[VHFcontesting] Contesting: Next Steps

[nosigma at aol.com]

Bill,


Please be critical of myantenna's or anything else.  I wont learn without constructive criticism, see question.  I agree thatbetter antenna's are out there (M2's) and perhaps home brew.  I have no fear of fabricating.  I will get a copy of Kents book.  Thank you for the recommendation.  With all the comments on using H pol and Vpol together, changin over (some day) to Quagi and loop Yagi's immediately come to mind.  I never considered promotion to quite thelevel you suggest.  I was thinking ofgoing up to my desired location the weekend before the contest and hittingevery repeater I could find and ask for folks to QSO during the contest.  Contacting clubs and email reflectors arethings I had not considered and will do for June.  You are correct, there are A LOT of FM folksout there, hence my 100 non contest QSO's.   I will tried to infectthem and will continue doing so.  I consider June and September"throw aways" since anyone can drive to high altitude then but if Ican get the infection started it should pay off big in January when its reallytough to get that same altitude, playing to my "Unfair Advantage" inaccessing terrain.
 
Question:  What do you see in my antenna set up that youthink I should focus on improving?   Antenna type, polarization (dual?) gain, side Lobes, F/B ratio.  Foroff the shelf, the Cushcrafts I run are not BAD but certainly not the best (M2,Directive).  Being isolated on a mountaintop  I dont think I had a noise problem but gain is always welcome.  Max boom length I can handle is 15 feet.


73, John, KM4KMU



-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Schwantes <bill4070 at gmail.com>
To: vhfcontesting <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Sent: Thu, Mar 31, 2016 1:25 am
Subject: [VHFcontesting] Contesting: Next Steps

Hi John,

There are two answers for suggested next steps:

The first is get better antennas. That's a suggestion that will stay valid
no matter how long you compete.

In VHF+ better antennas are much easier than HF. A good place to start is
by reading Kent Britain's work on "cheap yagis". Kent designed several
yagis for each band 144 through 1296 MHz that are easy and inexpensive to
make and they perform well. You can mount these with vertical or horizontal
polarization so you can see what works best.

The second suggestion has nothing to do with equipment. In a word it's
"promotion". Let people know where and when you'll be operating. Let them
know what bands, frequencies and modes.
Distribute your plan at clubs, email reflectors etc. This might be
especially valuable for FMers because contesting and FM have, until
recently, been mutually exclusive. There's a LOT of FMers. Spread the word
and give some non contesters a challenge to work you in the contest. It can
get contageous but you have to start the "infection".

Good Luck John.

73 Bill
W7QQ DM75ao
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