[VHFcontesting] Renewing Interest in VHF Contesting

[Buck Calabro]

> Anyone have any success stories to share 
> about how to attract new blood?

Here's what worked for me, as 'new blood': mentoring.  It's just like Bill Seabreeze says, if you help a new guy out you'll help activity.  Basically, I got loaner gear and an on-site experienced mentor to help me learn the ropes.  In my case, the home QHT won't support a tower so I'm a rover.  I learnt quite a lot this way and am on my way to building up my own rover station.  Most definitely for me, a big attraction is the construction aspect of VHF and microwaves.

Another thought is a local VHF club, especially for construction projects.  A club can often buy kits/parts at a discount compared to individual purchases.  For an interesting alternative, I bought and built a HamHUD II from their Yahoo Group, and the hams there were GREAT to an APRS beginner like me!  So it's even possible to have a 'club' over the internet.  In any event, having frequent meetings helps keep me interested and enthusiastic.  A VHF club can also have some test gear (and someone who knows how to use it!) which would help a lot for the testing phase.  

One of my greatest fears is that I'm going to build up a bunch of individual boards, test them all separately and then do something really stupid integrating them into a working rig.  Being able to see other member's gear and ask their advice is great for easing that fear.

Finally, something I don't have but really wish for: Local VHF chatter.  I have never once heard anyone on 146.520 despite listening in during the afternoon commute almost every day.  Simplex operation in general seems restricted to prearranged 'secret' meetings.  I say 'secret' because there's plenty of repeater traffic and going simplex seems to be a way to keep the conversation more or less off the record.  It's tough to test that brand new W1GHZ 222 transverter when you can't get anyone interested.  Maybe it's an antenna issue: it's easy to hit the repeaters with the mag mount whip on the washing machine but it's not so easy to make a simplex QSO.  I really can't say, but I'd really like to have more practice on simplex so I can work more efficiently in the contests...

Just some thoughts from a new guy.
  --buck KC2HIZ  FN32at/R


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