[Fourlanders] FM for contest

[Bob Lear]

John Kludt managed to put a nice article and notice in the NFARL 
newsletter that came out this week.  He even mentions the FourLanders 
being on.  Thanks John.  Let's hope this will lead to some good Q's. 
Here is what he put in or you can go to NFARL.org and see it in the NL.

Bob

____________________________________________
VHF Contesting – Give It a Try on FM!
Monster arrays, kilowatt amplifiers and hill-top locations all come to 
mind when VHF contesting is mentioned. And that is all true. But there 
is another way. In the upcoming ARRL VHF contest January19-21, you might 
want to give the FM-Only category a try. This category has been 
established with the typical station in mind. The requirements are:
 Single operator
 Emission type, FM only
 Power input of 100 watts or less
 All bands 6m – 70 cm
 No spotting assistance
As stated on the ARRL website, the purpose of the contest is:
“For amateurs in the United States and Canada (and their possessions) to 
work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree 
Maidenhead grid squares as possible, using authorized frequencies above 
50 MHz. Stations outside the United States and Canada (and their 
possessions) may only work stations in the U.S. (and its posessions) and 
Canada.”
Don’t know your grid square? There are a number of grid square 
calculators to be found on the web. For example, one can be found at the 
AMSAT website.
To help support this category, our local VHF contesting group, the 
FourLanders, will be looking for FM contacts every hour on the hour 
between 1500 and 2200 on Saturday, January 19. Look for them on 
146.55/58. 223.5 and 446.0. Watch the NFARL reflector for further 
details as their plans become finalized.
This is a great opportunity for all of us to try another way of 
operating with our existing VHF FM gear. It is a real opportunity for 
Technician class licensees to give contesting a try. It is always 
amazing to discover what can be worked when everyone is on. So give it a 
try! See you on FM!
More information and the complete rule set can be found at the ARRL website.
_______________________________________________________________________________