[VHFcontesting] ARRL June VHF QP Participation Question

[Alex]

Hi Terry,

 

A brief description of the setup can be found at:

 

http://3830scores.com/showrumor.php?arg=6haLzlfsmicc3

 

The FT-897 certainly is nothing to write home about when it comes to VHF/UHF operation, but I couldn’t bring myself to try to find and unbox the IC-275H for the amount of activity I was hearing. Signals from stations (on 2m) at 175-200 miles were consistently very strong (S9+, whatever that means on an 897), even on a simple turnstile, which made me think that I should be hearing many more weaker stations. 

 

Now, I realize that there are a 101 things we can point out why I was not hearing more stations, but at this time I’m mostly curious to know what folks think what the contest participation seemed like this past weekend compared to other years.

 

Thanks for describing your experience.

 

73,

--Alex KR1ST, FN21

 

From: w8zn54 at verizon.net [mailto:w8zn54 at verizon.net] 
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2015 9:44 PM
To: alex at kr1st.com; vhfcontesting at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] ARRL June VHF QP Participation Question

 

Alex,

 

Before answering your question, it's only fair to see what you were running for equipment and what band you were listening on. If you were on 2m with a loop, then you probably didn't hear much. If you were on 6m, unfortunately, the propagation gods didn't smile on the northeast. Why not describe your station for the group.

 

We are in northern Va. and while activity wasn't as good as it's been in the past, it wasn't that bad given conditions. 

 

73,

 

Terry Price

W8ZN - ex K8ISK/WD8ISK

1.8 MHZ - 47 GHz - FM18dv

Member of the K8GP Contest Group

FM19bb

 

On 06/15/15, Alex<alex at kr1st.com> wrote:

 

I worked the ARRL June VHF QP to gauge what the activity level is in order
to determine if I want to bother investing in larger VHF/UHF antennas. I'm
in NEPA and live very near the top of one of the highest mountains around
here and should have a clear shot to many areas with high participation
rates. However, I was rather disappointed by the number of stations I could
hear and work.



My question is, especially to those in the North-East, do you think that
participation in this contest was especially low compared to other years, or
was it about the same?



73,

--Alex KR1ST, FN21



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