[VHFcontesting] 6 Meter Lessons Learned

[Les Rayburn]

Each new day seems to bring new lessons for my VHF education. Yesterday afternoon, on the ride home from work, I monitored 50.125, but heard little. I threw out a CQ, which was answered by N4DKE, a local. He reported that he hadn't heard any openings, but that the mobile was doing a good job. 

Arrived home, and switched on the shack radio to monitor 50.125 while chatting with the wife. An hour or so passed with no traffic. On a lark, I spun the dial up the band a bit...what's that? A QSO on 50.130. I stopped to listen, but the stations seemed to be rag chewing. A bit further up, .140...more rag chewing. A quick look at the Internet...yes, the band appeared to be open. Lots of red lines on the map in the now familiar "star" shape. 

Back down to .125...still nothing. Wait...a really weak signal in the background, but no where near as strong as those higher up the band. I know, I'll try S&P on those rag chews. I sit patiently on .130 listening to an operator go on and on about his new M2 antenna. No call sign...no grid square. Minutes past...this is getting me nowhere. I slide up the band to .150...another long winded QSO. Another five minutes pass...

Then I decide, what the heck, I'll try calling CQ. I dip down to .145. "Is this frequency in use?" I call two or three times. No response. I throw out a CQ. Then another...then an answer! A loud one! It's KX9X in CT. I'm so excited that I don't even recognize the callsign. Then he asks me if he can work me again from the "club" station. Sure, what the heck. 

He calls again from W1HQ. W1HQ? Wait a minute, I know that callsign. It's the employee station at the league! And I know that other call sign too...it's Sean, the contest manager! Wow! 

We sign, and then another station calls, K2DZM in NJ. Then another, N1ZN. And another, WA2IIE! I notice that after some of the QSO's, the more experienced ops will announce, "This is WA2IIE, I'm going to QSY to 175". Neat idea...that lets others who can only hear one side of our QSO know where to look for them now. Wouldn't it be helpful if all operators did that? 

Finally, there's K1DAM. He's weak here, and I can sense that the band is closing. I struggle to pull him out and he's very patient with me. He repeats his grid square. FN41. Cool! That's Rhode Island! New state, new grid. Then the band completely closes down...I hear nothing but static and my CQ's go unanswered. The wife comes in and announces that dinner is ready. I tarry for another ten minutes hoping that the opening will resurface...but it doesn't. I decide that it makes more sense to spend some quality time over dinner with the XYL now. After all, June is coming...with lots of openings, and several contests. 

After 20 years of casual contesting, and being a strict S&P operator, I had a "run" that lasted nearly 10 minutes. For those few minutes, even with only a 100 watts into an attic mounted loop, I was the loudest station in parts of New England. Some stations had reported my signal at S9 + 10 or even more. 

I'm not an idiot. I know that propagation was doing all the heavy lifting...not my radio or my antenna. But I have to admit...it felt good to be the "Big Gun" instead of the small pistol for a change. No wonder you guys call this the "Magic Band". 

73 from the Magic City,

Les Rayburn, N1LF





Les Rayburn, director
High Noon Film
100 Centerview Drive Suite 111
Birmingham, AL 35216-3748 
205.824.8930
205.824.8960 fax
205.253.4867 cell