[SCCC] ARRL UHF Contest This Weekend!

[Marty Woll]

Calling all SCCC members:  We need your participation!

This coming weekend, August 7 and 8, the ARRL UHF Contest runs from 1800Z (11:00 a.m.) Saturday to 1800Z Sunday on bands 222 MHz and higher.  Once again, our intrepid team of rovers will be out to help SCCC capture the top national Club Aggregate score. but we need more than just a handful of people in heavily equipped vehicles.  

You have already heard that SCCC captured the inaugural club gavel in this event last year and went on to will the club title in the September VHF QSO Party and January VHF Sweepstakes.  The June 2010 VHF QSO Party results are extremely close between SCCC and PVRC, but we may complete our year-long sweep if the log-ajudication process doesn't cause us too much damage.  If we prevail, the difference will have been those smaller scores - 5k here, 10k there - from our members that add up to more than the expected margin of victory.

With rule changes being considered, this may be our last chance to grab the gavel in the UHF contest.  Here's what we need you to do:

1) Dust off, borrow or even buy (if you're so inclined) those 222, 440 and 1260 MHz radios and get them operational.  If you happen to have converted gear on a 927 MHz simplex frequency, too, even better.

2) Put up an outside antenna if you have one (but watch those feedline losses) or find a high spot to park if you're in a hole.  Most competitive stations will be using horizontal polarization, even on FM, but casual ops will probably have vertically polarized antennas.  Once you work the rovers and big guns, you can rotate the elements 90 degrees for the locals.

3) Monitor the FM calling frequencies: 223.500, 446.000 and 1294.500 MHz and answer any calls you hear.  Put out some CQ's as well.  Work your fellow club members; work neighboring hams; work the rovers and the big fixed stations.  With no 6m or 2m openings to distract them, everyone on for the contest will be looking for contacts from you.  Just exchange grid squares (e.g., DM12, DM03, DM13, DM04) and log 'em.

4) Saturday afternoon will provide the greatest number of contacts with roving stations on the above frequencies as they move from southerly grid squares north, so spend as much time then as you can.  Each new grid square on a band is a multiplier, and you can work a rover again on a band each time he or she moves to a new grid square.  Most of the club's rovers will have moved into the Antelope Valley by Saturday evening, so try to catch them before then.  Steve WB2WIK is expected to be on from N6NB's station in Tustin, and he will be loud on all bands, so everyone should get DM13 on whatever bands you have.

5) If your monitoring time is limited, I suggest checking the bands and making some calls every hour on the hour through at least 8:00 p.m. Saturday.

6) Send in your Cabrillo log file for SCCC and report your results on this reflector.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.  I hope to work you next weekend!

73,

Marty N6VI