not too surprisingly, the 70-cm (440 MHz) rubber ducks did a little better than their 2-Meter equivalents, since an antenna of a given physical length will be longer in terms of wavelength at the higher frequency.

Take a look at the article for more details.

73, Bob K0NR

The results for the 2006 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes were published in the July 2006 issue of QST. I’ve listed the Single Operator Portable (AKA QRP) scores below. My totally wimply score of 544 gave me 10th place in the overall contest. Of course, I dominated the Colorado section, which is easy to do when you are the only contest entry. The important thing is that I had a good day playing radio in the mountains. See my previous posting about this QRP backpacking contest effort.

Take a look at my soapbox comments (and photos) at the ARRL web site.

73, Bob K0NR

Every so often, a really great product lands in my hands that I really, really appreciate and enjoy. One of these products is the Yaesu VX-2R. The story starts with the Yaesu VX-1R, which was OK for what it was but had a number of not-quite-so-good attributes. Yaesu apparently learned from the VX-1R and fixed the issues when they designed the VX-2R.

This all started when I was looking for the ultimate backpack radio. Basically, I was looking for an HT that was small enough that I would easily toss it into my backpack when loading up for a multiday backpack trip. Anyone that has gone backpacking knows the drill….you get everything you think you need into the pack for a 3-day trip and the pack weighs 423 pounds. At the last minute, you start tossing everything out to make the pack lighter. In a matter of minutes, items that were essential turn into unnecessary ballast that must be cast aside. If you work really hard, you can get the pack down to about 215 pounds and still have everything you need for the next 3 days.

In this situation, I really don’t want to carry a heavy radio. I have a Yaesu FT-817 which is a sweet little radio, covering HF through 440 MHz with CW/SSB/FM. This is a fine rig but just too dang heavy for a backpack trip. Worst than that, it consume batteries like a toaster so I’d have to carry 43 pounds of batteries to keep the thing running. OK, that leads me back to a handheld transceiver, commonly know as an HT.

The key features of the ultimate backpack HT are:

• Transceive on the 146 MHz and 440 MHz amateur bands
• Receive NOAA weather frequencies
• Receive FM broadcast stations (for weather and news)
• Wideband receive of national park and US forest service frequencies (typically 168 MHz)
• Transceive on FRS frequencies (462.xxx MHz), emergency use only, of course

Normally, I’d look for a battery pack that uses standard AA batteries. That way, I can share batteries between my flashlight, digital camera and ham radio. The VX-2R uses a very compact NP-60 Li-ion battery pack, used on many digital cameras. These battery packs are available from after-market vendors at a very reasonable price. I recently bought 2 of these battery packs from Battery Merchants for $10 (plus shipping).

The stock antenna is very compact but does not perform that well. It is OK for casual listening but a longer antenna is a must for anything but short range use. The VX-2R uses an SMA connector for the antenna. A good choice is the Diamond SRH77CA which is a 1/4 wavelength on 2M and 1/2 wavelength on 70 cm (about 16 inches long).

A carrying case/holster is another great accessory with this little HT. I use the
Nite Ize Clip Case Universal Holster available from a variety of outdoor shops.

73, Bob K0NR