ARRL June VHF Contest - 2022
Call: NV4B/R
Operator(s): NV4B
Station: NV4B/R
Class: Limited Rover LP
QTH: MO
Operating Time (hrs): 28.5
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 366 152
2: 84 38
222: 25 14
432: 21 11
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 496 215 Total Score = 120,866
Club:
Comments:
This contest was a huge payoff for a year of prep work and anticipation. I
could not have been much more pleased with how this contest went, and Sunday was
among the most exciting VHF contest days of my 20+ year career. Who could have
imagined that we'd have 6m openings to Europe, 6m openings to Japan, 2m
sporadic-E, ultra-short skip on 6, and 500+ mile tropo all in the same contest?
Changes for this contest were the addition of a 100W amp for 222, a new-to-me
Dell Core m5-based tablet for 222 that powers from USB-C (as does my primary
Dell tablet), a networked N1MM Logger+ setup, and various ergonomic
improvements.
I operated from two rare-grid locations that I had operated from on previous
scouting trips -- Pendleton Bend in Arkansas (EM43ix) and Morris State Park in
Missouri (EM46xn). Conditions were relatively spotty on Saturday with
sporadic-E beginning on 6 around 2200Z and continuing until 0345Z. In the
middle of that opening was what appeared to be a fairly-sizeable JA opening, but
I didn't spend a lot of time trying to work JAs when easier-to-work domestic
mults were available -- having only 100W and 3 elements didn't give me much of a
chance, anyway.
I operated from my EM43 stop from contest start until a bit after sunset. I got
in motion around 0215Z and held off transmitting until I crossed into EM44 about
10 minutes later. I continued to operate in motion through EM45, EM46, and EM55
to my overnight stop in EM56. After 0400Z, most of my activity was chasing
K4CNY/R as we roved together up the Arkansas Delta, swapping Qs across grid
lines. A motel disaster resulted in not getting to a habitable room until
almost 0830Z, at which point all I had time for was a shower and about 1½ hours
of sleep before hitting the road to be QRV as soon as possible after sunrise in
EM46.
I was set up and operating from EM46xn around 1210Z. 6m was already showing
signs of life, and there was unstable but usable tropo to Texas on 2m and up.
6m was mainly open to Mexico and the Caribbean Sunday morning, but the fun
really began around noon local time with a double-hop opening to Southern
California. Around the same time, the MUF began climbing to the southeast, and
suddenly, I was working stations back home in Alabama with S9 signals on CW. At
one point, I think I was even hearing my home grid of EM64 via sporadic-E,
although the closest grids I worked that I know for certain were Es were EM62
and EM73. Unfortunately, I was not well positioned for 2m Es, but I did briefly
hear and attempt to work a CO station on 2m.
From this point on, it became a 6-meter contest. I saw an opening to Europe for
awhile Sunday afternoon, but it didn't last long, and as with the JA opening, it
wouldn't have been good strategy to spend a lot of time on it with my
relatively-small station. The band was still going at the final bell with
single-hop Es in seemingly every direction. I operated in motion on the route
back home, activating EM56, EM55, EM54, and, for about 15 minutes, my home grid
of EM64. As the sun set, Texas and Oklahoma once again made an appearance on 2m
and up. It was exciting to watch them working W1/2/3/VE3 stations via
sporadic-E, and I actually hated to call them while they were working the rare
opening, but I appreciate those who took time away from the excitement to give
me those last minute 2m and 222 QSOs.
As for modes, the majority of my activity was on FT8. When the band was open
and I couldn't get responses to my CQs on FT8, I would switch to analog S&P
and picked up a decent number of QSOs on CW & SSB, but I couldn't get a run
going the few times I tried. In general, I did not see the level of analog
activity that others have posted about -- this is unfortunate, because
conditions were there to permit good rates. Then again, perhaps I should have
just tried harder to run -- the fear of missing out on digital was palpable. I
was disappointed that FT4 wasn't better utilized, although it seemed that FT4
became somewhat of a refuge for DX on Sunday.
I've never known a rover not to have some technical problem on a rove, but mine
weren't too bad or numerous this time around. The biggest issue was 6m RF
getting into a USB hub preventing me from using the wireless keyboard/trackpad
I'd wanted to use. I stopped on my way to EM43 on Friday and picked up a small
Bluetooth keyboard to work around this, but it was inconvenient not having a way
to click on anything other than touching the tablet screen. The other issue was
2m RF getting into the 222 amplifier and making the T/R relay chatter, no doubt
due in part to the fact that the 2m and 222 loops are mounted inches apart on
the mobile mast. This was also a minor inconvenience that I will mitigate with
hard keying and modifications to the amp. One slightly bigger problem was noise
produced on 6m by my 2m transmissions, but again, it wasn't a showstopper. I
also had some major problems with my mast Sunday late afternoon due to the
weight of the four antennas. I am planning on going to two masts for future
contests -- this will also help with the problem of not wanting to turn my 6m
beam during an Es opening to make a 2m or higher QSO. A major problem from EM43
was the lack of cell service, but there's relatively little I can do about
that.
My score claim is a raw score and assumes that the score produced by N1MM
Logger+ did NOT include multipliers for the eight grids I activated.
Band/mode breakdown:
Band Mode QSOs Pts Grd Pt/Q
50 CW 25 25 12 1.0
50 FT4 18 18 2 1.0
50 FT8 300 300 130 1.0
50 MSK1 2 2 0 1.0
50 USB 21 21 8 1.0
144 FT8 81 81 37 1.0
144 USB 3 3 1 1.0
222 CW 2 4 0 2.0
222 FM 7 14 5 2.0
222 FT8 15 30 8 2.0
222 USB 1 2 1 2.0
420 CW 1 2 0 2.0
420 FT8 18 36 9 2.0
420 USB 2 4 2 2.0
Total Both 496 542 215 1.1
Equipment:
6m: ICOM IC-7100 at 100W, MFJ 1762 3-element Yagi (stopped), MFJ 1728
quarterwave whip (in motion)
2m: ICOM IC-9700 at 100W, Diamond A144S10 10-element Yagi (stopped), Efactor
dual-band loop (in motion)
222: Yaesu FT-736R, Mirage C2512G amplifier configured for 100W max, Directive
Systems K1FO 10-element rover Yagi (stopped), M² HO loop (in motion)
432: ICOM IC-9700 at 75W, Directive Systems K1FO 15-element rover Yagi
(stopped), Efactor dual-band loop (in motion)
QSOs by state (includes dupes):
MO 257
AR 159
TN 58
MS 25
AL 10
QSOs by grid:
EM43 102
EM44 23
EM45 11
EM46 236
EM54 27
EM55 60
EM56 30
EM64 7
Most-worked stations were K4CNY/R (42 QSOs), W5VY/R (12 QSOs), AG4V/R (11 QSOs),
WD9EXD (9 QSOs), and K5QE (8 QSOs).
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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