[VHFcontesting] VHF contesting newbie

[Keith Berglund]

The June contest would be a great way to start.

The official rules can be found on the ARRL web site



http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/june-vhf.html



It runs from Saturday noon (18:00 UTC) to Sunday evening (03:00 Monday UTC)

You can spend as little or as much time as you wish operating.



You exchange your call sign and Grid Square with as many others as possible
during the contest. Working a guy on another band counts as a new contact.
So, it you have 6, 144, and 432 MHz you could work me three times.



You can log your contacts on a computer or by hand. There are lots of free
logging programs out there that do a good job. Most all will convert your
results into the Cabrillo format, which is what ARRL wants to see to accept
your logs. Even if you only make 20 or 30 contacts, send in your logs – it
shows activity in your area.



As Steve said, 99% of all Q’s happen on SSB or CW using horizontally
polarized antennas. Put up the best antennas you can – as high as you can –
with as low of loss coax as you can. BUT! Even modest antennas will work
more stations than you imagine. There are several guys around here (Dallas
area) that use small antennas in the attic and routinely make Q’s over 150
miles. When 6M is wide open, even a dipole works.



If 6M is not open, probably the best place to be is on 144.200 MHz. If you
work a station there, you can ask him to work you on 432 or 6M. If 6M is
open, then you’ll just have to use your best judgment on how much time to
spend on which band. Notice in the rules that a 432 contact counts more
points than a 6M contact (but there are more 6M stations out there).



Good luck,



Keith  WB5ZDP


On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 9:43 AM, Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Dick,
>
> There are a lot of stations you should be able to work (maybe even me if
> there's some tropo!) If K8TQK is on, you should be able to work him or
> something is really wrong!   :-)
>
> Point your antennas down toward Cincy, KY and TN too. If K4TO and some of
> the gang down that way are active, you should be able to work them.
>
> Good luck and have fun!
>
> 73, Zack W9SZ
> EN50
>
> On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 8:38 AM, <w1rrd at columbus.rr.com> wrote:
>
>  > I'm a newbie to VHF contesting and was wondering where I could read up
> on
> > participating in these events. I've got a base 706, so i think I could
> > operate with that. I'm located in Central Ohio so I'm not sure if there
> is
> > much activitity in this area. Thanks for any help you can provide.
> >
> > Dick, W1RRD
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