From the conversations I've had with non-VHFers, cost is a major issue to getting on VHF/UHF. On HF you can toss a $5 dipole in a tree, feed it witn junk coax and work a bunch of people on 80 and 40.
John, Your points about satellite operation are good ones, but this is a reflector about VHF/UHF Contesting, not general VHF/UHF operating. I think contest operation on satellites (other than Field D
Tom, Many ( but not all) of the Garmin units display Maidenhead grid squares. I use a (now disontinued) Garmin GPS III which works very well. It appears that, in general, Garmin's hiker and general p
This would be very difficult to implement mechanically. A Beta-Match (also called a hairpin match) requires a split driven element (insulated from the boom and split into two halves like a dipole). T
I have quite a few of the insulators for thru-the boom mounting of antenna elements, but I need the stainless steel retainer rings for 3/16 (.188) aluminum rod. Anybody know of a source?? Got some at
Mike, These are a couple of my favorite articles about VHF/UHF rover antennas. Dunno if you have seen these, but some good ideas therein: http://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf WA
To Those Who Are mis-Informed about the role of the CAC: The ARRL CAC does not make the rules for ARRL Contests. Rules or changes are proposed by those on the Membership Services Committee to the ARR
I'm no lawyer, and while PRB-1 may not be able to repeal a CC&R that is already in place (and to which the owner presumably agreed), it may be able to prevent the imposition of a non-compliant CC&R o
Les, It is only self-spotting if you spot yourself; i.e., "N1LF on 50.150" while you're calling CQ. Spotting someone else as you described is considered good form, even for a non-assisted single-oper
I have used the 6M KU4AB loop while roving with good performance and no problems. It is equivalent in mechanical construction to the (now discontinued) KB6KQ 6M loops that I have at my home station.
After my recent comment about KB6KQ VHF loops (which were discontinued when KB6KQ became a Silent Key), I got a note from Lu, N2SLN letting me know that these fine antennas are again available from a
Mike, You might have the amplifier loaded too heavily. Try reducing the loading slightly (plate current will drop) then adjust the plate tuning to peak your power output (which should occur at the pl
Mike, According to the description of the 220 MHz W6PO amp in W6SAI's Radio Handbook, here are the operating conditions with 3000V on the plate: Single tone plate current 667 mA Idling plate current
Dana, I may be wrong, but I seriously doubt that is an issue. The difference between 220 and 222 MHz is only one percent and the plate output circuit has plenty of adjustment range to handle the diff
Dave, Check out this web page http://www.n7cfo.com/vhf/gps/~gps.htm for a list of GPS units that support Maidenhead grids. This page was last updated in June 2014 but many of the models listed are di
Ken, PSK is not a legitimate Cabrillo mode. According to the published Cabrillo 3.0 specification on the WWROF site, these are the only legitimate Cabrillo modes: CW PH FM RY Based on this, even W5ZN
When I first got on 6M during the summer of 1989, I yanked one of my 10M yagis off the tower and stuck a 6M PV-4 (4L on a 12' boom) in its place and operated thru the summer with a Yaesu FT-726R at 1
The details for removing the grid collet fingers are shown in the ARRL UHF/Microwave Projects Manual, Volume 1 for the K1FO single and dual tube 432 MHz 3CX800 amps, and the 432 MHz 8938 amp. Not sur
Zack, The answer is in the body of the e-mail from N6NB: "when W6TE roved alongside two stations using the car-seat packages, they worked the same distant stations on the same bands as W6TE did". W6T
John, I'm a huge fan of the FT-847, which has separate antenna connectors for HF/6m/2m/70cm. Also separate relay outputs which are handy if you ever add bricks or transverters. Finally, with the serv