[VHFcontesting] K5QE and the CQ WW VHF contest.....

[Marshall-K5QE]

Hello to all our friends in the VHF / WSJT world from the K5QE contest 
team....K5QE will be operating in the CQ WW VHF Contest and would really 
appreciate any contacts that we can make via FSK441 or EME for that 
"rare" grid.  The contest  begins 1800 UTC Saturday and ends 2100 UTC 
Sunday (July 19-20).  For those of us still on local time, that is 1PM 
CDST on Saturday to 4PM CDST Sunday afternoon.

There has been a significant rules change this year.  Stations 
attempting digital meteor scatter or digital EME contacts are allowed to 
post Call, Frequency, and Sequence ONLY to the various reflectors.  This 
means that a station calling CQ on 6M FSK441 in the contest will be able 
to post something like "50.265MHz....CQ CQ CQ de K5QE First Sequence" to 
the PingJockey reflector.  That is what I usually post anyway.  Stations 
in the contest will not be able to post if they are making contacts via 
tropo scatter or other such means.

Full information at http://www.cqww-vhf.com/.  Please check out these 
new rules.

SIX METERS:  For those stations that are outside our normal range, I 
invite you to try to work us on 6M using digital meteor scatter.  IF 
there is no Es, we will be operating FSK441 on 6M beginning at 0100Z 
Sunday  morning(=8PM CDST Saturday night) on a frequency of 50.265MHz.  
If 6M is "dead" to Es, we may be on FSK441 earlier than 0100Z....just 
look at PingJockey.  We will follow "normal" sequencing.  This means 
that if we are pointing East or NE, we will take First Sequence.  If we 
are pointing West or NW, we will take Second Sequence. Sometimes, we 
will call CQ on 50.260 with a message like "CQ K5QE 265".  This means 
that we intend to work stations on 50.265MHz--please call us there.  If 
we happen to find a station calling CQ, or see your post on PingJockey, 
we will answer you on your given frequency, but most of the time we will 
be on 50.265.  This is a good opportunity for smaller stations to get a 
DX contact on 6M, because the chances of an Es opening late at night are 
not very good.  Please give us a try on 6M meteor scatter.  We run 1KW 
output on 6M meteor scatter with fairly large antennas.  Please remember 
that the contest requires the exchange of grids, not 26 or 27.

Remember, everyone can look at PingJockey now, even stations operating 
the contest.  PingJockey is a great resource--take advantage of it.  If 
you are in the contest, just be sure that you post Call, Frequency, and 
Sequence ONLY when you are calling CQ on FSK441.  You cannot post the 
usual "Thank you" and contact information that we normally post.  Of 
course, if you are not in the contest, you can post freely to PingJockey.

TWO METERS:  We will operate 2M meteor scatter(FSK441) from 0100Z until 
our moonrise at 0635Z.  Just look for us on PingJockey.  We will 
operate  FSK441 meteor scatter on a frequency of 144.142MHz and we will 
use "normal" sequencing. Again, if we find someone calling CQ elsewhere, 
we will work that station on their frequency.  Sometimes, we will call 
CQ on 144.140MHz with a message like "CQ K5QE 142".  This means that we 
intend to work stations on 144.142MHz--please call us there. Again, this 
is a good chance for smaller stations to get some good 2M DX and a 
"rare" grid during the contest.  We get one too...a WIN-WIN situation!!  
We run a stacked pair of 17el M2's at 160ft and 1KW output on 2M FSK.  
Again, be sure to send your grid, not 26 or 27.

Our moonrise is 0635Z(=1:35AM Sun morning).  We plan to operate 2M EME 
from then until 7AM local time on Sunday morning.  We operate 2M EME on 
144.142MHz using JT65b on Second Sequence.  If you are to the West of 
us, just look for us on your rising moon.  Stations with a single long 
yagi or better and 300W or better should be able to work us on rising 
moon.  We run 8 x 2M18XXX with the custom EME elements and 1250W 
output(1500W output if it is a rare one.....HI).  Pictures of the EME 
antenna are on my web site.  It is a really FB antenna and we would love 
to work you in the contest.......all new multipliers gratefully appreciated.

NOTE:  This weekend is also the Dubus digital EME contest, so there will 
be a lot of EME stations on that are not normally there.  One contact 
can be used for both contests.  What a deal!!

We will cease WSJT operations at 7AM CDST(=1200Z) on Sunday morning and 
revert to normal tropo type operations--except for 2M EME--we will 
continue to look for 2M EME contacts after 1200Z.  IF we see a new one 
on 2M EME, we will stop 2M tropo operations long enough to work it.  If 
6M is dead, we will fire up on FSK441 in the afternoon.  Again, just 
look for us on PingJockey.  PingJockey is a great resource, USE it.

With the new rules, everyone in the contest can look at PingJockey and 
the N0UK EME-1 reflector.  If you work us, please spot us AND our 
frequency--that way, others can find us.  If you are not in the CQ 
contest, you can post to the reflectors freely.  So you can talk to us, 
we will just not answer back.

Thank you in advance for spending some time to work us in the contest.

73 Marshall K5QE, EM31cj
www.k5qe.com
k5qe at k5qe.com

East Texas